A Spider on the Stairs by Cassandra Chan. 310 p. (book 4 in an untitled series)
It's been several years since I read the previous book in this series, so I couldn't remember what I didn't like about it. A lot of it has to do with expectations of the book--the publisher makes a big deal about it being a "successor" to the Lord Peter Wimsey novels, and of course nothing's really going to live up to that billing. The main characters are a British policeman, Jack Gibbons, and his old school pal, who's a clever but unemployed (though not poor) member of the minor nobility, Phillip Bethancourt. Phillip tags along with Jack and acts as an amateur detective--I assume that's the Wimsey parallel the publisher is touting. Jack is a perfectly nice character, though not all that interesting; Phillip is okay, but can be kind of a jerk, and I find his romance with a high-strung model to be tedious in the extreme--I can't stand her, or him when he's with her. This particular book further diffuses the character focus by adding another policeman who specializes in serial killers. The serial killer story resolution was kind of neat, but overall this book leaves me with a big feeling of "meh." So in a few years I'll probably see another one in this series, and remember a general feeling of disappointment but be unable to remember what I don't like about this one, and pick up the new one, and the cycle will start again.
No comments:
Post a Comment