This series is great for a good dose of Chinese culture, which is nicely woven into the main story. It also seems that the main plot itself is just a framework for the culture. That was great with the first book, but started getting tedious with the second. I don’t know if I would “do” a third.
“In the writing of this book I have consulted so many different editions of the complete works and the individual plays that it would be impossible to list all of them without the bibliography becoming longer than the story itself.” ~ M. L. Rio, Author’s Note, If We Were Villains “Here I must also acknowledge…
I’m not going to say I don’t recommend this book, because it might not have gotten a fair go. This is my fourth Tudor-era book in a row, and maybe I’m just burnt out. Perhaps I would have preferred this book if I had read it first, rather than last. The blurbs about this book…
I loved this book! You have a good idea pretty early as to what is going on — but it’s all so strange and odd in a subtle sort of way! The narrator’s matter-of-fact manner creates the impression that everything is normal when it clearly isn’t. I was asking “Why?” the whole time — and…
This review was written for LibraryThing’s Early Reviewers. I received a copy of this book from the author to review. “Good fiction presents plausible problems. Chekhov maintained that the artist is not required to solve the problem but to correctly formulate it. I feel cheated when an author provides a tidy package without allowing me…
A Madcap Mystery, California-Style: Eddie London might be the worst detective in all of Summerport. Then again, he assures himself, it’s a pretty big city. But when Veronica Lawrence hires him to find her missing husband, Eddie sees his chance to transcend the low-stakes (and low-paying) cases that have thus far sustained his fledgling operation….
I found this book on the “for sale” shelf at my library and bought it because Joe McGinniss wrote it, not because I was familiar with the case of the “Milkshake Murderer.” Once you adapt to his writing style, it’s a quick read. There’s not a lot of fluff here — it’s fast paced and…