Status Updates From Playing for the Ashes (Insp...

I would have liked a book about the main characters, instead I got a book on a whack job named Olivia. Nope. DNF

Well. About a third of the way in and we are STILL on... Olivia. Who the heck is Olivia? Color me crazy but I read these books for the main characters, not the secondary ones. None the less I shall soldier on ;)

„Die Wahrheit?“
„Liebe, Olivia. Das ist immer der Anfang von Allem, nicht wahr? Aber ich wusste nicht, dass es auch das Ende ist.“

Sfida del protagonista : L
Sfida delle serie
Catene associative

More in depth opening of protagonist sharing from her point of view and continuing through chapters.

…ornamental cherry trees…hedgerows of yew and blackberry brambles…an open field of flax…surrounded by conifers…a hop field…

Eg kan goed schrijven en de verhalen zijn echt leuk om te lezenaar in dit boek kan ik echt niet lekker door heen lezen de verhalen van Olivia helaas ik vond dat zo saai. Het trekt me niet echt. Blijft wel door lezen maar man wat duurt het verhaal dan toch lang.

George never lets me down! I’m invested in the characters now and love learning more about them. Lynley solves the murder mystery again. I love Watching over his shoulder while he does so!

All this background so far serves to make me despise olivia. I really hope there is a point to this, not just a way to make up pages.

WARNING: Description of abused animals.

Eigenlijk ben ik op blz. 574 in mijn editie.

Het is een beetje moeilijk om mijn vooruitgang bij te houden. Mijn boek (zelfde ISBN nr als wat ik aangeduid heb) telt 720 pagina's ipv 536. Dus ik ben nu op 220 van de 720...

This book seemed to go on forever, mainly because the author added too much extraneous detail, which wasn’t necessary for the story, IMHO. I did finish it though, as the crime was interesting enough.

Happy birthday to our four dear kittens today: Angel, Petal, Love, Conan! May their Brother Love, Mom Marigold, and Dad Spirit shine on them this special day. With all our love from Dad McCartney, Ron, Carolyn.

I am jogging along, always interested enough in Thomas, Barbara, Helen, Simon, Deborah that I never find Elizabeth George's stories too long. Her début had 400 pages, the next few contained an average 300 pages. I knew that she evolved her series instalments into doorstoppers. Believe me, those softcovers and hardcovers are piled atop our home shelves. This is the first novel of 678 pages but I was entirely keen.

You never like the guest narrator, Olivia. I did not, because she is too crassly dirty mouthed even to her parents. I include a little swearing in my own modern day dialogue but this novel's two youths appallingly lack manners. However I see how her chapters contribute drama and understanding to Thomas' & Barbara's investigation. A side note about extreme animal rescue from laboratories is touching and redeeming.

To my taste we are leaping too much to chapters that unknown guest characters narrate, for whom I have no liking either. I suppose we will focus on Thomas, Helen, Simon, Deborah, Barbara in the main and make use of our extra external insight. However it is ample for me, to receive insight from following principal personages exclusively. I am always keen to return to them and disliked narration being parcelled out.

And so I return to a familiar authoress on another mystery. If I criticize anything, it is that her introductions can be cumbersome. She should not open with external characters and take long to bring in the regular crew. I would reassure new readers to ride it out because you will love Thomas, Helen, Barbara, Simon, Deborah. Professionalism and compassion are enriched by very personal friendships and home lives.

26 frickin hours! And I thought Karen Rose was bad...

Really good!

"Hard c*** and wet t***" (and MANY other silimiar terms) is getting old, fast. Oh, I hope this 600+ page edition is both parts one and two, or the author can at least find a thesaurus.

Okay, 10% in and I find the narrative super hard to follow. I’m kind of finding it overly descriptive and the list of characters keep growing and I’m loosing track of the plot... is this an 80s thing or am I just stupid? Lol

So much profanity. Unusual for this author.

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Well - my expectation as to who did it just went up in flames.

Damn this is good!!

16 characters in 39 pages.... doing my head in.

I really dislike Olivia.

I’ll have to think on whether I liked this one or not. The narrative style gets explained at the end. I’m still confused by why the guilty party did what they did. Obsession? Love? It seemed out of place for the character we got to view.

I've started and stopped so many books lately - they just weren't sticking. I decided to go back to an Elizabeth George that I haven't read yet - her Inspector Lynley series was what pulled me from a reading slump many years ago, so I'm hoping she can work her magic again - a kind of a reset for me.