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aidanjo8's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
lorireads2much's review
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
savannahldarr's review
4.0
Another great book by Lauren Willig. She crafts mysteries so well that I rarely guess who did what. Some of the smaller plot developments were predictable but the large ones were surprises for me. Like many historical fiction and mystery writers these days, Willig rotates her chapters between two different characters and time periods. I know everyone is doing this, but I really like. I always feel like I get a fuller context and story that way. I enjoy getting to know the different characters better this way.
ohsnaplez's review
3.0
Often arch, sometimes histrionic, replete with black/white villains/heroes who are fond of saying things dryly. And quite enjoyable!
wrycounsel's review
1.0
I really like Lauren Willig and have read all of her books. She's one of my go -to authors for smart, well written entertainment. But this book made me miserable.
It's a murder mystery melodrama that was deeply unsatisfying as a whodunit and fell flat as a drama. There's a slow burn love story that's a meeting of the minds between two strong, mature people and yet when the woman finally says to her guy, I love you, I physically rolled my eyes, hard, which I've never done at a Lauren Willig genre romance.
I've always appreciated the warm, active and smart women in Willig's books and there were none in this book. It was a series of horrible scenes of women being nightmarishly bitchy to each other - mother to daughter, aunt to niece, sister to half sister, cousin to cousin. The protagonist is a dullard weakling and she only gains her strength by finding a guy who wants to kiss her. What was the point of this unremitting unpleasantness, of rich white women living in mansions sniping at and goading each other at every turn?
And the rich gay man who calmly, sweetly cons a woman into marrying him and then gently, nicely coerces his wife into letting his lover live in their house made me hate a gay man in a story more than I ever have in my whole life. The fact that he has a terrifying, all consuming mother is a really old cliché that posits that men are gay because their mothers damaged them. The bisexual man and his gay lover are manipulative assholes of a type I've seen in Hitchcock movies and intensely infuriating. The net effect of that storyline was unexpectedly homophobic.
I really...wanted to like this story but the conclusion to the whodunit and then a rushed tying up of all the loose ends makes me think Willig needs to work a lot more at the murder mystery genre to become effective in it.
It's a murder mystery melodrama that was deeply unsatisfying as a whodunit and fell flat as a drama. There's a slow burn love story that's a meeting of the minds between two strong, mature people and yet when the woman finally says to her guy, I love you, I physically rolled my eyes, hard, which I've never done at a Lauren Willig genre romance.
I've always appreciated the warm, active and smart women in Willig's books and there were none in this book. It was a series of horrible scenes of women being nightmarishly bitchy to each other - mother to daughter, aunt to niece, sister to half sister, cousin to cousin. The protagonist is a dullard weakling and she only gains her strength by finding a guy who wants to kiss her. What was the point of this unremitting unpleasantness, of rich white women living in mansions sniping at and goading each other at every turn?
And the rich gay man who calmly, sweetly cons a woman into marrying him and then gently, nicely coerces his wife into letting his lover live in their house made me hate a gay man in a story more than I ever have in my whole life. The fact that he has a terrifying, all consuming mother is a really old cliché that posits that men are gay because their mothers damaged them. The bisexual man and his gay lover are manipulative assholes of a type I've seen in Hitchcock movies and intensely infuriating. The net effect of that storyline was unexpectedly homophobic.
I really...wanted to like this story but the conclusion to the whodunit and then a rushed tying up of all the loose ends makes me think Willig needs to work a lot more at the murder mystery genre to become effective in it.
topdragon's review
4.0
Annabelle and Bayard Van Duyvil would seem to have it all. Both born to wealth and privilege during the Gilded Age of 1890’s New York City, rubbing elbows with the Astors and the Vanderbilts in the “cottages” of Newport, not to mention the rest of the Van Duyvil family. But not all is as it seems and when, on the night of the Twelfth Night Ball, Bayard is found dead with a knife in his chest and Annabelle has gone missing, presumably drowned, all signs point to a murder-suicide. Not all parties agree however.
The novel is told from two separate time frames. First is from the days and weeks following the discovery of Bayard’s body from the point of view of his sister, Janie who forms a partnership with a reporter to find out what really happened. These chapters are interspersed with events that begin six years earlier from the intriguing points of view of Annabelle and Bayard themselves, allowing us to view the actual events as they unfold. The two time frames converge over the course of the entire novel leading to the climax at the end when the two time frames align. It’s a great way to tell a story and it kept me absorbed throughout.
This is a historical mystery/thriller that feels a lot like something that would result if [a:Daphne du Maurier|2001717|Daphne du Maurier|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1422444467p2/2001717.jpg] coauthored a novel with [a:F. Scott Fitzgerald|3190|F. Scott Fitzgerald|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1517864008p2/3190.jpg]. Gilded age novels often seem that way to me, especially if they are well written, as this one is. I’ve not experienced any other novels by Lauren Willig thus far but she seems to be a beloved author and I suspect this will not be my last one to read. Her characters are complex and fully fleshed out. The settings were vibrant and the plot was absorbing. One of my marks of a good novel is pacing, and the structure of this novel was perfect as a way to approach the story, keeping the suspense building slowly but surely into a fiery blaze of an ending. I also enjoyed the numerous red herrings and bits of innuendo from various characters that not only fleshed out their personalities but also kept me turning the pages past my bedtime.
Thanks to St Martin’s Press for inviting me to read and review a free electronic ARC through NetGalley in return for an honest review.
The novel is told from two separate time frames. First is from the days and weeks following the discovery of Bayard’s body from the point of view of his sister, Janie who forms a partnership with a reporter to find out what really happened. These chapters are interspersed with events that begin six years earlier from the intriguing points of view of Annabelle and Bayard themselves, allowing us to view the actual events as they unfold. The two time frames converge over the course of the entire novel leading to the climax at the end when the two time frames align. It’s a great way to tell a story and it kept me absorbed throughout.
This is a historical mystery/thriller that feels a lot like something that would result if [a:Daphne du Maurier|2001717|Daphne du Maurier|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1422444467p2/2001717.jpg] coauthored a novel with [a:F. Scott Fitzgerald|3190|F. Scott Fitzgerald|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1517864008p2/3190.jpg]. Gilded age novels often seem that way to me, especially if they are well written, as this one is. I’ve not experienced any other novels by Lauren Willig thus far but she seems to be a beloved author and I suspect this will not be my last one to read. Her characters are complex and fully fleshed out. The settings were vibrant and the plot was absorbing. One of my marks of a good novel is pacing, and the structure of this novel was perfect as a way to approach the story, keeping the suspense building slowly but surely into a fiery blaze of an ending. I also enjoyed the numerous red herrings and bits of innuendo from various characters that not only fleshed out their personalities but also kept me turning the pages past my bedtime.
Thanks to St Martin’s Press for inviting me to read and review a free electronic ARC through NetGalley in return for an honest review.