Elly Griffiths – Page 2 – Cannonball Read 17

Hell Is Empty

The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths

October 14, 2022 by Jake Leave a Comment

Read as part of CBR14 Bingo: verse. This book frequently quotes the “Hell is empty, all the devils are here” passage from “The Tempest”, as well as verses from a fictional short story inspired by that passage. This left me with the same feeling I felt when I first read Tana French’s debut novel In the Woods: good but I feel like it’s missing something to prevent it from being great. I really liked the first half of the book: getting to know the three POV characters, […]

When having nosy neighbors is a good thing

Postscript Murders by Elly Griffiths

June 30, 2022 by Bothari43 3 Comments

A murder mystery where the victims are authors of murder mysteries! This one had to be fun to write. It’s the second book with detective Harbinder Kaur (after Stranger Diaries), but I don’t think you have to read the first one to jump in. This was a great example of “group of nosy civilians gets involved and digs up clues while making the actual police officer’s life more complicated” genre. The civilians are a nurse at a care home, an 80-year-old resident of that care […]

Markov Chain Text Generator – the Mystery Novel!

The Crossing Places by Elly Griffiths

October 27, 2020 by andtheIToldYouSos 5 Comments

This book seems like it has everything: Iron Age sacrificial burials! Dangerous saltwater marshes! Academics drawn into police investigations! Bird enthusiasts! New Age mysticism! Scary Biblical passages! Gruff but sensitive detectives! Murder! Cats! Bones! All of the things that would normally draw me into the depths of a novel- there was a promise of being sucked out to sea in the dangerous salt marshes, but I was left on shore squinting into the distance with an annoyed “is that it?” stuck in my craw. The […]

Magically Suspicious

The Zig-Zag Girl by Elly Griffiths

January 10, 2020 by BlackRabbit Leave a Comment

Obviously, there are parallels between the work of learning sleight-of-hand and sweating out a book. It’s a credit to her skill that she was able to use one to accurately portray the other.

A little spoilier and crankier than I planned

June 19, 2018 by Bothari43 Leave a Comment

I’m not sure what I thought of this one. It was a quick read, and a decent mystery, and I (mostly) liked the main character. But I didn’t love it, and I can’t explain why without spoilers, so be warned! Ruth Galloway is an archeology professor. When a skeleton is found at the local saltmarsh, a detective named Nelson asks for her help in identifying the remains. He’s hoping to finally close the case of Lucy Downey, a young girl who disappeared 10 years previously, […]

Zirza on A Gothic Classic for a ReasonIt's one of those wish-you-could-read-it-again-for-the-first-time books. I loved it.
Emmalita on “It came to something when you found yourself hoping that the footsteps you heard were ghosts.”I loved the ending! I don’t think it’s been out long enough to talk about why though.
Dixie on Track Her Down by Melinda LeighI am just starting Track Her Down and I have read them all in order till now and thought I...
Roland of Gilead on How can you give us the gift of a crazy character named Rando Thoughtful and then just as suddenly take that gift away? We need to talk, Uncle Stevie.I came across this randomly years after it was written because I was searching "Random Thoughtful. But I have the...
Emmalita on “Only you, Em, would refer to heartbreak as a distraction. I think I would have a more sympathetic response if I asked to marry a bookcase.”Oh my goodness, Gallifrey was beautiful. I’m sure her mittens were gloriously murdery.

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