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Murder from Scratch
Murder from Scratch
Leslie Karst | 2019 | Mystery, Thriller
9
8.8 (6 Ratings)
Book Rating
Murder From Scratch
By: Leslie Karst
Crooked Lane Books
Mystery/Thriller
320 Pages
Pub Date 9 April 2019
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I enjoyed this book. I love me a good cozy mystery story. This book also has the recipes in the back of the book. This is a mystery so I will not go into too much detail.
The story is a about a woman who is found dead by her blind daughter. Evelyn is her name. She insists that her mom wouldn't take her life and there are clues to support her. Her cousin, Sally owns a restaurant that left to her by her deceased Aunt but before that she was an attorney. She helps her cousin but researching the clues and doing a little bit of investigating on her own. She actually helped the police with her Aunts murder in a previous book. This is the same aunt whom left her the restaurant. There is some interesting turns in this story and like I said I enjoyed myself. I was able to figure out who did it but it wasn't until 2/3's into the story. I would recommend this book for you to read if you like cozy mysteries.
  
The Woman in Cabin 10
The Woman in Cabin 10
Ruth Ware | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry
6
7.5 (51 Ratings)
Book Rating
The premise is intriguing and there was enough happening to keep it suspenseful throughout most of the book (until about the last 3/4 of the book). (0 more)
Predictable plot development, the character development was off, and, by the end, I found myself not really caring. The ending was also slightly maudlin. (0 more)
Predictable
I get that mystery and thriller is hard to do now because there have been SO MANY mystery/thriller novels released. I will also say, while I love the genre, it is hard for me to find one I like, so that might just be me being picky. That being said, the biggest disappointment for me was the character development. She tried so hard to set up the mood of suspense and the backstory of why the main character is consistently fearful and anxious, but it seems like she skipped over adding any depth to the character, which makes no sense since most the book is the character being in her own head. Her thoughts are so one-note, though, I couldn’t connect with or even like her and, by the end, I found myself hoping she would die (which is not usually what I root for to happen). She throws in a few tidbits of backstory later on into the book, almost as though they are part of a great reveal, but it fell flat for me and it was a “too little too late” sort of situation. It was a good, easy read for vacation (which is when I read it), but I was slightly disappointed given the amount of publicity this book has been getting.
  
Voice from the Stone (2017)
Voice from the Stone (2017)
2017 | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Characters – Verena is a nurse, she is an expert in helping children with problems, her latest job takes her to Tuscany to help a young boy who hasn’t spoken since the passing of his mother. She doesn’t believe in any of the afterlife but must now learn to accept it in this latest case. Klaus is the father of the boy, he an artist and grieving in his own way, hoping to get his son to talk once more. Malvina is the mother that has passed away, she hasn’t remained away though communicating with Jakob through the wall, holding him back, she must get pushed into the afterlife for the family to move on.

Performances – Emilia Clarke is the biggest selling point of this movie, having one of the most beautiful women in the world, one of the most famous television characters, here she does get to show her serious side, but never reaches the levels we know she could. Marton Csokas is one of the good performers in the European mysterious men roles, here he is no different showing us why he is always picked.

Story – The story here does get caught up in two minds, the first is just a young nurse trying to help a sick child get over the grieving process, this should be a good enough story, but we get thrown into a mystery about why his deceased mother is talking to him through a stone, while this does have a kicker of a twist and never reaches the true levels of mystery to make us satisfied with how it ended or how we got there either.

Mystery – The mystery does fall flat by the end of the film, because we get part of an answer but not the complete answer.

Settings – The film does have beautiful settings outside of the house, we get to see moments of stunning scenery from the Tuscany location.


Scene of the Movie – Pose for me?

That Moment That Annoyed Me – The ending doesn’t seem to make sense.

Final Thoughts – This is a slow moving mystery thriller that does make you want to see where things go, but in the end things don’t click to make sense to where it should all be.

 

Overall: Mystery that lacks the punch.
  
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lurkykitty (3 KP) rated Saint X in Books

Mar 26, 2020  
Saint X
Saint X
Alexis Schaitkin | 2020 | Thriller
9
7.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
A compelling and intelligent mystery
When Claire is only seven years old, her eighteen year-old sister Alison disappears and is found dead when their family takes a vacation on a Caribbean island. This book takes place mostly in NYC where Claire, now called Emily, is a young adult working at her first job. By happenstance, she runs into one of the men from the island who was accused of killing her sister, but was not convicted due to lack of evidence. She befriends this man to learn more about what happened to her sister, to the detriment of her own mental health. The initial impression of this book was that it would be a fast paced thriller with a stunning conclusion. However, it is more a commentary on unresolved grief, the assumptions that are made based on race and class, and how one event can shatter the lives of so many. It could still be categorized as a mystery. I found the multiple points of view valuable in understanding the characters and events. Even though, at times, Saint X did not move quickly, it was still a compelling and interesting read.