Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC. It hasn't affected the contents of my review.
I'm sad to say this was a disappointment. Pretty Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC. It hasn't affected the contents of my review.
I'm sad to say this was a disappointment. Pretty sure I'm done reading this author's books, as both have resulted in the same outcome for me: frustration that a great premise (and great research!) was wasted on subpar execution.
Said premise: Dorothy L. Sayers (our narrator) has been the driving force behind the creation of The Detection Club, a real club formed in 1930 by Britain's most prominent mystery and crime writers, for the benefit of their genre. They were tired of being discounted by the literary establishment and wanted to safeguard their chosen form and promote it at the same time. Other members included: Agatha Christie, Baroness Orczy, Anthony Berkeley Cox, and G. K. Chesterton, the first president. (The club also famously wrote up The Fair Play Rules for mystery authors, which I most recently enjoyed a prominent mention of in Benjamin Stevenson's book, Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone.)
Queens of Crime opens when the club is having its initiation, and Sayers and Christie are both very frustrated at the attitude of the male members towards inviting more women than themselves into the club, as they view Sayers and Christie as exceptions to the norms of "womanhood". Your basic sexist bullshit. So Agatha and Dorothy scheme to get more women in, including Ngaio Marsh, the Baroness Orczy (The Scarlet Pimpernel), and Margery Allingham. I believe there were liberties taken with the membership history here, but I don't know for sure because the ARC copy didn't have her author's notes. But even as they are successful in getting five women mystery authors into the club, they are treated poorly or dismissed by the men, and determine to show themselves worthy of membership.
Firstly, this approach rankled me. Why must they have to go so far out of their way to prove themselves to these men? It's gross.
Anyway, they hatch a plan to solve the murder of a woman called May Daniels, whose body has just been found after she went missing months before. They choose May because they believe the men running the investigation have discounted many things about the case because they lack the perspective of women, and because the fate of the dead young nurse is one they'd like to address if they can.
This had the bones of a good story, great historical research, compelling characters (in theory), a twisty mystery, and an emotional hook based on these women doing something that men can't to fight for the respect they should have been given automatically. But unfortunately, Benedict's style is very lacking in almost every aspect of the craft that makes stories compelling for me. The characters are wooden, the descriptions and events as they are laid out are very very workmanlike with absolutely no sense of emotional or artistic flair. It is a logic-based approach to story, and it did not work for me at all. The result of all this is a book that feels overall plodding and lifeless, which is an impressive feat, considering the quality of materials the author had to work with. How do you make such vibrant historical women seem so mundane on the page?
I really wouldn't recommend this book. I wish this author would team up with another author with more artistic flair, or that someone else had written a book with this same premise, like happened with Benedict's other book featuring Agatha Christie*.
*The Mystery of Mrs. Christie was published around the same time as The Christie Affair, which was a much, much better book, in my opinion.
Very sad with this outcome, but it is what it is, and I've learned my lesson.
I know I'm the outlier on this one, and it's not a bad book, I just didn't like it! The style was too dramatic for me, the writing was full of way tooI know I'm the outlier on this one, and it's not a bad book, I just didn't like it! The style was too dramatic for me, the writing was full of way too many "poetic" metaphors, the book hinged on something that was happening that was never really explained, and it ended with both a twist I didn't like, and an unclear resolution. Unclear, as in, that makes no sense. So, not for me!
Ominous that I just bought Hazelthorn. Hopefully I like it better than this one.
[2.5 stars, rounded up bc I do think it's me]...more
This is the most I've ever liked a possession story. Not my fave of hers, though. That honor still belongs to Black Sheep.This is the most I've ever liked a possession story. Not my fave of hers, though. That honor still belongs to Black Sheep....more
Thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC. It hasn't affected the contents of my review.
This was a really solid murder mystery, but I do Thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC. It hasn't affected the contents of my review.
This was a really solid murder mystery, but I do want to warn everyone that it is nowhere near as twisty and meta as you might be expecting if you've read some of her previous books. Don't do like I did and keep waiting for some mega surprising twist at the end; it's not that kind of book. When they say they've solved the mystery, they've solved the mystery!
Anyway, non-meta stuff aside, this is a fun story about a brother and sister treating themselves to a ride on the infamous Orient Express. The brother is a crime writer and is recently in remission from cancer (I learned via the acknowledgements that it's based on the author's recent experiences) so they're there to celebrate. But of course there is a murder. And another. Another. Until there are five. Obvs.
The conductor brings together all the people with experience of crime and the law, hoping to get some advice before the train can make it back to Paris (a little bit of COVID makes an appearance and Italy refuses to let them disembark). Of course these people take it upon themselves to try and solve the crime themselves, and it is chaotic and fun.
I said this wasn't as meta as her previous books, but it is still pretty meta, in that the story openly acknowledges the history of the train in fiction, and how that has changed the trail in real life, and how these murders would not be happening if crime writers of the past hadn't made the train so infamous. As always, I like the way this author writes about writers (she's done it all three of the books I've read from her).
I will continue to read books from this author, as she scratches an itch I frequently have about whodunits involving writers and/or books. ...more
This was a bit messy and a teensy bit try-hard, but I was very entertained, and enjoyed seeing how everything worked out. This is probably because it This was a bit messy and a teensy bit try-hard, but I was very entertained, and enjoyed seeing how everything worked out. This is probably because it relies on a lot of mystery tropes that I enjoy greatly. In particular, if you have read And Then There Were None or seen The Last of Sheila (a movie that has largely been forgotten but which every mystery lover should watch) you will probably enjoy this, and also be annoyed that even though this is meta mystery about mystery and crime writers solving a mystery/being in a thriller themselves, neither of those two things are ever mentioned, and they should have been.
Thanks to NetGalley, RBmedia, and Recorded Books for the ARC. It hasn't affected the contents of my review.
If you too are a fan of Samantha Allen's prThanks to NetGalley, RBmedia, and Recorded Books for the ARC. It hasn't affected the contents of my review.
If you too are a fan of Samantha Allen's previous lesbian Sasquatch-related work, well, I actually have no idea if you will like this or not. It's completely different. Instead of horror, we've got romance, instead of reality TV satire, we've got an aging movie star coming out of the closet (while being a ghost). And the "sex" in this . . . you've just got to read it. I cannot describe it you, and anyway I don't want to ruin the surprise.
As the title says, Roland Rogers is a ghost, but he's not fully gone. Having woken up dead in the snow and laboriously dragged his incorporeal self back to his house, learned to email with nothing but his lingering effervescence, and then contacted his agent, he's ready to tell his life story, and finally come out of the closet as gay—and he needs to do it before his body is found under the snow. Enter our main character, Adam, an ex-Mormon writer, most famous for having written a coming out memoir about being a gay Mormon. Roland read this book and liked it a lot, so he thinks of Adam first thing. Adam, who hasn't been having great luck with his career after his buzzy debut, and this would be a HUGE break for him.
It's great fun watching the two "meet" and learning to work with Roland's "condition" in order for Adam to get the story he's being paid a lot of money to write. The story is very, very silly at times, in a very weird way. And it will also resist giving you what you want, so just be prepared for that. I am not calling this a romance novel for a reason, because that comes with expectations. But even while it's being very weird, there is also a strong emotional core here. Even dead, Roland has some things to work through that he couldn't in life. And Adam hasn't exactly been thriving.
The only reason I didn't give this five stars is Roland's best friend, a woman he was fake dating for a very long time, and who views Adam as competition. I just felt weird about her and didn't quite get what the author was going for with her (besides providing conflict). Still, even with that complaint, this was a really good time.
I wonder what genre Samantha Allen will bring her weird to next....more
All right, time to put the rest of this man's books on my TBR. This book was so WHOLESOME. But also, I laughed really, really loud at a pretty dark joAll right, time to put the rest of this man's books on my TBR. This book was so WHOLESOME. But also, I laughed really, really loud at a pretty dark joke. A lil somethin' for everyone.
This was a bit rough, but charming in its roughness. It's my favorite of Sebastian's Regency Imposters books. At the beginning of the book especially This was a bit rough, but charming in its roughness. It's my favorite of Sebastian's Regency Imposters books. At the beginning of the book especially when the lovers are in the "enemies" phase of "enemies to lovers," the banter and the narration both are very biting and witty, but in a gentle, non-threatening way for my emotions.
Amelia is our heroine, and I will admit it took me an embarrassingly long time to realize she was in both prior books in the series. She has retreated to the countryside to a life of solitude with her former governess. She has decided it is ultimately futile to try and participate in a society that doesn't want her, at the expense of her identity. The mental and emotional toll trying to fit in was too high. This is where our hero, Sydney, finds her. Through a series of tragic, flukish circumstances, he has found himself the owner of an estate, the ancestral lands of his friend, the Duke. It is to these lands that Amelia has fled, renting a cottage near the edge of the grounds. She has no idea he owns the land when they meet. And they have a truly delightful antagonism between them at first, which melts gradually into companionship, and then love.
The secondary characters are also quite lovely. There's a blind duke, an illegitimate daughter, dogs, the aforementioned governess (who is asexual, though they didn't have the words for it). Our hero and heroine are both bisexual. And the Duke is quite gay. I think this book pulls off LGBTQIA people living in Regency England in maybe a slightly more believable fashion than the first one did. I also liked that Sydney was a Quaker, and the way his family was used was something I haven't seen in a romance before.
This book also fixed the complaints I had with the first two books in the series. I thought the first book skipped my favorite part of romance, which is the characters getting to know each other. I don't think it's fun to read about characters who just fall in love instantly (other people feel similarly to me, which is why "instalove" is a much-despised trope). Here, you see them get to know each other, and it's great. My complaint with the second book is that it wasn't long enough, developed enough. It felt like she just skipped from place to place in that book to get it over and done with. She skipped the fun transitions, the scenes of characters actually doing and experiencing things. This book was the longest book I've read from her in some time, and no transitions were skipped. We're with them every step of the way that we should be.
Anyway, all this to say, A Delicate Deception was a fine closer to this series, but I really am very excited for her to finally continue the Seducing the Sedgwicks series in a couple of months, and the next book has an actual good cover! I almost fell over from shock when I saw it.
Merged review:
This was a bit rough, but charming in its roughness. It's my favorite of Sebastian's Regency Imposters books. At the beginning of the book especially when the lovers are in the "enemies" phase of "enemies to lovers," the banter and the narration both are very biting and witty, but in a gentle, non-threatening way for my emotions.
Amelia is our heroine, and I will admit it took me an embarrassingly long time to realize she was in both prior books in the series. She has retreated to the countryside to a life of solitude with her former governess. She has decided it is ultimately futile to try and participate in a society that doesn't want her, at the expense of her identity. The mental and emotional toll trying to fit in was too high. This is where our hero, Sydney, finds her. Through a series of tragic, flukish circumstances, he has found himself the owner of an estate, the ancestral lands of his friend, the Duke. It is to these lands that Amelia has fled, renting a cottage near the edge of the grounds. She has no idea he owns the land when they meet. And they have a truly delightful antagonism between them at first, which melts gradually into companionship, and then love.
The secondary characters are also quite lovely. There's a blind duke, an illegitimate daughter, dogs, the aforementioned governess (who is asexual, though they didn't have the words for it). Our hero and heroine are both bisexual. And the Duke is quite gay. I think this book pulls off LGBTQIA people living in Regency England in maybe a slightly more believable fashion than the first one did. I also liked that Sydney was a Quaker, and the way his family was used was something I haven't seen in a romance before.
This book also fixed the complaints I had with the first two books in the series. I thought the first book skipped my favorite part of romance, which is the characters getting to know each other. I don't think it's fun to read about characters who just fall in love instantly (other people feel similarly to me, which is why "instalove" is a much-despised trope). Here, you see them get to know each other, and it's great. My complaint with the second book is that it wasn't long enough, developed enough. It felt like she just skipped from place to place in that book to get it over and done with. She skipped the fun transitions, the scenes of characters actually doing and experiencing things. This book was the longest book I've read from her in some time, and no transitions were skipped. We're with them every step of the way that we should be.
Anyway, all this to say, A Delicate Deception was a fine closer to this series, but I really am very excited for her to finally continue the Seducing the Sedgwicks series in a couple of months, and the next book has an actual good cover! I almost fell over from shock when I saw it....more
There was a lot going on in this book, and it didn't quite come together, but I still had a very nice time.There was a lot going on in this book, and it didn't quite come together, but I still had a very nice time....more
What a delightful book about a supremely entertaining movie. It's a crime this book has so few ratings and reviews, small press or not. I'm going to wWhat a delightful book about a supremely entertaining movie. It's a crime this book has so few ratings and reviews, small press or not. I'm going to watch CLUE tonight. FIVE STARS.
This was an engaging read, but not as good or twisty as the first one, largely because a lot of the book features us going over things we already knowThis was an engaging read, but not as good or twisty as the first one, largely because a lot of the book features us going over things we already know from new perspectives. But I think largely, Korelitz knows what makes for a good sequel, and I would read a third book. ...more
A bit too cerebral for me, but I liked the ideas and themes behind it. I also appreciated when it got weird and wacky, kind of wished there was more oA bit too cerebral for me, but I liked the ideas and themes behind it. I also appreciated when it got weird and wacky, kind of wished there was more of that!
A zany adventure mystery, with Osman's signature humor. Might have more thoughts later, might not.A zany adventure mystery, with Osman's signature humor. Might have more thoughts later, might not....more
Loading...
