karina_dreamsinwords's review against another edition
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
3.5
A murder mystery dinner production set in a castle experiences a death of their own amongst the crew.
This is such a fun cozy mystery with an intriguing back drop & vast character list to make unraveling the mystery an enjoyable ride.
Highly recommend for autumnal reading🍂
This is such a fun cozy mystery with an intriguing back drop & vast character list to make unraveling the mystery an enjoyable ride.
Highly recommend for autumnal reading🍂
alliegutie's review
4.0
This was a fun mystery with a unique premise! I loved the setting of a castle/dinner theater cast.Â
I am BEGGING these mystery writers to stop making the cop the love interest though.Â
I am BEGGING these mystery writers to stop making the cop the love interest though.Â
jitterbun's review
dark
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
bigotterbooks's review
3.0
3 stars. Super unusual setting-Nora gets a job as an actress in a murder/mystery venue called Castle Dark. The twist? It is an actual real castle! So, a spooky setting but not too scary since it's not an ancient castle but a constructed castle in Illinois. The first two chapters dragged but once it got going, wow, this was a good book. The actors live in the castle, patrons show up and wander around trying to solve the mystery and it's such fun I wish it was real. Then, as usual, a real murder occurs. There are secrets, rivalries, a dog and CATS! The plot moves right along and there is a very scary part that was unexpected but extra awesome to turn up the heat on the whodunnit and why. There were some draggy parts in the middle and quite a few characters to keep track of but not too bad. The romance parts were cute and well done; they made sense within the story line. I was all smug that I figured it out before Nora, nope, I was wrong and the actual wrap up was great. Book two is on hold at the library and I can't wait to visit Castle Dark again. Well done.
spess's review
2.0
I didn’t think this was a very compelling mystery. It seemed like the author would periodically drop the plot for unnecessary scenes that didn’t add anything to the story or characterizations.
It also felt like a self-insert fantasy for someone with dreams of stardom because everyone was constantly fawning over how talented the protagonist is. Multiple characters suggest/request that she sing and play the piano. She plays some showtunes and cries during her own performance! Also, multiple characters are completely overawed by her performance to an unreasonable degree. Maybe I haven’t been around enough theater people, but I’ve just never met anyone who cared that much about someone else’s singing.
I hated that the author included the trope of a woman learning to fight from her brothers, but it was even more egregious here because the adult heroine learned self-defense from her teenage brothers. I rolled my eyes pretty hard at that.
Finally, I was pretty unimpressed that the culprit turned out to be the only unlikable person we meet. It came across to me as an author who got too attached to her characters and didn’t want any of them to be bad. Worst of all, the murderer is portrayed as being mentally ill or somehow mentally unhinged during the big reveal. I think it’s just really irresponsible.
Spoilers for the ending for those who aren’t invested in finishing the book but still want to know the answer:
It also felt like a self-insert fantasy for someone with dreams of stardom because everyone was constantly fawning over how talented the protagonist is. Multiple characters suggest/request that she sing and play the piano. She plays some showtunes and cries during her own performance! Also, multiple characters are completely overawed by her performance to an unreasonable degree. Maybe I haven’t been around enough theater people, but I’ve just never met anyone who cared that much about someone else’s singing.
I hated that the author included the trope of a woman learning to fight from her brothers, but it was even more egregious here because the adult heroine learned self-defense from her teenage brothers. I rolled my eyes pretty hard at that.
Finally, I was pretty unimpressed that the culprit turned out to be the only unlikable person we meet. It came across to me as an author who got too attached to her characters and didn’t want any of them to be bad. Worst of all, the murderer is portrayed as being mentally ill or somehow mentally unhinged during the big reveal. I think it’s just really irresponsible.
Spoilers for the ending for those who aren’t invested in finishing the book but still want to know the answer:
Spoiler
Bethany killed Garrett. They had had an affair. She found out that Garrett had been her husband’s high school drama teacher and had refused to write a recommendation for him to Juilliard. Her husband blamed him for ruining his potential career. Bethany felt guilty that she had had an affair with the man who “ruined” her husband’s life and killed Garrett. Also, she was apparently crazy.lunacatreads's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
clumsycrane's review
5.0
4.5 stars. All I did today was read this book cover to cover. It was fun and intriguing. I really enjoyed the character development. I'm looking forward to reading more in this series as they release.
rants_n_reads's review
4.0
The concept itself is attractive, but the characters really did bring this first book into four star territory for me. Often, there can be many unlikeable characters in a cozy- a hated victim or easy scapegoats. But, Bond writes mostly likable, friendly characters for Nora to connect with. That makes it that much more unnerving for Nora she finds one of the cast members murdered. It also makes it difficult for the reader. I can’t even say I had a solid guess for the whodunnit the whole time.
As a first book, it did a great job of capturing me, and I can’t wait to visit the castle again for the next book!
As a first book, it did a great job of capturing me, and I can’t wait to visit the castle again for the next book!