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3.5★
I'm wondering if I'm having so much trouble finding M.M. Kaye Death in series books is because readers, when they finish one of her books , toss it into a rubbish bin in sheer exasperation!
There is a lot to love, excellent (for the most part) dialogue, beautiful evocative descriptions of a country Kaye knew & loved, travelling in a time when air travel was still glamorous Zanzibar! Even the name sounds so romantic!
This is a country Ms Kaye clearly loved.
I'm wondering if I'm having so much trouble finding M.M. Kaye Death in series books is because readers, when they finish one of her books , toss it into a rubbish bin in sheer exasperation!
There is a lot to love, excellent (for the most part) dialogue, beautiful evocative descriptions of a country Kaye knew & loved, travelling in a time when air travel was still glamorous Zanzibar! Even the name sounds so romantic!
This is a country Ms Kaye clearly loved.
“Oh don't be pompous and gloomy...more
Fun, classic read! Put a bunch of Brits in an exotic locale
& bodies start dropping like flies. When you need a break from Christie, give this a try. The author lived in these venues while her husband served in the British military & she took voluminous notes, so everything feels authentic. Recommended.
& bodies start dropping like flies. When you need a break from Christie, give this a try. The author lived in these venues while her husband served in the British military & she took voluminous notes, so everything feels authentic. Recommended.
A flighty heroine, a hard-drinking alpha-male romantic lead, and a really pointless ending made this one rather disappointing overall for me. I did enjoy the mystery and the setting though.
Well, I’d like to give this 5-stars for the description of the Zanzibar scene, the constant consumption of alcoholic libation, smoking on airplanes and everywhere else, AND of course the nylon nightgowns!
But this is a whodunnit and the resolution/uncovering the details of the crime was unsatisfactory. It seems as if MMK concocted an interesting and intricate mystery, but was not equal to the task of crafting final resolution of all that was going in a satisfying way.
But this is a whodunnit and the resolution/uncovering the details of the crime was unsatisfactory. It seems as if MMK concocted an interesting and intricate mystery, but was not equal to the task of crafting final resolution of all that was going in a satisfying way.
Audiobook 3.5
Vintage era suspense/ mystery/ gently handled romance. This made for easy listening, i think in May have indulged in too many v.e books as o figured out quite early on who-dunnit.
This is my first M.M. Kaye mystery and her writing tone is not dissimilar to Mary Stewart, with a splash of Agatha Christie writing as Mary Westmacott mixed in.
Vintage era suspense/ mystery/ gently handled romance. This made for easy listening, i think in May have indulged in too many v.e books as o figured out quite early on who-dunnit.
This is my first M.M. Kaye mystery and her writing tone is not dissimilar to Mary Stewart, with a splash of Agatha Christie writing as Mary Westmacott mixed in.
I prefer Kaye’s other “Death in…” books to this one, but this was still a good read to pass the time.
Jul 04, 2018
Lady An ☽
marked it as to-read
Apr 20, 2020
Leslie Ray
marked it as to-read
Dec 31, 2021
Luísa Meireles
marked it as to-read
Apr 02, 2022
Alice
marked it as to-read
Jul 29, 2025
Mary Fagan
marked it as to-read
