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michelleful's review against another edition
4.0
I'm not sure why I enjoy ecclesiastical mysteries so much, but I really do. This was just the ticket, though a bit on the overly gentle side for me, The main attraction was the characters - some of them lovely, some of them odious - and their rich web of relationships within a high Anglican/Anglo-Catholic parish. I have to say I wish Gabriel got more of a comeuppance especially after it turned out that he . I will be reading more of this series.
Spoiler
especially towards the end when it turns out the murder is a suicide and the blackmailer didn't mean it!Spoiler
basically trapped his wife into marriagejulieputty's review
3.0
Loved David, Emily, Daphne, and Lucy. Loathed Gabriel utterly. I don't mind feeling that strongly about characters. It's a sign that something was happening there for me to latch onto.
This started very slowly and it took some real perseverance to get into it, but it finally got rolling and I found it quite enjoyable.
The ending, though, just didn't work for me.
This started very slowly and it took some real perseverance to get into it, but it finally got rolling and I found it quite enjoyable.
The ending, though, just didn't work for me.
tawallah's review
2.0
This book has been a challenge to read. On one hand, it captured well the typical characters you can find in the Anglican/Church of England. They are well described with all their idiosyncrasies. Some are quite humorous even if many are stereotypical. With the well described characters, London is well described. Even the epigraphs using certain psalms to set the tone for the chapter was great way to show that the book of Psalm can handle any aspect of life.
This book deals with gossip and blackmail, hence the title. The well loved vicar with the seemingly perfect family receives a poisoned letter about a past event. This event threatens his job and family as no-one should know about it. Clearly there are nuances to this well-loved vicar as well as other characters which are touched throughout the novel. But, it is the unraveling of this component and the final denouement that fail to hit the high note I expected. The secret and its exploration felt unrealistic and pulled me out of the story. When it was mirrored in another character, it felt gimmicky and unrealistic. And the ending just felt almost irrelevant to the story.
Unfortunately, I am unsure if I want to continue this series.
This book deals with gossip and blackmail, hence the title. The well loved vicar with the seemingly perfect family receives a poisoned letter about a past event. This event threatens his job and family as no-one should know about it. Clearly there are nuances to this well-loved vicar as well as other characters which are touched throughout the novel. But, it is the unraveling of this component and the final denouement that fail to hit the high note I expected. The secret and its exploration felt unrealistic and pulled me out of the story. When it was mirrored in another character, it felt gimmicky and unrealistic. And the ending just felt almost irrelevant to the story.
Unfortunately, I am unsure if I want to continue this series.
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