Probably said this a hundred times already but cozy, mystery stories are my comfort read. Back from a lovely but tiring trip, I just wanted to unwind with an easy and fast read. So I picked up Menu for Murder by J. G. Goodhind and “As If by Magic” by Dolores Gordon-Smith.
I am reviewing them together because they are part of the same genre yet very different.
I am no writer and do feel guilty rubbishing off someone else’s printed word but it can’t be helped. Menu for Murder was an extremely painful read. It had bad language, feeble characters, and an extremely silly plot. At times the writing was so bad that I wanted to cry. When I say bad language, I don’t mean incorrect or poorly formed sentences. It was just bad storytelling. You know how people say that if you explain a joke you have killed it. Well, that’s what Goodhind does with every punchline in the book. And then there is so much sex-related content – victorian corsets, homosexuals, TVs, sexual deviancies, etc. It’s all there in one book and did nothing for the plot. I do like my detectives to be strong, independent women, but honestly, Honey Driver is the most annoying character ever. Every time she opened her mouth I wanted to scream!
I just managed to finish the book and I swear I will never read J.G Goodhind again.
After that terrible ordeal, I picked up Dolores Gordon-Smith’s “As If By Magic” which was very enjoyable and made up for my ordeal. The language is much more mature, the characters well developed and the mystery was actually interesting. I loved the multiple plots that tied in really well together at the end. The two detectives Jack Haeldean and his Scotland buddy were likeable and believable characters. Some of the platforms that the story is based on are post-war England and growth in commercial aviation. It’s fascinating to know that a non-stop journey from London to India was considered impossible just about 100 years ago – how far we have come! I have not much post-war literature and I thoroughly enjoyed reading this well-written mystery.
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