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toml72 's review for:
Silent in the Grave
by Deanna Raybourn
I sat on this since I bought it the year it came out. Finally got around to reading it.
I've always been of the belief that books benefit more from concise writing and brevity than they do overwriting. This one has not made me alter my position. I see that, after the next book in this series, it appears that Raybourn does bring her books down to a more reasonable length and the ratings for them improve quite a bit.
I am also in agreement with Agatha Christie. For the most part, romance does not belong in a mystery. It simply bogs the story down. Once again my opinion is not altered after reading this. But Raybourn does do a pretty good job at weaving the two strands together. Her dialogue is believable, her descriptions evocative of the times. The overall story is quite a good one and Raybourn does write well when she's not hammering out her positions or at least those of her characters.
But she is guilty of the dreaded over-writing, which some refer to as literature. A good editor would've made her chop about 30% of this and it would've made for a 5 star read. It just about merits a 4.
I've always been of the belief that books benefit more from concise writing and brevity than they do overwriting. This one has not made me alter my position. I see that, after the next book in this series, it appears that Raybourn does bring her books down to a more reasonable length and the ratings for them improve quite a bit.
I am also in agreement with Agatha Christie. For the most part, romance does not belong in a mystery. It simply bogs the story down. Once again my opinion is not altered after reading this. But Raybourn does do a pretty good job at weaving the two strands together. Her dialogue is believable, her descriptions evocative of the times. The overall story is quite a good one and Raybourn does write well when she's not hammering out her positions or at least those of her characters.
But she is guilty of the dreaded over-writing, which some refer to as literature. A good editor would've made her chop about 30% of this and it would've made for a 5 star read. It just about merits a 4.