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A review by esdeecarlson
Chapter and Curse by Elizabeth Penney
1.0
**This book was provided to me by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.**
1.5 stars
I really did not enjoy this book. Cozy mysteries are hit and miss for me, but I really thought this one (murder! Old ladies! Cambridge! Bookshop! Cats!) would be a hit for me; alas, it was one of the biggest misses I’ve read.
Firstly, I felt condescended to the entire book, as if, despite being an adult mystery, it was actually written for young American teens who have a romantic view of England but have never actually read any books set outside of the U.S. before. The first-person narrator ‘helpfully’ informed her readers about such obscure bits of Anglophile trivia as “‘mate’ is slang for ‘friend’” and “they really like tea here.”
The heroine herself was also deadly dull. I spent much of the book wishing that she, and her contrived “American cousin who comes in to save the bookshop with such Quirky, Modern Ideas as ‘using social media to drive engagement’” persona, were cut out entirely. Because part of the real tragedy of this book is that the actual murder plot is really interesting! An old woman who is blackmailing a truly fascinating cast of characters is murdered at a busy event. If Daisy—the young woman who runs the nearby café, and is directly related to a mysterious death from fifty years prior that seems suddenly relevant in this new case—had been the sleuth to tackle the mystery, I would have been much more invested. Instead we got Molly Kimball, who is just… bland.
I just did not have a good time with this story, and I wish that the mystery had been packaged differently—with more adult writing and a more engaging sleuth.
1.5 stars
I really did not enjoy this book. Cozy mysteries are hit and miss for me, but I really thought this one (murder! Old ladies! Cambridge! Bookshop! Cats!) would be a hit for me; alas, it was one of the biggest misses I’ve read.
Firstly, I felt condescended to the entire book, as if, despite being an adult mystery, it was actually written for young American teens who have a romantic view of England but have never actually read any books set outside of the U.S. before. The first-person narrator ‘helpfully’ informed her readers about such obscure bits of Anglophile trivia as “‘mate’ is slang for ‘friend’” and “they really like tea here.”
The heroine herself was also deadly dull. I spent much of the book wishing that she, and her contrived “American cousin who comes in to save the bookshop with such Quirky, Modern Ideas as ‘using social media to drive engagement’” persona, were cut out entirely. Because part of the real tragedy of this book is that the actual murder plot is really interesting! An old woman who is blackmailing a truly fascinating cast of characters is murdered at a busy event. If Daisy—the young woman who runs the nearby café, and is directly related to a mysterious death from fifty years prior that seems suddenly relevant in this new case—had been the sleuth to tackle the mystery, I would have been much more invested. Instead we got Molly Kimball, who is just… bland.
I just did not have a good time with this story, and I wish that the mystery had been packaged differently—with more adult writing and a more engaging sleuth.