Unapologetic Reviews

Agatha Christie's Five Little Pigs was written in the 1940s, so it's a rather old book—but that's true of pretty much all of Agatha Christie's books. I actually tried to read this book once before. Funny thing: when I was in high school, I had a summer of reading Agatha Christie. I didn't just read Poirot and Miss Marple, but I also read Tommy and Tuppence’s stories. I highly recommend them; I really love that duo. The best one was N or M?, which is actually more of a spy novel than anything else. That summer, I got most of my books from an antique store because they were very cheap there. The library didn’t really have Agatha Christie because it was considered lowbrow reading—not classic literature. The books I bought were old. My copy of Five Little Pigs was a misprint, missing parts of the story, so I never finished it. Plus, by the end of the summer, I had to switch back to reading the required school books, which were long and numerous. I got behind because of ...

I listened to Ally Carter's The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year as an audiobook. It is a blend of romance and mystery. I'm a huge fan of mysteries, especially the classic amateur detective story, but I'm not really a fan of romance. Still, I gave this a chance, as it was Christmas, and I wanted to read a book set during Christmas. Usually, I’m looking for a crime story that takes place during the holidays. I gave this book three stars because it was okay. It didn't blow me away; it wasn't terrible—it was just okay. The mystery has a couple of layers. The initial mystery in the story—well, the thing is, no one really cares about that part. The main characters do, but no one else seems to. Then there’s a secondary mystery, which was hard to figure out. The solution for that was... well, without spoiling it, let’s just say it really wasn’t what I thought it would be—in a bad way. Sometimes, a twist can work well if you don’t see it coming, but this felt like it was al...

3.5 stars. A Whisper of Death is a book by Darcy Burke, and it's the first book in the Raven and Wren series. It's set in Victorian London, and for the most part, it's a historical mystery. However, there is a supernatural element. Let's start with the writing. The writing style is reminiscent of Victorian speech, fitting for an author who’s spent years writing historical romance. I enjoyed the language—it gave the story a sense of immersion that a more modern tone wouldn’t have. Next, let's have a look at the characters. We start with Hadrian Ravenhurst, a forward-thinking lord in Parliament, rich, powerful, and one of the most important people in society. To anyone who's read the synopsis, it will not come as a surprise that in the first chapter he's attacked by a man, and this results in him gaining an unusual ability. I can't tell you much about Lord Ravenhurst's personality. He's the male protagonist. He has a sense of righteousness, and he...

What a let-down! I love a good mystery and the set-up sounded great. Murders in a resort? I love it when people's holidays get ruined like that! Hotels, beaches, cruise ships, that's my favourite setting. That's pretty much the only thing I liked about it though. I ended up giving up at 43%, then looked for the solution and wanted to see if that would make me want to read the stuff in between, but it didn't. The solution just solidified my resolve to not finish this. I'll start with my biggest issue. Ellery, the main character. We're in her head. Third person limited. I don't mind that usually, but it wasn't a pleasant head to be inside. She's going through a divorce and the guy already has a girlfriend. I could understand anger, but she's wallowing in pain like the guy wasn't an AH. Page after page of "my marriage has ended and I'm lonely" in the most melodramatic way possible. We even get the lying in bed sobbing scene. I. Don...

Platina Data is a Japanese thriller / sci-fi / mystery. I mainly watched it because Kazunari Ninomiya was in it, but I also found the premise of the movie interesting. In the movie, Japan is developing a DNA database that has everyone in it. The main goal is to be able to solve crimes more easily. However, already at the beginning we can see that they have taken DNA profiling to the next level. When people closely related to the program die, a surprising series of events start. More would be spoilers. I found the movie interesting. The story had me glued to the screen. Though frankly, I knew who the killer was halfway through. It's usually the case with me. I probably watch too many crime shows. What did keep me watching was Nino's character, whose story was an integral part of the movie. The cinematography was excellent. Some pictures I was tempted to pause, because it spoke of so much. Silence is always more difficult than dialogue. The main character is pla...

I liked this book better than the previous one. The supporting cast was more present and interesting. In this story Vicki finds herself heading out from Toronto to rural Canada. Henry is asked to help in uncovering who killed a few of his old friends from a family he has been in contact with since WWII, and he asks Vicki to go with him. Mike gets into the mix too about half-way through, and messes things up a bit. A fun thing about the story was that it takes place in the high heat of the summer, August. I read it in August, beginning it just as I was waiting for the bus, trying not to faint from the heat. The detective story was interesting, and the ending reminded me a bit of the kind of stories I saw in Japanese detective dramas. It was slightly bittersweet. Again, about half-way through, we were told who the killer was, and got to see it a bit from their perspective. I'd really prefer it if Tanya Huff hadn't done that, but maybe it was a thing in the 90s. I mostly read his...

Nazotoki wa Dinner no Ato de (Solve the Mystery after Dinner) is a detective drama. I found it similar to Meitante no Okite  in that the endings of the episodes are not very satisfying. If you compare them to Western detective stories, then there the perp is always evil, with evil intentions. Here that's not always the case. Actually, I often found myself sad for the killer, wishing they wouldn't have done it, that they found another way. I even cried at the end a few times. Another reason why it reminded me of  Meitante no Okite  was that it's also not a completely serious drama. While at times it's moving, you also get moments of hilarity and utter ridiculousness. In a way those things keep it from becoming too serious. The episodes all follow a pattern, which does characterise detective dramas as a whole in the world. If you just think about Poirot and his customary reveal, then you realise that having a pattern is not that strange after all. The dram...