Gina Parrish
It amazes me not just how entertaining these short spy novels are but also how well written they are. The author has a skill for writing characters and plots that are dynamic and intriguing. There have been several popular novels written recently with the old-person spy/detective theme—good ones, too—but the Mrs. Pollifax series takes the cake and paved the way for those novels to even exist.
This novel was a complete slog for me. On the surface the topics interested me—an ocean liner, the 1930s, a revenge plot, false identities—but it felt like the author couldn't make up her mind about what she wanted the book to be so she made it everything and nothing all at once.
There were many mysterious circumstances revolving around the Morro Castle in real life, and yet none of them were really explored in the book. Instead she forced her own plot on top of the true story and they never really meshed. As soon as the climax began it felt out of place, because it wasn't really foreshadowed at all. I began skimming, ready to be done... not my typical reaction to what's supposed to be the most exciting part of the book.
As for the writing, the dialogue felt unnatural and there were places that could've used tighter editing. I usually prefer sparse writing but there should've been more detail in this one to establish a sense of place and to make you care about the characters. The whole novel felt a touch lazy to be honest, rushed to the publisher because of a deadline. I won't read another of this author's books.
I enjoyed this thriller. It was an interesting read and good for my book club. The first fourth of the book had me engrossed and flying through the pages, then it slowed down a bit and I expected it to pick back up again near the end, but it never felt as thrilling as in the beginning. I didn't give it five stars because something about it didn't hit the mark for me... maybe it felt a bit too surface level in the present day sections. Anyway it was worth reading but kind of forgettable.
I hovered between three and four stars for this one. The writing is always strong from this author, which makes me want to rate it higher, but I don't think I would read this one again.
The characters are fleshed out and the plotting is thorough, as always, but my biggest complaint is that the mystery is sidelined in this one to make room for exhaustive family drama, which has never been my favorite. The murder mentioned in the title happens two hundred pages in, about halfway through, and there are no elements of the mystery you can solve along with the characters.
As for the family drama, it all centers around Verity being gone for five years, which to me doesn't feel that long, especially in the middle of a war. Her family shows little understanding or compassion for her (considering she thought her husband was dead for a year and a half of that time frame) and they have long drawn out discussions about their anger towards one another that could have been edited down. Then in the end, everything is wrapped up neatly between everyone, with love and acceptance ruling the day, which didn't feel authentic to me.
Also, the characters still feel a bit too highbrow, and they are too perfect (skillful, clever, mature, attractive, sexually competent, etc.)—to the point of teetering on unlikeable.
I plan to read the next one but look forward to more action and less face-touching in the midst of grief.
PS In reference to some other reviews I've read... I don't understand why anyone would start with the fifth book in a series, and then complain that they didn't understand the backstory. And I still think this series is far better than Maise Dobbs. I had to give up after the fourth one because I couldn't stand it.
I consider myself a fan of classic detective fiction, but after reading this novel and the Roman Hat Mystery I don't think Ellery Queen is for me.
For one thing, The Greek Coffin Mystery was about 100 pages too long, maybe more. For another, it was needlessly convoluted. The logic didn't really track, no matter how hard the author tried, and it wasn't as clever as it made itself out to be. The only clues you need to solve the mystery come three-fourths of the way through the book, so you're left wondering why the first three hundred pages were necessary in the first place.
Then there were too many indistinguishable characters, and half of them are police officers or working for the police. Without much character development, it was hard to know who was who or to care about who committed the murder in the first place or why.
Somehow it still eked three stars out of me because I like mysteries in this genre. I'm probably going to give up on the author though.
The description of this book checked a lot of boxes for me. Egyptology, prohibition era crime, forgeries, art deco era New York City... the parts that described these areas of my interest I liked. The rest... meh.
This book could have benefited from a good editor. It was about 100 pages too long and I noticed many sentences, paragraphs, and chapters that could have been put on the chopping block to benefit the book as a whole.
Every emotion, character, and relationship is exhaustively over explained so that it seems the author doesn't trust her readers to be able to read between the lines or interpret anything for themselves. This goes too for all the Christian metaphors, which were tolerable for most of the book but then became saccharine and ridiculous at the very end. You might as well have hit me over the head yelling, “GOD LOVES YOU—DON'T YOU GET IT?”
Then there are the characters. Lauren, the main female character, is hopelessly naive for a single thirty-something living in New York City with a PHD. She relies on Joe, the main male character, to protect her as the “guardian of her well-being”. These stereotypes wouldn't have been so annoying except that they are spelled out for you so many times. Then there's Lauren's relationship with her father where she shows no backbone in her desperate quest for love and approval. It borders on pathetic, which is not a trait I prefer in protagonists.
The book isn't terrible. But it definitely suffers from what I call the “Christian Art Problem” where the quality of the art is sacrificed for the sake of content deemed acceptable by impossible to please Christians. I decided to give it the benefit of the doubt when I realized it was published by Bethany House, but it proved my assumptions correct.
Anyone who likes the topic of Egyptology and is looking for a better adventure suspense series should read the Amelia Peabody series by Elizabeth Peters.
This book is much better than the last one, even though they build on one another. I read these more for the mystery and spy plots than for the romance plot, though I do find it funny and annoying how everyone is SO in love with Verity and Sidney because they are SO attractive and desirable. I wish there were a few more likable and relevant female characters in the story and that Sidney and Verity were a little less superhuman, but otherwise I find these to be compelling reading.
The Roman Hat Mystery was moderately entertaining as an early golden age mystery but it dragged on too long for the material and lacked nuance with the plot, characters, and themes.
Being a fair play mystery it gave me the chance to solve the mystery alongside the detectives, perhaps a little too literally, which I did and I was right, but it wasn't as satisfying as I had hoped. After finding out the solution, I realized it wasn't as fair play as I had wanted and yet it wasn't as challenging as I had wanted either. We didn't know the motive for the murder or anything about the murderer until the end and it was disappointing with modern eyes and not explored at all.
The entire book is firmly set in its time period and everything relies on knowing the decade—particularly to understand how men dressed to go to the theatre, which is integral to the plot. I felt there was a bit of missed opportunity (Chekhov would be disappointed) in that at a play called “Gunplay” where lots of gunfire happens onstage a man is poisoned in the audience. Why poisoned instead of shot?
Anyway it was a lot of little annoyances that didn't add up, plus messy plotting and characterizing, that put this at three stars for me.
I have really been enjoying this series but this novel has been my least favorite so far. I again enjoyed the blend of mystery and historical fiction, but the plot dragged and was bogged down by redundant character arcs and pointless side plots.
Honestly, the characters seemed so perfect in this one that they came off as unrealistic. They are so mature, thoughtful, caring, attractive, competent, wealthy, and sexually active (at only 24 years old) it's annoying. Sidney is the strong, masculine protector and Verity is the compassionate, feminine supporter. Together they overcome the demons of their pasts to bring justice to a cruel and unfair world. All of their assumptions prove to be correct and they always know the next right step. They're like superheroes, even though, just months previously, their lives were in tatters.
I don't know. I still enjoyed the writing but near the end I was ready for it to be done. Hopefully the next one will be better.
This series checks all the boxes for me with regard to writing style, voice, genre, length, and subject matter. I particularly like the balance between history and mystery, as well as character and plot. I am so glad I gave this series a chance after giving up on the Maise Dobbs series by Jacqueline Winspear. My only critique is that sometimes the romance can straddle the line into oversentimentality, but every time that crosses my mind while reading the author jumps back into the plot, so it seems like she tries to make sure it doesn't go overboard. Overall I would highly recommend.
I was pleasantly surprised by this action-adventure novel. It was well-written, well-characterized, well-plotted... everything you could ask for, and with added bits of humor and thoughtfulness thrown in. I think it would appeal to a wide variety of people, particularly those who like plot-driven novels and quirky old people.
I have been reading this series in order and at this point I am ready to give up. James seems to have run out of ideas and takes her readers' patience for granted.
This one, like the previous two, takes place at a medical institution and has the same undercurrents of misanthropy as her others, especially toward the sick and disabled. Only this time, detective Adam Dalgliesh has checked out—he declares that, based on the evidence, he doubts a murder has taken place, and even if one has, he just doesn't care enough to solve it.
He decides this, I should mention, around page two hundred. That's right, two hundred pages in, the protagonist tells us he doesn't care about the potential murder one way or the other, and you have no choice, after slogging through two hundred pages of characters you can't remember doing nothing much, but to agree with him.
Then, if you do keep reading, you're treated to a similar ending as one of the previous books in the series. It may have been mildly satisfying, had you not been dragged through the rest of the book, desperate for it to be over. But instead you're just happy for it to be done.
I have no idea how James thought apathy would be engaging for readers. To me, it seems obvious. You have to make your readers care about your main character, and therefore you have to make your main character care—about something, about anything! James comes off as someone who believes herself to be a good writer, and her outside interviews support that. But after a few books she comes off as arrogant, and even a bit cruel, and frankly as someone who I would never want working for the NHS. (According to her bio she worked there for many years and I assume that's why so many of her books take place at medical institutions.) This one left me frustrated and disappointed.
I enjoyed this historical mystery more than I thought. The writing was tight and the plot well thought-through. The only reason it didn't hit five stars for me was because the romantic elements verged on oversentimental, particularly in the second half of the book. For all the nuance in a certain relationship, I would have preferred more restraint. Also, the mystery could have involved a bit more fair play, more of a puzzle to solve. Other than that, I am excited to read the next one. I've read the first four of the Maise Dobbs novels, which take place in the same time period, and after reading this one I think this series has the potential to be better. It may be a matter of taste, but having read some of the other authors Anna Huber has been compared to in reviews (Elly Griffiths, Jacqueline Winspear, etc.) I think she measures up better.
PD James is a good mystery writer. She's not the best mystery writer, nor my favorite mystery writer, but there's no denying that she has both skill and talent.
This installment in the Adam Dalgliesh series takes place once again at a hospital (though this time a different kind of hospital) and involves a tad too much hospital administration for my taste. But the writing is strong and the mystery is well-plotted. There's plenty of misdirection to keep you on your toes and the action ramps up in the second half to keep the pages turning. Ultimately that's what I look for in a good mystery, so this one got a solid four stars from me.
The reason PD James is not up there with my favorite mystery writers is she tends to write in a more serious, misanthropic voice. I recently read a quote of hers that insisted that mystery writers should be taken as seriously as other writers and it struck me that she writes as if she's afraid someone might accuse her of writing cheap genre fiction. With some of the “cozies” I've seen out there I get where she is coming from, but some of the best mystery writers, like Dorothy Sayers and Agatha Christie, write as if they don't care one way or the other who takes them seriously and I prefer that. I like to see some characters have an optimistic viewpoint on life and some characters that genuinely care for other people. It doesn't all have to be light, but it can't all be bitter either. That's why I prefer classic detective mysteries to the hard-boiled variety.
Anyway, I intend to keep going with the series until the end.
The history behind this book is fascinating. It's fun learning about the Pulaski shipwreck, as well as the expedition uncovering it, and the history of Savannah.
That said, I wasn't a fan of the writing. The chapters set in the past, written in third person, were far better than the chapters in present day, written in first person. And there was altogether too much telling and not enough showing. I consider myself to be of reasonable intelligence and can gather things for myself without having them explained to me.
Not to mention, some of the language in the present day chapters is too sentimental and ethereal for my taste. For example:
“What really mattered? Minutes or years passed as I searched for the answer. Finally my heart called out: everything. Everything matters. ... There existed a great life force, a presence that could only be called love. Alongside me, inside me, around me, I sensed the waves of something larger than the ocean itself. Love, where I would eventually go. ... It was unseen and it held everything together. I was in it and I was of it.”
I prefer more straight-forward writing and I think prose and moralizing need to be earned. So overall the novel was only okay for me. I did enjoy reading the author's note and learning about the history though.
It's tough to review this one because it wasn't quite what I expected. I definitely thought that the character Flashman would be more charming, witty, and hilarious than he turned out to be. Instead he turned out to be a (self-admitted) scoundrel and coward, a hypocrite, and an altogether mean and unlikeable scumbag. So that knocked the book down a few stars for me, even though I recognize the parody the author is going for.
The plot and historical fiction aspects brought a few stars back. While the first half focuses a tad heavily on military strategy, the rest focuses on stories of the British First Afghan War that I had never heard before. It's absolutely fascinating, and Fraser does a good job writing adventure. He clearly has learned a thing or two from his predecessors in the genre.
So in the end I landed somewhere in the middle between offended and invested, wondering if I should read the next one or not. We'll see.
This was a surprisingly good action-adventure story written in the late 19th century. As someone reading it with modern eyes, I expected to be offended more often while reading it than I was. It did have a number of cringe-worthy lines and it was hard to read some parts knowing the later effects of colonialism (countries in war over blood diamonds, endangered species from over-hunting, the negative effects on African culture, etc.) but, recognizing it as a product of its time, I enjoyed it and can see how it influenced the genre. It was also clear that the author had some affection and respect for Africa and its people.
I only rated it a three because I felt that the narrator and main character, Allan, was pretty flat. As I read, I would lose interest and then gain interest again, repeat, repeat. It was very plot-driven and not very character-driven, and while the plot was fascinating, it needed to be both. The native characters were more interesting and dynamic than the trio of super-English white men. Also, it would have benefited from some less-stereotyped female characters, as there were only two: the beautiful young love interest and the evil old hag.
That said, it was enjoyable but I don't anticipate moving on with the series.
It's really hard to write a review without spoilers for this one, so I'll have to be vague. Overall, I liked it, but the book was too caught up in the trappings of the mystery and not focused enough on the mystery itself.
In the end it felt like a lot of the time spent had been wasted by the main character (and the reader) trying to figure out what was going on. And it wasn't clear what his objective was, because he didn't know what it was himself. (Was it to escape? Was it to solve the murder? Was it to save Evelyn? Was it to save someone else? Was it to make someone else miserable?) So then it became unclear if or when the objective would be accomplished.
As for the mystery, the author made it seem like it was fair play, that we could solve it as readers if we really tried, but it wasn't, and we couldn't. The answers and crucial clues are kept hidden and then appear out of the blue. Most of the time you feel like the protagonist acts purely on his emotions without using his brain at all, but then suddenly he has the whole mystery figured out.
As for the trappings of the mystery, the big reveal had a morality lesson thrown in that overshadowed the ending. You can't teach a lesson on redemption and the human capacity for change in 15 pages of a 450 page book, especially when that hasn't been a running theme throughout.
I had a few more pet peeves that can't be mentioned without spoilers, but I still rated the book a three because I enjoyed reading it for the most part. With some (rather large) tweaks I would have enjoyed it more.
I didn't love this one. The plot hung together thinly and it didn't feel like fair play to the reader in the end. Still, the setting and the writing made up for much. Like the previous novels, I had trouble with how bitter and unkind the author is with her characters. None of them look well on each other, which to me doesn't seem realistic. After all, in real life some people actually like each other. But overall, it was entertaining reading, if not my favorite mystery novel.
I mean... what's there not to like? Action, adventure, mistaken identities, romance. This one was better than I expected actually. The writing was fairly sparse but I didn't mind, and it was ridiculous and over the top at times, which I knew beforehand. But generally I can see why this story inspired so many others of its type.
Our Darkest Night was well researched and well written too. I enjoyed how it took place in Italy (in places I have visited, no less!) and gave a slightly different backdrop for WWII. I appreciated how it played fictional witness to a real event and real people in such a thoughtful and honorable way.
That said, it didn't hit five stars for me because it was maybe too careful. The main characters Nico and Nina were likable but one-dimensional. They didn't have any notable flaws and they never did anything wrong except for what couldn't be helped. It almost felt like the author was afraid to have us think anything bad about them. But humans are all flawed, and to give Nina the humanity the Nazis were trying to take away from her, she needed to be flawed too. Nico came out as the stereotypical hero, always standing up for others, sacrificing himself, and his story largely mirrored Nina's which took the spotlight off of her.
Other than that I enjoyed being swept up in this book. I did cry the entire way through but what can you do? I recommend it to anyone who wants WWII historical fiction that takes place in Italy and with a romance plot.
This one was hard for me to rate because James is such a talented writer and has a knack for plotting her mysteries well.
But when it came down to it, I found the first half of the book rather dry. Hospital administration is not one of my interests, and that's largely what the first half of this book consisted of, that and lots of characters and alibis that were difficult to keep track of.
The second half picked up and held my interest more. The suspects were put into scenes where they were much easier to keep track of and we got to know more of the interesting bits about the characters. The ending hit all the right notes for me and James should be applauded for her plotting.
That said, she has a rather cruel way of treating her characters that I find grating. For example, she described one woman as having a “stupid face” (seems harsh and childish) and others are constantly described as common, unintelligent, petty, etc. which makes the entire read feel cynical. No one has a good opinion of anyone else, and occasionally it feels slightly misogynistic.
Apparently she has a high view of doctors, though, as well as hospitals (not one I share, unfortunately) and she adheres to patient confidentiality, even with her fictional characters. I found that, in particular, extremely strange.
This was my first time reading one of this author's books and, in the end, I enjoyed it but I was underwhelmed. The absurd and nonsensical style was exactly my kind of thing, but the plot wasn't clever enough or clean enough for my liking. Some chapters I was really on board with what was happening and others I lost interest. Some of the descriptive passages I skimmed to get to the point, and the point was always muddled. That said, some parts and concepts of the book really worked. It had some great pockets of humor. But it also had some preachy social commentary and overdone bits for shock factor. I don't know, I am middle of the road on this one.
This installment was my favorite in the series so far. I thought it was the best written and plotted as well. The only thing I wish is that the books were more spaced out in time. It's like every few weeks some new adventure strikes this duo, which I wouldn't mind so much except the progress of Gwen getting her life back moves so slowly. In the end, she's still stuck in the same basic predicament as in the first book. Iris finally resolves some of her basic predicaments in this book, only not so much. She's still in the same apartment, still broken up with one bad guy, still dating another. Still, I look forward to the next one.