becca_warren's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
ldawson's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
emilyacres's review against another edition
3.0
She was staring at me with bug eyes, lovely eyes in fact, but it was as if she were looking right through me. The feeling was so strong that I instinctively turned around and used the opportunity to close the door. So my back was to the girl and I didn't see her face when she said: "Griselda's throat's been slit."
When French novelist, Jean-Patrick Machette, began his writing career in the 70s he inadvertently created a new genre of crime-noir, one influenced by his radical politics and leftist views—I mean, count me in already. The outcome is something at once very of the time and also very ahead of its time.
No Room at the Morgue has all the trappings of a classic crime-noir: a sardonic detective, a beautiful young woman viciously murdered and a rapidly increasing body count. And the author definitely wants you to know that the murder victim is attractive, "big, firm breasts" and all. (I should say, this kind of overzealous description of women isn't something that bothers me although it did give me a giggle.) For all its classic crime tropes I didn't find it predictable. Through a series of increasingly bizarre circumstances and the author's evident political influences, the story steers clear of being trite or too derivative of the genre. What won me over was the main character, Eugène Tarpon, a cynical, down-on-his-luck private investigator. I appreciated that he wasn't this story's equivalent of a super hero as you so often see in the detectives of crime novels, and he is all the more likable for it. He trips, he falls, he panics, he takes some punches. He was much more nuanced than I expected, especially given the time of this novel's writing.
This is hardly the twistiest or spookiest crime novel out there but, honestly, those aren't qualities I put much stock in anyway. If you're looking for a classic noir from an unconventional voice then No Room at the Morgue may just be the one for you.
braunische's review
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
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