Ratings123
Average rating4
Executive Summary: Probably my favorite book of the series so far, but there are some parts where I was getting frustrated at the characters.
Audiobook: Robert Glenister does his usual great job. He does a few voices and inflections that really make this a series I'd only do in audio. In fact I probably only made it this far in the series because his narration helped me through the slower parts.
Full Review
I typically read a lot of fantasy and sci-fi. Too much in fact, so I've been trying to do more mystery and thrillers, especially in audio. I thought the first two books in this series were fine, but nothing spectacular.
The quality of the audio narration and catching deals on the books are one of the main reasons I continued so far. This book I actually enjoyed enough that I'll probably continue on even without a deal. I think it had the best mystery of the three, and just when I thought I had it figured out, something would happen to keep me guessing again.
I figured most of it out before the reveal, but not all. I'm not as well read at mystery so it may be more apparent to those who are. I still think you'll find it entertaining, especially if you liked the first two.
My only real issue with this book is some of the unrelated character development. I feel like some of the things were out of characters and seemed more to serve the plot than any sort of character development.
I don't recall if we met Shanker before this book, but I really enjoyed his parts in this one. I feel like Robin and Strike both took steps backwards. I had been hoping to see Robin move further along her journey to become a detective in her own right than she did.
Strike was basically the same as he's been the last few books. He's fine but I'd like to see more growth from him too before too long or it will be easy for the series to get stale.
Overall despite some minor issues, I feel like this was easily the best book in the series so far. It looks like some of my issues in this one may be worse in the next book, so I'm not sure how quickly I'll pick it up. Initially I was thinking of buying it sooner than later, but now I may take a break and/or hope to catch another deal.