Tag: helle and death

Book Reviews

Book Review: Helle and Death by Oskar Jenson

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Happy Friday bookish people! I hope you are all doing well today. The most recent book I have read is Helle and Death by Oskar Jenson and today I am bringing you my review for it. This review will probably include spoilers so if you haven’t read Helle and Death and still want to, I’d suggest reading my review after not before.

With all that said, on with the review!

Blurb/Synopsis:

A snowstorm. A country house. Old friends reunited. It’s going to be murder…

Torben Helle – art historian, Danish expat and owner of several excellent Scandinavian jumpers – has been dragged to a remote snowbound Northumbrian mansion for a ten-year reunion with old university friends. Things start to go sideways when their host, a reclusive and irritating tech entrepreneur, makes some shocking revelations at the dinner table. And when these are followed by an apparent suicide, the group faces a test of their wits… and their trust.

Snowed in and cut off, surrounded by enigmatic housekeepers and off-duty police inspectors, not to mention a peculiar last will and testament, suspicion and sarcasm quickly turn to panic. As the temperature drops and the tension mounts, Torben decides to draw upon all the tricks of Golden Age detectives past in order to solve the how much money would it take to turn one of his old friends into a murderer? But he’d better be quick, or someone else might end up dead…

This witty murder mystery puts a modern spin on the classic country house whodunnit. A must-read for fans of Agatha Christie, Richard Osman and Janice Hallett.

My Review:

Helle and Death is a book that, on paper, has all the ingredients to make a great murder mystery novel. However, in my opinion, I don’t think all of these things worked. A snowstorm keeping all the suspects locked inside, great. A group of old friends with buried secrets, amazing. An old manor house where a murder takes place, perfect. Execution – missed the mark.

In terms of the characters, I thought for the most part they were well-developed and intricate. Their secrets well hidden as well. However, the main character you spend time with is Torben Helle and I did not click with him at all. Whether this was because of the third person, distant way it was written in his perspective or not I mainly saw him as just another suspect and it irked me how the main role of his personality was to state that he was Danish over and over. By the end of the novel that was really the only thing I knew about him.

Now, even with that I would have found the book okay and probably have given it three stars if not for the ending. Again I say if you haven’t read the book this is going to be a huge spoiler. I HATE when a book is listed as a murder mystery but it turns out to not include murder at all. Honestly, there were so many twists that could have been used to give this book a good ending but instead the author chose that ending. It was a big disappointment.

Star Rating:

Rating: 2 out of 5.

If you have read this book, what did you think of it?

Monthly Wrap Ups

August Wrap Up!

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Happy Monday bookish people! I hope you’re all having a good day today. It is the end of August already and time to talk about what I read this month.

I will tell you that I shocked myself with how well my reading went this month, what with a trip to London and back I got a lot of reading in.

Helle and Death by Oskar Jenson – I did read this book, a review is coming on the 20th September

Love Letters to a Serial Killer by Tasha – I did read this. It wasn’t how I thought it would be and I will say that it wasn’t an enjoyable read for me, not like I had expected it to be at least.

The Troublemakers by Tamzin Merchant – I did read this

The Dogsitter Detective by Anthony Johnston – I did read this

Seven Lively Suspects by Katy Watson – I did read this

A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid – As of the 21st August when I am writing this post I am currently reading this book and I should get it finished by the end of the month

Lightlark by Alex Aster – I started this book but I have DNF’d it for now because the part I read, the writing wasn’t working for me at the time and I am hoping to try and read it again at a later date.

So, for the first time since I started this blog I have completed a TBR and I’m quite proud of that. Not all of the books I read this month were ones I enjoyed but some of them I did which made it a successful month in my opinion.

How was your reading this month? Let me know in the comments!

Monthly TBRs

August TBR!

theblindscribe

Happy Monday bookish people! I hope you’re all having a good day today. It is August already, finally some of the summer weather is peeking out from behind the rain clouds. My Guide Dog is very happy about that, she loves sunbathing in the garden. What goes best with the summer? Reading, obviously. So it was time to decide on my August TBR and it was difficult because I have so many books that I want to read, but I did decide eventually on these books:

The Dog Sitter Detective by Anthony Johnston

The odd thing about this one is that I have already read the second book in this series (oops!) I didn’t realise when I got the second book that it was part of a series, read it, loved it and then realised it was a series so I want to read this one quite quickly.

Love Letters To A Serial Killer by Tasha Coryell

I have recently bought this and the premise sounds really interesting so it is high on my list to read.

A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid

This is another book I recently got after wanting it for a really long time and I haven’t been reading much fantasy at the moment so I am hoping to get back into it with this book.

Helle and Death by Oskar Jenson

This book is one I need to read so that I can mention it in my PhD theory work, I don’t think it would be a book I would pick up otherwise but hopefully it will be a good book.

The Troublemakers by Tamsin Merchant

I LOVE this series, it is a middle grade but the series is very sweet and magical and I am excited to read this next book.

Lightlark by Alex Aster

This one I happened to pick up because I saw it on social media a lot and thought it looked interesting, I like books that include games and trials so hopefully this book will be great.

Seven Lively Suspects by Katy watson

I have actually already started this book, I read 50 pages on the way home from a family trip and I already love this series so I am looking forward to keep reading this book.

Have you read any of these books?

What books are on your August TBR?

I hope everyone has a good reading month in August!

Monthly Wrap Ups

May Wrap Up!

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Happy Monday bookish people! I hope you are all doing well. What a month May has been. I have been almost completely locked into research mode with my PhD draft, it is getting there slowly but surely and in a way that us completely unlike me, the more I am writing it the more I am enjoying it. The worst part now is that I can see the end in sight and not only will I have to do my exam but then it will be time to start sending the novel off to agents which I didn’t think would scare me but it fills me with a mixture of excitement and dread. I have spent so long working on it, it has become very dear to me so sending it off for critiquing is terrifying!

Anyway, you’re not here to listen to me blab on about that, we are here to discuss the books I read, or did not read which is more like it.

The Trial by Robert Rinder

I am currently reading this book and loving it by the way, I am hoping to meet Rob Rinder at Crime Fest next week and I am very excited about that.

Helle and Death by Oskar Jensen

I have not read this. Unfortunately, I have to read this book for my PhD thesis and its gotten to be one of those situations where I know I have to read it so the more I think about reading it the less I want to which is unfair to the book and the author because it sounds good.

What Would Jane Austen Do by Linda Corbett

I did read this book, I thought okay you have been reading a lot of fantasy and msytery novels so you need to break it up with something a bit lighter so I decided to pick up this romance book, it has a crime writer in it as the love interest which create a nice dynamic – I will tell you more of my thoughts in a review coming soon!

Powerless by Lauren Roberts

I have not read this book but I am still very excited to get around to it soon.

I Hope You’re Listening by Tom Ryan

Again, like Helle and Death, I have to read this for my PhD and I stayed it a while ago but I couldn’t get into it so I put it down and I haven’t managed to get back to it yet.

Murder At The Dolphin Hotel by Helena Dixon

I did not get the chance to read this book yet.

Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson

I have heard such good things about this book and I wished I could have gotten to it this month but unfortunately I didn’t manage it.

So, I read two books this month which isn’t great but I have been enjoying the reading I have been doing which is a good thing. I actually didn’t start my first book until halfway through the month as I was finishing Kingdom of the Wicked so two books in 15 days is quite good for me.

How was your reading in the month of may? What was the best book you read?

Monthly TBRs

May TBR!

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Happy Monday bookish people! I hope you are all having a great day.

It is now May, this year is going by so quickly, and of course, that means it is time to share what I will be reading in May!

The Trial by Rob Rinder

Helle and Death by Oskar Jenson

What Would Jane Austen Do by Linda Corbett

Powerless by Lauren Roberts

I Hope You’re Listening by Tom Ryan

Murder at the Dolphin Hotel by Helena Dixon

Everyone in my Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson

What are you all reading in May? What are you most looking forward to reading soon?

Monthly Wrap Ups

March Wrap Up!

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Happy Monday bookish people!
March went by fast didn’t it! A lot happened this month and I didn’t get much chance to read, just in general I was feeling very mentally tired for a bunch of different reasons and that didn’t help motivate me to read.

So, on with the wrap up!

My March TBR:

  • Helle and Death by Oskar Jensen – I did not read this book, now the thing about this book is that I have seen a lot of people talking about it and it does sound good but I am putting off reading it because it feels like an obligation, it will be useful for my PhD as it has some of the same aspects I am writing but I’m not drawn to it at the moment. Hopefully I will get to it soon.
  • You’d Look Better As A Ghost by Joanna Wallace – I did not read this book but I am very excited to get around to reading this book.
  • Knife Skills For Beginners by Orlando Murrin – I did not read this either.
  • From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L Armentrout – I am currently reading this and seeing as it’s only the 21st of the month when I am writing this I should definitely be able to finish this book by the end of the month.
  • Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel – I also read this book, it took most of the month because this book is huge but I enjoyed it and a review will be coming soon.

That’s it for my TBR but outside of it I also read Dawn French’s new memoir ‘The Tw*t Files’.

So this month I read three books, not many but pretty good considering the month I have had. What did you all read in March?

Monthly TBRs

March TBR

theblindscribe

Happy Monday bookish people! I hope you’re all having a good day today.

March is a good month, and I’m not just being biased because it is my birthday month, it is the month when spring starts and all the flowers come out.

These are the books I want to try and read in March:

  • Helle and Death by Oskar Jensen – I have seen a lot of people excited about this book and it features a lot of the elements I am discussing in my PhD so I am looking forward to reading it.
  • You’d Look Better As A Ghost by Joanna Wallace – I love the sound of this one just by the title
  • Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel – I love a Tudor historical fiction and I started reading this a while back but never finished it because of everything going on back then but now I am in a better place and I am excited to read it.
  • From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L Armentrout – a good fantasy to clear the palate from all the crime fiction I have been reading.
  • Knife Skills for Beginners by Orlando Murrin – a new cosy style crime fiction book

That’s what I want to read in March, what are you all planning on reading next month?