Elle Hartford

The premise of the book is a fun one, but the actual plot does drag in places . . . I read the extended version and it felt . . . Well, indulgent. And certainly there are readers who would enjoy that extra indulgence! I think philosophically my views differ from the author's, so I didn't take to all the extra scenes as readily. My theory is you will adore this book if you tend toward pessimism/nihilism/”everything is meaningless” (the main character does try to die repeatedly, and the main mythology is Norse, after all). I personally am more on the curious/hopeful/universal love end of the spectrum, so I found it rang a bit hollow. That said, I also know a lot about mythology already, so I anticipated some of the twists ahead of time. I still liked seeing how they were retold, but it wasn't perhaps as “fresh” for me as it feels for others. Overall I did like the premise and the main character, but I maybe should have read an edited version!

Love the change in setting and the adventure! It is, of course, a book of its time, so the treatment of some characters and some of the language is not what we would want to see today–good fodder for discussion, though, if you're reading this with someone younger.

Aside from that, my only complaint was [slightly spoilery] it was that the mystery itself was pretty linear (unlike the previous books which had pretty substantial twists). The more rewarding mystery was the secondary plot regarding some historical treasure. I am a sucker for a hidden treasure, though, so that's not really much of a complaint! ;)

I loved the little moments with Mrs Oliver, and her approach to solving crime. However–

slight spoilers ahead–

I was hoping for another twist at the end. I saw the main twist coming, and I was actually expecting the plot to go one step further. In the end, there were several threads left open that could have really gone together, and it felt like they'd been neglected.

I'm definitely not the first reviewer to say that, and it's totally understandable given how late in Christie's career this came out. I still had fun with it as a character study, so my advice is just be along for the ride and don't put too much stress on the puzzle! :)