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cynpra1520's review against another edition
4.0
This book had some slow parts especially as the narrator kept changing but really came together in the end with some surprises.
ashleylm's review
5.0
I am catching up, at last. Somehow I entirely missed that this series existed (in 1991 I was newly employed, single, and not quite as diligent about tracking all new authors as I was in my teens). But I have discovered him now, and he is terrific, and this was a very good read—almost Kate Atkinson-ish, in terms of quality.
It employed a slightly unusual construction (major changes of perspective) but for long, solid blocks, rather than the sort of zipping around some writers do that I find unhelpful and offputting. Rather like the Canterbury Tales, say. The professor's story, or the chauffeur's story.
I have nothing bad to say. (And I immediately purchased Volume 2.)
Note: I have written a novel (not yet published), so now I will suffer pangs of guilt every time I offer less than five stars. In my subjective opinion, the stars suggest:
(5* = one of my all-time favourites, 4* = really enjoyed it, 3* = readable but not thrilling, 2* = actually disappointing, and 1* = hated it. As a statistician I know most books are 3s, but I am biased in my selection and end up mostly with 4s, thank goodness.)
It employed a slightly unusual construction (major changes of perspective) but for long, solid blocks, rather than the sort of zipping around some writers do that I find unhelpful and offputting. Rather like the Canterbury Tales, say. The professor's story, or the chauffeur's story.
I have nothing bad to say. (And I immediately purchased Volume 2.)
Note: I have written a novel (not yet published), so now I will suffer pangs of guilt every time I offer less than five stars. In my subjective opinion, the stars suggest:
(5* = one of my all-time favourites, 4* = really enjoyed it, 3* = readable but not thrilling, 2* = actually disappointing, and 1* = hated it. As a statistician I know most books are 3s, but I am biased in my selection and end up mostly with 4s, thank goodness.)
nicki_j's review
2.0
I really feel like I missed something with this book. As in, what the heck was even happening.... First, and this isn't really the book's fault, but it is incredibly dated. As in, the protagonist and his wife get a brand new microwave and don't know how to use it....and people have never heard of triathlons! It hard to wrap one's mind around. But most damning of all was that the a-ha! moment was not credible. That along with lackluster characters made this a miss for me.
kiramke's review against another edition
2.0
Troubling narrative. We're meant to believe, because we're told outright, that Diamond is the last of an old breed who use their intelligence, hard work, and superior deductive reasoning instead of those lazy newfangled computers. And then we hear immediately of the only other relevant case in his history, wherein he helped convict the wrong man, an obvious fall guy. He's accused of helping to send an innocent black man to prison, and it's shrugged off as 'of course not.' Now, some of this resolves, it's not the main story, and there are some enjoyable bits, but this underlying sense of believing the 'good cop' regardless of how he treats people and what he does wrong, just really festers.
lory_enterenchanted's review
I was thinking of reviewing this for Austen in August, but the Austen connection was thin. I did enjoy the Bath setting though, and I'd try more in the series.
jowiththetbrshelves's review
4.0
Stayed up late to finish it—I was hooked. A mystery with a lot of different threads that all weave together into a whodunnit that enjoys its character studies, as well as its setting to great effect. The discussions of Bath and Austen will delight fans of either, and add a surprising complexity and richness to the narrative. Kept me guessing!
slferg's review
3.0
A good book. Peter Diamond is an old-style detective. He believes in understanding why a person committed a crime and getting to the truth. He dislikes the emphasis on computers and dna-testing, etc. These things might provide hard backup evidence, but they don't give the motive. Diamond is also under enquiry for supposedly intimidating a man into confessing a crime he didn't commit.
Professor Greg Jackman's wife, Geraldine, is found dead in a lake. She is unidentified. Finally, after a couple of weeks he comes forward and says she was missing. He agreed they'd had a fight and thought she had gone to stay with one of her friends, which she tended to do. He didn't know all of her friends. Greg says the life opf a boy who fell into the Weir by the Bath bridge. Jackman meets the boy's divorced mother and offers to take the boy swimming at the university pool. He becomes fond of the kid and takes him to several games, etc. Then his wife goes missing. Jackman is a professor of literature at the university and is staging an exhibit of Jane Austen in bath. The boy's mother discovers some unknown letters written by Jane Austen to her aunt while she was under arrest for shoplifting. There is nothing special about the letters, but they are a nice addition for the show. But Jackman's wife disappears and so do the letters. So, who has them? and who killed Geraldine?
Professor Greg Jackman's wife, Geraldine, is found dead in a lake. She is unidentified. Finally, after a couple of weeks he comes forward and says she was missing. He agreed they'd had a fight and thought she had gone to stay with one of her friends, which she tended to do. He didn't know all of her friends. Greg says the life opf a boy who fell into the Weir by the Bath bridge. Jackman meets the boy's divorced mother and offers to take the boy swimming at the university pool. He becomes fond of the kid and takes him to several games, etc. Then his wife goes missing. Jackman is a professor of literature at the university and is staging an exhibit of Jane Austen in bath. The boy's mother discovers some unknown letters written by Jane Austen to her aunt while she was under arrest for shoplifting. There is nothing special about the letters, but they are a nice addition for the show. But Jackman's wife disappears and so do the letters. So, who has them? and who killed Geraldine?
bobbo49's review
4.0
A fun, well-developed murder mystery, with an outstanding cross-examination in court at the trial, and a rather surprising ending.
fernandie's review against another edition
2.0
Update: 10/9/2021
Today I saw a giveaway for this book and it reminded me how much I was not pleased with its resolution.
Note: I received a paperback copy of this book at ALA Midwinter 2020.
Today I saw a giveaway for this book and it reminded me how much I was not pleased with its resolution.
Note: I received a paperback copy of this book at ALA Midwinter 2020.