*3.5
that was good, but maybe not as great as the first one. while the locked room mystery was great, i felt like the characterization was less interesting than in the first installment. while suzie's radio career was quite believable and very funny, i didn't like beck's financial escapades at all - dirty money doesn't become better when you give it to your maybe-lower-but-still-middle-class friend, and i didn't like the message there much. i guessed quite early on who the murderer was, but i didn't get the details, so that was very much ok. also, i do like the way it is obvious that this novel was written in the 2020ies - it may be written by a _white_? man, but there are at least some different cultural backgrounds, judith is somewhat of a feminist icon and the gays are neither killed off nor are they the murderers. the solution of the mystery had some misogynist and classist undertones though. however, the trio (or are they now a quartett?!) are so cool and their bickering is just so enjoyable, i've just fallen in love with marlow and the mysteries have been really quite good, so i'm certainly gonna go on with this series!