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A review by elisability
The Opening Night Murder by Anne Rutherford
2.0
In Restoration England, Suzanne Thornton, a former whore, is left alone with her eighteen-year-old son Piers when her guardian Wiliam runs away. She eventually borrows money from her former lover returned from the continent, Daniel, to restore the Globe Theatre and put on plays for the low classes of London. Eventually they open, and in the middle of the play, William falls onto the stage with a crossbow bolt through his throat. Suzanne is accused, Piers is set to hang, and Suzanne has to solve the mystery to save her son’s life.
Okay, to be clear, the only reason I picked this up is because it fit the “amateur detective” challenge in this year’s Popsugar. But although this is advertised as a murder mystery, the actual murder only happens somewhere halfway through the book. All the beginning is spent on the establishment on the Globe and the meeting of characters. Maybe this formula is different in the other books of the series (this was the first one), but I certainly won’t be reading them to find out.
One major thing that irritated me is that it was meant to be a historical novel, but it felt too full of anachronisms. Their first names, the ways they behaved and talked, even some expressions used in the narration. I was constantly pulling out my cellphone to check on the origin of this expression or that word to see if it was likely they’d use it in Restoration England. And speaking of pulling out cellphones, I regularly expected the characters to pull out some of their own, until some forceful mention of a corset or a vizard or pattens reminded me when we were supposed to be.
Oh and I saw the conclusion coming a mile away. Though I still think there’s a glaring error in it.
All in all, not recommended.
Okay, to be clear, the only reason I picked this up is because it fit the “amateur detective” challenge in this year’s Popsugar. But although this is advertised as a murder mystery, the actual murder only happens somewhere halfway through the book. All the beginning is spent on the establishment on the Globe and the meeting of characters. Maybe this formula is different in the other books of the series (this was the first one), but I certainly won’t be reading them to find out.
One major thing that irritated me is that it was meant to be a historical novel, but it felt too full of anachronisms. Their first names, the ways they behaved and talked, even some expressions used in the narration. I was constantly pulling out my cellphone to check on the origin of this expression or that word to see if it was likely they’d use it in Restoration England. And speaking of pulling out cellphones, I regularly expected the characters to pull out some of their own, until some forceful mention of a corset or a vizard or pattens reminded me when we were supposed to be.
Oh and I saw the conclusion coming a mile away. Though I still think there’s a glaring error in it.
All in all, not recommended.