A review by daybreak1012
Steamed Open by Barbara Ross
4.0
This series! The pages consistently turn themselves for me. Just one more chapter...and then suddenly I'm finishing the book.
What I liked about Steamed Open:
All the same things I always like - The characters, the setting, the writing style. It remains consistent from book to book. I love that I can rely on these core pieces every time I visit this series.
The mystery - I was guessing the entire time. Even though I thought I had nailed down both a suspect *and* a motive (I never get the motive). I was not even close.
The way all the pieces fit together - Oftentimes, I will find that certain aspects of the story don't line up in a way that "fits comfortably" for me. Other times, I feel like the author makes certain assumptions about the mental leaps the reader has taken. Ms Ross weaves a beautiful story. The puzzle pieces all fall into place by the point of the reveal. Even on the occasion that I think I've caught her in an "a-HA!!" slip-up, because I'm reading and I'm confused that I missed something key, I realize she's set me up because her explanation is immediately forthcoming. Even the ongoing story arcs are addressed consistently and the brief recaps of what's already happened to this point never feel trite or overly repetitive; this is truly such a rare gift in a series.
The character development - Each installment brings me more deeply into the characters themselves, as well as their relationships with one another. They are never static or stale, but they also don't hurry the timelines for this sort of development. Even the progression of time between one case and the next advances at a pace that feels "real."
What I didn't care for:
Just one thing, and it's minor at that. The edition I read needed some proofreading. Words were left out or added in where they didn't make sense in the sentence. It doesn't detract from the story in any way that makes it unreadable. I just notice these things, and unfortunately, they happened several times throughout the book.
Wrapped up this one and keeping right with the series as I jump into a holiday novella! This doesn't make me sad one bit. I wasn't ready to depart Busman's Harbor yet!
What I liked about Steamed Open:
All the same things I always like - The characters, the setting, the writing style. It remains consistent from book to book. I love that I can rely on these core pieces every time I visit this series.
The mystery - I was guessing the entire time. Even though I thought I had nailed down both a suspect *and* a motive (I never get the motive). I was not even close.
The way all the pieces fit together - Oftentimes, I will find that certain aspects of the story don't line up in a way that "fits comfortably" for me. Other times, I feel like the author makes certain assumptions about the mental leaps the reader has taken. Ms Ross weaves a beautiful story. The puzzle pieces all fall into place by the point of the reveal. Even on the occasion that I think I've caught her in an "a-HA!!" slip-up, because I'm reading and I'm confused that I missed something key, I realize she's set me up because her explanation is immediately forthcoming. Even the ongoing story arcs are addressed consistently and the brief recaps of what's already happened to this point never feel trite or overly repetitive; this is truly such a rare gift in a series.
The character development - Each installment brings me more deeply into the characters themselves, as well as their relationships with one another. They are never static or stale, but they also don't hurry the timelines for this sort of development. Even the progression of time between one case and the next advances at a pace that feels "real."
What I didn't care for:
Just one thing, and it's minor at that. The edition I read needed some proofreading. Words were left out or added in where they didn't make sense in the sentence. It doesn't detract from the story in any way that makes it unreadable. I just notice these things, and unfortunately, they happened several times throughout the book.
Wrapped up this one and keeping right with the series as I jump into a holiday novella! This doesn't make me sad one bit. I wasn't ready to depart Busman's Harbor yet!