terese_utan_h's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
caitsidhe's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
less a murder mystery, more a portrait of how a crime impacts and ripples through a community over decades.
ambitious and well written but the prose wasn't always quite there for me and some characterisations seemed blunt and on the nose.
ambitious and well written but the prose wasn't always quite there for me and some characterisations seemed blunt and on the nose.
thepageladies's review
4.0
Crow Court was a page turner for me! There are so many things that I enjoyed but I don't want to give anything away. So we will start with this. There are a lot of characters and a lot of layers but everything and everyone is tied in some way. The writing is really good. The details of the area and the dialect were done really well but also it was really interesting. The author takes a few genres of mystery, historical romance and a touch of humor here and there and blends them together wonderfully! Overall a really good read!
Thank you Random Things Tours and Andy Charman for sharing this great book with me!
Thank you Random Things Tours and Andy Charman for sharing this great book with me!
books_with_kayleigh's review
3.0
I'm not really sure how to rate this one. Parts I liked and the Dorset dialect usage was good, but at the same time I found it very choppy and hard to follow for the most part.
When the POV changes, rather than as normal where the character name detailed before the start of the chapter, that is not the case here. So you can be reading half a chapter before fully understanding who it is you're reading about. Further the details in some of the chapters its not always obvious or pertinent to the plot, for instance background characters who barely resurface again except for in passing.
I think the concept was good but I found it confusing and quite difficult to read.
When the POV changes, rather than as normal where the character name detailed before the start of the chapter, that is not the case here. So you can be reading half a chapter before fully understanding who it is you're reading about. Further the details in some of the chapters its not always obvious or pertinent to the plot, for instance background characters who barely resurface again except for in passing.
I think the concept was good but I found it confusing and quite difficult to read.
girlglitch's review
3.0
Crow Court is a collection of interconnected short stories, set in a small Dorset town during the mid-19th century.
It's a great way to dive into some localised history - Charman explores a range of rural Victorian experiences, and his passion for his subject really shines through. Through ThePigeonhole's additional author's notes, I also particularly enjoyed reading about the inspiration behind each story and the references that have been woven in.
However, some of the stories themselves felt a little flat. In some ways, the over-arching plot actually weakens the individual sections - spanning decades and so many characters, I felt I never got the chance to know the characters particularly well. While I enjoyed the way Charman utilises several different literary styles, the changing in style also had a distancing effect - not only are you revisiting characters several years apart, through different perspectives, but you also have to peer through the additional lens of a new narrative mode.
That said, I did enjoy the way the mystery of the choirmaster's death acts as an undercurrent throughout the book and it helps to create a vivid sense of place.
An interesting historical debut, and I'd be interested to see more from the author in the future!
Thank you to ThePigeonhole.com for sharing this book!
It's a great way to dive into some localised history - Charman explores a range of rural Victorian experiences, and his passion for his subject really shines through. Through ThePigeonhole's additional author's notes, I also particularly enjoyed reading about the inspiration behind each story and the references that have been woven in.
However, some of the stories themselves felt a little flat. In some ways, the over-arching plot actually weakens the individual sections - spanning decades and so many characters, I felt I never got the chance to know the characters particularly well. While I enjoyed the way Charman utilises several different literary styles, the changing in style also had a distancing effect - not only are you revisiting characters several years apart, through different perspectives, but you also have to peer through the additional lens of a new narrative mode.
That said, I did enjoy the way the mystery of the choirmaster's death acts as an undercurrent throughout the book and it helps to create a vivid sense of place.
An interesting historical debut, and I'd be interested to see more from the author in the future!
Thank you to ThePigeonhole.com for sharing this book!
faysieh's review
5.0
This was a real labour of love and a huge research project spanning a decade or more for author Andy Charman. I know this because I was fortunate enough to be reading the book alongside other readers on the Pigeonhole platform and Mr Charman provided extremely fascinating additional notes on the history of the time and the meaning behind a crow court, where members of a group surround their own and metre out their own punishment.
It was definitely not my usual type of read given the historical nature (1840s) of a series of interconnecting short stories which were a mix of funny, shocking and intriguing. The use of the Dorset dialect for the period was well researched and an ambitious way to present parts of the story. For some, this could be off putting, but for me, I did not struggle to get the gist of the dialogue even though the words and grammar were not familiar. I like to think as I read so I found this enhanced my reading pleasure and immersed me more fully in the life and times of characters that were far from anything I have experienced myself.
What I did find a bit confusing was the sheer quantity of characters, some of whom are not mentioned very often or in great detail but which one must be determined to remember because all the characters are linked, some more tenuously than others. Reading with Pigeonhole, we were given a people map part way through to help and I think any reader would find this a necessary and useful addition given the complexity of the book.
I find any story with gallows featuring very hard to stomach and the ending is far from what anyone inclined to like things neatly wrapped up and served on a platter of Happiness and Justice, will be satisfied with. Deprived of timely fictional retribution withstanding, the ending is as it should be and most fitting given the title.
You can obviously read the synopsis of the book elsewhere, but in a sentence this is about one man escaping his sins and another man embracing, in a very convoluted manner, and ultimately in vain, the question of morality.
A noble novel with a thrilling element of who-really-dunnit.
Thank you to the author, publisher and the people at Pigeonhole for another fantastic read which has broadened my brain!
It was definitely not my usual type of read given the historical nature (1840s) of a series of interconnecting short stories which were a mix of funny, shocking and intriguing. The use of the Dorset dialect for the period was well researched and an ambitious way to present parts of the story. For some, this could be off putting, but for me, I did not struggle to get the gist of the dialogue even though the words and grammar were not familiar. I like to think as I read so I found this enhanced my reading pleasure and immersed me more fully in the life and times of characters that were far from anything I have experienced myself.
What I did find a bit confusing was the sheer quantity of characters, some of whom are not mentioned very often or in great detail but which one must be determined to remember because all the characters are linked, some more tenuously than others. Reading with Pigeonhole, we were given a people map part way through to help and I think any reader would find this a necessary and useful addition given the complexity of the book.
I find any story with gallows featuring very hard to stomach and the ending is far from what anyone inclined to like things neatly wrapped up and served on a platter of Happiness and Justice, will be satisfied with. Deprived of timely fictional retribution withstanding, the ending is as it should be and most fitting given the title.
You can obviously read the synopsis of the book elsewhere, but in a sentence this is about one man escaping his sins and another man embracing, in a very convoluted manner, and ultimately in vain, the question of morality.
A noble novel with a thrilling element of who-really-dunnit.
Thank you to the author, publisher and the people at Pigeonhole for another fantastic read which has broadened my brain!
serenityyou's review against another edition
3.0
I really don't know how to rate this book. I listened to it on audio and really struggled with it.
I loved the first few chapters, but then I sort of got lost in what was happening. The book is told in like 14 different stories but I didn't understand this until I got right near the end of the book. The middle was a mess for me, only because I had no clue what was going on, and as I listened to it on audio, I think this confused me even more. There wasn't that much difference in the narrator's voice for some of the characters and I got mixed up with who I was following at the time.
The ending was really good and I did enjoy it. I think this is a book better read in physical copy than on audio. I really liked the author's style of writing and because of this, I will be re-reading this again, but with an actual physical book.
Also must note that I LOVE the cover, just so beautiful.
This is 3 stars for me at the moment. But going to re-read and I am sure it will then be a 4 or even a 5-star read.
*Thanks to Netgalley for giving me an audio copy of this book in return for my honest review
I loved the first few chapters, but then I sort of got lost in what was happening. The book is told in like 14 different stories but I didn't understand this until I got right near the end of the book. The middle was a mess for me, only because I had no clue what was going on, and as I listened to it on audio, I think this confused me even more. There wasn't that much difference in the narrator's voice for some of the characters and I got mixed up with who I was following at the time.
The ending was really good and I did enjoy it. I think this is a book better read in physical copy than on audio. I really liked the author's style of writing and because of this, I will be re-reading this again, but with an actual physical book.
Also must note that I LOVE the cover, just so beautiful.
This is 3 stars for me at the moment. But going to re-read and I am sure it will then be a 4 or even a 5-star read.
*Thanks to Netgalley for giving me an audio copy of this book in return for my honest review
booksbytheboats's review
Run out of time for book club - a lot of characters and too slow for me.
laurahastoomanywips's review against another edition
4.0
More of a 4.5
Greatly enjoyed this historically based novel. Made up of short stories that included the lives of several people living in Victorian Whimbourne, in Dorset, showing how their lives were interlinked. The common thread was the murder of the choirmaster (or buggermaster as he was called behind his back) as he was suspected to have been responsible for the abuse of the choirboys, one sadly commiting suicide as a result.
The book spanned several years and told us of the lives of the suspects.
It did take a bit of time to get into it due to a lot of it being written in the local Dorset dialect but once I got used to it it added to the characterisations.
My reading of this on The Pigeonhole was made more enjoyable by explanatory notes and extra information provided by the author as part of the readalong. Thanks to the author and The Pigeonhole for the opportunity.
Greatly enjoyed this historically based novel. Made up of short stories that included the lives of several people living in Victorian Whimbourne, in Dorset, showing how their lives were interlinked. The common thread was the murder of the choirmaster (or buggermaster as he was called behind his back) as he was suspected to have been responsible for the abuse of the choirboys, one sadly commiting suicide as a result.
The book spanned several years and told us of the lives of the suspects.
It did take a bit of time to get into it due to a lot of it being written in the local Dorset dialect but once I got used to it it added to the characterisations.
My reading of this on The Pigeonhole was made more enjoyable by explanatory notes and extra information provided by the author as part of the readalong. Thanks to the author and The Pigeonhole for the opportunity.
bookmarkonthewall's review
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0