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zermeena's review
4.0
This is a good start to a series. I did get a little confused trying to keep up with the characters because some had similar names. It will be interesting to see how the characters develop in future books. The mystery was interesting and had many layers. I didn't figure out who did it, but I did figure out that .
Spoiler
one murder was a case of mistaken identitypghreader's review
1.0
This book is what I consider unreadable. The grammar is awful from the first page. I made it through one chapter before moving on to something else.
”“The town thrived, if that’s the word, from the pre-World War I era until the Depression when it should have folded and disappeared, like other railroad semaphore spots along the old Great Northern route, such as Tonga and Korea.”
What is she even trying to say? Why do we care about Euro-Asian railroads in Seattle?
“Orientals” is not a term used to describe Chinese immigrants. I am normally not offended by the misuse- but this is a journalist who knows that being PC is critical.
I have a fondness for any author willing to seek out obscure words, but shudder when the author of a book written at a 4-6th grade level intersperses these words at random. It’s unnecessary and obvious. This actually stops the reader’s flow and may cause them to misunderstand or look up the words.
I was disappointed in this book, because it was exactly what I was looking for. I won’t be finishing the series, nor could I recommend it to another reader.
”“The town thrived, if that’s the word, from the pre-World War I era until the Depression when it should have folded and disappeared, like other railroad semaphore spots along the old Great Northern route, such as Tonga and Korea.”
What is she even trying to say? Why do we care about Euro-Asian railroads in Seattle?
“Orientals” is not a term used to describe Chinese immigrants. I am normally not offended by the misuse- but this is a journalist who knows that being PC is critical.
I have a fondness for any author willing to seek out obscure words, but shudder when the author of a book written at a 4-6th grade level intersperses these words at random. It’s unnecessary and obvious. This actually stops the reader’s flow and may cause them to misunderstand or look up the words.
I was disappointed in this book, because it was exactly what I was looking for. I won’t be finishing the series, nor could I recommend it to another reader.
lakecake's review
4.0
Different enough from the B&B Series she writes to keep your interest, although you can still see glimmers of Judith and Renie in here. Gertrude too. It was a good read, good characters...I'm interested to see where this goes.
meredith_gayle's review
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
judyward's review
1.0
The first book in the Emma Lord series. A middle aged woman buys a weekly newspaper in a small town in Washington state and ends up solving a multiple murder. It wasn't that I didn't enjoy the story--which I didn't, it wasn't that I figured out the mystery in the first third of the book--which I did, it was more that I wanted to slap several of the major characters--repeatedly. I read this book as part of the Read the USA challenge on goodreads. Maybe the next books in the series are better. I hope so.
rachelgertrude's review
2.0
It was difficult for me to follow the cadence of her writing - it just didn't flow. The plot wasn't predictable or silly and I really had no idea who the muderer was or even what the motive, but still, this book just left a bitter taste in my mouth. Maybe it was just that the characters lacked warmth. It kept me reading until the end, but even two days later I am struggling to remember the details of the plot. Reading this kind of mystery after Dorothy Sayers is like settling for cheese in a can when you live on a dairy farm.
cmbohn's review
4.0
Mary Daheim is a good writer. Her characters are interesting and her plots are each different. But that's sort of the problem. Some of her characters, like Judith's mom in the B&B series, are a little TOO interesting. I get awfully tired of Judith and her mom arguing. And some of the plots in that series are kind of off the wall. I mean, I like my mysteries to have some surprises in them, but too much is still too much. I was really unimpressed with the latest one I read.
That's why I was interested in exploring this series. And this one is more to my taste. There are some eccentrics, but mostly it's just small town life on a believable scale. Of course, like Judith, Emma Lord has her share of romantic problems and kid problems. But I enjoyed this one a lot more than the B&B ones.
That's why I was interested in exploring this series. And this one is more to my taste. There are some eccentrics, but mostly it's just small town life on a believable scale. Of course, like Judith, Emma Lord has her share of romantic problems and kid problems. But I enjoyed this one a lot more than the B&B ones.
smiley7245's review
3.0
More like 3.5* I enjoyed this story. I had trouble keeping the Doukas family tree in order, but other than that it was an engaging story with interesting characters. I do not like Tom and he needs to not be back. He is in no position to be jealous of Emma or who she spends time with. He gave up that right a long time ago. I genuinely had no idea who the killer was, but as the story progressed I was fairly certain that Mark was not the intended target, that Chris was. For a while I thought Phoebe was the killer, but the truth about Chris and her parentage got rid of that notion. I would have liked to see the scene of Phoebe telling Neeny the truth about Chris, to see how he handled it. I was surprised about Eeeny being the killer. His reasoning for killing Mark made sense, Chris saw him kill his father and he thought Mark was Chris. However, I never really understood WHY Eeeny killed Hector. Otherwise, this was a good mystery and I am interested in reading more in this series.
dontmissythesereads's review
3.0
This book was a little predictable. I often found myself screaming at Emma as she overlooked such obvious clues in her crime solving. I may read one more in this series before I give up altogether.