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A review by ergative
The Mystery at Dunvegan Castle by T.L. Huchu
3.5
[Full review up at Nerds of a Feather from 21 Dec]
I love love love Ropa's narrative voice (as always), and I love the sense of location: this book is very Scottish, and feels like real Scotland, not tourist Scotland and tartan + twee cottage aesthetics. This is a book written by someone who knows about Glasgow/Edinburgh rivalry, the nature of political and status tensions between Scotland and England, disputes around the responsibilities of devolved governments, Scottish independence--all of that is very real and beautifully translated into this post-Catastrophe magical alternate world. That's great. All of that is great.
But the pacing and characterization of this one felt less successful. Esfandiar was great in principle, but underused; Callandar was more of an object to worry about than a person. I never really understood what progress Ropa was actually making on the mystery. She didn't really seem to have anything in hand. Every time she tells people that she's making progress, I wasn't sure whether she actually was and just not telling us, or whether she was lying out of her ass (as she does). When a book is structured around a mystery like this, the reader needs to be kept in the loop.
Also the ending was very abrupt. I know it's supposed to be setting up Book 4, and I will definitely read Book 4 with pleasure. But still--there are ways and ways of ending on a cliffhanger/sequel-set-up, and this was not how to do it.
[Thanks to Netgalley for ARC]
I love love love Ropa's narrative voice (as always), and I love the sense of location: this book is very Scottish, and feels like real Scotland, not tourist Scotland and tartan + twee cottage aesthetics. This is a book written by someone who knows about Glasgow/Edinburgh rivalry, the nature of political and status tensions between Scotland and England, disputes around the responsibilities of devolved governments, Scottish independence--all of that is very real and beautifully translated into this post-Catastrophe magical alternate world. That's great. All of that is great.
But the pacing and characterization of this one felt less successful. Esfandiar was great in principle, but underused; Callandar was more of an object to worry about than a person. I never really understood what progress Ropa was actually making on the mystery. She didn't really seem to have anything in hand. Every time she tells people that she's making progress, I wasn't sure whether she actually was and just not telling us, or whether she was lying out of her ass (as she does). When a book is structured around a mystery like this, the reader needs to be kept in the loop.
Also the ending was very abrupt. I know it's supposed to be setting up Book 4, and I will definitely read Book 4 with pleasure. But still--there are ways and ways of ending on a cliffhanger/sequel-set-up, and this was not how to do it.
[Thanks to Netgalley for ARC]