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brig_berthold's review
2.0
With the thinnest relationship to espionage, or treachery against King and country, this novel disappointed in its lack of depth. Efforts at multi-dimmentional characters were stunted and details used in developmental stages lead to nothing in the end.
From start to finish, myriad details were left completely untouchrd:
-The Local Play
-What Selchester's niece was writing
-The missing notebook
- And all the gossip adsociated
The story was barely entertaining.
From start to finish, myriad details were left completely untouchrd:
-The Local Play
-What Selchester's niece was writing
-The missing notebook
- And all the gossip adsociated
The story was barely entertaining.
amandajeanne's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
slow-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
corfie's review
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
chipy10's review
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
cutenanya's review
4.0
This book is surprisingly enjoyable and I am a bit baffled by the mediocre rating on Goodreads. When a leg injury forced Hugo to retire to desk work at Selchester, he stumbled across the mystery of the death of Earl Selchester, who vanished without a trace nearly 7 years ago. Together with Freya, the Earl's niece, his uncle Leo and his little sister, Georgia, he uncovered the secrets behind the murder, but that was only the beginning for the Earl was a man of many secrets.
The plot: I like how Hugo and Freya investigated the murder together and it's good to see a strong and intelligent female character. However, I think the there are certain places where the investigation is "too easy", like how a witness can remember what happened nearly 7 years ago and helped provide an alibi. Unless it left a very distinct impression, it would be hard to remember things so clearly.
The characters: While I like the whole cast, since this is the beginning of a series, we only get to scratch the surface of the characters, all of them seem to have secrets of their own. I would like to learn more about them in the future.
There is no romance in this book but judging from the setup of the story, I wouldn't be surprised to find more romantic interactions between Hugo and Freya in the future (or maybe even a love triangle). Nonetheless, I don't really care for the romance and find the story just as interesting without any romantic plot.
Overall, this is a pretty good book and would have been better had the author spent more time developing the murder mystery further, be more realistic and stop giving all the witnesses extraordinary memory skills.
The plot: I like how Hugo and Freya investigated the murder together and it's good to see a strong and intelligent female character. However, I think the there are certain places where the investigation is "too easy", like how a witness can remember what happened nearly 7 years ago and helped provide an alibi. Unless it left a very distinct impression, it would be hard to remember things so clearly.
The characters: While I like the whole cast, since this is the beginning of a series, we only get to scratch the surface of the characters, all of them seem to have secrets of their own. I would like to learn more about them in the future.
There is no romance in this book but judging from the setup of the story, I wouldn't be surprised to find more romantic interactions between Hugo and Freya in the future (or maybe even a love triangle). Nonetheless, I don't really care for the romance and find the story just as interesting without any romantic plot.
Overall, this is a pretty good book and would have been better had the author spent more time developing the murder mystery further, be more realistic and stop giving all the witnesses extraordinary memory skills.
omegabeth's review
4.0
I was looking tp expand my cozy mystery habit—no suspense, horror, or on-stage violence, please, as this is supposed to be an escape from reality, not a reminder of it! My normal fodder is somewhat silly and formulaic, but as I’ve been having a grand time with Daisy Dalrymple, Mrs. Jeffries, and Phryne Fisher, I was digging around for something else in that vein.
This turns out to be not that, but I am not sure I mind. The characters are well drawn and less archetypal (physicist-priest, anyone?) than I was expecting, and I quickly became emotionally engaged with them. The story is a mystery, but doesn’t require tortuous logical deduction—it is more that a variety of people know various pieces, and the things they know are often quite large, so instead of a dead canary and a set of footprints, person x says they saw person y kill z. That information is part of a larger ecosystem of secrets and interlocking narratives that seems both more natural (since real life always has layers) and more contrived, since things do get wrapped up nicely, and the endings are happy, but that is what I want.
I guess my only complaint is the post-war Cold War era. On the one hand, the story requires that, but I just wasn’t sold on it. This might just be because it is less “foreign” in time and space than many other historical settings, though!
This book is clearly the beginning of an arc that will cover multiple books- I will continue the series.
This turns out to be not that, but I am not sure I mind. The characters are well drawn and less archetypal (physicist-priest, anyone?) than I was expecting, and I quickly became emotionally engaged with them. The story is a mystery, but doesn’t require tortuous logical deduction—it is more that a variety of people know various pieces, and the things they know are often quite large, so instead of a dead canary and a set of footprints, person x says they saw person y kill z. That information is part of a larger ecosystem of secrets and interlocking narratives that seems both more natural (since real life always has layers) and more contrived, since things do get wrapped up nicely, and the endings are happy, but that is what I want.
I guess my only complaint is the post-war Cold War era. On the one hand, the story requires that, but I just wasn’t sold on it. This might just be because it is less “foreign” in time and space than many other historical settings, though!
This book is clearly the beginning of an arc that will cover multiple books- I will continue the series.
kathlgpa's review against another edition
3.0
This was a decent English mystery. Of course it was compared to Christie and Sayers but to me it shouldn’t be. I could tell from the writing it was a modern author but it didn’t seem disingenuous to the historical time it was written. I just didn’t enjoy it as other mysteries possibly because of the focus on spies and politics rather than police and detectives.
The mystery begins in 1947 when a local Earl vanishes during a blizzard. Seven years later his body is finally found and those snow-bound at the castle at the time of the blizzard are all suspects.
Our main protagonist is Hugo Hawksworth who is now staying in the castle in 1952 while working for the service. He investigates the murder to help out the host he is staying with who is one of the suspects since she was there the night the Earl disappeared. I don’t feel like the author wrote any of these characters with enough depth to be really sympathetic.
The mystery begins in 1947 when a local Earl vanishes during a blizzard. Seven years later his body is finally found and those snow-bound at the castle at the time of the blizzard are all suspects.
Our main protagonist is Hugo Hawksworth who is now staying in the castle in 1952 while working for the service. He investigates the murder to help out the host he is staying with who is one of the suspects since she was there the night the Earl disappeared. I don’t feel like the author wrote any of these characters with enough depth to be really sympathetic.
pages_n_puzzles's review against another edition
4.0
Enjoyed the audiobook. Read in October 2016 originally.
Re-read Feb 2020. Liked it even more the second time.
Re-read Feb 2020. Liked it even more the second time.
mikewa14's review against another edition
4.0
http://0651frombrighton.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/a-man-of-some-repute-elizabeth-edmondson.html