Ripper

Ripper - Isabel Allende

DNF @ 25%

 

Maybe I have been spoiled by the many excellent and tightly plotted reads that I have finished recently, but this feels all over the place. The characterisations are good, the interactions between Amanda and her grandfather are delightful, but for a mystery story, there is a lack of compelling plot. Or it just got swallowed up in the abundant description of everything else? 

 

It also feels very dated with references to Oscar Pistorius as an Olympic athlete (i.e. before the murder trial), references to the hunt for Osama Bin Laden, etc.  

 

Murder mystery is not Allende's wheelhouse and it shows. If I had packed this to take to the beach, I might have finished it, but right now there are too many other books that look a lot better.