Linds

More tragedy than mystery

Revisado: 07-20-24

Georgette Heyer has a way of captivating me and this story was no different but I can’t really say that I liked it.

Hashing out and rehashing arguments and establishing Adam Penhallow as one of the least redeemable characters in all of fiction took up the majority of this book. I hated the man so much, I wished I could jump into the story and get rid of him myself. Witnessing him rail against every single member of his family over and over again became exhausting.

There really wasn’t any mystery to figure out because we actually see the deed being committed. There is some suspense and a great deal of tension leading up to that but, after the murder happens, the story becomes tragedy. There are no satisfactory conclusions and it ends rather abruptly after delivering an ironic twist. None of the characters are particularly likable but it’s difficult to sit with so much raw emotion and bitterness throughout the book and then not really know what’s going to happen to most of them.

If these reviews don’t turn you off, give it a shot. It’s not a bad book but it is frustrating and very dark.

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A fun and clever story from beginning to end!

Revisado: 02-10-24

This is truly one of the best things I’ve read in a long time. The tone is darkly comedic, the premise is fun, the characters are mostly likable people who have been thrust into morally gray areas, and NPH and Simon Vance both gave an excellent performance. These are all winning features, in my opinion. I really loved Cliff, Gemma, and Doreah/Dulcie. They all had their own unique personalities and struggles and the story gave just enough time to each of them, as well as a nice sprinkling of other tertiary (but still compelling) characters. It provided a good mix of character development and murder plotting, which is hard to find in modern murder mystery/crime stories. I also loved that the book gave us a solid introduction to McMasters and then changed pace to focus on the “theses” of these three characters. In the end, the book allows us to relish a bit in the satisfaction of sweet revenge while tempering that out with the consequences of taking another human life. I was very happy with the way the story concluded. I had been a bit worried that it said Volume 1 but there weren’t really any major cliffhangers, while still leaving room for a continuation of the series. I hope Holmes does release more of these books because I found this one absolutely delightful!

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Slow and long

Revisado: 01-19-24

Christine Lakin is one of the best audiobook narrators out there and her performance made the book for me. The other narrator had an odd monotone that I didn’t care for, unfortunately.

The story itself was a bit boring. I remember getting about 10 chapters in and thinking nothing had really happened. Honestly, nothing ever really did. There were a couple of reveals but no real twists. I did like some of the characters and I like the way the story built them up, particularly in the epilogue. But it never really felt like much of a thriller. More like a psychological drama.

It felt like the author was trying to capture a little bit of the essence of Rebecca, with an interesting sort of spin to that story archetype, and I appreciated that. But ultimately it dragged on a bit too much and didn’t offer enough mystery or excitement.

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Unsatisfying

Revisado: 11-07-23

I wanted to like it but it just dragged on and on, it was frequently boring, very depressing, and just didn’t deliver the way I had hoped.

We receive Josie’s perspective of her own story and it’s clear from the beginning that there are cracks in her version of events. We eventually get her husband’s perspective, her mother’s perspective, and that of both of her daughters - as well as the reality of what Josie is doing to Alix and her family. Throughout all of it, there are always cracks and it’s impossible to know exactly how things are with this family. It seems clear that they are all damaged and flawed and ultimately seems that they all carry guilt of some kind. But we never really get to fully see the reality of their lives and there is no solid resolution to any of it. It basically gives us a glimpse into the mind and life of this woman and then just kind of leaves us there to fester in it.

It’s really very dark and sad and not particularly suspenseful or thrilling (all of the suspense is sort of destroyed by the fact that we never see any of the action, we just find out what must have happened later on). I’m sure it’s a more realistic take on what it’s like to be involved in a true crime but that doesn’t necessarily make for good storytelling, in my opinion.

I will say, I think that Alix was a well-written character. She was mostly likable, while still being flawed. She seemed to have a lot of self-awareness and was always admitting to her faults in her inner monologue. This provided a nice balance to the other, much less likable characters. I listened to the audiobook and it was very well-performed. Unfortunately, the content just didn’t really work for me.

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