Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Murder Your Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide by Rupert Holmes

30 reviews

bookishbabe431's review against another edition

adventurous dark lighthearted reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Murder

Minor: Gun violence, Misogyny, Transphobia, and Death of parent

falberrybots's review against another edition

adventurous funny informative tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment

lzebarah's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious medium-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? Yes

5.0

This book reminded me heavily of a modern, AU Count of Monte Cristo. It starts slow, but stick with it; the story is well worth it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide and Murder

Minor: Medical content, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

christinereads1823's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Super interesting premise for a book! I enjoyed the interwoven plots and the excellent character development, but it was a bit dry during the first third which made it a little hard to get fully sucked into. After getting past the initial sections, the flow was much better and the plot lines were more clearly developed.
Overall very well done, a great morally grey read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Infidelity, Suicide, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death of parent

angorarabbit's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious 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

4.0

TLDR: Very good Golden Age Style Mystery with a few twists. 

 

I was pleasantly surprised by this mystery novel. The blurb promises entertainment which is delivered mostly in puns in the first half of the book. Then Mr Holmes gets to work with an intricately plotted how-they done-it novel. 

 

The forward is a bit tiresome, but necessary to understanding the setting. The rest of the narrative is an omnipresent narrator and a mix of journal entries from the main character to his patron, reports, and letters. The later being indicated by chapter headings. The style is down to earth with enough description to fill in the blanks but not be flowery. The action is pretty easy to follow and main characters are easy to differentiate. 

 

The characterisation was okay, the minor characters suffered in particular. Main characters were somewhat stereotyped though they acted consistent with their characters throughout the novel. The first part of the novel was rather under peopled though filling a school like it should be is always tricky for both the writer and the reader. 

 

In true Golden Age fashion all the would be deletees were nasty humans. I thought two of them deserved an Orient Express experience to tell the truth. I anticipate there were after the funeral parties. The setting is 1950’s America so at least the author didn’t have to worry about the modern banes of deleters existence DNA and mobile phones. Though one deletion method was old fashioned, the other two were quite novel. 

 

The postscript does make me wonder if the punishment will fit the crime.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Body shaming, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Minor: Gun violence, Grief, Car accident, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

peggyluwho's review against another edition

lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.75

It’s okay, but the schtick got old very quickly.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Bullying, Suicide, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Homophobia, Misogyny, Terminal illness, Death of parent, and Alcohol

madalynn_owens's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted medium-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

4.25

This was a really interesting and unique book! I could really really see this working as an 8-10 part mini series and thus was a bit lengthy at some points.
I found myself enjoying one of the MCs vastly more than the other 2 simply due to the time spent with them.
There is also a weird I think thinly veiled anti-abortion tiny side plot for about 3 pages that feels out of place but maybe I’m just misreading it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Death, Suicide, and Violence

Minor: Gun violence, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Medical content, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

elenilkd's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious medium-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? Yes

3.75

A great mix of dark humor, thriller, and a little Hogwarts-esque fantasy! A little slow and predictable sometimes, but I can appreciate the base idea here, especially as a fan of horror and thriller comedies. 

Kind of wish the end was a little more flushed out though. I’m glad to see the three characters reunite, but was almost too happy and predictable of an ending for what’s overall such a dark comedy. Was the love interest really necessary if it wasn’t going to be fully addressed or developed? Could the Dean really not see his own death coming? How many students are offered to come back as faculty like that?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Gore, Gun violence, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

queersubtext's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted reflective relaxing 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Suicide, Medical content, and Murder

Minor: Death of parent and Pregnancy

peachmoni's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying

Moderate: Death, Suicide, Violence, Car accident, Murder, and Alcohol

Minor: Drug use, Misogyny, Terminal illness, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail