I read the box set of 3 Frank Hardy mysteries. I really enjoyed the first 2, the third, not as much, it felt incomplete. Still, the stories were fun and interesting.

Engagingly written, and definitely well-researched, historical mystery set in colonial New Zealand. I almost definitely would have rated it higher, but I found the sexual violence (quite literally the opening scene of the prologue could be interpreted as marital rape, and a major sub-plot throughout the novel centers around a sexually violent character whose actions are described on page) gratuitous and really quite unnecessary to the overall plot.

Listen it is hard to get me to rate much below a 5, but I was so disappointed in this book from the beginning. I am not going to dive into a ton of detail, but below are my bullet points.

I loved the setting, but I felt tge author could have utilized the incredible landscape of New Zealand in a time where not kuch of it was yet colonized to become what we know of today

The characters were not particularly well written.there was little to no growth. They all behaved in extremely rigid ways. I could relate to some aspects, but not many.

I don't feel like the author took enough time really painting the hard picture of what life would be like in this Era. They hinted at some things like how they treated the Maori like savages and showed general disdain for the "Chinaman", but I feel that was a missed opportunity to immerse the reader.

The language and dialogue. I fully recognize the difference in language from our current English, but the writing style was so robotic and systematic that it was disappointing to read.

The story lacked...well story. It was an passive storyline. It's like the smudge on your glasses that is only noticeable when you focus on it. When it's time to address something and progress the story, a new chapter begins to focus on it and then goes back to the mundane very quickly. Then after several chapters it is time to do it again. And I think there were too many storyline the writer wanted to include so they start a new one and it either falters or becomes yet another passive arc in the progress of the tale.

Overall, I feel like the setting and premise had a rugged promise to transport us to an uncharted land full of mystery and intrigue, but the story painted it as just another run-of-the-mill place not much different than one set in industrialized Europe.

This was not the most well-written book I've ever read, but I can forgive grammatical and punctuation errors, given that this is a mystery (!!!) set in the 1870s (!!!) in MY HOMETOWN (!!!). My suburb got a mention! Events of the book took place in locations I know and go to regularly.

People living in well-known places will never understand the overwhelming joy of your home finally getting a mention in books.

And I loved the history of this. So fascinating reading about what Palmy was like 150 years ago.

This story is set in New Zealand in the late 19th century. Sgt. Frank Hardy was part of the expeditionary forces who fought with the Maori, so as to take Maori land for the European immigrants. But Sgt. Frank left the armed forces for the constabulary, and then somewhat later on he became the driver of the mail coach in the local area.

Sgt. Frank is approached by a couple of "Scandis", Danes in this case, who want to know what happened to two young men who had disappeared, Paul and Jens. The two Scandis were Hans Christian Nissen and Pieter Sorensen. Pieter is married to Maren, and her sister, Mette Jensen, lives with them. Mette is considered not so beautiful, although I'm not sure why, but she is intelligent, curious, and hard working. Apparently, Sgt. Frank can see this, so becomes immediately smitten. That is probably one of the reasons that he decided to search for the missing young men.

Well, we have investigations, meeting with various locals, including immigrants and Maoris. Along the way, Sgt. Frank becomes friends with and works with a "native" constable, i.e. a member of the constabulary who happens to be Maori. He also has some issues with Mette in that she has been warned to avoid him by her sister and brother-in-law, and he has some uncertainty on his own whether or not his attaching himself to a Scandi would be appropriate. By the end, we know the fates of the two young men, and Sgt. Frank decides to give up the Mail coach for becoming a private inspector. He thinks there's enough call for such a person. The "native" constable, Karira, thinks of quitting the constabulary and partnering up with Sgt. Frank. And, of course, it seems that the budding romance has a high probability of success. I'm guessing that one has to read the sequel to be sure on this last point.

Anyway, it was a fun read. It was a bit difficult because it was sprinkled with Maori terms. There was a glossary at the end of the book, but switching back and forth on a Kindle is much more difficult than doing so in a dead tree book, so I didn't check the glossary until I'd finished the book. Fortunately, I caught the gist of the Maori words from their context.

A detective novel (and the start of a series) set 150 years ago in New Zealand. I liked the history and the characters.

The plot touches on misogyny and racism, and it's good to see the main characters free of these prejudices. I read this as an audiobook, and the reader did a good job with the accents. The characters I liked most were the two sidekicks.

The ending, a setup for the return of the villain, felt pretty forced. The story is a little slow to start, and the characters don't have a lot of growth in this book. Perhaps the series will be better.

The author spent a lot of time in New Zealand; the place and history are well represented here. Clearly she had a plan for the characters, because the first three books of the series were all released in 2018, with a fourth book following in 2020. I plan to read another in the near future.