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A review by dontpanic42
The Snake Stone by Jason Goodwin
2.0
I really enjoyed The Janissary Tree, so I was very excited about the release of the follow-up mystery, The Snake Stone. But, sadly, I found it terribly disappointing.
Goodwin clearly as a vast knowledge of the world of 19th-century Istanbul. In his first novel, he carefully balanced his knowledge with explanations and descriptions that kept the reader engaged in a world that few Westerners likely know much about. But in this new novel, arcana seems to have taken over, and it makes the story hard to follow. Take, as an example, Goodwin's use of various suburbs and neighborhoods (at least, I assume that's what the locations were) of Istanbul as sites for his action. I, for one, don't know anything about Istanbul's layout or surroundings, and it would have been nice to have a map or something handy just to figure out where people were going and what the different settings were all about. As it was, every time Goodwin transported me to a new area of town I felt lost and confused.
This lack of orientation carried into other parts of the book, as well. Indeed, the whole unraveling of the mystery seems a bit aimless. Half of the time, Goodwin seems to be relying on post hoc explanations that have little (if anything) to do with the clues the reader has been offered along the way. Some parts of the mystery (I am thinking in particular of the small metal balls--I won't say more for fear of giving something away) don't get any explanation at all. It's always frustrating when a mystery leaves such obvious questions unanswered.
Finally, I was disappointed by the ending, which was terribly anti-climactic. In fact, I only realized after the fact that the climactic scene was actually the climax of the novel: after reading the scene, I was certainly expecting more to happen, but I was left wanting.
All in all, a disappointing second effort to follow up on such a great debut novel.
Goodwin clearly as a vast knowledge of the world of 19th-century Istanbul. In his first novel, he carefully balanced his knowledge with explanations and descriptions that kept the reader engaged in a world that few Westerners likely know much about. But in this new novel, arcana seems to have taken over, and it makes the story hard to follow. Take, as an example, Goodwin's use of various suburbs and neighborhoods (at least, I assume that's what the locations were) of Istanbul as sites for his action. I, for one, don't know anything about Istanbul's layout or surroundings, and it would have been nice to have a map or something handy just to figure out where people were going and what the different settings were all about. As it was, every time Goodwin transported me to a new area of town I felt lost and confused.
This lack of orientation carried into other parts of the book, as well. Indeed, the whole unraveling of the mystery seems a bit aimless. Half of the time, Goodwin seems to be relying on post hoc explanations that have little (if anything) to do with the clues the reader has been offered along the way. Some parts of the mystery (I am thinking in particular of the small metal balls--I won't say more for fear of giving something away) don't get any explanation at all. It's always frustrating when a mystery leaves such obvious questions unanswered.
Finally, I was disappointed by the ending, which was terribly anti-climactic. In fact, I only realized after the fact that the climactic scene was actually the climax of the novel: after reading the scene, I was certainly expecting more to happen, but I was left wanting.
All in all, a disappointing second effort to follow up on such a great debut novel.