msseviereads's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed the sense of place that the author inserted so strongly in this book. I haven't read any other Nora Gavin books, but would look for them in the future. Great mystery, suspense book.
kelsey24's review against another edition
2.0
I didn't realize this was the third book in a series, so I may have missed a lot of important background information. Overall, this was an intriguing book BUT I found it highly unrealistic. Trying to solve a murder from 5+ years ago, the amount of "new" evidence they just easily stumbled upon was unrealistic, especially when it came to DNA evidence that had been worn every day for 5+ years but still somehow managed to have uncontaminated DNA? Easily finding a murder victim that had disappeared 100+ years ago and walking through their house to find everything undisturbed for that long?
I also found it very transphobic in the last 20 pages or so. There was absolutely no reason at all to include that random aspect, except to demonize trans people and those that aren't 100% straight. Very disappointing and unnecessary.
I also found it very transphobic in the last 20 pages or so. There was absolutely no reason at all to include that random aspect, except to demonize trans people and those that aren't 100% straight. Very disappointing and unnecessary.
bgg616's review against another edition
4.0
The story is good but DON"T choose the audiobook.I hated the narration. The main character is an American who works in Ireland. Two-thirds of the story takes place in the US but the narrator who is British (Rosalyn Landor) chose to read the book in an over-the-top stage Irish accent (kind of a Kerry accent). So, so annoying. She mispronounces Irish names and place names, her reading of Irish (Gaelic) at the beginning is atrocious, the name Triona should be pronounced tree-nuh not tree-own-a (like Fiona) and Glencomlumkille is not pronounced glen-cawl-um-killy. Her male characters all sound like grumpy old men even when they are teenagers. Her children's voices are even worse, if that's possible. She over dramatizes every scene. Sorry to rant and I think there are probably many listeners who are less fussy. If i could give the audiobook less than 1 star, I would. I will avoid anything by this narrator in the future. Her inability to convincingly differentiate voices of different ages and genders ruins the listening experience.
The story is good, but read it rather than listen to the audiobook.
The story is good, but read it rather than listen to the audiobook.
katymvt's review against another edition
5.0
Good page turner. Probably would actually put it somewhere between a 4 and a 5.
katkfern's review against another edition
4.0
I love me a good crime novel! Took me a bit to wade through - the writing was heavier than I’m used to, but enjoyable nonetheless. The way so many character’s POV’s were included and interwoven had me wondering the whole time whodunnit, and I have to say my guess changed many a time throughout. And I LOVED the Irish folklore woven throughout. Beautiful!
sar_19's review against another edition
3.0
It took me awhile to finish this audiobook. After the murderer was revealed, there was still several chapters left. Maybe I was just not concentrating at the time.
essyem's review against another edition
3.0
Not my favorite. Love magical realism in general, but not here so much. As other reviewers pointed out, the library book on the shelf (not touched for five years and later vanishing?) made me roll my eyes. As a St. Paulite, I also didn’t love her descriptions of the city and its different neighborhoods — it felt like she resorted to stereotypes and tropes in places. Plus, I didn’t want to read about Minnesota — I got into the series because of the bog bodies, and I see that I’m not alone in that! Finally, I really disliked the unnecessary details about Peter wearing women’s underwear. It felt like a totally unnecessarily and borderline-transphobic pathologizing of gender identity exploration — completely unrelated to the murders but thrown in to make Peter seem even more evil and twisted. Hart is a skilled writer and, like her previous books, this one was hard to put down, but it just wasn’t as effectively done as the other two. Looking forward to reading the 4th, as I believe she returns to Ireland there!
lunasmaria's review against another edition
4.0
4 Stars
We are such soft, fragile creatures.
This was as amazing as the first 2 - I did miss the historical aspect and the fact that majority of the book is set in a different place was a little disappointing.
It was a great mystery but maybe a little too out of the historical/magical realm and more of a urban murder mystery.
We are such soft, fragile creatures.
This was as amazing as the first 2 - I did miss the historical aspect and the fact that majority of the book is set in a different place was a little disappointing.
It was a great mystery but maybe a little too out of the historical/magical realm and more of a urban murder mystery.