The Beauty of Murder

I've been rather useless at blogging of late it seems- we had a busy half-term, but I also got a bit caught up on this, my latest read, for what seemed like weeks, and I still can't decide what I thought of it.

The Beauty of Murder is A.K. Benedict's debut novel, and it is a clever and ambitious story. It was a Kindle Deal of the Day when I bought it, and a synopsis describing a complex murder mystery set within Cambridge is always going to get me One-Clicking. The main character has just arrived in the city as a lecturer at the fictitious Sepulchre College, finds the body of a young woman in the grounds of Great St Mary's Church, and so the mystery begins. The book takes place in more than one time-frame (I won't spoil it by saying more than this), and there is reference to the draining of the Fens around Ely in the 17th Century, which I found quite interesting (I'm a bit of a geek and we visited Ely last weekend and went out on the river, so that might just be me though). 

I liked the book, but I didn't love it. I found pretty much all the characters other than mysterious older lady Iris unlikeable (there was potential for me to warm towards the female DI though, if she appeared in future books), and I'm not really very good with philosophy- I glaze over a bit, so I struggled with some minor elements of the story. I did really enjoy the setting, the atmosphere and the overall concept of the story though, and I would look of for future work by the author.

*****

Three more to try

Alison Bruce is the Queen of Cambridge crime writing in my opinion, and The Backs is the latest in her excellent DC Gary Goodhew series.

Kitty Peck is one of my absolute favourite heroines, and I am anxiously awaiting the sequel to this gruesomely gripping tale. I loved this book.

A far more gentile third choice- the Sidney Chambers stories are set in beautiful Grantchester (and occasionally Cambridge city) and are both quirky and easy to read. An ITV series (starring Robson Green) should be on our screens at some point in the next year, but for the meantime, this is the first book in the series (Mysteries 2 and 3 are also available now).

I'll be back again soon I hope! If you've read The Beauty of Murder, let me know what you thought of it please!