Scan barcode
A review by annashiv
The Yard by Alex Grecian
2.0
I really wanted to like this book. I was going to give it at least 3 stars until the last 50 to 60 pages. It just wasn't satisfying. It felt messy and somehow I stopped caring about the characters. He set up a lot of good points with lots of potential for a good ending, but it just fell flat. It felt like the plot was driving the characters instead of the other way around. Also, the dialogue was almost random and poorly done, which I was willing to ignore until the end. The one thing I just couldn't believe was the forensics part. I am aware that some of these things are setting up things for the next books, but so much felt unnecessary or poorly added, the forensics being the biggest one. I was amazing by how little the author knew about what realistic expectations there are when it comes to fingerprints, the main point of frustration for me was how many clear prints they could get on a pair of scissors. No mention of smudges or overlap or anything. It was so flawed as to take off a whole star in itself.
I think the real reason it all just fell apart at the end was the killer's motivation for killing. For the first book, I expected something really interesting or a twist or something to really give it something special, but there wasn't anything like that. There was just nothing that made it different from a generic mystery murder adventure novel. Nothing interesting. There were many threads, but none of them really panned out to a really exciting ending.
I did want to like it though. I love Victorian mysteries, but this just wasn't done well unfortunately. However, if you like mysteries that don't need to make sense but have lots of action, intrigue and character, then feel free to read this, just don't expect any sense of realism.
I think the real reason it all just fell apart at the end was the killer's motivation for killing. For the first book, I expected something really interesting or a twist or something to really give it something special, but there wasn't anything like that. There was just nothing that made it different from a generic mystery murder adventure novel. Nothing interesting. There were many threads, but none of them really panned out to a really exciting ending.
I did want to like it though. I love Victorian mysteries, but this just wasn't done well unfortunately. However, if you like mysteries that don't need to make sense but have lots of action, intrigue and character, then feel free to read this, just don't expect any sense of realism.