Jonathan A wants to read Ambitious Brew by Maureen Ogle
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Jonathan A reviewed Cuckoo's Calling by J. K. Rowling
After losing his leg to a land mine in Afghanistan, Cormoran Strike is barely scraping …
Solid with some missteps
4 stars
Despite a few missteps, this was a solid opening book in the CB Strike series. I really enjoyed the set up, as a truly down in the dumps private detective hires a new temps secretary, who proves her worth several times over. Cormoran Strike is a fun character, with both good and bad habits. Robin is a clever character, as she has always wanted to be a private eye(!) and is a fun discovery as she works out her issues as well
The actual mystery of a big time model "committing suicide" wasn't all that interesting and there was far too much exposition. And Galbraith (Rowling) got away with too much hidden information, because it isn't a first person book. Strike would "know" things but wouldn't let the reader in on the secret. And his habit of looking at women as objects was a little overdone.
But like I said, …
Despite a few missteps, this was a solid opening book in the CB Strike series. I really enjoyed the set up, as a truly down in the dumps private detective hires a new temps secretary, who proves her worth several times over. Cormoran Strike is a fun character, with both good and bad habits. Robin is a clever character, as she has always wanted to be a private eye(!) and is a fun discovery as she works out her issues as well
The actual mystery of a big time model "committing suicide" wasn't all that interesting and there was far too much exposition. And Galbraith (Rowling) got away with too much hidden information, because it isn't a first person book. Strike would "know" things but wouldn't let the reader in on the secret. And his habit of looking at women as objects was a little overdone.
But like I said, the set up was great. And I'm looking forward to seeing how Robin and Strike work out their relationship. Robin is a great character, with lots of potential. Probably a 3.5 star book, but worth the round up.
Jonathan A reviewed A Beautiful Blue Death by Charles Finch
A bit too twee for me
3 stars
The first book in a long running twee British detective series featuring Charles Lenox, a Victorian gentleman and dabbler in solving mysteries. It's obviously well research and written with just enough humor to get by. But it is a very twee book, from the top class of British society and he sends off his butler to find things out from the "lower class", which just feels icky and deus ex machina. It was okay, but I'm probably not going to continue with it. I need more grit in my private detectives. The narration was solid and he hit all the accents, even the Scottish one.
Jonathan A started reading Rough Draft by Katy Tur
Her "Unbelievable" was great