‘Noir But Not Quite’ Score: 4/5 Baldacci can write some real page-turners, and this just isn’t one of them. It’s still good, and I still enjoyed reading it, but it’s not his best. I guess he felt like trying his hand at 40’s/50’s detective noir, and it mostly works but... doesn’t quite? Maybe it’s fallen into some ‘uncanny valley’ of noir. I wasn’t around in 1949 America so I can’t really point at anything…
‘Odd. And Kindof Mysterious’ Score: 4/5 This was an odd book. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m not keen on translations - something about the way the prose flows usually grinds a bit to my inner ear. But the premise of this book was interesting enough to overcome that, and it didn’t disappoint. It was fascinating - mysterious in ways that is rare these days.…
‘So-So Crime Fiction’ Score: 3/5 This is book 21 in a series I didn’t even know existed, so I’m late to the party. It’s not my kind of party though, so I’m leaving early too. It’s not that it’s particularly bad, it’s just not my kind of thing. There’s plenty of other crime fiction out there for me to read so I don’t feel bad about skipping this series.
‘Creepy, And Not Good’ Score: 2/5 I found this a bit creepy, and not in a good way. Maybe it’s just me. Can’t say I’d recommend it though.
‘Nice Wee Standalone Story’ Score: 4/5 I was very taken with V. E. Schwab’s writing in the Shades Of Magic trilogy, and this sounded interesting. With so many series out there, it’s nice sometimes to read a standalone book - and this is a good ’un.
