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darkskybooks's review against another edition
4.0
What if Agatha Christie wrote gaslamp dark fantasy crossed with gothic horror? This book attempts to answer that question with a curious murder mystery at the center of its weird and dark world.
The whole of this story is contained within one large house, a guesthouse for travelers using stage coaches in the area. The events of the story are set whilst the guests are all trapped there by a storm (very Agatha Christie) providing a limited suspect list and a somewhat claustrophobic setting. Two groups of travelers are staying and they all have their secrets, some of them more easy to discover than others, but they are all confronted by an investigator following a creature that has been eating people and stealing their likeness as a doppelganger. The characters are all well drawn, with decent and obvious motivations. None of them are particularly pleasant which helps to spread the suspicion around nicely.
The dark fantasy elements and the large mysterious house certainly add to the gothic sensibilities. The creatures populating the world, be they ghosts or strange spider mutants definitely create a suitable level of creepiness to the place. In some ways I found myself frustrated by how constrained the story was with it all confined to the one house - this obviously a fascinating world that we only get the briefest glimpse of.
This was an intriguing genre mashup that mostly worked for me. There were some leaps in the resolution that I did struggle to follow, some stakes were raised and conveniently ignored, but overall this was a well constructed murder mystery in a weird, wonderful and creepy world.
The whole of this story is contained within one large house, a guesthouse for travelers using stage coaches in the area. The events of the story are set whilst the guests are all trapped there by a storm (very Agatha Christie) providing a limited suspect list and a somewhat claustrophobic setting. Two groups of travelers are staying and they all have their secrets, some of them more easy to discover than others, but they are all confronted by an investigator following a creature that has been eating people and stealing their likeness as a doppelganger. The characters are all well drawn, with decent and obvious motivations. None of them are particularly pleasant which helps to spread the suspicion around nicely.
The dark fantasy elements and the large mysterious house certainly add to the gothic sensibilities. The creatures populating the world, be they ghosts or strange spider mutants definitely create a suitable level of creepiness to the place. In some ways I found myself frustrated by how constrained the story was with it all confined to the one house - this obviously a fascinating world that we only get the briefest glimpse of.
This was an intriguing genre mashup that mostly worked for me. There were some leaps in the resolution that I did struggle to follow, some stakes were raised and conveniently ignored, but overall this was a well constructed murder mystery in a weird, wonderful and creepy world.
kidreamer's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
hunnybunny's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
caverns_of_steel's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-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
3.0
rachfishie's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
evesn's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
medium-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
5.0
sideark's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
cadillaceazy's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
shadocvao's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
bhanu91's review against another edition
3.0
‘And then there were none ‘ is my all time favourite mystery, and I have been reading any book that has had closed mystery setting. This book’s synopsis intrigued me, I loved the steam punk setup, a monster huntress MC and a chatty sidekick, in the closed manor on a stormy night (cozy mystery anybody?). The book is pretty fast paced, well written with a good plot but fell short because of too many distraction from the plot. And it also kind of felt like a middle grade book at times with no young characters (except for that one page).
That said, I will definitely read the next book in the series as I’m looking forward to see the MCs next adventure.
That said, I will definitely read the next book in the series as I’m looking forward to see the MCs next adventure.