Reading Roundup #66: Murder Over Marriage

The thing I love about having not one but two comfort genres is that when romance fails me, murder mysteries will come through. I had high expectations for Alexis Hall’s A Lady for a Duke and Katy Birchall’s The Wedding Season (which, okay, is technically only romance-adjacent, being more truly Women’s Fiction), but both fell short. However, I did find two other books that absolutely hit the spot. Well. Really, I found three, but I’m having such a good time savoring every minute of A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske that it may not make it to the Roundup for a couple of weeks! But some books make you slow down because you love them so much, and some make you race to the end because what’s going to happen??? And with this week’s winners, Five Little Pigs and The Woman in the Library, it was definitely the latter situation. Murder mysteries will do that.

Five Little Pigs (Hercule Poirot #25) by Agatha Christie: Following Hercule Poirot around is always fun, and this was such a classic soapy setup that it was particularly entertaining. A twenty year-old case, with the convicted killer long dead and her daughter determined to prove her innocence? And the five witnesses recounting their versions of the fatal weekend — each with their own interpretation of events but all agreeing the killer was caught? Yes, puh-leeease. Christie knocks it out of the park with her twists and turns, and Poirot proves once more the value of his little grey cells.

*nervous laughter* Okay, I’m going to sandwich A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall between the two hits to make it easy on my heart. Because I was really excited for it, almost fell for it, and then… was let down by a story that didn’t live up to its potential. A Lady for a Duke is a heartfelt romance that gets off to a rocky start, evens out in the middle, and then overstays its welcome with nearly 500 pages of scant plot and overtaxed slow burn. What plot there is is tedious, centering around the hero’s naive little sister, and the author doesn’t seem to understand that a truly effective slow burn needs much more plot to carry the main story while it heats up. Props to Hall for not using Viola’s gender as the source of conflict, but surely he could have done better than this tired cliché, too. Viola and Gracewood are lovely, their friends hilarious (Louise would fit right in with the women of my family — I would like to adopt her, please), and they all deserve better than cartoon villains and kidnapped heiresses. My thanks to NetGalley and Forever for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill: If you enjoy twisty murder mysteries with plenty of psychological suspense, add The Woman in the Library to your reading list. When a woman is murdered at the Boston Public Library, four strangers find themselves bound together by the mystery of who killed her. But their newfound friendship is quickly tested as the police investigation turns to them — and as more attacks occur within their circle. Gentill’s writing is assured and engaging, and I was drawn in immediately by these four characters and especially by the increasingly chilling frame narrative. Even if you guess the reveal (I almost did but was distracted by all the other possibilities), watching it all play out is a pleasure, especially with Gentill’s confident plotting. This is my first Gentill novel, but it certainly won’t be my last. My thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Wedding Season by Katy Birchall: I really wanted to love this book as much as I did Birchall’s last, The Secret Bridesmaid, but sometimes a book just isn’t for you. Following a woman through a summer of weddings, right after being dumped by her fiancé, The Wedding Season has a great concept and some truly funny scenarios but ultimately failed to win me over. While the heart of the story is her learning to let go and find a new happiness in herself, I found myself wishing for a subplot where she was actually trying to achieve something, so I could get invested in concrete stakes beyond “survive talking/not talking to the ex.” Not a bad book, by any means, but a little lackluster any time the heroine’s amazing friends, Ruby and Leo, aren’t involved. My thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s press for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

So. Have you read any of these books — or are they on your list? I’d love to hear your thoughts, even (or maybe especially) if you disagree with my takes. And, as always, I’m open to recommendations, so tell me what you’re reading!

—b