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A review by fakepumpkins
Marion Lane and the Midnight Murder by T.A. Willberg
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
The story doesn't pick up until about halfway through the book, in which the actual "midnight murder" starts getting investigated. It's hard to feel like this is a mystery story, rather than something more like a magical realism detective story.
The motives of the antagonist aren't really well extrapolated until their literal confession at the end, and the method by which the crime and murder itself was executed and for what reason hinges on alchemy, not something more grounded in reality. It was also a little frustrating that the efforts to make it a mystery were obfuscated by plot points that kept things like the actual details of the crime and suspect list from coming out until that halfway point in the book.
As a book and story, it's fine and alright, there's the illusion of a larger cast, but only 3-4 actually are important so a lot of pieces fall away once the focus on the inciting incident murder actually starts.
As a book and story, it's fine and alright, there's the illusion of a larger cast, but only 3-4 actually are important so a lot of pieces fall away once the focus on the inciting incident murder actually starts.