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A review by valerielong
The Silver Gun by L. a. Chandlar
5.0
Wow. This book was just phenomenal. I don't give 5 stars lightly, but I think this first book in the new Art Deco Mystery series deserves it. I was a little concerned at first as I had a hard time getting into it, but as I do with every book, I gave it 50 pages. It didn't need that long before it grabbed me and never let go. There was so much action and intrigue in this book. I told my mom at one point that I had thought I was getting to the climax only to find that I was only halfway done with the book!
The characters are awesome. I love Lane and Evelyn and Mr. Kirkland and Finn and all of them! I cannot wait to get to know them further in other books. They're well-rounded characters and complex. There are so many things that you learn about them just in this first book!
The plot was brilliant. I read a "professional" review that said it was too formulaic but I think they were wrong. These days it's hard to find a book that doesn't follow at least some formula to a degree. In romance, you're going to have the getting together, then the problem/break-up and then the reunion and happy ever after. It's just inevitable. In mysteries, you're going to have the heroine trying to figure out how to save the day at the end, either by finding the killer/robber/arsonist or by stopping some horrible event from happening. It's just part of story writing. However, in my opinion, this story had so many ups and downs, so many little climaxes and then ratcheting up the action more that it kept it from being too formulaic.
I'd still consider this a cozy - even with the amount of suspense and intrigue that there was. There still wasn't much language or physical displays of affection. We had a young, female heroine who wasn't part of the police or other crime stopping team, though she certainly had plenty of ties there. Plus, when there was a death or killing, there wasn't a lot of discussion dealing with blood and gore. Nonetheless, this was definitely hopping more with suspense than your traditional cozy.
I absolutely loved this book and HIGHLY recommend it to anyone who is a mystery lover. You should seriously let your fingers run, not walk, to one of the online retailers or to a brick and mortar store and buy this book in some format.
If you do, I'd love to hear your opinion of the book!
The characters are awesome. I love Lane and Evelyn and Mr. Kirkland and Finn and all of them! I cannot wait to get to know them further in other books. They're well-rounded characters and complex. There are so many things that you learn about them just in this first book!
The plot was brilliant. I read a "professional" review that said it was too formulaic but I think they were wrong. These days it's hard to find a book that doesn't follow at least some formula to a degree. In romance, you're going to have the getting together, then the problem/break-up and then the reunion and happy ever after. It's just inevitable. In mysteries, you're going to have the heroine trying to figure out how to save the day at the end, either by finding the killer/robber/arsonist or by stopping some horrible event from happening. It's just part of story writing. However, in my opinion, this story had so many ups and downs, so many little climaxes and then ratcheting up the action more that it kept it from being too formulaic.
I'd still consider this a cozy - even with the amount of suspense and intrigue that there was. There still wasn't much language or physical displays of affection. We had a young, female heroine who wasn't part of the police or other crime stopping team, though she certainly had plenty of ties there. Plus, when there was a death or killing, there wasn't a lot of discussion dealing with blood and gore. Nonetheless, this was definitely hopping more with suspense than your traditional cozy.
I absolutely loved this book and HIGHLY recommend it to anyone who is a mystery lover. You should seriously let your fingers run, not walk, to one of the online retailers or to a brick and mortar store and buy this book in some format.
If you do, I'd love to hear your opinion of the book!