The Various Haunts of Men
Summary: Having transferred to the small cathedral town of Lafferton from London’s “Met,” police detective Freya Graffham explores her new community and becomes fascinated by Serrailler, her enigmatic superior. Though she fits well within the local police force, she finds herself unable to let go what seems like a routine missing persons report on a middle-aged spinster. When yet more townspeople turn up missing, her hunch is verified and a serious police search begins, bringing her into closer proximity with Serrailler at the same time it exposes her to danger.from https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-58567-876-1
Group Review/Comments:
5 thumbs up
4 thumbs down
This was a close vote and a few who gave thumbs up did so with some hesitance. The pacing was a bit slow and it took a long time for anything to actually happen. A lot of exposition to establish a sense of place and fleshed out characters. The slow start was actually appreciated by the thumbs up crowd. It felt real. Readers who liked the novel felt that the characters were well drawn and the setting fully realized. There was appreciation for the sub plots as well. It was a total who-dunnit since we were in on the “how and why” from very early on.
Those who didn’t like the book were pretty outspoken in their dislike! Opinions varied, but most never got a feel for the main detective and the love story sat poorly with this group. It felt out of place and overdone.
Although the group that liked the book appreciated the sub plots, this was one of the things those that didn’t like it complained about—too many plots and too many loose ends and no real mystery. One comment was that the book felt like three different stories that never blended.
There was dislike of the tape recording used—very stagey and unnecessary.
Stereotypical characters, no feel for the main detective, a cardboard villain and an annoying romance were mentioned a number of times.
