Anyway, here is the first mini-review for May. Will it be the last?
Title and Author: Green for Danger by Christianna Brand
Publisher: British Library Crime Classic
Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: Gifted by US publisher, Poisoned Pen Press, via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review/reaction
Buy From (Affiliate): Bookshop.org
Set in a military hospital during World War Two, a patient dies on the operating table. It's believed by the doctors and nurses that it was a reaction to the anesthia, but when one of the nurses is found stabbed, it's becomes clear that both these cases are murder and are connected.
This book has pros and cons. Let's start with the pros. The writing is sharp (and the main reason I kept reading), the mystery so well laid out and this felt so refreshing compared to some of my our crime reads.
The cons. The characters are pretty unlikeable. Now, nothing wrong with that. I can happily read books with unlikeable leads, but for some reason, in this book, it felt out of sync with the rest of the book. I think it was because each character was referenced by several names by the narrator: their surname, their first name, their nickname and they would interchange all the time, so unless you were really on the ball, it got very easy to get muddled.
Even the detective - Inspector Cockrill - had a nickname and all the other characters and narrator would use it.
But I did like the writing and I am going to try another book by the author, Death of Jezebel, soon...
Set in a military hospital during World War Two, a patient dies on the operating table. It's believed by the doctors and nurses that it was a reaction to the anesthia, but when one of the nurses is found stabbed, it's becomes clear that both these cases are murder and are connected.
This book has pros and cons. Let's start with the pros. The writing is sharp (and the main reason I kept reading), the mystery so well laid out and this felt so refreshing compared to some of my our crime reads.
The cons. The characters are pretty unlikeable. Now, nothing wrong with that. I can happily read books with unlikeable leads, but for some reason, in this book, it felt out of sync with the rest of the book. I think it was because each character was referenced by several names by the narrator: their surname, their first name, their nickname and they would interchange all the time, so unless you were really on the ball, it got very easy to get muddled.
Even the detective - Inspector Cockrill - had a nickname and all the other characters and narrator would use it.
But I did like the writing and I am going to try another book by the author, Death of Jezebel, soon...
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