wanderaven's review against another edition
4.0
The top five most important facts about this book (in my worldview):
1. When Macmillan/Minotaur offered it for early review, I was suckered in by the raven on the cover. Anything corvid-related and I am on board. But there's no ravens in here. I'm pretty sure there was never even a raven calling forlornly/wickedly in the background of a scene anywhere.
2. But the book having no ravens was mostly made up for by it having lots of geocaching. I actually geocache. Well, not so much lately but primarily because my free time given over to searching for things in the wilderness has transitioned over to letterboxing (similar to geocaching but there's no GPS involved and you trade (hopefully) homemade stamps in books instead of (usually) useless trinkets). A fellow geocacher (okay, my boyfriend, who introduced me to the pastime) has always said he thought that geocaching was just rich for a murder mystery background. Though I warily agreed with him, the warily part was due to concern that either someone would create such a novel whose primary talent was in geocaching and not so much in writing, or that it would be a cozy mystery with a sort of silly focus on geocaching. If you're wondering the same things, let me assure you right now that the writing here is great, and this is absolutely not a fluffy, cozy mystery (in fact, it's quite gruesome).
3. Apparently, the American publishers think that Ursula Archer is a more American-friendly pseudonym than her (assumably) real name of Ursula Poznanski. I haven't much to say about this (I'm sure the marketing team knows what it's doing... as it took me three toggles back and forth between her website and this post to spell the last name right), other than that it made for some initial frustrating and confusing Googling when trying to find out about her whilst preparing the post. She's an Austrian author, primarily of books for children and young adults, and this book appears to have initially been published in German.
4. And speaking of Austria, when was the last time you read an Austrian set (and written) thriller? I have done so, I'm sure (or a literary novel, at least), but I can't conjure up another recent book.
5. I'm pretty excited about Archer's American debut adult novel. There were a few frustrating elements that knocked it down a bit for me. The killer kept taunting the police that they were taking too long to solve the initial (and subsequent) murders... and the killer was absolutely right; as I reader, I felt like it took far too long. Not the novel, but the actual investigative process. It really did seem like, given the resources available to them (and a supervisor browbeating them about their process, whom they could've asked for even more help), the investigators really could've made much quicker progress. Perhaps there's an intent on Archer's part to make the process a bit more realistic (this is just a theory, I didn't see any particular thing to indicate this), but there's a reason I'm reading a fictional thriller, and not a factual textbook about police procedure. Also, the characters surrounding the protagonist, Beatrice, were rather one-dimensional, and her reactions to them often confused or annoyed me. Beatrice's mother seems like a perfect, fairy-goddess all-accepting angel (though to be fair, she didn't spend much time on the page), while Beatrice's ex-husband was an incredibly nasty, degrading, and potentially violent stalker. I kept expecting some sort of justification or motivation (even if it wasn't excusable) for his behavior but the nearest I ever came was that they were divorced. But then, at one point, she actually wonders wistfully whether she misses hanging out with him and the children, as a family. Then, Beatrice's brother completely sides with her ex-husband's behavior, blaming his behavior on Beatrice's actions. And what does she do? Playfully ruffle his hair and tell him how much she loves him. And speaking of one-dimensional, Beatrice's also verbally abusive boss seems to be so purely because he's a misogynist (which exists, of course, but he would've been much more believable had he been given any backstory or especially any interaction with Beatrice which would explain his behavior other than his assumption that she's a weak woman who's probably on her period or pregnant).
But there's certainly some exciting stuff here, too. Archer has created a compelling and complicated mystery that kept me up late at night (alone, in a creaking house, no less), worrying, and wondering, and guessing. It's gruesome, frustrating (in that good mystery sort of way), and different, given the Austrian and geocaching elements (and I assure you that the geocaching is both pertinent and does not weaken the narrative).
1. When Macmillan/Minotaur offered it for early review, I was suckered in by the raven on the cover. Anything corvid-related and I am on board. But there's no ravens in here. I'm pretty sure there was never even a raven calling forlornly/wickedly in the background of a scene anywhere.
2. But the book having no ravens was mostly made up for by it having lots of geocaching. I actually geocache. Well, not so much lately but primarily because my free time given over to searching for things in the wilderness has transitioned over to letterboxing (similar to geocaching but there's no GPS involved and you trade (hopefully) homemade stamps in books instead of (usually) useless trinkets). A fellow geocacher (okay, my boyfriend, who introduced me to the pastime) has always said he thought that geocaching was just rich for a murder mystery background. Though I warily agreed with him, the warily part was due to concern that either someone would create such a novel whose primary talent was in geocaching and not so much in writing, or that it would be a cozy mystery with a sort of silly focus on geocaching. If you're wondering the same things, let me assure you right now that the writing here is great, and this is absolutely not a fluffy, cozy mystery (in fact, it's quite gruesome).
3. Apparently, the American publishers think that Ursula Archer is a more American-friendly pseudonym than her (assumably) real name of Ursula Poznanski. I haven't much to say about this (I'm sure the marketing team knows what it's doing... as it took me three toggles back and forth between her website and this post to spell the last name right), other than that it made for some initial frustrating and confusing Googling when trying to find out about her whilst preparing the post. She's an Austrian author, primarily of books for children and young adults, and this book appears to have initially been published in German.
4. And speaking of Austria, when was the last time you read an Austrian set (and written) thriller? I have done so, I'm sure (or a literary novel, at least), but I can't conjure up another recent book.
5. I'm pretty excited about Archer's American debut adult novel. There were a few frustrating elements that knocked it down a bit for me. The killer kept taunting the police that they were taking too long to solve the initial (and subsequent) murders... and the killer was absolutely right; as I reader, I felt like it took far too long. Not the novel, but the actual investigative process. It really did seem like, given the resources available to them (and a supervisor browbeating them about their process, whom they could've asked for even more help), the investigators really could've made much quicker progress. Perhaps there's an intent on Archer's part to make the process a bit more realistic (this is just a theory, I didn't see any particular thing to indicate this), but there's a reason I'm reading a fictional thriller, and not a factual textbook about police procedure. Also, the characters surrounding the protagonist, Beatrice, were rather one-dimensional, and her reactions to them often confused or annoyed me. Beatrice's mother seems like a perfect, fairy-goddess all-accepting angel (though to be fair, she didn't spend much time on the page), while Beatrice's ex-husband was an incredibly nasty, degrading, and potentially violent stalker. I kept expecting some sort of justification or motivation (even if it wasn't excusable) for his behavior but the nearest I ever came was that they were divorced. But then, at one point, she actually wonders wistfully whether she misses hanging out with him and the children, as a family. Then, Beatrice's brother completely sides with her ex-husband's behavior, blaming his behavior on Beatrice's actions. And what does she do? Playfully ruffle his hair and tell him how much she loves him. And speaking of one-dimensional, Beatrice's also verbally abusive boss seems to be so purely because he's a misogynist (which exists, of course, but he would've been much more believable had he been given any backstory or especially any interaction with Beatrice which would explain his behavior other than his assumption that she's a weak woman who's probably on her period or pregnant).
But there's certainly some exciting stuff here, too. Archer has created a compelling and complicated mystery that kept me up late at night (alone, in a creaking house, no less), worrying, and wondering, and guessing. It's gruesome, frustrating (in that good mystery sort of way), and different, given the Austrian and geocaching elements (and I assure you that the geocaching is both pertinent and does not weaken the narrative).
singalana's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Tämä kirja on lojunut hyllyssäni jo vuosia, ja odotukseni eivät olleet kovin korkealla kun siihen vihdoin tartuin. Onneksi yllätyin positiivisesti!
Kirjassa rikosetsivä Beatrice Kaspary joutuu ratkomaan kiperää tapausta. Murhaaja jättää jälkeensä geokätköilyyn perustuvia vihjeitä, joita etsivien täytyy seurata selvittääkseen mitä peliä murhaaja oikein pelaa.
Asetelmaltaan dekkari on melko perinteinen: työpari koostuu naisesta ja miehestä, päähenkilöllä on taustalla rikkinäinen avioliitto ja taakkanaan menneisyyden haamut ja ärsyttävä pomo.
Päähenkilö ei ole mitenkään erityisen ihastuttava, mutta ainakaan hän ei ole ärsyttävä, mitä ei voi sanoa kaikkien tämäntyyppisten kirjojen päähenkilöistä. Kirjasta ehkä hieman huomaa, että kyseessä on esikoisteos, mutta mysteeri on hyvin rakennettu, ja ainakaan minä en arvannut loppuratkaisua. Juoni kantoi loppuun asti ja mielenkiinto pysyi yllä. Loppuratkaisu tämän tyyppisissä kirjoissa on usein hienoinen pettymys (ehkä sen takia kun kaikki on niin nopeasti ohi), eikä tämäkään ole poikkeus, mutta koska loppu ei vesittänyt koko tarinaa, annettakoon se anteeksi.
Plussaa myös paikoitellen kauniista proosasta, sekä hienovaraisesta romanttisesta sivujuonteesta. Kaiken kaikkiaan viihdyttävä teos, voisin kokeilla myös sarjan seuraavaa osaa.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Torture, and Blood
Moderate: Rape, Mental illness, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Violence, Blood, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Sexual violence, and Suicide
Minor: Body shaming, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Confinement, Infidelity, Alcohol, and Cursing
freesien's review against another edition
4.0
3,5 Sterne
Die Idee hinter dem Buch hat mir sehr gefallen - originell und spannend. Die Ausführung hat dann größtenteils auch geklappt. Der Krimi ist spannend und fesselnd. Probleme hatte ich dann aber mit der Hauptfigur. Zu Beatrice Kaspary habe ich überhaupt kein Draht finden können.
Die Idee hinter dem Buch hat mir sehr gefallen - originell und spannend. Die Ausführung hat dann größtenteils auch geklappt. Der Krimi ist spannend und fesselnd. Probleme hatte ich dann aber mit der Hauptfigur. Zu Beatrice Kaspary habe ich überhaupt kein Draht finden können.
jasminjoyful's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
h3ll3's review against another edition
5.0
Sehr spannend und gruselig, will definitiv mehr von ihr lesen
lydia_95's review against another edition
4.0
I read the translated version of this book, I picked it up in a whim on holiday as I wanted something to read.
It took me about 2/3 days to finish and I thought it was a really good read! The way the author incorporated geo-caching into it wad really unique and that makes it different to any other crime/thriller book. I thought the ending was good and it wasn't predictable to me anyway.
If you're into that genre then I'd recommend you read it!
It took me about 2/3 days to finish and I thought it was a really good read! The way the author incorporated geo-caching into it wad really unique and that makes it different to any other crime/thriller book. I thought the ending was good and it wasn't predictable to me anyway.
If you're into that genre then I'd recommend you read it!
mari_universe's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
rronso's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
kar0tte's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
lori_reads_everything's review against another edition
4.0
Five is equal parts murder mystery and scavenger hunt, that reads like a slow burn thriller. I initially found it a bit difficult to get into, but once the author set the pace and I got into the story, I was invested. I also really liked that unlike most murder mystery novels, the ending actually caught me by surprise.
While I enjoyed the book, I found that the main character's flaws made her truly unlikable at times, and this could be really frustrating. Overall, however, I did really enjoy this book - even if it put me off geocaching forever. Solid 3.5 stars.
While I enjoyed the book, I found that the main character's flaws made her truly unlikable at times, and this could be really frustrating. Overall, however, I did really enjoy this book - even if it put me off geocaching forever. Solid 3.5 stars.