orangeagogo's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
3.75
Not as good as a Christie, but very similar. Too many subplots
ilariam's review against another edition
3.0
Per chi come me ama i gialli classici (omicidio --> indagine --> soluzione) il fatto che gran parte di Morte in Costa Azzurra sia dedicata alla ricerca di un falsario e al blocco di un traffico di contrabbando non è esattamente il massimo. In questo lungo percorso, però, piccole molliche di pane vengono abbandonate qua e là, lasciando presagire che prima o poi ci sarà pane per i denti anche per l'amante del giallo ad enigma, ed infatti l'attesa viene infine premiata. Bisogna ammettere che quanto seminato in precedenza fa facilmente intuire quale sia davvero la soluzione, cosa che non rende il "giallo" particolarmente entusiasmante, ma la lettura è comunque piacevole e scorrevole, quindi romanzo promosso anche se con un punteggio non esaltante.
amberpoppyhope's review
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
markusirl's review
4.0
I liked the plot but he seemed to have changed his writing style which I didn't like.
shanaqui's review against another edition
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? It's complicated
3.0
Death on the Riviera isn't one of the best of the British Library Crime Classics series, but it's a solid one. Bude's plots and writing tend to the workman-like, and his detective is mostly a blank with no real personality (though his subordinate had a bit more of a personality here, with his love affair with someone involved in the case).
All of which is not to say that I didn't enjoy this, because Bude's books are absolutely archetypical for a certain period of crime fiction, and thus very relaxing. You know what to expect, and you get it -- after a fair amount of puzzling things out, a few red herrings, and a dead end.
I have to admit, I missed a couple of the hints here, and had to flip back to see if I thought they were really telegraphed. Maybe not quite, there was one thing that isn't really foreshadowed well (and I don't think it would've given the game away to make it a little clearer), but it all comes together in the end.
If you're looking for the best writing or the best plotting, this won't be it! But it is solid for what it is, and exactly what I wanted (though E.C.R. Lorac delivers a similar experience with a better sense of place and character).
All of which is not to say that I didn't enjoy this, because Bude's books are absolutely archetypical for a certain period of crime fiction, and thus very relaxing. You know what to expect, and you get it -- after a fair amount of puzzling things out, a few red herrings, and a dead end.
I have to admit, I missed a couple of the hints here, and had to flip back to see if I thought they were really telegraphed. Maybe not quite, there was one thing that isn't really foreshadowed well (and I don't think it would've given the game away to make it a little clearer), but it all comes together in the end.
If you're looking for the best writing or the best plotting, this won't be it! But it is solid for what it is, and exactly what I wanted (though E.C.R. Lorac delivers a similar experience with a better sense of place and character).
fictionfan's review against another edition
4.0
Sun, sea and murder...
Inspector Meredith and his young sidekick Acting-Sergeant Freddy Strang have been sent to the Riviera to help the French police hunt down a counterfeiter – a Brit who seems to be involved in laundering fake money in the little towns along the coast. While they’re there, a murder is committed amongst some of the English people living on the Riviera, so they become involved in that investigation too, especially since it seems that the two crimes may both link to the various people staying in the home of Nesta Hedderwick. This is quite handy for young Freddy, since he’s fallen in love with Nesta’s niece, Dilys…
The title of the book made me think this would be mainly a murder mystery, but in fact the bulk of the book is about the counterfeiting investigation, with the murder and subsequent investigation only happening quite late on. It’s a personal preference thing, and I’m not quite sure what it says about me(!), but I really prefer my crime fiction to be about murders. I’ve never managed to get up much interest in theft or fraud as a plotline. So, true to form, I enjoyed the murder investigation of this one, but found the counterfeiting plot rather dull.
In both sections, it’s really more of a howdunit – the villains are relatively obvious from fairly early on. In the counterfeiting plot, the question is more about how the money is being disseminated. This involves Meredith and Strang in quite a lot of driving along the coast, visiting the various small towns. Bude creates an authentic feel to the setting, with all the cafés and rich tourists, the gorgeous scenery and glorious weather, and Meredith and Strang have plenty of time to enjoy their stay while working on the case, complete with a fair amount of fine dining and wine-tippling.
The murder plot is something of an ‘impossible’ crime, though not of the locked room variety. I’m not going to reveal much about it since it would be hard without spoilers. But it’s fiendishly contrived, with a neat (if rather incredible) solution. The who is easy, the how less so, though I did guess how it was done a few microseconds before it was revealed. I felt the motive was a little shaky, to be honest, but it’s really more about the puzzle than the motivation.
Both Meredith and Freddy are likeable characters. Meredith is methodical and efficient, while Freddy works more on intuition. Freddy has shades of a Wodehouse character – I felt he would fit in well at the Drones Club (though as one of the more sensible ones – think Kipper Herring rather than Gussie Fink-Nottle), which I have to say made me wonder why he was slumming it working for the police. I’d have liked to know a little more about him, but even without much background to his character he adds a touch of lightness and occasional humour, and his romance with Dilys is nicely handled.
Overall, I enjoyed the book, despite not being enthralled by the counterfeiting strand – the writing is very good, the plotting is clever, especially of the murder, and the characters well enough drawn to be interesting. Another intriguing author resurrected by the British Library – one I’d be happy to read more from.
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Poisoned Pen Press.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
Inspector Meredith and his young sidekick Acting-Sergeant Freddy Strang have been sent to the Riviera to help the French police hunt down a counterfeiter – a Brit who seems to be involved in laundering fake money in the little towns along the coast. While they’re there, a murder is committed amongst some of the English people living on the Riviera, so they become involved in that investigation too, especially since it seems that the two crimes may both link to the various people staying in the home of Nesta Hedderwick. This is quite handy for young Freddy, since he’s fallen in love with Nesta’s niece, Dilys…
The title of the book made me think this would be mainly a murder mystery, but in fact the bulk of the book is about the counterfeiting investigation, with the murder and subsequent investigation only happening quite late on. It’s a personal preference thing, and I’m not quite sure what it says about me(!), but I really prefer my crime fiction to be about murders. I’ve never managed to get up much interest in theft or fraud as a plotline. So, true to form, I enjoyed the murder investigation of this one, but found the counterfeiting plot rather dull.
In both sections, it’s really more of a howdunit – the villains are relatively obvious from fairly early on. In the counterfeiting plot, the question is more about how the money is being disseminated. This involves Meredith and Strang in quite a lot of driving along the coast, visiting the various small towns. Bude creates an authentic feel to the setting, with all the cafés and rich tourists, the gorgeous scenery and glorious weather, and Meredith and Strang have plenty of time to enjoy their stay while working on the case, complete with a fair amount of fine dining and wine-tippling.
The murder plot is something of an ‘impossible’ crime, though not of the locked room variety. I’m not going to reveal much about it since it would be hard without spoilers. But it’s fiendishly contrived, with a neat (if rather incredible) solution. The who is easy, the how less so, though I did guess how it was done a few microseconds before it was revealed. I felt the motive was a little shaky, to be honest, but it’s really more about the puzzle than the motivation.
Both Meredith and Freddy are likeable characters. Meredith is methodical and efficient, while Freddy works more on intuition. Freddy has shades of a Wodehouse character – I felt he would fit in well at the Drones Club (though as one of the more sensible ones – think Kipper Herring rather than Gussie Fink-Nottle), which I have to say made me wonder why he was slumming it working for the police. I’d have liked to know a little more about him, but even without much background to his character he adds a touch of lightness and occasional humour, and his romance with Dilys is nicely handled.
Overall, I enjoyed the book, despite not being enthralled by the counterfeiting strand – the writing is very good, the plotting is clever, especially of the murder, and the characters well enough drawn to be interesting. Another intriguing author resurrected by the British Library – one I’d be happy to read more from.
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Poisoned Pen Press.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
loorberitele's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.5
sam_magowan's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0