Helpful Score: 1
This Side of Murder by Anna Lee Huber is the first book in A Verity Kent Mystery series. Verity is a widow who has been invited to the engagement party of Walter Ponsonby and Helen Crawford. Verity's husband, Sidney was comrades with Walter. Verity was not going to attend the weekend event, but then she received a suspicious note regarding Sidney. Along the way Verity meets Max Westfield, Earl of Ryde who also served with Sidney. Right away Verity can tell there is tension among the men at the party. The group finds themselves stranded on Umbersea Island with the men getting picked off one by one. Why is someone targeting these ex-soldiers? Verity with Max's assistance sets out to get answers, but she is in for a big surprise.
This Side of Murder has a slow pace (glacial) that makes the story seem twice as long (the author tends to be elaborate on tiny details). The same details are rehashed throughout the book. Too much time is devoted to Verity contemplating the case (analyzing, thinking) and talking about it with others. There is little actual investigation. The pace picks up in the last 12% of the book. Verity was lackluster. She misses her husband (understandably), but she is flirting with Max at the party. I did tire of the many mentions of Sidney. She had potential to be dynamic (charismatic), but it was not realized (had potential to be similar to Miss Phryne Fisher). The mystery was slightly complicated, but the culprits were not hard to discern. The âtwistâ was expected. I am giving This Side of Murder 3 out of 5 stars. Ms. Huber did a great job at capturing the time period as well as what people were thinking and feeling after the war. People had a hard time after World War I, dealing with the loss of life (loneliness) and women were finding themselves at a loss after all the action (work). Women were allowed to take on new roles during the war and men expected them to go back to them (home, cooking, cleaning, having children) after the war. The descriptions about ciphers (prevalent throughout the book), though, will have some readers screaming with frustration and boredom (it was interesting, but tedious at the same time). I hope Ms. Huber will up her game in the next A Verity Kent Mystery.
This Side of Murder has a slow pace (glacial) that makes the story seem twice as long (the author tends to be elaborate on tiny details). The same details are rehashed throughout the book. Too much time is devoted to Verity contemplating the case (analyzing, thinking) and talking about it with others. There is little actual investigation. The pace picks up in the last 12% of the book. Verity was lackluster. She misses her husband (understandably), but she is flirting with Max at the party. I did tire of the many mentions of Sidney. She had potential to be dynamic (charismatic), but it was not realized (had potential to be similar to Miss Phryne Fisher). The mystery was slightly complicated, but the culprits were not hard to discern. The âtwistâ was expected. I am giving This Side of Murder 3 out of 5 stars. Ms. Huber did a great job at capturing the time period as well as what people were thinking and feeling after the war. People had a hard time after World War I, dealing with the loss of life (loneliness) and women were finding themselves at a loss after all the action (work). Women were allowed to take on new roles during the war and men expected them to go back to them (home, cooking, cleaning, having children) after the war. The descriptions about ciphers (prevalent throughout the book), though, will have some readers screaming with frustration and boredom (it was interesting, but tedious at the same time). I hope Ms. Huber will up her game in the next A Verity Kent Mystery.
Cathy C. (cathyskye) -
Modeled after Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None, Anna Lee Huber's This Side of Murder gives a pitch perfect portrayal of life in England immediately following the First World War. Once I began reading and took note of the similarities between the two books, I thought to myself, "If [a certain something] happens, I'm out of here." It didn't because Huber's book is not a slavish copy of Christie's.
First off, let me just say that I want Verity Kent's Pierce-Arrow. I love those cars! Huber's main character is an interesting one. Like the women of Bletchley Park, Kent had to sign the Official Secrets Act. She cannot speak of what she did during the war. The death of her husband hit her quite hard, and she's felt at loose ends for well over a year. She's tried going to lots of parties, drinking to excess, casual flirtations (antidotes that thousands of others tried throughout the Roaring Twenties), but nothing seems to work. Trying to learn the truth about Sidney seems to be the catalyst that's going to pull her back from the brink.
I like the fact that Verity isn't the female version of Dudley Do-Right. She knows more than most women about the horrors of war, and she's suffered loss, too. But she hasn't exactly kept a stiff upper lip and become married to her widow's weeds. She wants to feel better. She wants to get on with her life. She's just not quite certain of how to go about it. This frailty bodes well for the series. Speaking of the series, the pace is slow for This Side of Murder, but that's mostly due to Huber's setting up her cast of characters and future books. The plot of this book has quite a few twists and turns-- as it should when one keeps in mind the book it's modeled after-- so it's best not to speak of it to avoid giving anything away.
All in all, if I can't have Verity's spiffing Pierce-Arrow, I can have the next best thing: the second book in the series, please!
First off, let me just say that I want Verity Kent's Pierce-Arrow. I love those cars! Huber's main character is an interesting one. Like the women of Bletchley Park, Kent had to sign the Official Secrets Act. She cannot speak of what she did during the war. The death of her husband hit her quite hard, and she's felt at loose ends for well over a year. She's tried going to lots of parties, drinking to excess, casual flirtations (antidotes that thousands of others tried throughout the Roaring Twenties), but nothing seems to work. Trying to learn the truth about Sidney seems to be the catalyst that's going to pull her back from the brink.
I like the fact that Verity isn't the female version of Dudley Do-Right. She knows more than most women about the horrors of war, and she's suffered loss, too. But she hasn't exactly kept a stiff upper lip and become married to her widow's weeds. She wants to feel better. She wants to get on with her life. She's just not quite certain of how to go about it. This frailty bodes well for the series. Speaking of the series, the pace is slow for This Side of Murder, but that's mostly due to Huber's setting up her cast of characters and future books. The plot of this book has quite a few twists and turns-- as it should when one keeps in mind the book it's modeled after-- so it's best not to speak of it to avoid giving anything away.
All in all, if I can't have Verity's spiffing Pierce-Arrow, I can have the next best thing: the second book in the series, please!
Thomas F. (hardtack) -
Well, I enjoyed this mystery. And it is appropriate it takes place on and island, as you need to beware of the red herring.
Linda R. (wolfie123) - , reviewed This Side of Murder (Verity Kent, Bk 1) on + 421 more book reviews
Despite the twists and turns, I was able to suss out the culprit...... was a bit disappointed in the ending.......BUT, I will read the next in the series, ..
