Kati

Thanks to NetGalley for the Audiobook ARC!

2 stars. This one sadly wasn't the book for me, even though I had been looking forward to reading it. I was mostly bored. And struggled to make it to the end.

The writing isn't great. Very simplistic and clunky. It made the narration incredibly dull. And the word choices were very repetitive. There was so much clenching! Fists, jaws, teeth, stomachs. No body part was safe!

There was also a lot of info-dumping at the start, all very boring and messy. It didn't make the world feel rounded or interesting. The characters felt very flat, too. They were mostly moody and whiny and overall annoying to read about. Their internal thoughts and the dialogue between them started to be repetitive after only a few chapters. The seemingly interesting detail of the characters' bond with wolves was just that, a mostly unimportant detail.

The promised enemies to lovers part of this story was just them being snippy with each other, for no good reason. They had zero chemistry. And while this is an adult book, the characters' motivations felt very YA.

It was all just very flat and bland and didn't make much sense.

There also seem to be two different audiobook versions. The audio-ARC I listened to was narrated by Devon Sorvari and while it wasn't bad, it was slightly monotonous at times. After listening to a sample, I think I would have preferred the other one, narrated by Saffron Coomber, more.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

5 sparkly stars, with a crown on top! A favourite of the year for sure. What a brilliant read for mystery lovers and fans of unusually structured books!

But while I loved reading this, I wouldn't recommend it to every reader of mystery fiction.

If you've enjoyed, occasionally tongue-in-cheek, mystery books with a very strong meta element, like Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson or Eight Detectives by Alex Pavesi and you get a kick out of the puzzle element of Janice Hallett's novels, then you might want to check out West Heart Kill. I'm a fan of all those things and this was the perfect book for me!

On the other hand, if you want your mysteries to be straightforward and linear whodunits and you don't care about the genre and its history, then this might not be the book for you.

The story switches between the murder mystery part, set at a hunting club and an almost nonfiction-like, genre analysis part. On top of that, the text plays with different narrative perspectives. First-person, second-person, third-person - all there! I found it super interesting and had an extremely fun time reading. But if this is not what you want from your fiction, it has the potential to be incredibly irritating. Maybe even boring.

For me, everything in this just worked. The structure, the mystery itself, the thematic content!

I'll be thinking about this book for a while and I will most definitely be keeping my eye out for any future releases by Dann McDorman!

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

2 stars. Muddled storytelling with a writing style I didn't enjoy. Expected a country house mystery and got a crime thriller instead.

The NetGalley description sadly didn't make it very clear that this was the 4th book in the series or that this was leaning way more towards a thriller than a whodunnit. I probably wouldn't have picked it up if I had known either of those things. While it stands on its own pretty well, I'm sure readers who have read the entire series and are familiar with and enjoy the characters will get more out of it.

This is also my first experience with Martin Edwards' fiction writing. I had only been familiar with his non-fiction, which I've enjoyed and will continue to read. Sadly, the same can't be said for this series.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

1 star. The premise sounded super interesting, but I sadly didn't enjoy the book at all.

I found the writing to be cringey and bad. The characters weren't convincing as people and the entire set-up at the house was just ridiculous. All the characters were very flat and the protagonist was incredibly annoying and infuriating. She didn't understand the meaning of boundaries or privacy.

Nothing about this was in any way suspenseful. It was trying very hard to be “gothic”, which didn't work in any way for me. It just came off as creepy and it wasn't put together very well. Everything about it reminded me of bad fanfiction.

Not a fun time.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

5 stars! Even though the love triangle is still triangling... but it might be starting to die.

This is probably my favourite instalment in the Electra McDonnell series, so far. The action takes us away from London for the first time and the story focuses more on Ellie and less on her family, compared to the previous books.

I had an amazing time with this. The possible relationship development made me squee! Plus, we got introduced to a new character, who is on the side of our spy team and I would very much like to see more of them in future books!

If you enjoyed the other books in the series, I can't think of a reason why this one wouldn't also be a hit for you!

It does end on the meanest cliffhanger of them all, though. And I'm quite grumpy about the fact that I have to wait for the next book.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

1 star. What a struggle to get through. Messy teen drama in a supposedly adult thriller package.

Every single character sounds and acts like a whiny teenager from a mediocre YA novel. Be that the attendees of the writing retreat, who are in their mid-twenties to early thirties or the famous author host, who is in her mid-fifties. Every one of them was annoying to no end. Also, the characters' ages make no sense, considering their backstories. Several of them can't be the age the book tells us they are, unless they are all secretly time travellers.

All of the dialogue is weird, awkward and unnatural. Which is also true for the random sex dreams that are thrown into the mix and the odd descriptions of breasts and nipples. And every single item of clothing is described in tedious detail. The characters also seem to think that the name Poppy is the most exotic and uncommon name that they have ever encountered... another example of the strange writing choices. And let's not even talk about the historical fiction novel that one character is writing and the very many current-day expressions used in that book-within-a-book.

The blurb-promised snow storm doesn't occur until more than halfway through. There is almost no plot and what little there is, makes no sense, is incredibly obvious and just feels like messy teen drama most of the time. The first half of the book reads like a weird attempt at a gothic novel, only to turn into a strange attempt at horror in the second. Neither work.

I was so excited to read this book, but unfortunately, I only ended up being relieved that it was finally over by the end.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

1 star. I didn't enjoy this book at all and parts of it made me angry. Not the fun, popcorn thriller I was expecting to read. Very unpleasant.

I hated how the thematic content was incorporated into the story and repeated over and over again. Family, parents and children, pregnancies, rape and victim blaming. None of these were well handled and I was surprised that this was even what the book was about! The blurb gave the impression of a story about three couples and their friendships. This is not that book. A strange importance was put upon blood relations and children being a vital part of a complete and happy life. I didn't enjoy that at all. And everyone had either tragically lost their parents or couldn't connect with them. Everyone.

I also hated all of the characters and disliked spending time with them. They were all miserable. The gender dynamics weren't great either, with all the men obsessed with work and all the women only caring about family and children. And those are the only character traits they possess.

A large part of the book deals with the results of DNA testing kits. Which isn't even hinted at in the description. Not a word about ancestry research, even though it is a topic that's brought up in the very first chapter!

On top of all of that, it takes forever for anything to happen once they've reached the cabin. Some characters are off on their own for large sections of the book and because they don't have a POV, they disappear until they are needed again for the story to progress. While other characters, whose POVs we are reading from, are completely inconsequential to the story. It's incredibly clunky and the book overall is very boring for a thriller. And so repetitive!

This is the second book by the author that I have read (“Confessions on the 7:45” being the other and 4 stars) and both have a strange subtext of disliking social media and technology without reason. It's very odd.

I had been looking forward to reading this book a lot, but was sadly very disappointed.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

2 stars. Very frustrating with a lot of wasted potential.

An amazing historical romance book is hiding somewhere inside this novel... It just wasn't let out to play!

This book has a very slow start, which I didn't mind, as it was doing a great job at setting up the story. Similarly, the writing style could be seen as pretentious and trying too hard. But to me it read more like over-the-top, sarcastic, almost witty humour. And as such, it worked very well! It was very funny. . . . For the first 30%.

After that the book just stalled, it kept going around in circles - replaying the same moments over and over again - without ever moving forwards and just throwing in meaningless side stories along the way. I was incredibly bored. And the writing style started to become very tedious to read.

The romance was less slow burn, than no burn at all! Everything was very surface level. It had so much potential, it could have been so swoonworthy, all the pieces were there! But it just didn't work and I didn't really care in the end. The romantic plot was barely moving and neither cute nor sexy. Not even funny!

They are both very intelligent, which makes for great banter because they are so equally matched! The writing has this great bite to it when they interact. Sadly, all their moments are cut short and summarised in a few sentences! We don't get to spend any quality time with them!

I also think it's such an odd choice to make this a closed door romance. It feels off structurally and makes no sense, given how openly and non-judgemental the book discusses the female protagonist's mother's life as a courtesan! (Not a spoiler. The reader finds out about that right at the start.)

Every now and then the book tries to delve into a discussion about money and women's place in society. But it never goes anywhere meaningful.

Overall, it was just so bitty! There are too many little snippets and none get enough room to fully develop. We just moved on to the next bit. And the romance was practically non-existent. It just felt so directionless!

I wonder who the audience for this book is supposed to be? There isn't enough romance for the historical romance readers and not enough plot or social commentary for the historical fiction readers. I enjoy both genres and still felt very unsatisfied and let down by it. This book just doesn't know what it wants to be. There are too many different things happening and none of them are truly successful.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

A high 4 stars. Overall, a really amazing and fun time!

This is such a great collection! So many very typical Miss Marple stories! From an assortment of female mystery, crime and thriller writers who are taking a stab at writing a Miss Marple story.

The stories are all versions of very classic mystery tropes and plots. Most of the set-ups could easily be found in a Christie. It's brilliant.
Because many of the stories just seem so familiar, this anthology feels very cosy, even if the topics of the mysteries obviously aren't. Familiar and cosy in the best way!

Many of the stories use Raymond, Marple's nephew, as the reason for Miss Marple to show up in certain places! It's kind of hilarious.

I do wish more stories had been set between the wars and not so many in the 60s/70s. But that's just a personal preference.
Also, some authors, especially the American ones, didn't get the tone and language quite right. Their stories just felt off to me. They didn't fit into a Miss Marple anthology or feel like Miss Marple stories. But most of those were still fun, little mysteries nonetheless!

Most stories were just so much fun to read!

Individual ratings of the short stories:

Evil in Small Places by Lucy Foley - 4 stars
(Fun. And typically Miss Marple!)

The Second Murder at the Vicarage by Val McDermid - 4 stars
(Nicely written and a good time! Typical St Mary Mead!)

Miss Marple Takes Manhattan by Alyssa Cole - 2 stars
(This just felt wrong for a Marple story. The writing and setting were off and it was a bit boring.)

The Unravelling by Natalie Haynes - 4 stars
(Fun! Typical murder mystery! And I liked the writing.)

Miss Marple's Christmas by Ruth Ware - 5 stars
(Personal favourite! Felt the most like a GAD mystery!)

The Open Mind by Naomi Alderman - 3.5 stars
(Great, just slightly the wrong tone for a Marple story. Has too many, different things happening for a short story. Would make a great full-length novel. With a sleuth who isn't Miss Marple.)

The Jade Empress by Jean Kwok - 2 stars
(Just didn't work. Felt more like a possible Poirot setting than a Marple one. No idea when this was set, which didn't help the historical elements. I didn't enjoy the writing style. Miss Marple didn't read like Miss Marple.)

A Deadly Wedding Day by Dreda Say Mitchell - 3 stars
(Fun mystery. But not Marple-y enough. Too much internal dialogue and a second sleuth who isn't just “the plucky, but slightly clueless, helper”. Should have been its own book, without Miss Marple!)

Murder at the Villa Rosa by Elly Griffiths - 5 stars
(Third favourite. Really great version of a 1st person POV in a GAD-style mystery!)

The Murdering Sort by Karen M. McManus - 3 stars
(Really good mystery. But not a Marple story. Writing and setting felt slightly wrong. Was like expecting “Phryne Fisher” but ending up with a teenage version of “Ms Fisher's Modern Murder Mysteries”.)

The Mystery of the Acid Soil by Kate Mosse - 4 stars
(A lot of fun and a very typical Miss Marple story with nice writing!)

The Disappearance by Leigh Bardugo - 5 stars
(Second favourite. Writing was great and very funny. Felt like a classic mystery. Amazing version of a St Mary Mead story.)

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

A high 2 stars. Fun to read, but in the end, not worth the effort!

This is an incredibly slow and sometimes choppy book. The story starts and stops a lot. Nothing really happens and while there is an attempt made at building some kind of tension, it sadly doesn't succeed at all. At no point did the text convey the feeling of danger the protagonist was apparently experiencing.

This very messy family wasn't as fun as it could have been, as the characters were very flat. The relationship dynamics and the way everyone behaved made no sense. The protagonist and her actions were incredibly irritating, her thought processes were very repetitive and the central relationship, the one with her partner, wasn't believable at all.

The promised plot didn't really start until 80% into the book. Those last 20% could have made for a fun thriller if they had taken up and been spread out over the entire novel.

I found the blurb to be incredibly misleading. It implies that this book is focused on a deadly game, which it isn't at all, in my opinion. It's about a pregnant woman deciding if she wants to be a part of this wealthy family or not, while dealing with her own past. Also, most of the plot points mentioned in the descriptions don't come into play until almost halfway through the book, with some elements only being introduced almost at the end!

I had an enjoyable time reading it. And while it was very engaging and I wasn't bored, I was mostly waiting for something to happen. For there to be more to the story. For it all to actually make sense. There was clearly a lot of potential. But I was just very frustrated by the end.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

2.5 to 3 stars. Rounding up to a 3 because I did really enjoy the characters.

I'm feeling very conflicted about this historical romance.

I really enjoyed the couple's interactions. Carys and Tristan have known each other all their lives. They pretend to dislike each other to hide the fact that they are actually very much pining for the other person. Their banter is fun and they are concerned about the other's well-being. I enjoyed spending my time with them, even if I never found them to be quite squee-worthy. They are interesting characters! And there were some very fun moments involving the two!

That said, at no point did this read like an enemies to lovers romance! Their pretence was not convincing at all and their pining was almost annoyingly over-the-top in some sections.

But my main issues were with the structure and the very modern writing style. While I enjoyed the humorous tone of the writing a lot, the language and a lot of the characters' behaviour felt way too contemporary, for my liking. I found it jarring and it pulled me out of the story.

The structure was very bitty. Lots of little moments strung together. It never flowed very well and didn't allow for great immersion. It made the story very dull and meant that I was even somewhat bored of the relationship after the first half.

It took more than 30% for the story to pick up and for the promised affair plot - described in the blurb - to come into play. The rest of the description, involving the “treasonous plot”, took even longer to properly get going.

The plot was very thin and kept going round in circles. There was also a lot of repetition of facts. Carys was ruined... Tristan went on a Grand Tour...over and over. By the time the plot and the relationship started to move forward, I didn't really care a lot anymore.

Overall, a very mixed bag with characters that were enjoyable to read about.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

DNF at 25%. Blame the spiders!

I loved Bridget Collins' other two novels and I adore the writing in this, which unfortunately turned out to be a problem. For someone who does not like spiders, this is too atmospheric and immersive. It made my skin crawl. And not in a fun way.

If you don't have a problem with spiders and enjoy Gothic adjacent stories with a lightly magical element, then I'm sure this could be a hit!