Under Lock and Skeleton Key (Johanna & Jesse)

[Johanna]

Starting 28th October

[Jesse]

Hey Johanna, thanks for setting up the thread! Do you have a preferred method of reading before discussing? I.E chapters 1-5 etc? I’m cool with whatever

[Johanna]

Hey Jesse! I am fine with everything, you can decide. :)

[Jesse]

That sounds good! How about the first 5 chapters? they’re pretty short, but we can give are initial impressions.

[Johanna]

Sounds good!

[Johanna]

Chapter 5
(view spoiler)[I love the idea of all those hidden places inside houses, that's a cool business idea :D I would have loved to know more about her accident already but we know almost nothing about it. The ending of the chapter 5 got me to worry for that child. (hide spoiler)]

[Jesse]

I see your post says (spoilers removed). Are we not supposed to write any possible spoilers in our conversation or is there a way to hide them like in a review?

I was just going to say some first impressions. This feels kind of like a YA read (not that it’s a bad thing at all) just wondering if that’s the tone you got and if it was intentional.

I like the magician and carpenter of hidden passages ways as a different angle then a traditional detective protagonist. There are some clues and possible red herrings from the beginning. Once I hear from you I’d like to mention some things that are referenced which might become relevant later on.

[Johanna]

Yes we can use spoiler tags and I actually used them. But I have hears that if you're using the app it reveals what has been hidden behind spoiler tags. I don't know if that's true because I use browser.

I don't know if I get as much YA vibes as cozy mystery ones. Because for me this feels a bit like cozy mystery.

Yes this angle is definitely different!

Chapter 10
(view spoiler)[I am curious to know if Tempest really was supposed to be victim of this crime. But that she would have smelled who's the body was... Well shouldn't that body had smelled something else already? It's still a bit unclear how long it has been there. And that one room that's colder might have some secret door that leads to the place where the body was. (hide spoiler)]

[Johanna]

Chapter 15
(view spoiler)[Now I have a feeling like things would finally start. This hasn't been really fast/with much happening but maybe it's start to happen more now. I can't understand who could have been doing something to her & her family because it's so many generations. It should be another family then. But has those people really died? With all those secret doors I am starting to wonder if there's another place where they're. There was a sentence about having an access wherever you want. I don't remember the exact phrasing. (hide spoiler)]

[Jesse]

Johanna wrote: "Chapter 5
[spoilers removed]"

Yeah, I'm interested in knowing more about her mom's accident and the grandpa's brother's accident as well. Three in one family seems like enough to think they could be connected.

I got the spoiler link to work by going to the page on my laptop. I'm not sure how to add my own spoiler link though lol

[Johanna]

You get spoiler if you write <*spoiler> and use the ending tag as well, you just delete this * and you have the starting tag

[Johanna]

Chapter 20
(view spoiler)[I wonder if Liam/Robbie has something to do with the murder. If Robbie was her assistant and there was that accident he could have arranged it. I also suspected Gideon for a short time but it seems too obvious now. He has been working for her dad quite short time if I remember right. Some sentences have started to repeat themselves. (hide spoiler)]

[Johanna]

Chapter 25
(view spoiler)[I was wrong, she had seen her mother's body so maybe she really is dead. And I think her bracelet and that broken lock on her bunny's hut can reveal something. (hide spoiler)]

[Johanna]

Chapter 30
(view spoiler)[Somehow that talk about the curse is just stupid: curse wouldn't have killed the wrong person, that's so plain stupid. I get the feeling like this was meant to be a bit more mysterious but this far almost nothing has happened. It's quite fun fact that today's Houdini's day of death. (hide spoiler)]

[Johanna]

Chapter 35
(view spoiler)[Now things started to be more interesting! I knew the bracelet was important. I hope nothing is going to happen to Ivy while she's at work and away. It was strange how it was said that Liam was at work when they went to the restaurant but it was never confirmed if he really was there. They had some waitress who didn't have that much experience. So was it Liam who wanted her to be there so that he could be sure she wasn't home? (hide spoiler)]

[Johanna]

Chapter 40
(view spoiler)[Liam isn't playing the ghost so he's someone else. But I am eager to get to know who has killed all those people. (hide spoiler)]

[Johanna]

Chapter 45
(view spoiler)[Hmm. So was it Gideon after all, even though I counted him to be too obvious suspect. This feels a bit too long because so little happens 😴 (hide spoiler)]

[Johanna]

Chapter 50
(view spoiler)[Ha, so it was Liam? And Robbie was protecting him? (hide spoiler)]

[Johanna]

Chapter 55
(view spoiler)[There is still some things that are unsolved. I just want to know, this doesn't give that many clues (hide spoiler)]

[Johanna]

Finished
(view spoiler)[This was a bit disappointing. This was like a cozy mystery but at the same time too long for that. This wasn't really thrilling, or mysterious and almost nothing happened... The characters weren't fleshed out either (hide spoiler)]

[Jesse]

oh wow, you finished already!

(view spoiler)[ I'm only 75 pages in and kinda struggling to connect with it. I/m thinking that the charm bracelet and charms (and/or the duplicates) are important clues to the case. I'm sorry I was slow on this book. (hide spoiler)]

[Johanna]

Jesse wrote: "oh wow, you finished already!

[spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[I also had that same feeling: a bit hard to relate to characters. Is it the writing that's doing it? Or weren't characters fleshed out enough? I am not sure but what would you think? (hide spoiler)]