Reviews

This book is nearly 30 years old and the most noticeable thing was the total lack of mobiles, tablets, texts messages and selfies. It has a bit of a slow start in the lead up to the murderous crime, much like an Agatha Christie mystery, but then it plays out rather nicely.

This is the first book in the Lindsay Gordon series and I found it an entertaining introduction to the series, even if I have read two other books in the series.

Well worth reading, even if it is old.

lgschultz's review against another edition

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1.0

Dnf. After the part about her girlfriend's apartment I was done. It was pretty boring until then anyway. I will try another series by her though as I've heard great things

dja777's review against another edition

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2.0

Flat, not very exciting mystery. Too much showing and not enough telling. I have liked two of this author's books much more, so I'll keep trying, but I'm glad this isn't the first one I ever read.

enchantedbibliophile's review against another edition

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mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

“She’s got a way of making people do things, hasn’t she?”

I was a bit skeptical about this series. I've read mostly all McDermid's other books but found that I didn't always like her earlier works (referring to PI Kate Brannigan) This might be because I read the Tony Hill / Carol Jordan series first and is now comparing everything to it.

So, I went in with low expectations and was pleasantly surprised! I quite like the obnoxious Lindsay Gordon. She’s headstrong and aggressively independent – which makes her great at her work but works against her when it comes to dealing with people (yes, she’s arrogant and rude and only shows her softer side to the people she trusts).
She tends to do first and ask questions later. Which gets her into a lot of trouble and unnecessarily complicates things for her. But this is exactly why I like her.

As for the plot, it was your usual “who done it” type of mystery, with quite a few suspects. It moves along a bit slowly, so be warned.

I’m not in a hurry to read the next, but I will get around to it eventually.

lauraellis's review against another edition

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2.5

This was Val’s first book and it shows—just here and there. Lindsey is off to write a story at a Girls Public School—precisely the class she loathes—where a straight friend teaches. Also there for the gala fundraising weekend is Cordelia, for whom Lindsey quickly falls, and a famous Old-Girl cellist, who is murdered. Lindsey and Cordelia’s friend is arrested and jailed for murder, and they sleuth for the real murderer while beginning a relationship [as one does]. Unfortunately, having read ahead in the series, I remember how that relationship ends.

rnmcfarlane's review against another edition

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adventurous 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

3.5

futurelegend's review against another edition

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3.0

In her debut novel, Val McDermid puts a distinctly lesbian spin on a pair of well-tried mystery formulas: the "country house" murder associated with Agatha Christie, and the "locked-room" puzzles of John Dickson Carr. This one is set in a girls' boarding school in the Derbyshire moors. Clearly a formative work, but one which shows early promise of things to come.

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