Review by Tanteisherry -- The 11.05 Murders by Brian O'Hare
Posted: 18 Aug 2017, 15:52
[Following is a volunteer review of "The 11.05 Murders" by Brian O'Hare.]
3 out of 4 stars
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The 11.05 Murders is about Sergeant Denise Stewart who’s only just been promoted to the serious crime unit in Belfast when a man is found gruesomely murdered in his home. Stewart not only has to find the killer but also deal with the challenge of a new work environment as well as with the fallout of her last posting.
I liked the overall story. The setup of the murder mystery is original and so is the motive of the killer. Also the story is well told with characters that grow on you.
That being said, the characters are by no means original. They reminded me very much of similar characters I've seen in various crime novels and TV shows. The book is heavy on stereotypes such as the pretty female cop battling a men's domain, the charming but impulsive young detective, the fair and relatable chief who has great instincts but isn't exactly an academic and the psychopathic killer with his charming and influential public persona. The problem with these characters for the story is that they are obviously not very interesting, although the characters are well written, which makes up for the initial lack of originality a bit. But it did make the story very predictable. The things that you would expect to happen, just from having read/seen similar stories, do happen and when they happen, the characters act as you would expect them to act. That is also really the main thing I didn't like about The 11.05 Murders, it was too predictable. I knew from the first scene the character was in, who the killer was going to be. Not just guessed but knew and therefor no attempt at misleading me, as to who the killer might be, worked. I put this down to two things: first the already mentioned stereotypical characters and second the information we as the reader got, that made the conclusion obvious. The characters that are meant to function as distraction never did, because there are scenes in the book that show us that they are not guilty. This took away a lot of the suspense. I found my mind constantly wander, reading scenes where the detectives are figuring out something I already knew due to it having been shown in a previous scene.
I give The 11.05 Murders a 3 out of 4 stars rating due to it having been an overall fun, although predictable read. It was very much like watching a Law & Order episode; entertaining throughout but neither especially original nor memorable. The main reason I finished the whole book was partly because I wanted to see if I had been right about who the killer was and also because the romance subplot was entertaining enough. Therefor I would recommend The 11.05 Murders to readers who like crime stories but who aren't too picky about lack of suspense and mystery. If you're looking for a book that will surprise you, this is not a book that will do that.
In terms of style, the book is well written. I had a few issues with viewpoint, because the style of narration changed frequently, sometimes midscene switching from inside one characters mind to another and back again. This was confusing. The grammar and spelling was professional, with hardly any typos or spelling mistakes.
All in all a solid story which could and should have been better if the issues above didn't weigh it down so much.
******
The 11.05 Murders
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3 out of 4 stars
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The 11.05 Murders is about Sergeant Denise Stewart who’s only just been promoted to the serious crime unit in Belfast when a man is found gruesomely murdered in his home. Stewart not only has to find the killer but also deal with the challenge of a new work environment as well as with the fallout of her last posting.
I liked the overall story. The setup of the murder mystery is original and so is the motive of the killer. Also the story is well told with characters that grow on you.
That being said, the characters are by no means original. They reminded me very much of similar characters I've seen in various crime novels and TV shows. The book is heavy on stereotypes such as the pretty female cop battling a men's domain, the charming but impulsive young detective, the fair and relatable chief who has great instincts but isn't exactly an academic and the psychopathic killer with his charming and influential public persona. The problem with these characters for the story is that they are obviously not very interesting, although the characters are well written, which makes up for the initial lack of originality a bit. But it did make the story very predictable. The things that you would expect to happen, just from having read/seen similar stories, do happen and when they happen, the characters act as you would expect them to act. That is also really the main thing I didn't like about The 11.05 Murders, it was too predictable. I knew from the first scene the character was in, who the killer was going to be. Not just guessed but knew and therefor no attempt at misleading me, as to who the killer might be, worked. I put this down to two things: first the already mentioned stereotypical characters and second the information we as the reader got, that made the conclusion obvious. The characters that are meant to function as distraction never did, because there are scenes in the book that show us that they are not guilty. This took away a lot of the suspense. I found my mind constantly wander, reading scenes where the detectives are figuring out something I already knew due to it having been shown in a previous scene.
I give The 11.05 Murders a 3 out of 4 stars rating due to it having been an overall fun, although predictable read. It was very much like watching a Law & Order episode; entertaining throughout but neither especially original nor memorable. The main reason I finished the whole book was partly because I wanted to see if I had been right about who the killer was and also because the romance subplot was entertaining enough. Therefor I would recommend The 11.05 Murders to readers who like crime stories but who aren't too picky about lack of suspense and mystery. If you're looking for a book that will surprise you, this is not a book that will do that.
In terms of style, the book is well written. I had a few issues with viewpoint, because the style of narration changed frequently, sometimes midscene switching from inside one characters mind to another and back again. This was confusing. The grammar and spelling was professional, with hardly any typos or spelling mistakes.
All in all a solid story which could and should have been better if the issues above didn't weigh it down so much.
******
The 11.05 Murders
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on Smashwords
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