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A review by lisaarnsdorf
Moonflower Murders by Anthony Horowitz
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
I really struggled with how to rate this book. I hated some aspects of it and really enjoyed others. But overall, the negatives outweigh the positives for me.
On the plus side, it’s really well written with elements and wordplay woven through that are truly mind boggling. I really liked the story within the story.
But the present day mystery was such a bummer. Horowitz clearly wanted to tie the current murder back to the first story. But the aspect of Alan Conway’s life he chose to build out was his sexuality. And he did it by making all of the gay characters in the story terrible people who were terrible because they were gay. Right from the ghetto, having the murder victim be yet another gay man left a bad taste in my mouth. But the predators he turned the gay men into was totally unnecessary and sickening.
I almost didn’t finish the book. I should have listened to that intuition. The reveal only made the gay men into worse villains than they started as.
It’s a shame that such a well crafted book should rely on such hate.
On the plus side, it’s really well written with elements and wordplay woven through that are truly mind boggling. I really liked the story within the story.
But the present day mystery was such a bummer. Horowitz clearly wanted to tie the current murder back to the first story. But the aspect of Alan Conway’s life he chose to build out was his sexuality. And he did it by making all of the gay characters in the story terrible people who were terrible because they were gay. Right from the ghetto, having the murder victim be yet another gay man left a bad taste in my mouth. But the predators he turned the gay men into was totally unnecessary and sickening.
I almost didn’t finish the book. I should have listened to that intuition. The reveal only made the gay men into worse villains than they started as.
It’s a shame that such a well crafted book should rely on such hate.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia and Violence
Minor: Murder