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A review by lastblossom
The House on Graveyard Lane by Martin Edwards
mysterious
tense
medium-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? Yes
tl;dr
More thriller than mystery. A reasonably fun and twisty tale, but be advised that the description and the actual book aren't entirely in line.
Thoughts
This is fourth in a series, a thing I was entirely unaware of when I started it. Thankfully, there was enough catchup woven in that it wasn't a pain point for me to jump into the story. That being said, maybe I would have known better what to expect when the story took a sudden swerve from a very interesting hook to an entirely different plotline. There are two leads here - Rachel and Jacob - and despite the book description spending more time on Rachel, the book itself spends a lot more time on Jacob. The story begins with the death of Damaris Gethin (Rachel's case), but immediately takes a turn to follow the life of another woman, Kiki de Villiers (Jacob's case). Kiki is a person of interest for unspecified reasons. She's got history in this town, and there are a lot of different threads connected to her: the police, organized crime, a mysterious third party? Is Damaris also part of her story? Only somewhat. Jacob and Rachel intersect a few times, more out of coincidence than connection, but the lion's share of the story is about Kiki. There's plenty of cat and mouse in here leaning more into a thriller than a mystery, with a large amount of legwork in Rachel's case being done off the page. It's a shame, because she and the case are incredibly interesting, and I would have liked to follow that thread more. Still, if you want to follow the adventures of a crime reporter tracking down a woman with a mysterious past as she tangles with a crime organization, then this might be the book for you.
Thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for an advance copy! All thoughts in this review are my own.
More thriller than mystery. A reasonably fun and twisty tale, but be advised that the description and the actual book aren't entirely in line.
Thoughts
This is fourth in a series, a thing I was entirely unaware of when I started it. Thankfully, there was enough catchup woven in that it wasn't a pain point for me to jump into the story. That being said, maybe I would have known better what to expect when the story took a sudden swerve from a very interesting hook to an entirely different plotline. There are two leads here - Rachel and Jacob - and despite the book description spending more time on Rachel, the book itself spends a lot more time on Jacob. The story begins with the death of Damaris Gethin (Rachel's case), but immediately takes a turn to follow the life of another woman, Kiki de Villiers (Jacob's case). Kiki is a person of interest for unspecified reasons. She's got history in this town, and there are a lot of different threads connected to her: the police, organized crime, a mysterious third party? Is Damaris also part of her story? Only somewhat. Jacob and Rachel intersect a few times, more out of coincidence than connection, but the lion's share of the story is about Kiki. There's plenty of cat and mouse in here leaning more into a thriller than a mystery, with a large amount of legwork in Rachel's case being done off the page. It's a shame, because she and the case are incredibly interesting, and I would have liked to follow that thread more. Still, if you want to follow the adventures of a crime reporter tracking down a woman with a mysterious past as she tangles with a crime organization, then this might be the book for you.
Thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for an advance copy! All thoughts in this review are my own.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Gun violence, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Abortion, and Alcohol
Minor: Vomit and Fire/Fire injury