Maybe the characters (all either failed or cliched authors) would kill for an inspiration as the tag line suggests, but wouldn't you as a reader kill for some originality?
I've read Goodman before, more than once, she's a usually a solid writer. But lamentably one caught up, like so many others, in the market that demands more of the same trite female-powered mystery thrillers that are dominating the market. Another current popular trope seems to be academics and/or writers for characters and writer retreats for settings, so Goodman hits those up too. Checklist complete, you get a novel full of such cardboardy, tedious, predictable characters that it's difficult to give a crap about any of them. Mind you, this could have very easily been a lovely nod to the class Golden Age mystery, complete with a picturesque Greek location and embroidered creatively with Greek mythology references. All of that is still there but largely buried by the trite character dramatics, right down to the final, very predictable twist and a heavy-handed girl power message. And yes, archeology is huge in Greece, but who wants to have to unearth the plot of the novel from all the pandering crap piled on top of it? Readable and entertaining to an extent, but overall, a disappointment. And yet another reminder of the sad state of the publishing industry and its determination to cater to the lowest hanging fruit of the audience tree. Thanks Netgalley.
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I've heard too much about this book and its author not to check it out. And so, I spent the last day of 2024 reading it - the book is, considerately, small enough to be finishable in a single day.
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December 2023
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