Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by nordseestrand
Death in the Dark by Bryce Moore
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
17-year-old Mary Churchill, daughter of Prime Minister Winston Churchill, finds the strangled body of an acquaintance after a night on the town. When the police let slip that the investigation will probably suffer due to staffing problems during the war she decides to take matters into her own hands. Soon she realizes that more women have been murdered in a similar manner and things take an even more sinister turn, when the Jack-the-Ripper like murderer takes notice of her investigations...
I'm quite conflicted on this story. The premise is solid, the story is mostly tense and still - I rolled my eyes quite a lot and was bored on more than one occasion.
Mary is quite naive and reckless due to being 17 years old. She makes so, so many bad decisions I wanted to cry. Many of them would have been plausible if she did this whole thing all on her own, but her father is supportive and she actually has the help of the police. Backup is right there girl! Use it!
The writing is quite graphic in places (especially the part in the POV of the woman being murdered!) , so much so that I don't think that this book is suitable for the younger end of YA range. 16 and up seems appropriate.
I absolutely love the creepy cover of this book and really enjoyed the narration by Clare Staniforth. She gave Mary a very fitting voice and kept the tense atmosphere dark and threatening. The air raid moments were chilling.
All in all this book is incongruous in my opinion. I would have enjoyed it more with an older protagonist (24ish), with no or reluctant help from the police and the current graphic descriptions or with the current protagonist who uses her connections better (and makes better choices) and ends up confronting the murderer alone despite this with some more mild descriptions of violence.
Maybe I'm just not in the right demographic for this book.
Thanks to Netgalley and Tantor Audio for the download of this audiobook!
I'm quite conflicted on this story. The premise is solid, the story is mostly tense and still - I rolled my eyes quite a lot and was bored on more than one occasion.
Mary is quite naive and reckless due to being 17 years old. She makes so, so many bad decisions I wanted to cry. Many of them would have been plausible if she did this whole thing all on her own, but her father is supportive and she actually has the help of the police. Backup is right there girl! Use it!
The writing is quite graphic in places (especially the part in the POV of the woman being murdered!) , so much so that I don't think that this book is suitable for the younger end of YA range. 16 and up seems appropriate.
I absolutely love the creepy cover of this book and really enjoyed the narration by Clare Staniforth. She gave Mary a very fitting voice and kept the tense atmosphere dark and threatening. The air raid moments were chilling.
All in all this book is incongruous in my opinion. I would have enjoyed it more with an older protagonist (24ish), with no or reluctant help from the police and the current graphic descriptions or with the current protagonist who uses her connections better (and makes better choices) and ends up confronting the murderer alone despite this with some more mild descriptions of violence.
Maybe I'm just not in the right demographic for this book.
Thanks to Netgalley and Tantor Audio for the download of this audiobook!