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Comedy Can Be Deadly
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When the curtain falls, the body count rises When former nurse Sho Tanaka reluctantly takes on...
Kristy H (1252 KP) rated The Secret Place in Books
Feb 13, 2018
The fifth installment in Tana French's Dublin Murder Squad series reintroduces some familiar faces, notably Holly Mackey, Frank Mackey, and Stephen Moran from French's [b:Faithful Place|7093952|Faithful Place (Dublin Murder Squad, #3)|Tana French|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1291165900s/7093952.jpg|7350661]. Detective Moran is toiling away in Cold Cases, dreaming of joining the Murder Squad, when Holly shows up. She holds in her hand a card reading "I know who killed him," featuring a photo of Chris Harper, a handsome boy from a private school who was killed a year ago. Suddenly, Stephen finds himself inserted into the middle of St. Kilda's School, Holly's private all-girls' school, the neighborhood school to Chris', and the place where his body was found. Stephen joins up with the Murder Squad's Detective Antoinette Conway, one of the original leads on Chris' case, to find out what happened. But Stephen quickly realizes that Antoinette isn't a popular figure in the Squad, and that the girls of St. Kilda's are a tight-knit, complicated bunch whose interconnected relationships present Conway and Moran many obstacles in finding Chris' killer. Can they find the killer before the girls close ranks for good?
This was a typical Tana French mystery in many ways. This novel is compelling, as always, featuring thoughtful and reflective characters and a detailed, well-plotted mystery. The story is told in alternating chapters by Stephen (in the present-day) and then flashes back to various sections told by the girls of St. Kilda's, who are telling bits of the story leading up to Chris' death. It's an excellent technique because Stephen's portion covers basically 24 hours, as he and Antoinette rush to solve the crime before the girls can cover their tracks once and for all. But by going into the past, French effectively builds suspense and allows us to meet the various teens in her tale (about eight in all, which is a lot at times).
Overall, she does an good job of capturing teen culture: particularly, I'm sure, the culture of British teens in boarding school (shockingly, something I'm not too familiar with). While the descriptions of the girls gets a little tedious (a lot of blond, straightened hair), their personalities are clear and develop easily over the course of the novel. The commentary on the bonds of teen friendship is excellent. For me, Stephen wasn't one of my all-time favorite French protagonists, but I enjoyed the dynamic between him and Conway and how the window into their lives is basically less than 24 hours.
The mystery portion was a little less enjoyable for me than some of French's other novels and a bit of a let down at the end, but it was still a great read. One of my favorite things about French's books is how they easily transport you into another world while reading--you find yourself lost in the characters and their world--and this one was no exception. 3.5 strong stars. I'm looking forward to her next novel, which is supposed to feature Conway again.
<a href="http://justacatandabookatherside.blogspot.com/">My Blog</a> ~ <a href="https://www.facebook.com/justacatandabook/">Facebook</a>; ~ <a href="https://twitter.com/justacatandbook">Twitter</a>;
This was a typical Tana French mystery in many ways. This novel is compelling, as always, featuring thoughtful and reflective characters and a detailed, well-plotted mystery. The story is told in alternating chapters by Stephen (in the present-day) and then flashes back to various sections told by the girls of St. Kilda's, who are telling bits of the story leading up to Chris' death. It's an excellent technique because Stephen's portion covers basically 24 hours, as he and Antoinette rush to solve the crime before the girls can cover their tracks once and for all. But by going into the past, French effectively builds suspense and allows us to meet the various teens in her tale (about eight in all, which is a lot at times).
Overall, she does an good job of capturing teen culture: particularly, I'm sure, the culture of British teens in boarding school (shockingly, something I'm not too familiar with). While the descriptions of the girls gets a little tedious (a lot of blond, straightened hair), their personalities are clear and develop easily over the course of the novel. The commentary on the bonds of teen friendship is excellent. For me, Stephen wasn't one of my all-time favorite French protagonists, but I enjoyed the dynamic between him and Conway and how the window into their lives is basically less than 24 hours.
The mystery portion was a little less enjoyable for me than some of French's other novels and a bit of a let down at the end, but it was still a great read. One of my favorite things about French's books is how they easily transport you into another world while reading--you find yourself lost in the characters and their world--and this one was no exception. 3.5 strong stars. I'm looking forward to her next novel, which is supposed to feature Conway again.
<a href="http://justacatandabookatherside.blogspot.com/">My Blog</a> ~ <a href="https://www.facebook.com/justacatandabook/">Facebook</a>; ~ <a href="https://twitter.com/justacatandbook">Twitter</a>;
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2450 KP) rated Murder Knocks Twice in Books
Jun 14, 2019
Bringing 1929 Chicago to Life
Gina Ricci is thrilled when she lands a job at The Third Door, one of many speakeasies in 1929 Chicago. Her friend, Lulu, already works there, and she has promised the tips are good. Since Gina needs to support herself and her sick father, the promised money is very welcome, and the glitch, glamour, and possibility of meeting some celebrities captivates Gina. As Gina settles into her new job, she starts to hear that her predecessor was murdered, but no one seems willing to talk about it. Besides, it happened away from The Third Door, so surely the murder was unrelated to the job Gina has now, right? Gina has just convinced herself of that when she witnesses a murder. Is she safe in her new job? Can she figure out what is really happening?
Since I love history, especially US history, I’m always looking for promising sounding new historical mysteries to add to my to be read list. This one does a great job of bringing the era and location to life as we get plenty of discussions about life during the time, including celebrities of the day. However, this detail took away from the mystery. The murder I teased takes place a third of the way into the book, and that does make the plot move forward a little faster, but still, we could have used some more clues and red herrings. The climax does explain everything, but it feels very rushed. The characters are a little thin as well, although I did feel we got to know Gina and a couple others well. In you are interested in the time or location, I definitely recommend you pick up the book. Hopefully, with some things now established, the next in the series will be stronger.
Since I love history, especially US history, I’m always looking for promising sounding new historical mysteries to add to my to be read list. This one does a great job of bringing the era and location to life as we get plenty of discussions about life during the time, including celebrities of the day. However, this detail took away from the mystery. The murder I teased takes place a third of the way into the book, and that does make the plot move forward a little faster, but still, we could have used some more clues and red herrings. The climax does explain everything, but it feels very rushed. The characters are a little thin as well, although I did feel we got to know Gina and a couple others well. In you are interested in the time or location, I definitely recommend you pick up the book. Hopefully, with some things now established, the next in the series will be stronger.
Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) created a post
Jul 30, 2021
Tombland (The Shardlake series Book 7)
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Summer, 1549. Two years after the death of Henry VIII, England is sliding into chaos . . . The...
A Sense for Murder
9.0
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Chef Sally Solari has - to her own bewilderment - built a reputation as a talented sleuth who keeps...
Solid Gold Murder
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Dee Stern’s Golden Motel-of-the-Mountains promises a tranquil getaway for outdoor lovers in the...
Daniel Boyd (1066 KP) rated Murder on the Orient Express (2017) in Movies
Nov 14, 2017 (Updated Nov 14, 2017)
A Serviceable Retelling
I'm not going to tell you that this is one of the greatest detective movies ever made, but it is a lot better than a lot of reviews are making it out to be and I had fun with it. Branagh does a good job with directing the all star cast and they each get a moment to shine. He is also brilliant as Poirot, working as the staple that holds the whole movie together. The lighting and the cinematography in the film is stunning. It does have it's cheesy moments and certain actors could be mistaken for being in a pantomime, but that comes with the territory with a period murder mystery story. I'm not saying it's brilliant, but it is good fun and as remakes go, it could have been a lot worse.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Game Night (2018) in Movies
Mar 5, 2018 (Updated Mar 22, 2019)
Knowingly absurd black comedy thriller is powered along by engaging performances and some good gags. A group of affluent friends think they're participating in a kind of murder mystery role-playing game; in fact the situation is in deadly earnest.
The script goes into overdrive to sustain this fairly preposterous premise for 100 minutes - it just about manages it but the first half inevitably feels a bit less forced than the conclusion. Still very funny indeed in places; there's a bit of tonal uncertainty - the thriller element is quite dark, with some graphic violence - but not enough to make the film uncomfortable to watch. Bateman and McAdams are particularly good, but lots of good turns here, both comic and straight. I laughed a lot, which is pretty unusual when it comes to me and modern comedies.
The script goes into overdrive to sustain this fairly preposterous premise for 100 minutes - it just about manages it but the first half inevitably feels a bit less forced than the conclusion. Still very funny indeed in places; there's a bit of tonal uncertainty - the thriller element is quite dark, with some graphic violence - but not enough to make the film uncomfortable to watch. Bateman and McAdams are particularly good, but lots of good turns here, both comic and straight. I laughed a lot, which is pretty unusual when it comes to me and modern comedies.
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2450 KP) rated Classified as Murder (Cat in the Stacks, #2) in Books
Mar 9, 2018
Charlie is surprised when James Delacorte asks for his help cataloging his private library since the two hardly know each other. But James fears that someone is stealing his rare books. Returning from his lunch break his first day on the job, Charlie finds James dead. Who killed him? Are there really missing library books?
I let too much time pass before I got back to this series, but I was thrilled to see Charlie and his cat Diesel again. They are great main characters, and I liked how Charlie and several relationships around him grew in this book. The mystery was a bit slow to get started, but once it did, the tension was strong and the ending was great.
Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2016/01/book-review-classified-as-murder-by.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.
I let too much time pass before I got back to this series, but I was thrilled to see Charlie and his cat Diesel again. They are great main characters, and I liked how Charlie and several relationships around him grew in this book. The mystery was a bit slow to get started, but once it did, the tension was strong and the ending was great.
Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2016/01/book-review-classified-as-murder-by.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.