By Jason Goodwin
I liked the character and the motivation for detection. I liked that some part of what we saw was a side problem. Pacing was pretty good. Mystery pretty well done. A lot of exposition about history–slowed things down.
I liked it. A little long; too much food, place and history-the mystery didn’t get enough attention. I liked the detective and his method of detecting. Appreciated the history but too much! There were entire chapters that didn’t move things along.
Amazing sense of place. Too much history though. Loved all the other details in the present time–the food, etc. I liked the detective and how he was so connected around the city. This was a great way to introduce characters. Reading it sometimes felt like I was doing homework.
Loved sense of place, time, words, descriptions but not for the mystery. Everything that happened wasn’t related to the mystery. What was the mystery? Great historical fiction, not mystery.
The mystery was up and down; which mystery were we doing? But I loved the ambience–the cooking, the scenery, etc. I loved the relationships. Interesting portrayal of a changing time.
