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sparkatito's review against another edition
4.0
Another tasty little murder mystery and more lesbians from the 90s. Love it.
sofijakryz's review against another edition
3.0
So, another story by Val McDermid. I usually like her crime fiction because of interesting twists and good balance between mysterious and creepy, also, because of warm, humanly characters. I liked “Booked for Murder” but it had some limitations.
“Booked for Murder” is yet another story about Lindsay Gordon, a crime-investigating journalist. Her life away from Britain is suddenly interrupted. Her friend, a teen-/YA literature writer Penny has been murdered in a creepy and unconventional method, strangely, a replica of a murder method described in her new book. Problem is, the book’s not only not published yet – it’s still in progress, the manuscripts only seen by a handful of people, one of them being Penny’s partner and another close friend of Lindsay.
Story per se was quite interesting. What I liked less though, that it’s quite difficult to calculate the right suspect until quite late in the book. Not because I like the plots to be predictable but because certain vital information is shared quite late in the book, almost deus ex machina, rather than just the reader getting lost among red herrings.
This book was clearly targeted at LGBT community. Which is great per se, but there is a plainly visible disbalance between the numbers of female and male characters. This disbalance doesn’t feel natural, unless one lives in a social bubble. It’s fashionable to nail Tolkien to a cross for being “sexist” these days (please read shounen before doing so), but, had I not read McDermid’s other books, I would reverse nail the author for overuse of female characters here and for, uhhh… sexism? towards males here.
To sum up – an interesting story, but I think McDermid’s written some better stories.
“Booked for Murder” is yet another story about Lindsay Gordon, a crime-investigating journalist. Her life away from Britain is suddenly interrupted. Her friend, a teen-/YA literature writer Penny has been murdered in a creepy and unconventional method, strangely, a replica of a murder method described in her new book. Problem is, the book’s not only not published yet – it’s still in progress, the manuscripts only seen by a handful of people, one of them being Penny’s partner and another close friend of Lindsay.
Story per se was quite interesting. What I liked less though, that it’s quite difficult to calculate the right suspect until quite late in the book. Not because I like the plots to be predictable but because certain vital information is shared quite late in the book, almost deus ex machina, rather than just the reader getting lost among red herrings.
This book was clearly targeted at LGBT community. Which is great per se, but there is a plainly visible disbalance between the numbers of female and male characters. This disbalance doesn’t feel natural, unless one lives in a social bubble. It’s fashionable to nail Tolkien to a cross for being “sexist” these days (please read shounen before doing so), but, had I not read McDermid’s other books, I would reverse nail the author for overuse of female characters here and for, uhhh… sexism? towards males here.
To sum up – an interesting story, but I think McDermid’s written some better stories.
books4biana's review against another edition
3.0
Pretty dang good. Went for the audio version and the accent was stunning.
balthazarlawson's review against another edition
4.0
Lindsay Gordon is, yet again, asked by a friend to prove that they are innocent of murder. It means a trip back to the UK from her new home in California. However, this time things are a bit more deadly and they don't go as smoothly as she was hoping for.
This book is different from the first book in the series as it shows the passing of time in terms of technology that we all take for granted these days.
I found it an enjoyable and engaging read and like catching up with old friends.
This book is different from the first book in the series as it shows the passing of time in terms of technology that we all take for granted these days.
I found it an enjoyable and engaging read and like catching up with old friends.
curiouscat17's review
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
theinkdrinker's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
knitterscasket's review
4.0
Lesbians with hardships (my favorite film genre) who solve mysteries (my favorite tv & book genre)-- Love it!
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