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deeclancy's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this book, and was definitely hooked after a couple of chapters, but it didn't flow as well for me as some other books I've read by the same author. At times, I found the drip-feed of information about the characters' back-stories was a little bit confusing. Although I know this is part and parcel of the genre not to give everything away at once, a couple of times there were whole pages of dialogue or descriptions I couldn't make sense of because the characters were referring to past events that weren't yet revealed. Having said this, apart from these instances, the book carried me along and I wanted to see what became of the characters and find out the truth.
What stands out for me about this novel is the insights about the workings of the art world and the media. In particular, I have noticed in this and other books, when providing accounts of media coverage of her characters, the author is both very funny and spot on. In this book, the profile of five young, up-and-coming artists in The Times was definitely laughter-inducing for me, and quite typical of each art form.
It's difficult to discuss the characters' profiles without revealing the plot, but if you're a fan of this genre or of this author, this is definitely a really good book to curl up with in the evening. It's insightful about the nature of predators and how they sometimes hide behind seemingly virtuous activities (in this case, curiously, Quakerism), and there are some thought-provoking insights on the long-term effects of crimes on their victims through some of the characters.
What stands out for me about this novel is the insights about the workings of the art world and the media. In particular, I have noticed in this and other books, when providing accounts of media coverage of her characters, the author is both very funny and spot on. In this book, the profile of five young, up-and-coming artists in The Times was definitely laughter-inducing for me, and quite typical of each art form.
It's difficult to discuss the characters' profiles without revealing the plot, but if you're a fan of this genre or of this author, this is definitely a really good book to curl up with in the evening. It's insightful about the nature of predators and how they sometimes hide behind seemingly virtuous activities (in this case, curiously, Quakerism), and there are some thought-provoking insights on the long-term effects of crimes on their victims through some of the characters.
amamom5's review against another edition
5.0
I picked this up on a whim just browsing the mystery shelves at the Henrietta branch. This author had quite a few titles and I was drawn to this one. It was so different than the other mysteries I’ve been reading lately which are all predictable. This one was not, and there were some crazy story lines going on and the author held onto a lot of them and only gave you a little at a time while the plot unfolded. I’ll definitely pick up another of her books!
addy1991's review against another edition
3.0
The story revolves around Aidan, Mary, Ruth and Martha whose lives intertwine and cross at various stages in the story. Lies get told as well as plenty of half-truths so it isn't until the later portion of the book where things start unfolding causing certain situations to make more sense. This was a hard book to read... I just couldn't get into it or find myself caring about these characters even though I wanted to, but I trudged forward because I've enjoyed the other books in this series and was hoping that this would continue or even finish in the same vein. It didn't for me. The twists and turns are rather clever and I certainly didn't figure out a number of the facts, but that's fine because I don't always expect to. I like DC Waterhouse & DS Zailer overall, which is why I kept reading this book, but found I was starting to dislike them as well. The ends don't always justify the means and knowing what I now know about all of them, I find myself wondering if future books in this series will be tainted by what was learned here or be enlightened. Time will tell... especially since I just picked up the next book from my local library!
embermusic's review against another edition
challenging
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.25
kingfan30's review against another edition
3.0
Weirdly I’ve read the one that come s after this book in the series but nothing before. I think generally I preferred this one to the one that follows, although it was a bit slow going to start with. I think this was down to time, the fact the first few chapters are quite long and also it was a bit of a weird start. But as the pieces of the puzzle started to create a better picture it got quite gripping and the twists and turns were many, keeping me guessing. The chapters get smaller as the book goes making it easier to read although I did feel a bit repetitive at times. I couldn’t quite work out what had happened to Charlie previously in her career, it was only touched on briefly, I guess it’s the story line of one of the earlier books in the series, and the relationship between her and her fiancé was a bit weird. I did work out what was going on towards the end and it was quite a complicated reasoning behind the storyline, although it was a complete new take on a mystery for me.
jessmanners's review against another edition
2.0
Okay, so, I had a lot of problems with this book...
1. I am all for exposition--most of the joy of formal detective stories is the final parlor room scene, but you also need to have little satisfying epiphanies along the way. I am not a stupid person, but I felt myself losing the thread a lot, not totally sure what revelations were supposed to mean or why they mattered, and I feel like Hannah sensed this was a problem, too, because
2. She does this odd thing where she has one narrator being told a piece of the puzzle, and then will have the detectives in the next section, or the section after that, figure out that same piece (or a piece of the piece), and while I can see how that could be interesting in theory (there's that study that showed that people enjoy stories better when they know the plot ahead of time, right?), and it lets us see the detection happen in real time (I mean, not actually, but you know what I mean), it just feels, well, redundant. And then!
3. I had a hard time understanding why the detectives were invested in the first place. I mean, we the readers know that there has to be more than a weird made-up crime, because otherwise there wouldn't be a novel, but...I couldn't figure out what it was that was supposed to have intrigued Waterhouse and Zailer so much that they'd go rogue to solve it.
4. Speaking of the solution, while I did enjoy the above mentioned parlor scene, and it did take me a while to catch on to the twist, it does feel a bit lame that the super violent, possibly insane, unlikeable character ended up...well, being all of those things. And while getting the bad guy out of the way does allow for the proper formal detective happily ever after to take place...
5. I couldn't buy into Ruth and Aidan's relationship. I get that they're both damaged and they need each other and all that, and that, more importantly, they act as foils for W&Z, but it just felt prickly and miserable, even in the flashbacks to the Before Times. and finally!
6. I really can't get behind the W&Z relationship. I think the point of the engagement scene is to show that it's only the gross narrow minded normies who think that this relationship is doomed, but I'm sorry, it just feels objectively SAD. Now, to be fair, it is entirely possible that the will-they-won't-they stuff that presumably happened in the first two books is enough to make people ship them, but by the time I got to them (not my fault audiobooks of the first two in the series seem not to exist!), it just feels awkward. These are two people who don't seem to particularly know or like each other, and all the protesting too much stuff doesn't sway me...I kept thinking that this must be how it would feel to start watching Gilmore Girls in season five (or maybe six). There's no way you could root for Lorelai and Luke when you actually see them together as a couple...
Anyway, that's that. I'll no doubt listen to the fifth in the series at some point. I'm full of wise decisions.
1. I am all for exposition--most of the joy of formal detective stories is the final parlor room scene, but you also need to have little satisfying epiphanies along the way. I am not a stupid person, but I felt myself losing the thread a lot, not totally sure what revelations were supposed to mean or why they mattered, and I feel like Hannah sensed this was a problem, too, because
2. She does this odd thing where she has one narrator being told a piece of the puzzle, and then will have the detectives in the next section, or the section after that, figure out that same piece (or a piece of the piece), and while I can see how that could be interesting in theory (there's that study that showed that people enjoy stories better when they know the plot ahead of time, right?), and it lets us see the detection happen in real time (I mean, not actually, but you know what I mean), it just feels, well, redundant. And then!
3. I had a hard time understanding why the detectives were invested in the first place. I mean, we the readers know that there has to be more than a weird made-up crime, because otherwise there wouldn't be a novel, but...I couldn't figure out what it was that was supposed to have intrigued Waterhouse and Zailer so much that they'd go rogue to solve it.
4. Speaking of the solution, while I did enjoy the above mentioned parlor scene, and it did take me a while to catch on to the twist, it does feel a bit lame that the super violent, possibly insane, unlikeable character ended up...well, being all of those things. And while getting the bad guy out of the way does allow for the proper formal detective happily ever after to take place...
5. I couldn't buy into Ruth and Aidan's relationship. I get that they're both damaged and they need each other and all that, and that, more importantly, they act as foils for W&Z, but it just felt prickly and miserable, even in the flashbacks to the Before Times. and finally!
6. I really can't get behind the W&Z relationship. I think the point of the engagement scene is to show that it's only the gross narrow minded normies who think that this relationship is doomed, but I'm sorry, it just feels objectively SAD. Now, to be fair, it is entirely possible that the will-they-won't-they stuff that presumably happened in the first two books is enough to make people ship them, but by the time I got to them (not my fault audiobooks of the first two in the series seem not to exist!), it just feels awkward. These are two people who don't seem to particularly know or like each other, and all the protesting too much stuff doesn't sway me...I kept thinking that this must be how it would feel to start watching Gilmore Girls in season five (or maybe six). There's no way you could root for Lorelai and Luke when you actually see them together as a couple...
Anyway, that's that. I'll no doubt listen to the fifth in the series at some point. I'm full of wise decisions.
bibliobethreads's review against another edition
2.0
A very interesting idea for a book, where a man confesses to a murder of a woman who is apparently alive and well. However, I felt the plot became overly complicated and confusing although some parts were very well written.
arathi's review against another edition
3.0
This was a very very long book with too much of unwanted, repetitive details!
I had liked the other 3 books in this series hence picked this up, boy oh boy this never ended!
Ruth Bussey's current boyfriend Aidan Seed confesses one day that he murdered someone called Mary Trelease a long time ago - but Ruth is shocked to hear because she knows that Mary is still alive and she has a very ugly experience with her. She tries to convince Aidan that Mary is still alive but Aidan is adamant to believe her - even after being contacted by the police and they also state the same as Ruth! After a very traumatic experience in her life Ruth would have moved to Spilling trying to start a new life and then she meets Aidan and then she meets Mary Trelease!
What follows next is everyone us trying to prove that Mary is very much alive but Aidan just cannot be convinced because he knows the truth better than Ruth and the police, he knows what happened so many years ago!
This book should be edited further and help the future readers so that they dont feel tortured by the repetition of the details!
I had liked the other 3 books in this series hence picked this up, boy oh boy this never ended!
Ruth Bussey's current boyfriend Aidan Seed confesses one day that he murdered someone called Mary Trelease a long time ago - but Ruth is shocked to hear because she knows that Mary is still alive and she has a very ugly experience with her. She tries to convince Aidan that Mary is still alive but Aidan is adamant to believe her - even after being contacted by the police and they also state the same as Ruth! After a very traumatic experience in her life Ruth would have moved to Spilling trying to start a new life and then she meets Aidan and then she meets Mary Trelease!
What follows next is everyone us trying to prove that Mary is very much alive but Aidan just cannot be convinced because he knows the truth better than Ruth and the police, he knows what happened so many years ago!
This book should be edited further and help the future readers so that they dont feel tortured by the repetition of the details!
bethnellvaccaro's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoy Sophi Hannah's mysteries. The plots are unique and actually have surprising twists. The characters are complex and flawed and she uses unreliable narrators. I like the main detectives featured in her books, but I found their story more interesting in the last book.
bookishcat23's review against another edition
3.0
Started out very slow but good after Hannah finally answered a few of the many plot questions she formulated.