Karly
Not Erik Larson's best, but still good! I found the later chapters on Marconi repetitive at times and was tempted to skim over them until the Crippen plot picked up again. His descriptions and development of the main character (Crippen) was fantastic as always - just like he did with Holmes in [b:The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America 21996 The Devil in the White City Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America Erik Larson https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1312066724s/21996.jpg 3486041].
Fatal Puzzle makes up the first in what promises to be an intriguing murder/historical thriller series. I went into the book hoping it to be reminiscent of Dan Brown puzzlers, and it started off that way, but I think the overall depth of the puzzle was a bit lacking. The story is a short read, so maybe for this purpose the murderer's puzzle was not more complex. The characters are very interesting, and the ending sets up what could be a good sequel.
I initially began reading this book very curious to learn about the family food culture in France. While a memoir of one woman's trials & tribulations adjusting to social life in a new country, there was a lot of repetitive concepts and explanations. Perhaps I grew up in an all-American household much more culinarily diversified and disciplined than the average (never thought so until reading this book), but I was a bit surprised at the closed-mindedness initially had by the author. For someone who seems more world traveled than I and with a cross-cultural family, the author seemed shocked and dramatically thrown off by cultural differences I would have thought a grown woman could have navigated with more finesse. Too often I was given the impression that French relatives, peers, and citizens were viewed as the ‘enemy' or the ‘rival to be beat', yet wasn't the goal to assimilate and embrace their culture?All in all, I wasn't able to finish the book in its entirety. However, I look forward to reading [b:Bringing Up Bébé: One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting 13152287 Bringing Up Bébé One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting Pamela Druckerman http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327009243s/13152287.jpg 17885255] . Perhaps better luck next time....
Wonderful! I could not believe the amount of history I learned in this book. Larson makes it very clear from the get-go how he gathered his facts and which parts of the book are fact and what is creative fiction. The alternating stories of Burnham & the Chicago Worlds Fair and murderer H.H. Holmes keep the pages turning. The story of the fair is not only comprehensive, but Larson peeks into the personal lives and thoughts of the people who made their dream into a reality.