Murder mysteries, for me, need to be more than a guessing game, and that’s what this one seemed like to me. The impression this gives is that, until the photograph is explained, anyone could have been the murderer, and I found this, as an armchair sleuth, immensely frustrating. There is, as far as I could see, no way that the reader can deduce what is important about the photograph. So obscure that, while it indicates the identity of the murderer to Macbeth, it does not do so to the reader as the only mention of this information in the book (and you can check very easily with an ebook reader’s search function) is when Macbeth reveals it in the denouement.
In fact, the visible part of the image in fact leads to the much more obscure conclusion B. There is a partial image of something which leads to conclusion A. And the nature of the clue… OK, I’m going to try and not spoil it by giving a similar example. And as a whodunnit, it’s really disappointing.Īny one of the suspects could be guilty, and the mysterious photograph is the only clue. So I think it’s fair to judge it on its strengths as a mystery, rather than a thriller. A finite cast of suspects, all with motives, an eccentric sleuth, a mysterious torn photograph, and an assemblage of suspects for the finale. The other characters are fine as well – although I had to keep reminding myself that Alice was only nineteen and hence her lovestruck behaviour towards the obvious cad wasn’t too over the top. Completely unbelievable, but this isn’t attempting realism in any way, so he works well in the context of the book. So when I saw this as a bargain on Kindle (99p for the first four books in the series – so 24.75p in other words), I figured, what the hell?
There’s always the possibility that I may have picked up the weakest book in the series. I always like to give a writer a second chance. So what on earth possessed me to return to the series? Read the review – you’ll see what I mean. It is possibly the most negative review that I’ve written – I’ve mellowed a bit since then. To say that I was less than positive is probably understating the tone of my review.
You may recall about eighteen months ago I reviewed Death Of A Scriptwriter. Thanks to her glowing personality, unfortunately, everyone has a motive. Someone decides to deal with matters and soon she’s floating face down in the water. When Lady Jane Withers goes out of her way to annoy every single member of the party (and the hosts) with her knowledge of their secrets, she’s clearly asking to be murdered.
Hamish Macbeth, village constable of Lochdubh, smells trouble when he is mooching around the latest members of a fishing school.
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