Allan

​I'd been eagerly anticipating this book, especially since it's now a TV series, but I have to admit, it was a disappointment—I didn't even finish it. ​While the opening seemed promising, the pace quickly became a slog. The story felt unnecessarily padded for the first hundred pages, nearly a third of the book, before the central murder even took place. ​My reading experience was frequently interrupted by the author's excessive use of archaic vocabulary. Though my Kindle dictionary was helpful, having to look up a word almost every other page severely spoiled the flow, and this stylistic choice felt overused and distracting. ​I eventually gave up about three-quarters of the way through as I simply couldn't connect with the narrative and lost all interest. I'm still hoping the television adaptation will be a better experience.

I’ve been reading the Logan McRae series since the very first book back in 2005, and I’ve followed it faithfully right up to the last release in 2019. But I really struggled with this one, and honestly, if I hadn’t already invested in the series, I don’t think I’d have made it past the second chapter. I pushed through, and in the end, the story was worth finishing, but at over 600 pages, it felt unnecessarily long. It really could (and should) have been shorter, and what frustrated me most was the dialogue, as it often read like it was written by immature teenagers in a school yard, so juvenile that it quickly became tiresome. And don’t even get me started on PC “Tufty” Quirrel, as every time he opened his mouth, the ridiculous dialogue pulled me right out of the story, and I honestly don’t know what Stuart was thinking. I understand the need for humor in books that deal with such dark subject matter, sometimes you need those lighter moments, but here it wasn’t funny, and was awkward, and at times, downright embarrassing. I’m not sure how long it will be until the next Logan McRae book, but hopefully, by then I’ll have forgotten why this one disappointed me so much, and maybe then I can approach the next installment with an open mind.