An entertaining read ... but it does need to be taken with several pinches of salt.
Rating: 2.5 /5
I hadn't read anything by Sam Blake prior to this. From reading the blurb and the synopsis I was expecting this to be quite a dark, atmospheric thriller, perhaps something akin to a Daphne du Maurier. In reality, there is a simplicity to the storytelling it that often made it feel more like the kind of mystery adventure that Enid Blyton might have produced, had she written books aimed at the adult market.
I don't intend the comparison in a disparaging way, but this simplicity of style, combined with a plot progression that relies on a number of unlikely, but convenient coincidences, does mean that the reader needs to suspend disbelief in order for this novel to work. If you are able to do that then you will be rewarded with a flowing and entertaining read that does a decent job of conjuring up an atmosphere worthy of its remote grand house location. It isn't so lightweight that it could be described as "cosy crime", but nor is it so dark and brooding that you will struggle to sleep at night either.
Rating wise, I was a little unsure where to place this. It sits somewhere around a high end 2-star to a lower end 3-star, so I have nudged it into the higher bracket.
I hadn't read anything by Sam Blake prior to this. From reading the blurb and the synopsis I was expecting this to be quite a dark, atmospheric thriller, perhaps something akin to a Daphne du Maurier. In reality, there is a simplicity to the storytelling it that often made it feel more like the kind of mystery adventure that Enid Blyton might have produced, had she written books aimed at the adult market.
I don't intend the comparison in a disparaging way, but this simplicity of style, combined with a plot progression that relies on a number of unlikely, but convenient coincidences, does mean that the reader needs to suspend disbelief in order for this novel to work. If you are able to do that then you will be rewarded with a flowing and entertaining read that does a decent job of conjuring up an atmosphere worthy of its remote grand house location. It isn't so lightweight that it could be described as "cosy crime", but nor is it so dark and brooding that you will struggle to sleep at night either.
Rating wise, I was a little unsure where to place this. It sits somewhere around a high end 2-star to a lower end 3-star, so I have nudged it into the higher bracket.