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cozylittlebrownhouse's review against another edition
3.0
While this YA mystery was rather predictable, I enjoyed meeting the character of Ingrid in the first book of the Echo Falls mystery series. It was a light and entertaining audiobook for my long commute. I will probably listen to the next book in the series eventually, but I wouldn't highly recommend this YA book to adults - I have read much better YA fiction for older readers.
adeperi's review against another edition
2.0
An okay mystery, but I think the book as a whole would have been better without the cliche "I'm just like my idol, Sherlock Holmes" characterization. That got on my nerves very quickly.
jdshipengrover's review against another edition
4.0
This was my first Kindle loan from my local Library. It's more YA than I thought. But I really like the lead character and following the mystery through her eyes has been quite enjoyable.
queerandweird's review against another edition
2.0
A youth mystery, often trite and blathering. For a YA mystery it serves its purpose, though I'd rather have taken up Agatha Christie at at the time.
gabs_myfullbookshelf's review against another edition
2.0
This review (and others) can be found on My Full Bookshelf
Stephen King blurbed this. And then compared it to Harry Potter. This book is not comparable to Harry Potter.
First, I did not think that Ingrid was *ahem* particularly smart. She does not tell the police that she was talking to a murder victim right before they died. Then, when she realizes that she left her shoes at the victim's house, what does she do? She sneaks into the crime scene and removes the shoes, not realizing until later that the police just might find this suspicious. Oops. Because of this, I had a hard time sympathizing with our heroine throughout the entire book.
Second, I was under the impression that perhaps, well, there would be a bit more Sherlock and a bit less soccer/play rehearsals throughout the book. Alas, Mr. Holmes is barely mentioned in the story, even more of a shame when I considered that my copy was nearly four hundred pages. Sherlock Holmes really doesn't play that key of a role in the book at all, when I think about it. I am not sure why they made it seem like he was a significant part of the story in the blurb.
Third, I didn't find there was much mystery in the plot when all was said and done. I didn't find there to be much suspense or major clue hunting until the very last 50 pages. Again, this is a 400 page book. That means that only an eighth of the book was spent truly investigating what happened. The other seven eighths included Ingrid:
-Playing soccer/attending play practice
-Hiding her secret from the cops
-Wondering what is up with Vincent Dunn
-Interacting with characters that didn't really add anything to the plot but were still featured a lot.
In regards to that last point, way too much focus was put on these characters. I don't care about the rivalry with Chloe Ferrand if there is a murder I could be reading about. I don't care about Ingrid's whacked up brother if there is a murder I could be reading about. I don't care about Ingrid's crush if there...well, I suppose you get the point.
Not that it isn't good to have a wide range of characters instead of only featuring two or three in the whole book. It's just that they added next to nothing to the overall plot and nothing was really gained by learning about them.
The reason it is getting two stars is because the ending was not totally expected. I saw a lot of it coming but there were things that I didn't expect either. It wrapped up nicely. (Also, if I am being honest, I have read way worse than this book. I couldn't put it in the league of those books, it wouldn't be fair.)
So, I probably won't be reading the rest of the series since this book failed to impress me, but who knows? I didn't find this a great mystery book so I will not be recommending it to people interested int this genre.
Stephen King blurbed this. And then compared it to Harry Potter. This book is not comparable to Harry Potter.
First, I did not think that Ingrid was *ahem* particularly smart. She does not tell the police that she was talking to a murder victim right before they died. Then, when she realizes that she left her shoes at the victim's house, what does she do? She sneaks into the crime scene and removes the shoes, not realizing until later that the police just might find this suspicious. Oops. Because of this, I had a hard time sympathizing with our heroine throughout the entire book.
Second, I was under the impression that perhaps, well, there would be a bit more Sherlock and a bit less soccer/play rehearsals throughout the book. Alas, Mr. Holmes is barely mentioned in the story, even more of a shame when I considered that my copy was nearly four hundred pages. Sherlock Holmes really doesn't play that key of a role in the book at all, when I think about it. I am not sure why they made it seem like he was a significant part of the story in the blurb.
Third, I didn't find there was much mystery in the plot when all was said and done. I didn't find there to be much suspense or major clue hunting until the very last 50 pages. Again, this is a 400 page book. That means that only an eighth of the book was spent truly investigating what happened. The other seven eighths included Ingrid:
-Playing soccer/attending play practice
-Hiding her secret from the cops
-Wondering what is up with Vincent Dunn
-Interacting with characters that didn't really add anything to the plot but were still featured a lot.
In regards to that last point, way too much focus was put on these characters. I don't care about the rivalry with Chloe Ferrand if there is a murder I could be reading about. I don't care about Ingrid's whacked up brother if there is a murder I could be reading about. I don't care about Ingrid's crush if there...well, I suppose you get the point.
Not that it isn't good to have a wide range of characters instead of only featuring two or three in the whole book. It's just that they added next to nothing to the overall plot and nothing was really gained by learning about them.
The reason it is getting two stars is because the ending was not totally expected. I saw a lot of it coming but there were things that I didn't expect either. It wrapped up nicely. (Also, if I am being honest, I have read way worse than this book. I couldn't put it in the league of those books, it wouldn't be fair.)
So, I probably won't be reading the rest of the series since this book failed to impress me, but who knows? I didn't find this a great mystery book so I will not be recommending it to people interested int this genre.
alissabar's review against another edition
3.0
I liked reading this mystery, but during the whole book something nagged at me and wouldn't let me enjoy it to its fullest--Ingrid (13 year-old main character) never confided in anyone, lied to everyone, and hardly ever had to accept any consequences for her decisions, even after explaining the whole case and her actions to the police officer. Hmmmmm . . . that's a little hard for me to swallow.
dannb's review against another edition
4.0
Some YA mysteries give too much away too early. Abrahams give you just enough...however, another 'hero teen character' that uses questionable judgement and doesn't trust ANYONE in her life. Is it really always that bad?
brandinh's review against another edition
3.0
Outdated references and the use of the term ‘gay’ as a slur limits this title’s enjoyability. Otherwise, a decent mystery title for the middle grade set, but one that discerning readers will solve long before the protagonist Ingrid.