Christiana

Definitely do not like this new narrator

Revisado: 02-04-23

The narrator of the first two books was so much better at expressing these characters, especially in pulling off the age defining humor that riddles these books and makes them so enjoyable. This new narrator is constantly in some weird whisper mode that is difficult to hear at times and definitely incapable of achieving that wonderful level of snarkiness that makes the main characters so endearing.

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Love Gamache stories but hard to follow the timeline on this one

Revisado: 12-17-22

I have a great respect for Louise Penny and love this particular series; however, I did struggle with following the timeline in this book. This could be because it’s audio so there is no announcement that the story is going back in time at the beginning of a chapter. Now having said that I will also acknowledge that it is not an easy task for a writer to move the audience back and forth in time with a story. I have personally found it to be one of my own greatest challenges as a writer as well. All in all, Penny doesn’t disappoint with her main story line and once again the amazing detective Gamache and his merry band of Three Piners leads us through a dashing mystery experience that leaves the reader with a few thoughts to ponder.

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Best one so far

Revisado: 11-17-22

As a writer myself, I usually find myself writing a critique that has compliments and criticisms in equal amount, but that is not the case this time. There are very few details in this book that do not need to be there. They each serve a purpose. Many writers seem to write in circles without any forward progress, without providing the reader with reasonable clues. For some I think it’s more about the word count of the novel than about the word quality. We lose sight of that sometimes. Horowitz never loses sight of the reader who, by the way, is the most important 3rd person in any book.
This book is brilliantly written by taking us on a journey through characters’ lives and motives and all the while enlisting our emotions for each character in a way that manages to play us (the readers) like a well tuned violin. It is not until the end of the book that one realizes one never really had a fighting chance to love or hate or find indifference with any character. Horowitz draws the reader in to feel exactly what he wants one to feel and moves us through this journey with such smoothness and ease.
My one complaint, which ironically is my complaint with most other writers but in a opposing pole, is that his description of the theater design itself was perhaps not detailed enough to pick up on certain clues. Many times writers over describe a scene or edifice or character to the point that the reader grows bored (again usually trying to fulfill the word count) and loses interest or moves ahead in the book. To be honest I personally would rather the writer understate rather than over describe in an effort to keep my attention and continue the fluidity of the story.
Well done Horowitz!

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Enjoyable characters. Good storyline that moves well.

Revisado: 02-11-22

Enjoyed this book more than the first although the relationship of two main characters was somewhat predictable from reading the first book. I’m guessing the next book will proceed over the course of the two main female characters being pregnant at the same time (just following in the line of predictable plot options). Again I’m grateful for Collins ability to move her storyline along at a decent pace and avoid redundant conversations. The underlying “love” story was a little less cheesy than the first book, which apparently Collins normally excels at given her other books (which I have yet to read as that is not genre I particularly care to partake). Collins also managed to pull of the “climax action” scene much better this time by avoiding silly prosaic phrases and actions in what I call 1940s, bad acting, gangster movie style. I look forward to the next book and will be impressed if it doesn’t follow the story line I predicted above. Either way I’m sure it will still be delightfully entertaining.

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A little “cheesy” but a good story line

Revisado: 02-10-22

I think one of my biggest complaints with mystery writers is their inability to move the plot forward sometimes. This was not the case with this book. Collins does a pretty decent job of moving the plot along and providing sufficient new information so that the conversations do not become redundant and boring. I also like the basis of the main characters; however some more needs to go in to character development. The underlying “love” story seems to move a little faster than is believable of the characters and therefore comes off as quite cheesy sounding at times. The action scenes also come across as a bit lame and reminiscent of a 1940s gangster movie with bad acting and cliche machinations. Sometimes it is better to avoid the silly drama in order to legitimize the characters and the story. Having said that, I’m willing to read the next book in the series to see what Collins does differently and whether or not her writing continues to development more sustenance. This book was not a bad start.

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Good plot idea but too much redundancy at times

Revisado: 02-01-22

When I first started reading the Lord and Lady Harrington series I wasn’t sure I liked it but I kept reading the next in the series and really started to like this little village and how the author kept adding new people to the village but using her plot story lines to do it. Now I know the history behind many of the characters and they have become very dear to me. In the beginning James and Beth’s marriage comes off a little too idyllic and unbelievable but the complicated relationships of others in the village helps to offset their seemly perfect marriage harmony which is rarely a reality even in the 1950s. I enjoyed this particular storyline but unfortunately the author becomes very redundant in her “clues” without adding a little extra or building them so the reader can make some deductions. It felt like the characters were saying the same thing over and over just rephrasing it differently each time. Overall though I still enjoyed following the characters and their journeys and hope to see if Florkiewicz will bring the Native American, Joe, back to the village for future episodes.

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Frustrating and predictable

Revisado: 01-08-22

Unlike Alfred Hitchcock where there is predictably to the story along with the suspense of coming to the inevitable, this book is painfully circling what is so incredibly obvious to the reader. It becomes too frustrating watching the obtuseness of the main character who is supposed to be incredibly perceptive. Too much time is spent chasing the characters’ bizarre logic and explaining the reasons for visiting a place or talking to a person. There is such a thing as over spoon feeding your readers with clues. Less explaining, loss the ridiculous obtuseness, and develop the plot and story line better.

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Disappointed

Revisado: 08-11-21

Normally I have enjoyed Lynn Messina books but this one frustrated me to no end. The banter between her two main characters has grown exponentially to the point that the verbal sparing completely drowns out the story line. There is a fine line between jocularity and down right silliness and this book crossed that line. I also normally enjoy the narrator’s enthusiasm but in this book I think the animated presentation contributed to the absurdity of the behaviors of her characters and overall becomes a distraction from the storyline.

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Entertaining

Revisado: 08-05-21

The plot was actually pretty good but sometimes it was very hard to follow. Maybe a few too many twist and turns but still very entertaining. I very much liked the development of the character, Nancy. She was quite entertaining. I also liked Rowland’s character. He was presented in the perfect fashion. I think it would be interesting to bring him back in another novel. I would like to see more of him. I think he has a lot to offer to future plots. As far as “fight scenes go”, it is hard to make them not sound too cheesy or too what I like to call “Batman style”. For people old enough to remember when the original Batman would fight and then the scene would freeze and a word like “pow” would show up on the screen which I think definitely comes off as lacking total imagination. The author did do a descent job of the fight scene even though it too was confusing at times. Overall the characters and story is quite entertaining with an excellent narrator.

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Believable

Revisado: 08-04-21

I was a little hesitant at first to start this series because the initial pretense for the main character to land where she did (at the Mayfair Hotel) was a little prosaic to say the least. However, once I did start the series one of the things I found endearing was that the main character, Cleo, was so much more believable than her prosaic predecessors. As a writer and avid reader, I have found character development to follow one of two paths. They are either a Cinderella story or some incredibly brilliant woman who is taking her the world by storm. I don’t feel Cleo is really either of these paths. She is moving into a new century and more forward thinking for sure, but she is still completely unaware of her presence and abilities. She comes off as fumbling her way through a problem. She is neither dazzling or brilliant but ordinary and that is perfectly okay because in reality it that is what most of us are. Many authors like to present their character as so incredibly brilliant and intuitive in the beginning, but then the character will go and do something reckless and inappropriate such as putting themselves in some dangerous situation that completely disassembles one’s previous view of the character’s intelligence. As a reader I find that very frustrating and the character loses credibility in my eyes. I find Cleo comes across as unsure and questioning herself, and doesn’t put herself in unnecessary peril out of pride or stupidity. This is a character I can get behind or even crawl into and become, because this is more in keeping with reality. I sincerely hope that Archer will continue to keep Cleo’s character along this route and not feel the need to grow her into someone who is too clever or in need of saving or rescuing; but rather, allow her to continue to plod along in her way of finding her path in this world by making mistakes and thinking of giving up and then putting her mind back into the problem and pushing her direction of logic to reasonable conclusions.

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