Tag Archive for: Mystery

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Where The Crawdads Sing

Where The Crawdads SingTitle: Where the Crawdads Sing
Author: Delia Owens
Genre: Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, Mystery
Format: Audio
Pages: 370
Length: 12h 12m
Narrator: Cassandra Campbell
Rating:

My Thoughts

I truly loved WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING until the last few pages. I think she would’ve confided in Tate about her past and the ending made it seem like she hadn’t. I feel it undid what the author was trying to say and/or show about who Kya grew to be after the trial.

While I’m a little miffed at the ending, I’m still glad I read it. I really loved Kya and I was invested in her life. I loved that she not only survived, but thrived despite the hardships she faced. I thought her story was beautifully told and emotional. I thought the dual timeline was the perfect vehicle for the story, especially the mystery aspect of it. I liked getting snippets of Kya’s life in the past as I wondered what lead to the present circumstances.

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The Christmas Murder Game

The Christmas Murder GameTitle: The Christmas Murder Game
Author: Alexandra Benedict
Genre: Holiday, Mystery, Thriller
Format: Audio
Pages: 345
Length: 9h 5m
Narrator: Ana Clements
Rating:

My Thoughts

I thought the concept of THE CHRISTMAS MURDER GAME sounded fun and suspenseful. While I was never bored, I just didn’t think the execution was done very well and the writing was awkward. I feel like Benedict tried way too hard. The “sonnets” were very clunky and the anagrams were weird. Fortunately, listening to the audiobook helped hide the weird spellings. I also thought the use of “obvs” and “pud” (pudding) in the narrative, not dialogue, was really strange.

As far as the story goes, I knew who the main antagonist was pretty early on. It was fairly obvious, or obvs *rolls eyes*. I didn’t mind Lily but I thought some of her choices were a little suspect. Every other character was either annoying, selfish, or not developed very well. The circumstances that had to happen so the story could take place weren’t very realistic either.

This is a nit-picky thing that took me out of the story. It could be because I’m from the US and speak American English. Anyway, one of the characters is pregnant and this character and their cousins said that the cousins would be the baby’s aunt or uncle. Aunts and uncles are parents’ siblings not cousins. They’d be a cousin too–first cousin once removed, actually.

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The Magnolia Palace

The Magnolia PalaceTitle: The Magnolia Palace
Author: Fiona Davis
Genre: Historical Fiction, Mystery
Format: Hard Cover
Pages: 337
Rating:

My Thoughts

I was hooked on THE MAGNOLIA PALACE from the get-go. I adored it from start to finish. When I’d put the book down, I’d keep thinking about it and I’d want to pick it right back up again. I couldn’t wait to find out what happened next. I really loved the dual timeline. I thought it was the perfect vehicle for the story, especially with the mystery aspect of it. I was more invested in Lillian’s story than Veronica’s. I didn’t dislike Veronica or anything. I was just more interested in the 1919 time period than the 1966 one.

I had no idea that Henry Clay Frick, his daughter, and the Frick Collection were real as I read the story. I didn’t even know that Lillian was based on a model from the 1900’s. I loved reading the author’s note and finding out that Davis mixed non-fiction with fiction to create the magnificent story that is THE MAGNOLIA PALACE. I don’t know what historians or relatives of the Frick family and the model would think about the fiction, but I thought it made for a compelling read.