A review by ajnel
The Last Word by Elly Griffiths

funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

"The Last Word" is the fourth novel in the Detective Harbinder series.  The novel however focuses on the private detective duo of Natalka and Edwin. The daughters of a deceased romance novelist believe their mother was poisoned by her husband. Edwin, with his fondness for obituaries, discovers a connection between the writer's death and the obituary writer who also unexpectedly died, not long before. This connection leads them to a writer's retreat with a sinister atmosphere where a third writer dies. Like the Ruth series, one gets the impression that Griffiths is under extremely truncated delivery deadlines.  The focus of both series has almost exclusively shifted to character development and the actual whodunnits are pretty run-of-the-mill and almost feels like an afterthought.  These later novels, though competently written, just do not live up to Griffiths immense ability to author complicated and original whodunnits.