Lagos-set murder mystery with a forensic psychologist detective, investigating the disappearance of the wife of a megachurch's evangelical bishop.
It'Lagos-set murder mystery with a forensic psychologist detective, investigating the disappearance of the wife of a megachurch's evangelical bishop.
It's a great premise and there's a lot to like in this series but there's a kind of cumulative attitude to women throughout that made it a bit draining as a read. Lavishly detailed accounts of the wife's abuse, an insistence on the formidable brilliance of the hero's wife that doesn't translate into letting her do anything at all, a really incredibly unconvinving teen girls sub plot. It's not that it feels misogynistic per se, it's just the women in this book have zero agency in either public or private spheres except as expressed in self harm, and...you know, if you want to read a book about Nigerian women clawing for agency, I strongly recommend The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives and Dazzling and You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty. ...more
Overview of the British taste for true crime and crime novels. I say British: Worsley makes a big deal of how it's a super special national obsession Overview of the British taste for true crime and crime novels. I say British: Worsley makes a big deal of how it's a super special national obsession while not actually drawing comparisons with any other countries' taste for true crime and detective novels to indicate what makes it 'British'.
It's also a bit sloppy with a taste for random assertions and odd turns of phrase. My copy is dog eared with ??? notes. Points for the reference to 'William Coleridge', though at least it's not paired with Samuel Taylor Wordsworth. And mostly it just rubbed me the wrong way with the extremely dismissive attitude towards the subject matter. Worsley makes it clear that melodrama was shit and we clever moderns would now see it as absurd, public murder obsessions were creepy, most of the Golden Age writers weren't very good, etc etc, like we have to be told that she's more intellectual than this nonsense.
Murder mystery in Golden Age Hollywood among an Algonquin set type of group of witty, arty, deeply unlikeable people.
This was an interesting read, veMurder mystery in Golden Age Hollywood among an Algonquin set type of group of witty, arty, deeply unlikeable people.
This was an interesting read, very well researched and a well drawn setting, but honestly it had the kind of feeling that I often get from witty Golden Age movies: there's a little bit too much cleverness and not quite enough emotion for it to be entirely satisfying. That's very much a matter of taste, though. ...more
Retired stage magician as series detective, which I obviously found irresistible and I love a 20s or 30s Golden Age type murder.
Very much a puzzle boRetired stage magician as series detective, which I obviously found irresistible and I love a 20s or 30s Golden Age type murder.
Very much a puzzle book rather than character driven. A few crucial clues were so concealed in the text that the author felt obliged to put your actual footnotes in the denouement speech to evidence they were mentioned (for which I'll have to take his word because the publisher didn't bother to update the references from the print page numbers for the ebook). That felt a bit cheaty for me. Would I have felt like that without the footnotes? Dunno. The actual murder plan was very ingenious but the footnotes left me feeling vaguely narked.
A thing that may or may not bother you: there are a lot of uses in this that just are not the right word for the job, eg "She was diffuse--almost icy--in her approbation", or describing a policeman's nervous voice as "insipid", or someone waking "with a priapic jolt". Bit disappointing from House of Zeus. ...more
Murder mystery with a Nigerian born, US educated psychologist dragged unwillingly into a cold case involving the necklacing (mob murder) of three studMurder mystery with a Nigerian born, US educated psychologist dragged unwillingly into a cold case involving the necklacing (mob murder) of three students. Fairly brutal in its depiction of Nigerian politics and corruption, and the gross inequality, as well as showing the human cost of a non functioning system and the different ways it hurts people.
I loved a lot about this, except the murderer, whose motivation honestly ended up feeling like a bit of a sideshow to the story. That can work very well--the truth of what happened spools out a lot further than a simple whodunnit--but I almost wanted less of him in that case, and I was a bit uncomfortable with elements of the story relating to abuse and mental illness. The good stuff is great and I'm absolutely getting the next one, the plotting just needed another shake. ...more
Murder mystery set during the Great Fire, which is a great idea. No idea if it works because approximately chapter 3 there is an on page rape of the vMurder mystery set during the Great Fire, which is a great idea. No idea if it works because approximately chapter 3 there is an on page rape of the viewpoint character (unwarned for, obv), and I have a shelf called "men explain it sucks to be women" for a reason. DNF at however percent it was. ...more
A very late Christie, mostly notable for her (and thus her viewpoint characters') intense dislike of men with long hair and bright clothes, women liviA very late Christie, mostly notable for her (and thus her viewpoint characters') intense dislike of men with long hair and bright clothes, women living alone, and the indignity of being an old person having to deal with young people. A time passer. ...more
I did actually want to like this. Rinder's obviously incredibly bright and a good legal mystery is always welcome. But the characters are all grossly I did actually want to like this. Rinder's obviously incredibly bright and a good legal mystery is always welcome. But the characters are all grossly caricatured, the writing is workaday, and even I (not a lawyer) have spotted several egregious inaccuracies in the legal stuff. Pity, because it's potentially an interesting set up but way too heavy handed and exaggerated in the writing. (Thesis: the lawyer author is so used to presenting one side of a case that he can only depict the villains as 100% villainous.)
In which I write a murder mystery. NOT A ROMANCE. Just to be clear on that, genre betrayal/confusion being a thing.
This book is my stab at a detectivIn which I write a murder mystery. NOT A ROMANCE. Just to be clear on that, genre betrayal/confusion being a thing.
This book is my stab at a detective novel and I am terrified and excited. It's also whatever the opposite of a love letter to Oxford University might be. Possibly hate mail.
It's your classic Group Of University Friends Reunite With Murder set 1895/1905, enjoy. I am thrilled by the cover. ...more
Bought on a random whim because it's set in an area where I just set a couple of books and that seemed cool. An extremely competent and highly readablBought on a random whim because it's set in an area where I just set a couple of books and that seemed cool. An extremely competent and highly readable detective novel with well intertwined and ingenious plots, several elements of which I didn't see coming at all, and a nicely drawn cast. I will look out for more.
Also, extremely smoothly written and almost completely impeccably edited, as in I found one minuscule error in the entire book, and I can't remember when I last said that about a book from a publisher....more
Delightful shortish novel sequel with sapphic Holmes and Watson, only instead of gas lamps it's a gas giant because the books are set on Jupiter (wherDelightful shortish novel sequel with sapphic Holmes and Watson, only instead of gas lamps it's a gas giant because the books are set on Jupiter (where humanity has fled after the collapse of Earth).
I love the setting, it's gleefully imagined with the planet-spanning rails, and I adore how so many of the metaphors and vocabulary Pleiti uses are drawn from the rails. Mossa and Pleiti's relationship is a little bit prickly, a little bit uncertain, entirely engaging.The mystery wasn't hugely complex since it's a fairly short read, but fun. And I really, really need to see the Murderbot opera that exists in this world oh my God.
Linked to but not exessively weighed down by the first book. Absolutely lovely cover. I hope there will be many more in this series. ...more
A good historical mystery. The style is a little obtrusive - choppy style, lots of broken sentences and an excess of comic metaphors - to the point whA good historical mystery. The style is a little obtrusive - choppy style, lots of broken sentences and an excess of comic metaphors - to the point where it began to get in my way a little bit. I love stroppy, sweaty, relentlessly aggressive Persis; I would like more on the romance with Archie (please not a love triangle with the cousin though, I hate love triangles.)
I will note that Persis gets knocked out by a blow to the head on at least four occasions within a fortnight or so, which is surely approaching permanent brain damage territory. ...more
This series really has hit its stride now. Tightly plotted, well characterised, with excellent description of the physical, political and cultural setThis series really has hit its stride now. Tightly plotted, well characterised, with excellent description of the physical, political and cultural setting. Persis is a self-sabotaging PITA (you know, like many male series detectives are, but as ever women are expected to be better) and I am enjoying how horribly she treats her love interest. I didn't see the murderer coming at all. Highly enjoyable historical teccing. ...more
The premise is amazing: the heroine keeps having murders happen around her a la Jessica Fletcher but of course that means everyone either suspects herThe premise is amazing: the heroine keeps having murders happen around her a la Jessica Fletcher but of course that means everyone either suspects her of being a serial killer or avoids her. So she goes to an isolated space station in the hope of not setting off any murders but inevitably a shuttle arrives full of people to whom she has connections and there is murder.
I loved that, and the way the various people were shown to be interconnected, and the eventual explanations were clever. I found the telling pretty chaotic though--we jump around an awful lot and go into a lot of heads. And the Gneiss aliens in particular were really deus ex machina for me: they pretty much did whatever was required to fix the plot. Lots to like, but I just felt it needed another edit to make it all settle into place for the 'well-oiled machine' feeling I want out of this sort of book. (Also if we ever found out who murdered the symbiont, I completely missed it in the flurry of revelations.)...more
Second instalment in this entertaining series. Claire is a total shambles of a thirtysomething, largely because she's haunted by the ghost of her bestSecond instalment in this entertaining series. Claire is a total shambles of a thirtysomething, largely because she's haunted by the ghost of her best friend, murdered at 17 and now a perpetual teenager. Claire's life is a horrible mess due to constantly talking to people who aren't there, but she has an awkward sort of found family thing going on with Basher (gay ex policeman) and Alex (nonbinary glam 19yo).
In this one, the three have a random holiday at a wellness retreat on an Irish ex prison island. There is murder, awful wellness people, marooning, and pirate ghosts, plus Claire's ongoing inability to cope with life (highly relatable). Thoroughly entertaining: like Randall and Hopkirk Deceased but with stroppy teens, prickly friendships, and too much to drink. ...more
A very well presented 1920s clubland murder in the Golden Age style will a half Chinese detective. Lots to like here: ingenious plot, excellent minor cA very well presented 1920s clubland murder in the Golden Age style will a half Chinese detective. Lots to like here: ingenious plot, excellent minor characters.
Unfortunately, for me, the detective himself is a bit of a void in character terms : he comes across much more as the null 'reader eyes' sidekick than as a character in his own right. This is baffling as on paper he's really interesting: at once the subject of endless sneers because of his parentage on his mother's side, and bursting with upper class (male) entitlement from his father's family background, plus a dose of war trauma. He should be a really interesting character, but he's pretty much eclipsed by all the extremely well drawn minor characters, who are without exception full of life. IDK, maybe others will feel differently, or possibly the author got a bit too deep into
Very good period/Brit feel except for the moment where someone gives a taxi driver "half a pound", which did make me ask of what....more
Read because it was rainy and I had it on the shelf, but I think I'm done here. Excessively sentimental for my taste and I am really hacked off by theRead because it was rainy and I had it on the shelf, but I think I'm done here. Excessively sentimental for my taste and I am really hacked off by the portrait of dementia, which...I know none of it is realistic for God's sake, why should the dementia be any more so? But it rubbed nastily on a sore spot. ...more
Extremely meta murder mystery which starts with Ronald Knox's ten rules for detective novels, with the racist one redacted. Constantly written to remiExtremely meta murder mystery which starts with Ronald Knox's ten rules for detective novels, with the racist one redacted. Constantly written to remind you the teller is unreliable and the book an artefact and so on.
Well written with a good set up and clever plot. Tbh I found it a bit excessively clever (eg the narrator explicitly flags up clues but in a way that disguises other clues, consciously tells things in a misleading way etc,) and eventually it started to *feel* more like an artefact than a story. All this makes a good stab at disguising that the plot is wildly implausible and depends on the kind of gigantic coincidence that Knox forbade, which may be intentionally double meta-ness or not, I don't know. Personally I like a completely implausible golden age plot but, you know, lean in....more
Really torn on this one. It's a well researched, well constructed, well written murder mystery with fascinating details about a weird sexuality-relateReally torn on this one. It's a well researched, well constructed, well written murder mystery with fascinating details about a weird sexuality-related Victorian thing (patent medicines and the invented disease of spermatorrhea, fascinating) *and* a strong feminist angry streak and a queer second main character, all of which is directly tailored for me. And yet I didn't get on with it. Never happy, that's my problem.
I think the issue was the heroine Non is one-note angry in what I found a frustrating way. Obviously the gross sexism of Oxford is wrong, but that can't have come as a surprise to a woman of the time, whereas Non reacts with the constant hot rage a time-travelling 21st century woman might bring to the situation (which the book clearly shows to be practically counterproductive). It just didn't feel entirely plausible. I think in part it's because there's nothing else to her. She's at Oxford because of her love of philology and the Welsh language, but we never see that in action, and she has no female student friends (because all the other women fighting the patriarchy to study at Oxford are simpering girlies, apparently), and I felt we needed to see a side of her that wasn't raging at the machine.
Judging by the reviews, I'm in a total minority on this one, and anyone who likes historical murder should definitely read the preview: Non is pretty consistent throughout so if you like the voice, you'll love this. It's a well developed mystery with good twists and the setting is terrifically realised....more
I have tried with Josephine Tey and I'm giving up. Inspector Grant is a ghastly smug prick constantly being fellated by the narrative, without anythinI have tried with Josephine Tey and I'm giving up. Inspector Grant is a ghastly smug prick constantly being fellated by the narrative, without anything like the charm of an Alleyn or Wimsey. Tey's writing has more than a whiff of Not Like Other Girls and a double helping of racism, plus irritating self-consciousness in the narrative. And when 60% of the book is an elaborate red herring, the whole process of reading a murder mystery suddenly starts to feel like a massive waste of time. No, I didn't like it, why do you ask.
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