Should I read it?

[Kristina]

I've finished The Casual Vacancy recently and I was not impressed, which made me wary about picking books just because one of my favorite authors wrote them...so is this one really good or I should keep my distance?

Please no spoiling.

[Kylie]

It is very different to The Casual Vacancy, so I wouldn't dismiss it if you didn't like that one much. There are more characters that you will like, less of the profanity, and more connection to characters. It is looking like it will become a series - I do hope it will - so always good to give the first one a go!

(I did love the Casual Vacancy, but can understand why some have issues with it).

[Peter]

If you like the "hard-boiled" detective genre, then you may well like this book. It uses many of the stylistic devices from the genre, some of which may seem over-the-top if you're not a fan of Chandler-through-PD James.

If you're just a big HP fan, you'll probably have the same problems here that many had with Vacancy. There is no casting of spells, charms, and curses; no brewing of potions; neither dragons nor pixies. And there's no coming-of-age here, either (there was still a bit of that in CV). Also like CV, there are some slow stretches while the author is setting up for the action (which eventually does come). There was actually some slow stuff in Deathly Hollows (the long search for horcruxes that is so excruciatingly slow even Ron can't bear it :-), but seemingly the HP fans lap that up, while not being able to hold out if there's no waving of wands at the end of it.

Basically, CC is a straightforward mystery: rich, beautiful girl falls to her death from a balcony; police write it off as suicide; distressed relative who won't accept the official verdict calls in down-on-his luck private dick. That much isn't particularly original: Agatha did it, PD did it, most every whodunnit writer has used that opening at least once. That's what they call an "archetype."-) It's what happens from there that's important.

Warning one: at first I found the resolution on the far-fetched side. But the more I think about it, yeah, there is a sort of perverse, crazy-like-a-fox logic in the antagonist's behavior. Your mileage may vary.

Warning two: some of the sexual relations that crop up (who takes whom to bed when and how quickly or easily) struck me as on the too-sleazy-to-be-real side. I guess it's part of the genre (there's a lot of it in the Bernie Gunther stories, as another f'rinstance). But if you like a bit of sleazy sex on the side, CC may be up your alley.

(With the last remark, I mean in your reading, of course.-)

[Marty]

Interesting characters, but not much else. This is in no way "really good." I'm not recommending it to my dear wife.