quynh23's review

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mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

iphigenie72's review

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3.0

I heard of this book because it was compared to one by [a:Agatha Christie|123715|Agatha Christie|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1589991473p2/123715.jpg], I cannot say which one without giving the ending. The article I read was saying how it was possible Agatha Christie might have read this and her ending came from it, I disagree for it is like comparing apples and oranges, they are both fruits but there the link between ends. It is also to be noted that The Iron Chariot had only been published in an obscure magazine in English at the time and that the chance it had been read my the Queen of Mystery is very remote. The article did work though since I bought and read The Iron Chariot.

I thought this was well written since I knew where it was going I looked for other things than I would have normally. I think the killer can only be one person. I didn't like the detective, he was too brash. What I really enjoyed mystery wise is what is The Iron Chariot, that I hadn't guessed at all and I think that made the book enjoyable. The side mysteries do provide with head scratching.

The story is about a forestry guard that gets bashed in the head. A detective (not a policeman) gets called in because the local police can't make heads of tail of it. I got confused between The Inspector (police) and The Detective since often, in other stories, they are used to talk about the same character so sometimes I was going back a couple of paragraghs because what I was reading made no sense. I think the translator could have made this easier to understand by using other words.

All in all, not bad, obviously would have been better for me it I had not known the ending, but I would not have read this if I hadn't read the article so that was the price of hearing about this book.

zoer03's review

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2.0

It’s just a tad melodramatic and a bit too wordy. The descriptions and the way it’s written feels like a love letter to Agatha Christie and others but at the same time it’s not really impressive. I like the idea of the murderer writing it from his perspective but it gets a bit much. Am a bit disappointed by jo Nesbo’s recommendation but then again I guess he thinks he’s just as good.