Kam
So this was a fairly entertaining read, as these things go. I wasn’t sure how the author would handle the time-travel aspect, but I thought it would be interesting regardless, especially given the focus on “cases so cold they’re frozen”.
I liked that the protagonist was older, and while not out-and-out grumpy, still had a bit of an edge to her. She’s not one of those sweet old grannies you sometimes get in British cozy mysteries, but she’s not a total grouch either. The team dynamic was also quite nice, though I really think there should have been more time devoted to fleshing out those team members, especially considering how important they become to the plot.
I also felt like the “science” for the time travel was a bit more hand-wavey than it needed to be. I understand that that’s the case in shows like Doctor Who (from which this derives a LOT of inspiration), but in the absence of cues like the TARDIS’s blue police box and its characteristic “vworp vworp” sound, there needs to be a bit more elaboration on how time travel works, precisely, in the setting. Threading the line between over-explaining and under-explaining can be tricky, but in this case I think the book under-explains, which makes it feel like the “rules” aren’t as clear-cut as they’d need to be for the concept to make sense, and the time travel feels more like magic rather than science.
The mysteries also felt rather weak, and were further weakened by the attempt to tie them to each other. Hopping between the two time periods has the unfortunate consequence of derailing any kind of momentum the reader may have built while reading, which leads me to think that the switches exist solely to prevent the reader from connecting the dots too quickly. Because when one takes the individual mysteries as-is, and looks at them outside of the context of the novel’s intertwined structure, they’re really not that complicated, and a reader familiar with mystery tropes can put it all together before the reveal.
Overall, this was an okay mystery novel. I liked that the protagonist was older, and had a bit of an edge to her without making her a total grump. But I really wish that the team around her had been fleshed out more, because they seem like a pretty interesting group of people. I also wish there had been more clarity in certain aspects of the novel, particularly the way time travel works and the two central mysteries that form the heart of the plot. If those aspects had been better-balanced and better-explained, this novel might be a lot richer and a lot more engaging than it currently is.
Originally posted at kamreadsandrecs.tumblr.com.
So this was a fairly entertaining read, as these things go. I wasn’t sure how the author would handle the time-travel aspect, but I thought it would be interesting regardless, especially given the focus on “cases so cold they’re frozen”.
I liked that the protagonist was older, and while not out-and-out grumpy, still had a bit of an edge to her. She’s not one of those sweet old grannies you sometimes get in British cozy mysteries, but she’s not a total grouch either. The team dynamic was also quite nice, though I really think there should have been more time devoted to fleshing out those team members, especially considering how important they become to the plot.
I also felt like the “science” for the time travel was a bit more hand-wavey than it needed to be. I understand that that’s the case in shows like Doctor Who (from which this derives a LOT of inspiration), but in the absence of cues like the TARDIS’s blue police box and its characteristic “vworp vworp” sound, there needs to be a bit more elaboration on how time travel works, precisely, in the setting. Threading the line between over-explaining and under-explaining can be tricky, but in this case I think the book under-explains, which makes it feel like the “rules” aren’t as clear-cut as they’d need to be for the concept to make sense, and the time travel feels more like magic rather than science.
The mysteries also felt rather weak, and were further weakened by the attempt to tie them to each other. Hopping between the two time periods has the unfortunate consequence of derailing any kind of momentum the reader may have built while reading, which leads me to think that the switches exist solely to prevent the reader from connecting the dots too quickly. Because when one takes the individual mysteries as-is, and looks at them outside of the context of the novel’s intertwined structure, they’re really not that complicated, and a reader familiar with mystery tropes can put it all together before the reveal.
Overall, this was an okay mystery novel. I liked that the protagonist was older, and had a bit of an edge to her without making her a total grump. But I really wish that the team around her had been fleshed out more, because they seem like a pretty interesting group of people. I also wish there had been more clarity in certain aspects of the novel, particularly the way time travel works and the two central mysteries that form the heart of the plot. If those aspects had been better-balanced and better-explained, this novel might be a lot richer and a lot more engaging than it currently is.
Originally posted at kamreadsandrecs.tumblr.com.