Reviews

A Mask of Shadows by Oscar de Muriel

Only show reviews with written explanations

auntie_terror's review

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

If this is how the author represents a favourite author of his (Oscar Wilde - had to read the notes in the back to figure out he doesn't have an immense dislike for him and his writing), I don't want to see what he'd to to authors he doesn't like. And that for no good reason at all - the book would have worked just as well without him, and it even seems to open up a plot hole.

jmatkinson1's review against another edition

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3.0

1889 and Henry Irving has brought his production of Macbeth to Edinburgh. Ticket sales are not going well but when leading actress Ellen Terry finds a blood-soaked parcel in her dressing room and a banshee's howl is heard across the town followed by a prophecy written in blood, the theatre is suddenly inundated. Detectives Frey and McGray investigate the supernatural and corporal goings-on, trying to find out whether or not there is a threat to the production. however between madness, scandal and personal problems for both, it is difficult to separate crime from theatrical embellishment.

Apparently this is the third novel in a series but this is the first that I have read. The basic premise of the book is interesting. Sir Henry Irving and Dame Ellen Terry were long-term collaborators and former lovers, each carried plenty of scandal with them, the theatre manager at the time was Bram (Dracula) Stoker. By weaving these historical characters into a fictional plot, Muriel is intriguing the reader. The setting in Victorian Edinburgh is interesting and very atmospheric, the plot is complicated and draws many threads together. That, however, is where my enjoyment started to wane. the plot is exceptionally complex and reliant on the reader having more knowledge of the back-story of the characters than was supplied in this instalment. The actual perpetrator and the bones of the plot seemed to come rather out of left-field in the final stages, taking quite a detour from what had been set up originally. This wasn't a bad book by any means.

ogbill's review against another edition

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4.0

4. slightly slow start but a storyline that enthralled me more than the last instalment

mariposaazul21's review against another edition

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2.0

Es posible que este libro pueda haber merecido tres estrellas pero era *demasiado* largo. El argumento desarrollo tan lentamente que muy frecuentemente me aburrí mucho en leerlo y tuve que forzarme para continuar.

Otra cosa, me harta de la burla continual de McGray contra Frey.

No se si volveré leer la próxima (si bien sale en español).

lewiscain's review

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5.0

Wow, think this is my favourite of the series so far! It was a slower build that the others but all the clues and twists are great and the way it’s brought together at the end is simply brilliant. How Oscar works in the historical elements with fiction is also genius and I really enjoyed Frey and McGrays relationship getting stronger, with Frey starting to become a bit more ruthless rather than a southern dandy!

nellum's review against another edition

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5.0

Nach den beiden unglaublich guten Vorgängern hatte ich mich schon sehr auf den dritten Teil der Reihe gefreut.
Wo der erste Teil sein Hauptaugenmerk auf Horror und der zweite auf Okkultes, Sagen und Mysterien legen, kam mir dieser sehr ausgeglichen vor. Es gibt natürlich wieder übernatürliche Phänomene, (irische) Sagen und Tote, die ja überhaupt erst dafür sorgen, dass Frey und McGray mit dem Fall beauftragt werden. Es spielt daneben auch aber die zwischenmenschliche Beziehung zwischen den beiden eine große Rolle, was meiner Meinung nach in den vorherigen Teilen zu sehr auf das Hickhack zwischen Engländer und Schotte reduziert war. Was mir ebenfalls gut gefallen hat ist, dass das Buch, anders als der zweite Teil, nicht zum größten Teil aus Action-Sequenzen bestanden hat.

Ein weiterer kleiner Bonus sind Personen wie Bram Stoker, Oscar Wilde, Lewis Carroll und Henry Irving, die darin auftauchen und wichtige Rollen spielen.

Dieser Teil hat mir bisher am besten gefallen, da es die besten Eigenschaften der beiden Vorgänger verbindet und dann noch einen drauf setzt. Ich kann schon gar nicht abwarten das nächste Buch der Reihe zu lesen.