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Just okay, a little depressing

Revisado: 03-10-13

What did you like best about The Blood Spilt? What did you like least?

I chose this book for its unique northern Scandinavian setting, and I felt like I got a glimpse of what life would be like in a small town there. There was a lot of hunting, berry picking, and wolves - very interesting! I liked learning the names of the towns and picturing the landscape. It was also interesting to see the role that the church plays in the town.

The story itself was a little anticlimactic. It was a bit depressing as well, and focused more on overall life issues than the mystery itself. Maybe it was supposed to reflect real life rather than try to be an exciting story. There were some twists and turns like any mystery, but there weren't any parts where I was truly surprised or shocked. So, it was okay but not great. I did finish it through - once I got involved with all of the characters, about halfway through the book, I got more into it and wanted to know what happened.

Also, this seems to be a book written by a women, for women. It dealt with a lot of women's issues, such as women in the church, women in the workplace, etc. I would say that was overall a very strong theme that was reflected in the metaphor of the female wolf that was described here and there throughout the book. I am a woman but at times this theme was a little too much for me, and I couldn't relate to any of the women characters in this book. I have much more enjoyed reading about the thoughts, quirks, and personal issues of other mystery/detective genre characters such as Kurt Wallander and Lizbeth Salander.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

I did not like the flowery and dramatic language and descriptions. There were too many metaphors used to describe feelings or visual scenes. Sometimes I just want to know what's going on and the descriptions don't have to be so decorative to be effective. There are other mystery writers out there who manage to convey a feeling perfectly without all of that fluffiness.

Would you listen to another book narrated by Hillary Huber?

I am not sure about that. Now that I am used to her voice, I might say yes, but at first I would have said no. When I first started the audio book, I have to admit, I thought the narrator was bad. Her voice monotone - it's like all of the sentences follow the same melodic pattern and there is no variation in emphasis. The change in voices for characters was just okay. There are other narrators who do this much better. I had to get past the voice and try to listen to the story only, which was difficult at first, but halfway though the book, I got used to it and I didn't notice it any more.

Also, maybe she has a Swedish or other type of accent, I don't know, but for some of the words that begin with "s", they sound like they are beginning with a "th" which made it kind of confusing to process the words when I'm listening to them - I had to think twice about it. But again, this is something I got more used to as the book went on.

Do you think The Blood Spilt needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

I feel like the story was wrapped up pretty completely, except there is one thing that I never found out. It's something that happened in the main character's past that is mentioned several times, but we never really find out the details. Some of it comes out at the end but it's not really clear. I think there could be another book that goes more deeply into the personality of this main character, and into her past. Sometimes it takes several books for a reader to get to know and love a character and all of his or her little quirks.

Any additional comments?

I hate to be so negative about this book because I really did want to finish it (and I did), and the story and setting has really stuck with me. It was actually a very memorable book because it was so unique. I would recommend it, but just go into it knowing that it is very different than some of the other Swedish crime novels you may be into, such as the Kurt Wallander mysteries.

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