Community Reviews
2.5/5
A murder rocks the small community of Wychcomb St. Mary and brings together two, at first glance dissimilar, men who have more in common than they think. When James Sommer returned home from the war, he expected and craved peace and quiet. Hoping to live the rest of his life as a country doctor, his routine is disrupted by the murder of a local cleaning lady, and the mysterious man that turns up to cover up the crime.
I have no idea what this wanted to be. I thought it was going to be more of a romance than a detective novel and I was ok with that, but the romance was so dry and lukewarm. It had no chance to develop because the crime novel elements keep butting in. And the mystery plot was uninteresting and not particularly clever. Same with the characters, they were too quirky next to the protagonists yet, at the same time, lacked any interesting characteristics. A friend and I were buddy reading this and she pointed out it felt like the author thought of the romance first and then decided that there needed to be a plot connecting the two of them in a more organic way. I agree, and I think it could have worked if the romance had been compelling in any way.
And can I just say... wow was Leo, the supposed "spy", soooo bad at his job LMFAO. My God was he fucking thick. Couldn't tell the two old ladies were lesbians, had no idea where to even begin investigating, dropped the ball several times, and even managed to get incredibly sick. Someone else had to almost spell it out to him, and he failed his mission because another murder was committed and nothing was swept under the rug. Drove me bonkers!
He wished he had met Leo under other circumstances. It would have been lovely to get to know him without this grisly shadow casting its gloom over them both.
A murder rocks the small community of Wychcomb St. Mary and brings together two, at first glance dissimilar, men who have more in common than they think. When James Sommer returned home from the war, he expected and craved peace and quiet. Hoping to live the rest of his life as a country doctor, his routine is disrupted by the murder of a local cleaning lady, and the mysterious man that turns up to cover up the crime.
I have no idea what this wanted to be. I thought it was going to be more of a romance than a detective novel and I was ok with that, but the romance was so dry and lukewarm. It had no chance to develop because the crime novel elements keep butting in. And the mystery plot was uninteresting and not particularly clever. Same with the characters, they were too quirky next to the protagonists yet, at the same time, lacked any interesting characteristics. A friend and I were buddy reading this and she pointed out it felt like the author thought of the romance first and then decided that there needed to be a plot connecting the two of them in a more organic way. I agree, and I think it could have worked if the romance had been compelling in any way.
And can I just say... wow was Leo, the supposed "spy", soooo bad at his job LMFAO. My God was he fucking thick. Couldn't tell the two old ladies were lesbians, had no idea where to even begin investigating, dropped the ball several times, and even managed to get incredibly sick. Someone else had to almost spell it out to him, and he failed his mission because another murder was committed and nothing was swept under the rug. Drove me bonkers!
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As cozy as a murder mystery in a war rattled small town with a spy and country doctor can be. There are touches of Christmas here and there, so this made for a decently festive read, sort of like a BBC Christmas special. I enjoyed getting to meet the quirky residents of this little town and see how their secrets tangled into the murder case. I loved the romance between Leo and James. It had to be rushed a little due to the length of the story, but I think it still worked and felt natural.
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