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A review by fliss_c
Mr Cadmus by Peter Ackroyd
2.0
Based on first impressions, Mr. Cadmus sounded right up my street - I love murder mysteries and dark tales filled with intrigue, but sadly this wasn’t one that lived up to expectations.
The biggest issue with this novella is that it doesn’t seem too sure what it wants to be when it grows up. There’s hints of a cosy British murder mystery, dashes of humour - and a nod to the supernatural and the exotic - but unfortunately none of these genres makes enough of a splash to stand out, and instead, they all seem to jostle uncomfortably for position with no clear winner.
There were some parts I enjoyed, but these contrasted with moments that were really quite unpleasant and seemed totally out of place. Every time the story caught my intrigue, the plot went shooting off in a completely different and often random direction, which meant it was really hard to follow or build connections with any of the characters, who all seemed self-centred and weren’t particularly likeable.
Maybe in a longer book, the story of Mr Cadmus would have the space to grow and develop properly, but in a novella less than 200 pages long, it seemed to be over before it got started.
I really wanted to like this one, but unfortunately Mr. Cadmus wasn’t for me.
⭐️⭐️.5
The biggest issue with this novella is that it doesn’t seem too sure what it wants to be when it grows up. There’s hints of a cosy British murder mystery, dashes of humour - and a nod to the supernatural and the exotic - but unfortunately none of these genres makes enough of a splash to stand out, and instead, they all seem to jostle uncomfortably for position with no clear winner.
There were some parts I enjoyed, but these contrasted with moments that were really quite unpleasant and seemed totally out of place. Every time the story caught my intrigue, the plot went shooting off in a completely different and often random direction, which meant it was really hard to follow or build connections with any of the characters, who all seemed self-centred and weren’t particularly likeable.
Maybe in a longer book, the story of Mr Cadmus would have the space to grow and develop properly, but in a novella less than 200 pages long, it seemed to be over before it got started.
I really wanted to like this one, but unfortunately Mr. Cadmus wasn’t for me.
⭐️⭐️.5