Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Board to Death by C.J. Connor

9 reviews

meganpbennett's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

An interesting novel, with a couple of good twists. I found that it had a slow start, and I figured out who the murderer was before we were supposed to. 
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cleansetolovers's review

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informative mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

A solid, twisty debut from Connor. Good pacing, snappy dialogue and the world is built out really nicely. Excited to see this series continue!
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jessoehrlein's review

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adventurous emotional mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No

2.5

This feels like it's setting up for a series in the neighborhood, but there were a lot of characters, and I didn't find anyone particularly compelling.

 The mystery aspect was... fine?
After the first bit of information that really solidly pointed toward Leon, it was hard to imagine it would be anyone else.
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letsgolesbians's review

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emotional funny hopeful medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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hanlov's review against another edition

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lighthearted mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I wanted to like this, but this book just didn’t work for me. I thought the premise was fun, and I liked the queer representation and setting, but the main character was honestly quite annoying and the writing was clunky and didn’t flow well (the level of description in ch 1 should’ve cued me in), and the mystery just wasn’t exciting. I think this would’ve been a sweet romcom but the cozy mystery-ness just didn’t pan out. The narrator was also not my fave for an audiobook.
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20sidedbi's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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chezler24's review

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funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

Choosing this book as one of my first cozy mysteries was definitely a good choice for me. I look forward to seeing how this series continues and what new mysteries CJ Connor can cook up after this debut novel. The small business and board game aspects worked for me, but I would love to see the pacing and the mystery (especially the red herrings, deductions, and suspects) cleaned up just a tad. I felt like a new suspect was introduced a bit too late in the story, and, by that point, I was already fairly confident about who the killer was. (Hopefully, this critique isn't just because I'm fairly new to the cozy genre.) With that being said, I loved the setting and the main character, Ben. I definitely think mystery lovers should give this new series a shot because I simply love the melding of board games and murder mysteries. 

Also! Go and play Nertz! I was introduced to this competitive solitaire-like game via this book and was instantly hooked! 

Learned a new book term! Quozy = queer cozy

Read an Advanced Reader Copy/Uncorrected Proof 
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wardenred's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

My goal was to not have thirty be a milestone birthday but to have it pass quietly, and without the mysterious back pain every Instagram meme seemed to promise would follow once I hit it.

Such a quick, fun read! I picked it up pretty much on a whim and enjoyed it far more than I expected. My favorite aspect, without a doubt, was the board gaming and how it didn't just exist for flavor but fully carried the story. Absolutely every aspect of the mystery and the investigation—the why, the what, the where, the how—came down to board games, and the way all of the aspects came together was awesome. The mystery itself wasn't that hard to crack, but the way the investigation was constructed made the book pretty much unputdownable.

I really liked Ben as a narrator. He has a fun subtle sense of humor and a pleasant personality, and I related to his inner conflicts. His relationship with his father was especially compelling, and their final on-page interaction really touched me. I also loved, loved, loved his slow burn romance with Ezra. All those gently humorous exchanges! All those times they were mistaken for a couple! The gradual opening up! The confession scene, OMG, the confession scene. Such a great relationship, and yet I confess this is the aspect of the book that left me just a tiny bit unsatisfied—much as I enjoyed the mystery, I would have enjoyed it even more if it skewed a bit heavier toward romance. You know, something in the spirit of Adhara's Big Bad Wolf, cozy mystery edition. This is, however, fully a subjective preference and not an objective complaint.

Speaking of the cozy aspect: the vibes were so good. The board game shop, the flower shop, all the food, the coffee, Ben's dog, Ezra's cat—every staple of coziness was there, woven into the narrative so naturally. And finally, I loved the strong sense of setting. I learned more than I expected about Utah and will definitely remember this book, among other thing, as "that one set in Salt Lake City."
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ezwolf's review

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emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

Ben is a (just turned) thirty year old professor who comes home to help care for his father and take over running his board game store. One night a murder takes place right on their front porch and Ben and the flower shop owner next door, Ezra, set out to prove Ben's innocence. 

This was certainly an interesting book. I'm still not quite sure how I feel about it. It was entertaining and Ben's relationship with his dad felt very real and genuine to me. Ben and Ezra's team up and flirting (unintentional or otherwise) was also cute. The community between the shop keepers had a very found family feel to it which was also nice. 

I wasn't a fan of how the author seemed to switch between out right pop culture references and ones that were just alluding to the work. There were also, what seemed to be, an abundance of long metaphors.

The ending was interesting. And I'm not sure how to describe how so. It wasn't a bad ending, it was just kind of laughable? But I think it was sort of intended that way. 

Overall if you're looking for a queer murder mystery with a more relaxed feel to it, then I think this is the right book for you. 

Thank you to NetGalley for making this available in exchange for an honest review!
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