Reviews

Bleeding Heart Yard by Elly Griffiths

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waclements7's review against another edition

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mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

ursalita's review against another edition

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mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

Enjoyable detective series with appealing female detective.

aclopez6's review against another edition

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3.0

This was good! I did not see the end coming. My only qualm was that I did not find Harbinder Kaur to be a very compelling character. I found myself wanting to see almost any other character--including Anna's mom. But I'm interested in reading more of Elly Griffiths' work!

litwithleigh's review against another edition

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4.0

I used my ear holes for half and my eyeballs for half

Writing: 4/5 | Plot: 4/5 | Ending: a lil cray cray/5

SYNOPSIS

A 21-year class reunion at an esteemed high school ends in murder. And another murder shortly afterward points to an old secret coming to light.

MY OPINION

Yes, this is my first Elly Griffiths book and yes, I started with #3 in a series. Did you expect anything more? Since I read half of this with the good ole peepers, I'm writing a full review. I was actually vibulating with the audio so much, I wanted to read it with my eyes. The narrator did a fabulous job playing all the different roles. Even her Italian accent was pretty legit. I highly recommend this one to audio lovers.

I really liked Griffiths writing style. Her dry wit is right up my alley and reminded me of my faves: Jo Spain, Cara Hunter, Angela Marsons, Sharon Bolton, etc. I don't know what goes on in the U.K, but the police procedural ladies can WRITE write.

Yeetage of disbelief required; especially for the ending. It's so hard write a satisfying ending. I feel that authors want to go for the shock value to leave you reeling thinking 5 stars!!! But I'm always silently praying to a non-denominational God for a bland ending. Just answer the pertinent questions and avoid the "catching up with a friend" epilogue. Don't throw in razzle dazzle when I'm already dazzled; now I'm just over-stimulated and freaking LOL.

I just finished [b:The Stranger Diaries|40796097|The Stranger Diaries (Harbinder Kaur, #1)|Elly Griffiths|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1532738769l/40796097._SY75_.jpg|58794499] before writing this, and I've noticed a trend. While the mystery is certainly juicy and I like the complexities of the kills, I find that there's no explanation for WHY the killer is so fancy. The motive is pretty regular degular, so why go to such extremes with all the literature references etc? Why is this type of "showboating" for lack of better word, necessary to the killer? Anywayzzz.

I did like the distinct characters, but for their level of fame, they seemed to lack some basic security. I can't imagine MPs and world-famous movie stars and singers just trotting about on their own unprotected. I'm not a celebrity (shocker!) but it seems like in this modern day and age, you'd have at least one bodyguard accompanying you are town.

If you like dark academia and police procedurals, I highly recommend this one. A satisfying read/listen that had me add the entire series to my TBR. And yes, I started from the beginning after this one