Reviews

The Murderer's Apprentice: Inspector Ben Ross Mystery 7 by Ann Granger

claire1044's review

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

vicrine's review against another edition

4.0

8/10

megancmahon's review

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

Spoilers!

Things I liked:

• the atmosphere of London in the fog was quite good; it was a very interesting addition to the plot and I thought Granger did a good job of conveying what it would have been like to live through a London Particular (also, I love that name)
• I liked Lizzie and the way she was intimately involved with her husband's investigations
• The characters were sometimes interesting and funny folks, especially Inspector Dunn

What I didn't like:

• We don't really spend any time with the murderer or the murder victim. Therefore I didn't really feel any type of way about the murder or its resolution
• Most murder mysteries slowly reveal information about the victim over the course of the book; this felt more like a police procedural for the way they went over every single wrong theory while discovering absolutely nothing new
• It was a bit slow and the writing not super engaging
• I wanted more atmosphere to amp up the tenseness, but like I said above this felt more like a police procedural - not a lot of worry, not a lot of urgency - yet this wasn't a cozy either
• The murderer himself being "mad" or "delusional" felt very dated, and the introduction of his interest in the occult or pagan came out of nowhere. I think if you're going to add in that sort of twist, you need to give it some foreshadowing
• The book just sort of...ended. There wasn't a lot of outside story - again, this just felt like a procedural!

Some of my feelings about this book may be my fault, as I came in at #7 instead of one. However, I don't think I'll read the rest of Granger's books.

seabreeze_reader's review against another edition

4.0

Spoiler

Inspector Ben Ross investigates another Victorian crime in foggy London, this time involving a young woman. Not to be outdone, his wife Lizzie makes her own investigative contributions to the case.

Both Ben and Lizzie are likeable and level headed characters. There are a lot of historical details in this well composed story with changes in venue outside of London, which kept things interesting. (I cannot say specifics, otherwise it will give away an interesting detail of the plot.) Needless to say, I was kept guessing who the perpetrator was until the final chapters.

Rating: 4.5 stars
Original publication date: 2019

tmarjorie's review

mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

kewarra's review

adventurous lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

fraulein_krause's review

3.0

SPOILERS(?)

Why would you put such a spoiler in the title of a book?!?
Three stars for a pleasant read, although my edition was littered with typos and had lots of small words missing, which was surprisingly annoying. Nice atmosphere in the book ...but I can't understand why Anne Granger actually put the solution in the title.

sophiamoonlight's review

funny 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? N/A

5.0

bookwormbev17's review

dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0