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The Strings of Murder - Book Review
QUICK FACTS:
Written By: Oscar de Muriel
Genre: Mystery/Thriller Series/Stand-alone: Series; the first Frey & McGray book
Length: 346 pages
Format: Paperback, ebook
Available at: Indigo, Amazon, Toronto Public Library
This is another one of those books that we picked up on our epic Chapters spree not too long ago - I believe this was one of Rachel’s picks and this confirmed yet again that that girl knows her thrillers!
I’ve been in the mood for historical mysteries recently, so I picked this one off the shelf one afternoon when I was looking for something a bit more intense than the ones I had been working my way through lately. As with all good book covers, it hints at the tone of the book: it’s dark, gothic and a bit over the top with large metallic swooping calligraphy style letters - the title takes up almost the whole cover too, which is a different look from most covers but it definitely works!
The story takes place in 1888, with a disgraced London police detective, Frey, sent off to Edinburgh (or as he calls it Edin-bloody-burgh) to assist in an investigation there of what appears to be a Jack the Ripper copycat. There, he meets McGray, an over the top, tartan suit-wearing, occult-obsessed detective who has been assigned as the lead detective on the case. Since Frey is rather stuffy and pretentious, you can imagine how well this is going to go! Shockingly, (to them and to the reader) they appear to work quite well as a team and soon find themselves in the middle of a case that gets stranger by the day. There’s a locked room mystery, a cursed violin, witchcraft… I rarely get creeped out by books but I have to say, this book managed it in the best way possible!
The characters are interesting - I wouldn’t necessarily characterize any of them as likeable, but there is something intriguing and endearing about each of them. This is important since the book is written as though it’s being narrated by Frey, with asides about what’s happening or what’s to come as though you’re reading a letter or journal entry. As a writing style, it isn’t always successful, but I found that the author was able to pull it off!
All in all, I really enjoyed this book! As soon as I finished the first one, I put the second one on hold at the library, and read it almost immediately - a
nd let me tell you, the second one was just as good if not better!
Definitely go pick up a copy of this book if you’re looking for something a bit dark, a little weird, and extremely satisfying, The Strings of Murder won’t disappoint!
Happy reading babes!
