Devi Nair
đ§ Listened in audio đ˘ Narrated by Kristin Atherton âą Duration: 12 hours đˇď¸ Publisher: Bonnier Books UK and Embla Books đ Released: October 18, 2022 đľď¸ââď¸ Genre: Cozy Mystery
I went into A Cast of Falcons hoping for the same moody, nature-soaked charm that pulled me into the first Finchmere mystery. And to be fair, the bones of a classic cozy mystery are all here. The wedding-gone-wrong premise had so much potential. A country house mystery at Finchmere? Yes, please. Thatâs my comfort zone with a side of chaos. The mystery itself is competent and decently twisty, but it never fully shook off the feeling of dĂŠjĂ vu, like a second slice of cake when you were already full.
A big sticking point for me was Nellâs ongoing romantic limbo, especially the confusion between two men and the full-blown love triangle energy. Instead of adding spice, it kept pulling focus from the murder and making everyone feel a bit emotionally adolescent in a way that clashed with the cozy-crime tone. You can feel the book trying to be both âAgatha Christie-esque country house mysteryâ and âangsty romantic drama,â and that tug-of-war didnât land for me.
By the end, I wasnât frustrated exactly⌠just detached. And for a cozy mystery series to work, I need to care deeply about the sleuthâs world. This time, I didnât quite.
Would I recommend it? If you enjoy atmospheric British cozy mysteries with emotional subplots and a touch of romantic tension, this one might still work for you. The setting, concept, and occasional flashes of atmospheric tension are solid, but the romance-heavy love triangle and the way it undercuts the mystery kept me at armâs length. For me, though, the second installment didnât resonate the way the first did. And since Iâm not a fan of love triangles, I donât think Iâll be continuing the series.
đ§ Listened in audio đ˘ Narrated by Kristin Atherton âą Duration: 12 hours đˇď¸ Publisher: Bonnier Books UK and Embla Books đ Released: October 18, 2022 đľď¸ââď¸ Genre: Cozy Mystery
I went into A Cast of Falcons hoping for the same moody, nature-soaked charm that pulled me into the first Finchmere mystery. And to be fair, the bones of a classic cozy mystery are all here. The wedding-gone-wrong premise had so much potential. A country house mystery at Finchmere? Yes, please. Thatâs my comfort zone with a side of chaos. The mystery itself is competent and decently twisty, but it never fully shook off the feeling of dĂŠjĂ vu, like a second slice of cake when you were already full.
A big sticking point for me was Nellâs ongoing romantic limbo, especially the confusion between two men and the full-blown love triangle energy. Instead of adding spice, it kept pulling focus from the murder and making everyone feel a bit emotionally adolescent in a way that clashed with the cozy-crime tone. You can feel the book trying to be both âAgatha Christie-esque country house mysteryâ and âangsty romantic drama,â and that tug-of-war didnât land for me.
By the end, I wasnât frustrated exactly⌠just detached. And for a cozy mystery series to work, I need to care deeply about the sleuthâs world. This time, I didnât quite.
Would I recommend it? If you enjoy atmospheric British cozy mysteries with emotional subplots and a touch of romantic tension, this one might still work for you. The setting, concept, and occasional flashes of atmospheric tension are solid, but the romance-heavy love triangle and the way it undercuts the mystery kept me at armâs length. For me, though, the second installment didnât resonate the way the first did. And since Iâm not a fan of love triangles, I donât think Iâll be continuing the series.