Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Murder in G Major by Alexia Gordon

11 reviews

arkwen452's review against another edition

challenging mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.0

The female lead protagonist is strong headed, yes but also extremely annoying. She's not listening to sound advice and it is as of she's so sure she's invincible that no harm will come to her even with the string of murders happening left and right. 

While I find it admirable that she is trying to clear the McCarthy's murders, I don't think she's being smart. And for someone who is a doctor even though it's in music, she's not being smart at all. I think that she has a wealth of knowledge, in terms of music and composition, and a very good ear for music and tune, but the amateur detecting takes over her life and the story. And I don't think she votes enough time to the high school music orchestra that she is meant to be teaching. It becomes an afterthought to the entire narrative. I would prefer more of a balance, even though this is written in a style that is more , UK/British I feel that the author, and then story could give more to the readers. 

Moving onto the central core motivation, for the basically the protagonist, and the story, it comes down to mental health; this is always a red flag when it comes to stories, because yes, a person can be mentally influenced or emotionally charged for their actions, but it doesn't always have to be linked to some mental illness or mental instability. And I really dislike that the author links to familial ties of people who had a mental instability as the cause for their actions. Because they have this in common with a relative obviously, it must mean that they are the killer; the writer presents the reader as a everything has been neatly wrapped up and tied into a bow and presented to us in the story so we don't have to question or doubt, or take a pause for the fact that it's been revealed that person with a mental illness suddenly psycho crazy serial killer. 

And also trouble me that Gethsome is pulling all of these traits of amateur sleuth and amateur psychologist and amateur person reader and amateur knowledge of all things just because her sister married a judge for example, or her mother was a psychiatrist, for example, etc. etc. Just because these people are in her lives, doesn't mean she has all the knowledge or the insights as they do.

With the final confrontation between Gethsame and the serial killer, it's upsetting to see my previous thoughts on the matter of mental illness and the main character being inconsistently stitched together with characteristics of others be proven true.

I think the only characters I liked from this book were Emmon and the maths teacher Francis 🫤.

The book is a strong written story with excellent detail but I will not be rushing to read the next book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness

Moderate: Death, Murder, and Alcohol

Minor: Suicide attempt

kappafrog's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious sad medium-paced

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

2.5

At first, I loved this book. I liked Gethsemane, the setting, the side characters, and the mystery. But boy did the second half let me down. This turned out to be a shockingly ableist book. My heart just sank when I realised that hereditary mental illness was being used to explain away horrible actions. It makes me really angry to see mental illness treated this way. This book had so much going for it and then just threw it out the window. Oh, and the only gay character was delusionally in love with someone as part of that hereditary mental illness plot. What a horrible direction to take what could have been a wonderful book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Ableism, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Alcohol, Bullying, Cursing, Fatphobia, Body shaming, Grief, Gun violence, Suicide attempt, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Toxic friendship, Alcoholism, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, and Suicide

Minor: Gaslighting, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Stalking, Drug abuse, Blood, Sexual content, Drug use, and Medical content

laffi's review against another edition

funny mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

The book was mid to fine - the ending was disappointing.

Where's Eamon? Will he find Orla? Did the boys develop trauma? Why is Ruairi suddenly as talented as Colm? What's Gethsemane gonna do about her life? What about that creepy girl? What's gonna happen with the Carraigfaire? How is Aoife's name pronounced?

Many questions left unanswered.
All in all it was nice, I guess.
Although Gethsemane did not feel like someone who "lived music" . Tchaikovsky felt a lot like ~NLOG.
Cuz she special. duh.

I also felt like there were too many side characters, couldn't tell most of 'em apart.

Don't think I'm gonna read on.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Stalking, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Medical content, Alcohol, Gun violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Grief, Death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Violence, Car accident, Drug use, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Blood, Toxic friendship, Body horror, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

ashleycmms's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny lighthearted mysterious tense fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Grief, Death, Blood, and Mental illness

Moderate: Death of parent, Ableism, Infidelity, Drug use, Drug abuse, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Pregnancy

kwaeisig's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Gesethame is very relatable to any other millennial out here making their way through life without wanting to be a disappointment to family. As a quick witted Black woman I think she holds herself down well and does a great job and standing up for what she knows is right even if she doesn’t have all the answers yet. I thoroughly enjoyed reading her tenacity, comebacks, and her willingness to accept challenges set before her. Overall this is an easy read. I look forward to reading the rest of the series. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Stalking, Self harm, Murder, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Fire/Fire injury, Drug abuse, Death, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Infidelity

phantasmaboo's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

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

2.5

Murder in G Major follows Gethsemane, a young African-American woman who moves to Ireland to take on the position of orchestra director at an school. Gethsemane quickly finds that her house is haunted and there’s a ghost that wants her to prove his innocence. She also has to bring together a failing orchestra and win a school band competition to get the job of her dreams. 

I think that this is a cozy murder mystery that doesn’t take itself too seriously. It’s face-paced plot also keeps you on your toes and there really isn’t a dull moment. That being said, the book fell flat to me in terms of character and plot development. The plot for the orchestra and the murder investigation fight with each other for space to the point where neither are very fully developed. It seems like the main character does little to accomplish either one and we are left to fill in the gaps ourselves. Furthermore, it seemed like everyone in this small town was involved at some point, and it quickly became hard to tell who was who and who was doing what. None of the characters were developed beyond some basic-level characteristics. 

Finally, I found the ableism against people with mental illnesses to be quite alarming. Without spoiling, I can say that the author heavily stigmatizes those with mental illnesses and uses derogatory language to refer to them. While this is a trope, I believe it to be an outdated one at best, and the ending left me feeling quite disgusted for how the main character talks about those individuals. Perhaps with more character and plot development, it would have felt more purposeful, but really it just came off as cruel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Suicide, Ableism, and Mental illness

henrismum's review against another edition

informative mysterious medium-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

3.0

First in series - Gethsemane Brown Mysteries
Audiobook (All of my entries on The Story Graph are audiobooks.)
Why I added this book to my TBR pile: I found this on a list of recommended mysteries. I put it on my TBR pile  in summer and its number finally came up.
Will I read more of the series / author?     Probably Not     Maybe    Highly Likely The book contains an interesting setting and concept - an African American musician in Ireland who solves a mystery for a ghost.
The narrator was Jessica Carroll. Her voice was a little baby-ish in some points. I hope she gets better.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Mental illness

leanne_miron's review against another edition

lighthearted slow-paced

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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Ableism, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Drug abuse, Murder, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Suicide

fourfootedbeasts's review against another edition

mysterious fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Toxic relationship, Murder, Suicide, Mental illness, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Forced institutionalization, Fire/Fire injury, Drug abuse, and Gun violence

thelizzielibrary's review against another edition

emotional 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

4.75

Can we all have an Eamon ghost in our lives? I loved all of the relationships and characters in this! It was a cozy that didn't follow the typical character personalities, and I was so drawn into it! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Infidelity, Mental illness, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide, and Suicide attempt