Lone Theils ήθελα να το διαβάσω από τον περσινό Φεβρουάριο, που κυκλοφόρησε στα ελληνικά, και τελικά ήρθε στα χέρια μου μερικές μέρες πριν οπότε και ξεκίνησα να το διαβάζω με κάπως αργούς ρυθμούς λόγω διάφορων υποχρεώσεων που είχα. Σήμερα μου είχαν μείνει ελάχιστες σελίδες πριν το τέλος και κάπου ανάμεσα σε ένα διάλειμμα από τις δουλειές κατάφερα να το τελειώσω. Διαπιστώνοντας τελικά ότι αυτές οι τελευταίες σελίδες του ήταν και οι πιο κρίσιμες του βιβλίου. Γιατί η Theils δίνει την καθαρτική λύση του μυστηρίου κυριολεκτικά την τελευταία στιγμή δικαιώνοντας σου όλη αυτή την στάση αναμονής που σε είχε κατά τη διάρκεια της ανάγνωσης της ιστορίας της. Μιας ιστορίας που βασίζεται σε αληθινά γεγονότα που διανθίζεται όμως μέσα από τη μυθοπλασία της συγγραφέως μετατρέποντας το σε ένα άκρως ατμοσφαιρικό αστυνομικό μυθιστόρημα. The very first thing I noticed about this book was the author’s writing style. Calling it juvenile might go a bit too far but it was definitely too tame for my taste. Bland and boring, it was immediately forgettable and repetitive. It’s always “the ship stretches the best part of…” or “the best part of fifty thousand tons” or “the restaurant’s capacity to seat the best part of five hundred diners” or “the best part of an hour/minute”… She needed a better understanding of the girls. Discover where Lulu and Lisbeth had come from. Right now they were simply abstract stereotypes. What were their dreams? Why had they ended up at Vestergården, a place where damaged and difficult youngsters were sent when all other efforts had failed? When they were what social workers liked to call ‘beyond educational reach’.

The whole story takes place over a four day period in November 1924 as the cruise liner Endeavour approaches New York from Southampton with two thousand passengers and crew on board. When an elderly man is found dead at the bottom of a staircase, the ship’s captain assumes – and hopes – that it’s an accident. However, James Temple, a Scotland Yard inspector, happens to be one of the passengers on the voyage and, after examining the body, he is convinced that the old man has been murdered. The captain gives The girls on the England" boat was an interesting detective story, I came to like Nora Sands, an experienced journalist who accidentally stumble across a photo that will affect her life considerably. I always like to read books in which a person begins to unravel the disappearance of several years before and this book was no exception. However, I found that although the book interesting was it not exactly exciting to read. I felt like it was missing something to really catch my interest. The characters were mostly unlikeable apart from Theo, one of the actors hired for the party, and Lily, the victim’s daughter. I would have quite liked to see them team up and try and solve the mystery together.The action unfolds at a rip-roaring pace in this perfectly executed homage to the Golden Age of crime, which features a deviously devised plot boasting a final twist worthy of Christie herself. I loved it!' Anita Frank Timothy Birch, an officer on The Endeavour, carries a great burden with him. His daughter Amelia has been missing for two years, and he feels responsible, as he was away at sea at the time. His wife Kate had pleaded with him not to go, worrying that should something happen, she wouldn’t have anyone to turn to, and then of course it did. Kate has since left him, and he’s completely distraught. The owner of Hamlet Hall has organised a murder mystery evening with a 1920s twist, and everyone has their own part to play. But at least, that made him have something in common with the other characters because they were just as flat. When I say flat, I mean Ewan-McGregor-in-Trainspotting-flat ( physically speaking!!). Birch is supposed to be more interesting because the reader learns early on that SOMETHING tragic happened in this past that he is still not over yet. All we know is that it’s a familial tragedy that makes him alienated from the rest of the crew, boohoo.

H δανέζα συγγραφέας καταπιάνεται με μια μακάβρια ιστορία και τη συνθέτει με προσοχή, λεπτομέρεια και διακριτικότητα. My main reason for DNFing is because the premise is inaccurate, although my knowledge of this only comes from my career. Essentially, there's upset in a Devon village when the lighthouse is to be developed by a local developer who left for London as a teen and has returned; he is hugely unpopular because he 'stole' the planning permission for development from a popular local who also runs the tourist information. I'm a Town Planner and it's impossible to steal a planning permission, it belongs the building, not to a person. My other issue, that the local council is believed to have been bribed by the developer to give him the planning permission, comes across as lazy plotting that bashes 'corrupt' councils. Anyone can apply for planning permission, for any building, but only the person who owns it can implement that permission, if approved, and undertake the development.

Retailers:

News of the death of a passenger travels rapidly among the passengers, raising speculation as to the elderly man's identity and cause of death. The Endeavour's Captain, McCrory, is on his retirement voyage and is keen for the matter to be cleared up with the minimum of fuss and inconvenience to himself and his passengers. However, one passenger demands an audience with the Captain, identifying himself as a Scotland Yard detective James Temple, en route to New York on "police business", the nature of which he refuses to divulge. He raises certain suspicious anomalies that indicate that the passenger's death may not be as simple as the accident that the Captain is so keen to assume. While adamant that the passengers must not be unduly disturbed, Captain McCrory reluctantly accedes to Temple's insistence upon undertaking preliminary investigations, but only on the basis that ship's officer Timothy Birch accompany him at all times.

Reipas päähenkilö Nora Sand löysi antiikkiliikkeestä ostamastaan vanhasta matkalaukusta tyttöjen valokuvia ja yhdessä kuvassa oli tutun näköisiä nuoria tyttöjä englannin lautalla. Tytöt katosivat lautalta. Katoamisesta oli kulunut jo pitkä aika, mutta aina välillä lehdet kaivoivat jutun esille. Nyt Noralla oli aikaa paneutua katoamismysteeriin. Avukseen hän sai lapsuuden ystävänsä ja ihan selvästi dekkarin sivuilla alkoi sydämen sykkeet kiihtyä ja romantiikanpölyä sai pyyhiskellä dekkarin sivuilta. A strong, determined, feisty female protagonist, the crimes credible, heinous, prevalent and feature in our news headlines far too often and a fabulous twist or two that will surprise the most hardened crime fiction reader. This is a fabulous read and I cannot wait for the next book in this series to arrive in my letterbox. Lone Theils on työskennellyt tanskalaisen Politiken-lehden ulkomaankirjeenvaihtajana, joten hänellä on omakohtaista aineistoa Nora Sandin työtehtävistä tanskalaisen nettilehden ulkomaantoimittajana Lontoossa. I requested this ARC from NetGalley last year, it was what prompted me to read the author's debut, A Fatal Crossing, which I DNF'd two thirds in. I thought it only fair to give The Murder Game a fair shot, but as 20% in, have decided to also DNF.Set in 1924, A Fatal Crossing is in the golden age style of crime writing and it has a definite nod to Agatha Christie’s work. It goes along at a fine pace with a clever ending that I loved. I thought it was an excellent historical crime mystery.