Secrets and Snowflakes

2.5 stars, Metaphorosis reviews

Summary
A group of travelers are reluctantly trapped in Bev's inn due to heavy snowfall, and they all become suspects in a mysterious extortion attempt.

Review
By now, I'm afraid the charm of the series is wearing off for me. Three books in, I just don't buy Bev's role as reluctant and impromptu investigator, and much of the action just seems haphazard. Biscuit the magical ‘dog' remains the most engaging character, though he does little in this book.

The most satisfying element of the book, though one that took up little space, is the development of Bev's backstory. We begin to get some glimpses of who she might have been, and the end of the book gives us a pretty solid identification.

I'm afraid that the bulk of the book felt very by-the-numbers, and while there are some careful breadcrumbs strewn, I didn't feel the climax and reveal were sufficiently set up. It's also become a little tiring that the queen's soldiers are the bad guys every time. That's obviously a part of the overall series arc, but it's not very interesting at the single volume level.

As in previous books, the interrelationships of characters also feel simplistic, and feel much more cut to fit the plot requirements than organic developments from real people. I also felt more troubled in this book by the use of modern terms and phrases (such as working in an office or a family-friendly employer) that seemed out of place for the bucolic fantasy setting. An author is entitled to do anything they choose in their own world, of course, but the concepts and language seemed to me an awkward fit.<

This is the weakest of the three in this initial trilogy. There are at least ten books in the entire series, and I feel I've got a pretty clear picture of how they will go. While I'm mildly interested in Bev's overall arc, it's not enough to convince me to continue through seven more books.