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iamleighbot's review
3.0
Even though there's a "not all Scots are related" line near the end, there wasn't a "not all Scots are named Dougal and Rory" during the editing process. Overall a good read, I probably won't actively look for others from the series because the side characters unique to this one were more compelling that the recurring personalities
lyris51101's review against another edition
3.0
I have read all the Euphemia Martins books and I want to love them, but I can only summon a mild affection that is increasingly replaced with irritation. All of the books are in need of good, solid copy editing and perhaps some developmental editing to help with pacing and plotting. The errors, wrong words, and missing words sometimes distract from the generally good writing and engaging characters. The majority of the books have a tendency to rush at the end - draw things out, draw things out, then sort of cut it off with no satisfactory resolution. The reader feels cheated by the abrupt and arbitrary endings. I've also noticed a tendency for telling vs. showing, a cardinal no-no in novel writing. As the reader, I feel distanced from the characters and their actions when I'm not actually there with them, seeing what they see, feeling what they feel, hearing what they hear, etc. Several of the books left me expecting a surprise or plot twist of some kind because we only learned about a particular death or other event second or third hand. There was one in particular where I was sure the murdered girl had not in fact been murdered and would resurface. If the heroine (and hence the reader) never see the body, how do we know there was an actual murder? But the book ended with no such reappearance by the supposed murder victim. Characters I found charming and engaging I now find tiresome. I will not seek out any future Euphemia Martins books unless I am asked to copy edit them - which I would do so gladly.
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