A mind to murder

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.