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The Murder Box Plot:

What can I say about this book? It was brilliant. I love a good murder mystery plot and this one got me invested immediately. There were many points that completely shocked me, I didn’t expect the twists that were intricately threaded into the plot. Predominantly following the detectives and their side of the investigation was interesting to me because I usually pick up mysteries that follow the Amateur Detective and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this point of view. I felt the pacing of the mystery was perfect, it didn’t take too long to get started and there were no lapses in action, this was well balanced with information about the detectives and their personal lives. Now, the ending, what a twist! I had a suspect in my head (I was wrong – and not to sound bad or anything but I do guess a lot of the killers in murder mysteries, honestly I probably read too many of them) and who it actually was caught me completely by surprise, in a good way because once it was revealed it made sense that was who it was.

The Murder Box Characters:

I really enjoyed how the author created this world and it’s characters. I haven’t read any of the other books in the Frankie Sheehan series but I definitely plan to now. I think it is a testament to Olivia Kiernan’s talent that throughout this book I had no idea which characters I could or couldn’t trust, that always makes a murder mystery good for me. As I said above, I liked getting an insight into the personal lives of the detectives as well because it allowed me to see who they really were and why, especially Frankie, were trying so hard with the case.

The Murder Box Writing and Dialogue:

Kiernan’s writing is well written, incredibly well researched and has perfect pacing. It flowed well and read clearly, I hardly felt the few hours it took me to read it pass by that’s how much I was enjoying it.

The Murder Box Overall:

I gave this book four stars, a great read for me this month and I would tell anyone who loves a good, unique, murder mystery to pick up this book and give it a go.

Blurb/Synopsis:

Some games can be deadly

At first, Detective Chief Superintendent Frankie Sheehan believes the murder mystery game sent to her office is a birthday gift from one of her colleagues. But when Frankie studies the game’s contents, she notices a striking resemblance between the ‘murder victim’ and missing twenty-two-year-old Lydia Callin.

As Frankie and her team investigate, a series of grisly crimes connected to the game are discovered across Dublin city and Lydia’s involvement with a shadowy network of murder mystery players becomes clear.

On the hunt for Lydia’s murderer, Frankie is drawn more deeply into the game. Every successful move brings her closer to the killer. But the real question is not what happens should she lose — but what happens if she wins.

That’s it for this book review, I hope you all enjoyed it!

Happy Monday Bookish people! This is book review 2 of 5 today. The first was The Windsor Knot by S J Bennett if you’d like to check that out. This review is for The Postscript Murders by Elly Griffiths. I was given a copy of this book for Christmas 2020 and I ended up reading it in January of this year.

In this book review I will give star ratings for four categories and I will write a little about each one. I will try to keep it as spoiler free as possible. I hope you enjoy me book review.

plot of The Postscript Murders:

I found the plot of this novel to be exciting and fast paced. The opening was full of tension and set the scene beautifully. I felt that the ages of the characters was a unique addition to the plot of a murder mystery novel and this was what caught my interest to begin with. Throughout the novel I felt that the changes of location and the events that happened in each place continued to create tension filled scenes. I knew I was getting caught up in the story because I could feel my heart racing for most of the book. The plot was clever and intricate.

The Postscript Murders Characters:

The characters of this novel were quirky and interesting. I found them easy to connect to and this was one of the reasons I ended up enjoying the novel. There was a good balance between character and narrative which I enjoyed even though I usually enjoy character central novels the best.

Writing and Dialogue

The writing style was smooth and clear, it helped me to keep track of the story as it went between different days and locations. The dialogue was authentic and engaging, I felt that I knew the characters personally because of the great dialogue. In my opinion I think there were some points where I would have liked more dialogue and more explanation about what was happening in a scene.

The Postscript Murders Overall Rating:

I gave this novel four stars because the mystery was intricate, well plotted and well written and I found the characters engaging and humorous. At the time of reading it I gave it four stars because I had just read my first five star read of the year and I didn’t feel this book was quite up there with it however if I had read this book after a three star or another four star read my rating might have been different.

Blurb/ Synopsis:

“This droll romp is a latter-day Miss Marple.”— Washington Post

Murder leaps off the page when crime novelists begin to turn up dead in this intricate new novel by internationally best-selling author Elly Griffiths, a literary mystery perfect for fans of Anthony Horowitz and Agatha Christie.

The death of a ninety-year-old woman with a heart condition should not be suspicious. Detective Sergeant Harbinder Kaur certainly sees nothing out of the ordinary when Peggy’s caretaker, Natalka, begins to recount Peggy Smith’s passing.

But Natalka had a reason to be at the police station: while clearing out Peggy’s flat, she noticed an unusual number of crime novels, all dedicated to Peggy. And each psychological thriller included a mysterious postscript: PS: for PS. When a gunman breaks into the flat to steal a book and its author is found dead shortly thereafter—Detective Kaur begins to think that perhaps there is no such thing as an unsuspicious death after all.

And then things escalate: from an Aberdeen literary festival to the streets of Edinburgh, writers are being targeted. DS Kaur embarks on a road trip across Europe and reckons with how exactly authors can think up such realistic crimes . . .

That’s it for this book review, I hope you enjoyed it!

Tag: crime fiction

Book Review: The Murder Box by Olivia Kiernan