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sar_19's review against another edition
3.0
It took me awhile to finish this audiobook. After the murderer was revealed, there was still several chapters left. Maybe I was just not concentrating at the time.
essyem's review against another edition
3.0
Not my favorite. Love magical realism in general, but not here so much. As other reviewers pointed out, the library book on the shelf (not touched for five years and later vanishing?) made me roll my eyes. As a St. Paulite, I also didn’t love her descriptions of the city and its different neighborhoods — it felt like she resorted to stereotypes and tropes in places. Plus, I didn’t want to read about Minnesota — I got into the series because of the bog bodies, and I see that I’m not alone in that! Finally, I really disliked the unnecessary details about Peter wearing women’s underwear. It felt like a totally unnecessarily and borderline-transphobic pathologizing of gender identity exploration — completely unrelated to the murders but thrown in to make Peter seem even more evil and twisted. Hart is a skilled writer and, like her previous books, this one was hard to put down, but it just wasn’t as effectively done as the other two. Looking forward to reading the 4th, as I believe she returns to Ireland there!
lunasmaria's review against another edition
4.0
4 Stars
We are such soft, fragile creatures.
This was as amazing as the first 2 - I did miss the historical aspect and the fact that majority of the book is set in a different place was a little disappointing.
It was a great mystery but maybe a little too out of the historical/magical realm and more of a urban murder mystery.
We are such soft, fragile creatures.
This was as amazing as the first 2 - I did miss the historical aspect and the fact that majority of the book is set in a different place was a little disappointing.
It was a great mystery but maybe a little too out of the historical/magical realm and more of a urban murder mystery.
papersquared's review against another edition
4.0
Really liked this one. Going to go hunt up all of her others.
kboc923's review against another edition
4.0
Read another book of hers and enjoyed it. This one was a good read too, interesting and suspenseful
tajwalsh's review against another edition
3.0
It's been a long time since I've stayed up past my bedtime to read for fun, but Erin Hart made me do just that. A solidly written mystery with the interesting additions of Irish folklore.
lisa_setepenre's review against another edition
4.0
I don't really know what I can say about False Mermaid that isn't a total repeat of my previous reviews for the earlier books in Erin Hart's series of crime novels focusing on pathologist Nora Gavin. In some ways False Mermaid shows Hart changing things up – she separates Nora from her partner Cormac Maguire to send her back to America to solve the 5-year old murder of her sister. But at the end of the novel, this is just a good mystery novel that continues to have the same strengths that Hart's first two books did.
kellitea_reads's review against another edition
3.0
I alternately love and struggle with the Nora Gavin books - they are rich, well written and so layered that the mystery isn't a foregone conclusion. But for some reason they are slow to read - at least for me. These aren't page turners and I often find myself frustrated with the pace. Which was amplified in this third installment.
Now we finally, finally, FINALLY dive in to the death and mystery surrounding Nora's sister Triona. Having long suspected her brother in law, Nora returns to the states to either solve the crime or come to terms with being unable to prove his guilt. Winding through a fresh cast of characters, fleshing out others, Hart finally settles into to the big question of what happened to Nora's sister with an answer that is as disturbing as you imagine, but far more convoluted than ever hinted at previously. It's a testament to Hart that she was able to wind this mystery into the background of two previous books without selling out the ending of this third novel. But what I was most excited about was seeing how Nora figured out this murder and finally found a way to move forward beyond her sister's death. Yet in this respect it was a little disappointing, instead of giving us closure the resolution merely provided a new feeling of limbo. It will be interesting to see how the series and Nora's character progress from this point, but it doesn't feel like the weight lifted from the books the way I wanted it to.
Now we finally, finally, FINALLY dive in to the death and mystery surrounding Nora's sister Triona. Having long suspected her brother in law, Nora returns to the states to either solve the crime or come to terms with being unable to prove his guilt. Winding through a fresh cast of characters, fleshing out others, Hart finally settles into to the big question of what happened to Nora's sister with an answer that is as disturbing as you imagine, but far more convoluted than ever hinted at previously. It's a testament to Hart that she was able to wind this mystery into the background of two previous books without selling out the ending of this third novel. But what I was most excited about was seeing how Nora figured out this murder and finally found a way to move forward beyond her sister's death. Yet in this respect it was a little disappointing, instead of giving us closure the resolution merely provided a new feeling of limbo. It will be interesting to see how the series and Nora's character progress from this point, but it doesn't feel like the weight lifted from the books the way I wanted it to.
vadersvalkyrie's review against another edition
4.0
A little heavy-handed sometimes with the connections, but overall a fun read.