I wasn't a fan of The Treasure Hunters Club, but the twist was surprising - even if it was more annoying than clever.
I listened to the audiobook and while the narrator was competent, I may have been a little spoiled by some of the fabulous readers I listened to lately. Or maybe it's tough to do three main characters make them all convincing. We forty year old Peter who is new to town, hoping to make a connection with the grandmother he never knew. Cass is house sitting and trying to write a new book. And finally, there's self-proclaimed teenage detective Dandy, who is grieving after the death of her grandfather. We got a couple murder, a lost treasure, and families keeping secrets.
The concept is great, but the story itself fell flat for me. Each of the characters, and half the town, had good backstories, but weren't fully developed as characters. I didn't really care about them. And the...
This Book Will Bury Me is told from Jane Sharpe's point of view. She's 24, has recently lost her father by way of a heart attack, and has become obsessed with true crime, or maybe more accurate, with a true crime online forum where amateur sleuths discuss clues and theories about the murders in the headlines. I listened to the audio and the narrator does a fabulous job. Her tone and pace match the story well. Each character has a distinctive voice, and she brings out Jane's emotions well.
Take the time to read the author note on this one. She was inspired by several real life murder cases, including the killings in Idaho in 2022, and the loss of her own father. How you feel about that may influence whether you want to pick this one up or not.
The plot is engrossing. Jane has found acceptance and support in her online community, even a bit of fame. Then...
I honestly expected to thoroughly enjoy The Marlow Murder Club. It features three very different women who form a friendship and solve murders. We have Judith, in her 70s, who lives on her own in a mansion on the edge of town, drinks too much, and sets crossword puzzles. Becks is the vicar's wife, who usually spends her time taking care of her family and house. Suzy is a dog-walker who is estranged from her adult daughter. I like the friendship the women form and how they push each other outside of their comfort zones.
The plot is where the story really let me down. Judith very early on has a couple of suspicions and then they spend the rest of the book trying to prove her theories. A few of the clues were unbelievable. The twist wasn't surprising, although it did make the mystery overly convoluted. Even the suspenseful ending was over the top and borderline silly.
I listened...
The Three Act Tragedy led me to a reread of The Mysterious Mr. Quin, collection of short mystery stories that feature Mr. Harley Quin and Mr. Satterthwaite. Mr. Satterthwaite, is upper class, single, a man who loves his comforts and is rich enough to afford them. He enjoys life’s dramas, watching rather than participating. Satterthwaite is both the main character and the sidekick. It’s his reasoning and actions that solve the mysteries, but it’s Harley Quin who mysteriously shows up at just the right time and asks just the right questions. Mr. Quin is a touch supernatural, he seems to intercede on the behalf of lovers or the dead, those whose mysteries still need solved.
The stories in the collection are a variety of situations. Sometimes cold cases are solved, tragedy prevented because a wrong is righted, and sometimes a murder is solved. I think I enjoyed them more this time around because I knew what to expect. I listened to...
Three Act Tragedy is not a story I remember well - it's been ages since I read it last. This time around I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Hugh Fraser, who just does these wonderfully. His characterizations are spot on and his pace and tone match the plot well.
The book opens with a dinner party. A retired famous actor, Sir Charles Cartwright, hosts a dinner party for local friends and some guests from London including Mr. Satterthwaite (from the Harley Quin stories) and Hercule Poirot. Of course, someone dies, but only Sir Charles and another guest, the young Miss Egg Lytton-Gore suspect suspect murder. Until a second house party with many of the same guests ends in a similar death, but this time it's definitely murder - the police discover the poison that was used. Sir Charles and Egg convince Satterthwaite and eventually Poirot that they need to take the investigation into their own hands.
The plot is...
The Secret Detective Agency has a good set up. We're in London in 1941, right in the middle of WW2. Jane Treen, a mid level spymaster working in Whitehall, is concerned because several of her agents who were connected with Operation Exodus have been murdered. There seems to be a mole in their midst. Most recently, Kate Trevellian was murdered in a small village outside of Exeter, at Half Moon Manor, the home of Arthur Cilento. Arthur, conveniently, is a mathematician and codebreaker who also works for the government. Arthur had been renting the house out to Kate, and he has just returned home, so is not a suspect. Jane's boss sends her to Half Moon Manor to work with Arthur to figure out who murdered Kate and uncover the plot to kill off the remaining Operation Exodus spies.
Jane and Arthur are total contrasts to each other. Jane is intuitive, on the move, and a chain-smoker (as we are...
