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stefhyena's review
3.0
The title sort of gives away the solution. That may be why I guessed it correctly. I felt that the other two in this series were stronger than this, first book about Anna Southwood- wealthy widow and now private detective.
Things to like are the Sydney setting, the love for books and Toby the cat.
This was a bit of undemanding escapism for me, also is short enough (something many other authors ought to try). Good enough for me to be disappointed there are no more to read!
Things to like are the Sydney setting, the love for books and Toby the cat.
This was a bit of undemanding escapism for me, also is short enough (something many other authors ought to try). Good enough for me to be disappointed there are no more to read!
fictionophile's review
3.0
My latest reading adventure took me to Balmain, in New South Wales, Australia. It is here that we meet Anna Southwood, a recent widow and novice private detective. Anna found out that her late husband, Clyde, had his fingers in some highly illegal pies. As a result, he has left her with a considerable estate, though one that has a 'dirty' feel.
She now lives alone - upstairs from her 'office' in a two-story, sandstone house in Balmain. This is just one of the several properties that she has inherited from her husband. Properties that she had no knowledge of prior to his death. She has a large, very furry, white cat named Toby.
Her detective partner, Graham, is an aspiring actor and his hours at their detective agency are sporadic as a result. Their business is floundering due to lack of clients. Anna spends her days drinking and doing crossword puzzles.
Then, Anna and Graham are hired to find out what has happened to two teenage girls who are missing, presumed dead. The father of one of the girls has hired them. Unfortunately, he has a lot in common with Anna's late husband in that he is a corrupt businessman. He and Clyde were actually acquaintances.
Their investigations result in Anna's being almost fatally injured while preparing to board the Balmain ferry, then later, being abducted.
Her traumatic experiences cause her to take up smoking again. Which she DOES with a vengeance. She also has a drinking problem. One passage in the book has her home alone of an evening and downing three bottles of wine. Another has her rising in the morning, feeling poorly from the flu, and taking two Panadols with a glass of wine, then attempting to finish the bottle!
The police's main person of interest in the missing girls' case is a local man of less than
average intelligence. He lives with his mother, and had befriended both of the missing girls. He seems an innocent who likes to build and fly kites. Anna and Graham do NOT believe him to be guilty.
I expected to really like Anna. She drives a funky convertible VW beetle. She likes to eat alone while reading, AND, she is a 'cat person'. However... something just wasn't clicking for me. She left me feeling as though I didn't care about her, and, more importantly, I didn't care if she solved the case. I developed what I call 'reading apathy' whilst reading this book. For the most part, the writing was satisfactory, but I found certain parts of the plot were unlikely. For instance, Anna's injuries include broken ribs, yet the day following her release from hospital she dons an overall and goes out to her yard and gardens. Things like that really bug me. But then, maybe I'm a big baby. If I had broken ribs, I would be as inactive as humanly possible. LOL
The setting of the novel was one which I was interested in. The resolution of the mystery surrounding their case was well rendered and the book ended satisfactorily.
"Worse than death" is the first in the Anna Southwood series, and, it is on for only $3.99 in Kindle format from Amazon.
In summation, I can realize the appeal this mystery might have to some readers, however it just wasn't for me. Given my lengthy TBR queue, I don't think I'll be following up by reading the other titles in this series.
She now lives alone - upstairs from her 'office' in a two-story, sandstone house in Balmain. This is just one of the several properties that she has inherited from her husband. Properties that she had no knowledge of prior to his death. She has a large, very furry, white cat named Toby.
Her detective partner, Graham, is an aspiring actor and his hours at their detective agency are sporadic as a result. Their business is floundering due to lack of clients. Anna spends her days drinking and doing crossword puzzles.
Then, Anna and Graham are hired to find out what has happened to two teenage girls who are missing, presumed dead. The father of one of the girls has hired them. Unfortunately, he has a lot in common with Anna's late husband in that he is a corrupt businessman. He and Clyde were actually acquaintances.
Their investigations result in Anna's being almost fatally injured while preparing to board the Balmain ferry, then later, being abducted.
Her traumatic experiences cause her to take up smoking again. Which she DOES with a vengeance. She also has a drinking problem. One passage in the book has her home alone of an evening and downing three bottles of wine. Another has her rising in the morning, feeling poorly from the flu, and taking two Panadols with a glass of wine, then attempting to finish the bottle!
The police's main person of interest in the missing girls' case is a local man of less than
average intelligence. He lives with his mother, and had befriended both of the missing girls. He seems an innocent who likes to build and fly kites. Anna and Graham do NOT believe him to be guilty.
I expected to really like Anna. She drives a funky convertible VW beetle. She likes to eat alone while reading, AND, she is a 'cat person'. However... something just wasn't clicking for me. She left me feeling as though I didn't care about her, and, more importantly, I didn't care if she solved the case. I developed what I call 'reading apathy' whilst reading this book. For the most part, the writing was satisfactory, but I found certain parts of the plot were unlikely. For instance, Anna's injuries include broken ribs, yet the day following her release from hospital she dons an overall and goes out to her yard and gardens. Things like that really bug me. But then, maybe I'm a big baby. If I had broken ribs, I would be as inactive as humanly possible. LOL
The setting of the novel was one which I was interested in. The resolution of the mystery surrounding their case was well rendered and the book ended satisfactorily.
"Worse than death" is the first in the Anna Southwood series, and, it is on for only $3.99 in Kindle format from Amazon.
In summation, I can realize the appeal this mystery might have to some readers, however it just wasn't for me. Given my lengthy TBR queue, I don't think I'll be following up by reading the other titles in this series.
pgchuis's review
2.0
I received a copy of this from the publisher via NetGalley.
Anna has set up a detective agency, using money she has inherited from her shady ex-husband, despite having no discernible skills in this direction and (fortunately) with no real interest in turning a profit. She is curious about the disappearance of a child called Beth, whose mother has been arrested for her murder, and manages to get hired by Beth's father to find out what has happened to her.
I see from the description that this story is the first in a series, but when reading it I wondered if there had been previous instalments. There was a lot of backstory concerning Anna's dead husband and her relationships with Lorna, Paul and Graham which was clumsily inserted, in a way which interrupted the present day narrative, and I assumed loyal readers would already be familiar with it. I suppose the basic plot held together fairly well, although the idea that people could fly under an assumed name or pay someone to fly in their place is of course impossible post-9/11. None of the characters had any depth, parts of the plot (e.g. Anna's kidnapping) were ridiculous, and there was far too much going on.
Anna has set up a detective agency, using money she has inherited from her shady ex-husband, despite having no discernible skills in this direction and (fortunately) with no real interest in turning a profit. She is curious about the disappearance of a child called Beth, whose mother has been arrested for her murder, and manages to get hired by Beth's father to find out what has happened to her.
I see from the description that this story is the first in a series, but when reading it I wondered if there had been previous instalments. There was a lot of backstory concerning Anna's dead husband and her relationships with Lorna, Paul and Graham which was clumsily inserted, in a way which interrupted the present day narrative, and I assumed loyal readers would already be familiar with it. I suppose the basic plot held together fairly well, although the idea that people could fly under an assumed name or pay someone to fly in their place is of course impossible post-9/11. None of the characters had any depth, parts of the plot (e.g. Anna's kidnapping) were ridiculous, and there was far too much going on.
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