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A review by ashleylm
The Case of the Blue Violet by Robin Stevens
4.0
Short and sweet. Some reviewers are bandying about the word 'novella,' but I am sure this does not qualify. It is 100% short story and can be read in a single sitting before you finish your drink.
I'm reading the collection Cream Buns and Crime right now (I don't know how else to acquire these individual stories) but since this is listed separately, I'll review both the story, and then later the collection as a whole.
Stevens's Unladylike series is one of those wonderful treats for a reader, where you know if you enjoyed it before, you'll enjoy it still. It's not going to ever take some unlikely swerve into L.A. gangland where the characters swear too much and you start feeling uncomfortable (which is why it's remarkable I like the Harry Bosch series so much, despite everything), no, her stories are steeped in people being decent (for the most part), passing the sugar dish, and solving the occasional mystery.
But, importantly, she isn't simply light and fluffy. She doesn't write mysteries with lots of pink on the cover, and food, and an animal, and a jokey title like "Pork Pie Pandemonium" ... I can't stand them. For the most part, I mean, I'm not even going to try once I glimpse a cover like that, so there could be exceptions. They're likely too cosy. Not Stevens, she's just calm and comfortable and classic.
This being a short story, it's not quite as resonant as some of her longer work, but it's a sweet story fleshing out the career of my two favourite detectives, and a lovely thing to read before bedtime last night.
(Note: I'm a writer myself, so suffer pangs of guilt every time I offer less than five stars. These aren't ratings of quality, just my subjective account of how much I liked them: 5* = one of my all-time favourites, 4* = enjoyed it, 3* = readable but not thrilling, 2* = disappointing, and 1* = hated it.)
I'm reading the collection Cream Buns and Crime right now (I don't know how else to acquire these individual stories) but since this is listed separately, I'll review both the story, and then later the collection as a whole.
Stevens's Unladylike series is one of those wonderful treats for a reader, where you know if you enjoyed it before, you'll enjoy it still. It's not going to ever take some unlikely swerve into L.A. gangland where the characters swear too much and you start feeling uncomfortable (which is why it's remarkable I like the Harry Bosch series so much, despite everything), no, her stories are steeped in people being decent (for the most part), passing the sugar dish, and solving the occasional mystery.
But, importantly, she isn't simply light and fluffy. She doesn't write mysteries with lots of pink on the cover, and food, and an animal, and a jokey title like "Pork Pie Pandemonium" ... I can't stand them. For the most part, I mean, I'm not even going to try once I glimpse a cover like that, so there could be exceptions. They're likely too cosy. Not Stevens, she's just calm and comfortable and classic.
This being a short story, it's not quite as resonant as some of her longer work, but it's a sweet story fleshing out the career of my two favourite detectives, and a lovely thing to read before bedtime last night.
(Note: I'm a writer myself, so suffer pangs of guilt every time I offer less than five stars. These aren't ratings of quality, just my subjective account of how much I liked them: 5* = one of my all-time favourites, 4* = enjoyed it, 3* = readable but not thrilling, 2* = disappointing, and 1* = hated it.)