I’m late, I’m late, I’m late…..

The Inugami Curse (1972) by Seishi Yokomizo

This is the second book in the Kosuke Kindaichi series. I liked the aesthetics of the first book, but did not enjoy the mystery, and the issues that reflected the books time of writing.

I hoped that the second book might improve on both the mystery and the mysogyny … but no. I had the twist pegged early on, and the convoluted details that made up this story just annoyed me rather drew me into the story and the characters.

The characters… I found some of them hard to tell apart.

What ruined the book for me again, was the attitude towards the female characters and towards the characters that were … different. In this book, the threat of rape as a means to force a marriage and the disparaging remarks about a character who suffered a severe injury in the war were just awful. After that I just wanted the book to end. But it didn’t. Both happen at the beginning of the story, meaning I had to put up with these dumbass characters for what seemed forever.

As to the conclusion, … meh. The author presents a moral dilemma which really should not be one.

2*

The Assistant (2020) by Kjell Ola Dahl

Yes, this is another one I bought mostly because of the cover and the setting in the 1920s and 1930s. I don’t know that I have ever read anything that was set in Norway in the inter-War years. I was intrigued.

Unfortunately, I quickly got bored by both the story and the writing. The story starts with a different story that takes place a few years earlier in the 1920s, but then switches to different characters in the late 1930s, without giving much of a background as to why we are following this one new character in the 1930s.

To be fair, I had already given up on the writing by the time we get to the actual plot. As much as I hate purple prose, there is such a thing as too little description. I think this book was a good example of this. There was so little in way of describing the characters that they all seemed bland and indistinguishable to me. Also, I would have hoped for a little more setting of the scene and a lot more atmosphere from a noir thriller than the author offered me here.

I am not familiar with rural Norway or Oslo in the 1920s/1930s and the lack of being able to get a sense of the place and time was a real disappointment. It just was not something that could be created by the author casually mentioning that the characters were driven a Model T Ford. I needed more.

As for the plot, … I didn’t finish the book. I was too disinterested in the story, setting and characters to make it past the half-way mark.

1*

Thinking About It Only Makes It Worse (2014) by David Mitchell

I like David Mitchell. I like his humour and his way of taking logical thoughts to a level of absurdity to show how silly the world can be.

I picked up the audiobook of Thinking About It Only Makes It Worse because I spotted it in my library but knew nothing about it. As it turns out, this was a collection of articles that Mitchell previously wrote for The Observer.

Some of them had dated by the time the book was published, but remarkably many still held truth and relevance even when reading the book years after its publication date.

3*

The Studio Crime (1929) by Ianthe Jerrold

Having read and loved some of Jerrold’s other books, I thought it would be a good idea to start at the beginning and read The Studio Crime.

I’m glad I did. Had I read this book first, I am not sure I would have been so eager to read more by the author, and I would have missed out.

The Studio Crime is a murder mystery that starts off interesting with a death occurring at an artist’s party, but then seems to go stale very quickly.

To be honest, I fell asleep several times when reading this. That is not a sign of a good page-turner.

Once I made it to the end of the book, I found that the solution was both rushed and a little convoluted.

I’m glad I read the book in my quest to learn more about the author’s work, but it’s not a book I would recommend.

2*

Other reviews posted this week:

None

Currently reading:
The Oxford Shakespeare: The Complete Works – William Shakespeare (see The Will’s World Project)

The Breaking Point – Daphne Du Maurier

Rebel Writers: Seven Women Who Changed Their World – Celia Brayfield