Murder in Devon

…by Maggi Andersen.

Casey Rowan is an expat American and a magazine reporter living in England. She wakes up one morning to find one of her best friends, Don Broughton murdered and her other best friend, Tessa Broughton severely injured. And Casey didn’t hear a thing despite being in the same house that night. While Casey is determined to bring justice to Don, she is still considered a suspect. Not only does she have to deal with the lead detective on the case, Rod Carlisle, she may also be developing feelings for him. At the same time, the closer she gets to the truth, the more in danger she is. Set in the English backdrop, with connections to art and history, this mystery takes you on a ride.

Who killed Don Broughton?
Was he going to incriminate someone in his autobiography — the manuscript of which has gone missing on his death?
Is Casey going to get hurt in her quest for the truth?
And what else is she going to learn about herself? 

To know all this and more, you have to read the book.

This is my first book by the author and while a mystery-romance genre is not one I usually read, the mystery was good enough to keep me interested. It kept me guessing and while I had suspects, the motives were next to nothing. Personally, I could do without the romance aspect of things. I liked Casey’s character but wasn’t too fond of Rod’s character. Plus there was something about the romance that seemed a bit unbelieveable. The one other small thing I had a gripe with was possibly the location of the book. Given that the author is Australian, I expected the setting to be Australia but instead had to deal with an English setting. Again, it’s probably just a personal thing and not one that spoilt the story in any way. I thought the mystery was well thought of and quite intricate with historical aspects in it.

All in all, it’s a decent read if you like the romantic-mystery with a bit of history genre.

My rating: 3.

***This was initially reviewed on Over Cups of Coffee as part of a virtual author book tour based on a copy of the book provided by the author. Click on the link to read other reviews and giveaways by other bloggers.

Faceless Killers

Cover via Amazon

Title: Faceless Killers
Author: Henning Mankell
ISBN13: 9781400031573
Source: Library Copy
Rating: 1 out of 5

Synopsis from Goodreads: It was a senselessly violent crime: on a cold night in a remote Swedish farmhouse an elderly farmer is bludgeoned to death, and his wife is left to die with a noose around her neck. And as if this didn’t present enough problems for the Ystad police Inspector Kurt Wallander, the dying woman’s last word is foreign, leaving the police the one tangible clue they have–and in the process, the match that could inflame Sweden’s already smoldering anti-immigrant sentiments.

Unlike the situation with his ex-wife, his estranged daughter, or the beautiful but married young prosecutor who has piqued his interest, in this case, Wallander finds a problem he can handle. He quickly becomes obsessed with solving the crime before the already tense situation explodes, but soon comes to realize that it will require all his reserves of energy and dedication to solve.

My Review:

I already wrote about how uninteresting  I found this book to be. Now that I have finished reading it, I feel it was a total waste of time.

Maybe it was the translation? I don’t know. It lacked suspense and urgency, the characters were dull and the plot was boring and poorly written. I don’t know why it was put in the thriller genre. It is neither psychological nor political.

When I read a mystery book, I expect the murderer to be a complex character with enough motive to execute a cold-blooded murder. The murderer’s character should at least be discussed, outlined, debated and focused on to solve the crime. It was surprisingly missing in this book.

The police officers were predictable. Kurt Wallander himself is a bit of a complex character but is not developed enough. I think with more description and emotion the book could have been better. I mean why is he so popular? His colleagues detective Rydberg and Boman were more interesting comparatively. They were at least doing things and were on the right track.

I also expected to read about Ystad’s landscape, scenery, surrounding, which makes the setting of this novel. Unfortunately, there is none, except the repetitive ”the wind was blowing”.

Do the next books in the series get better? I don’t know. I might give Wallander another chance but not anytime soon.

I had no motivation to go on reading this book but I thought it might grown on me and there would eventually be something startling or maybe there was something I am missing but really the book was quite forgettable.

Kind of Cruel

…by Sophie Hannah.

Amber Hewerdine presents to a hypnotherapist Ginny Saxon. Much against her beliefs. However, it’s the last resort to help with her insomnia. Amber hasn’t had a good night’s sleep since the murder of her best friend Sharon two years ago. Despite her cynical view of her therapist, Amber finds herself drifting and then saying the words “Kind, Cruel, Kind of Cruel“. But what do those words mean? Amber has no idea. A few hours after saying this, Amber is arrested for a murder that occurred a couple of months ago. The murder of Katherine Allen. Amber has no idea who this person is and why those words were found at the crime scene. Nor does she know where she has seen the words before. As Amber sifts through her memories, her life is in danger the closer she gets to uncovering those. It also puts her husband Luke and Sharon’s children Dinah and Nonie who are now in her care in danger.

Could it also put the rest of the family in danger? Including Luke’s brother Neil, his wife Jo and their children?

Is there a connection between the murders of Sharon and Katherine despite the gap of time in between?

Why does Amber continue to be friends with Jo despite not liking her subtle criticisms of Amber?

Why did Jo disappear with her family on Christmas day in 2003? And why does she refuse to talk about it?

So many mysteries, so much to know. All you can do is read the book.

As always, Sophie Hannah keeps you guessing throughout the book. The chapters alternate between third person narratives for the detectives of Spilling, to first person narratives by Amber and the therapist, Ginny. There is a bit of psychobabble which I didn’t enjoy because it’s about hypnotherapy and the importance of feelings over thoughts which personally to me as a psychologist are not very evidence-based. However, she still keeps you intrigued as to whodunit. While you may have suspicions about whodunit, the motives behind them are completely unknown. And yes, while it may sound far-fetched in the end, Sophie Hannah has done her research into some psychological aspects to explain the same. I admire once again how she gets into the heads and psyche of her characters. This is possibly what makes her mysteries even more exciting.

Once again, like her other books, I’d recommend reading this one for a good psychological thriller. I also give it a rating of 3.

Until next time,

Cheers!!!