Book Reviews: Three mysteries in well-loved series

This month has been dominated by mystery fiction (cosies and puzzles) for me, with not one, not two, but THREE of the contemporary series / writers that I follow having new books out. These were Richard Osman's latest Thursday Murder Club novel, The Impossible Fortune; Janice Hallett (main fame from The Appeal, which I read early in 2024 and have gobbled up everything she's published since) with her new book, The Killer Question; and Benjamin Stevenson, of the Everyone... books, with his latest, Everyone in This Bank is a Thief.

While I absolutely enjoyed all three, and have not diminished my interest in continuing the series as they unfold, I thought at least two of these are not the writer's best work, and won't stand as the best in their series or anything close. Here are a few more notes on each!

This was another extremely fun, funny, moderately clever, and at times very affecting mystery in the Thursday Murder Club series. I loved everything about it, basically - having the main gang back together, the delicate and moving exploration of grief as Elizabeth and Bogdan mourn for Stephen, the increased role for some of the series recurring supporting characters (especially Joanna and Connie, both of whom I have always enjoyed), some very bad people getting their comeuppance, and the reduced involvement from the police which meant less Chris (no offence to him, but he's one of the blander and less interesting of the supporting cast for my money).

I guessed the twist quite early, and I think the central conceit lacked plausibility (there's one particularly gaping plot hole), but I do not hold that against the book - the fun of these is not and has never been in the structural integrity of the puzzle, but rather the interplay of character, place, and humour. On those metrics, this one succeeds as well as humanly possible. 8.5/10.

This book was, of course, fun - Hallett has named the art of the documentary slow-reveal storytelling schtick, and it hasn't palled yet - but unlike The Appeal, the progenitor of her style, this one was a little bloated, and certainly ended up soggy in the middle. The backstory plot was strung out to an extent that I started to find irritating, and once the first reveal was in, the second followed so logically that it wasn't even a real surprise (and these books are most successful when she pulls off the double-gasp moments, in my view).

The premise this time is built around a pub quiz, and particularly around Sue and Mal Eastwood, the new landlords of a pub called The Case is Altered, which is struggling to find its footing. Sue and Mal are hoping to use the quiz as a device to build loyalty. It quickly becomes evident, though, that the quiz is more than just a customer strategy for them, especially for Mal, whose avocation for quizzing is fervent.

The strongest parts of the book were in the vivid and often hilarious banter and exchanges (all represented in group chat logs) between the regular quizzing teams, and between a group of landlords of nearby pubs who all ran quiz nights and compared notes. Hallett has a real talent for conveying personality in short snatches of text, and that was absolutely evident here. I thoroughly enjoyed these parts and would've been happy with even more of them.

Sue and Mal's backstory, also shown through documents, I thought was much less engaging, and in fact quite dull at times. Sometimes a writer can overplay the Uno Reverse card, and I very much think that is what happened here. It's also the part of the book that could have usefully been edited down considerably (and would have been better for it).

All in all, I still had fun reading this, and am in no way deterred from reading further books by Hallett, but of the five I've read, this would probably come in at 4 or even 5 in the rankings. 6.5/10.

Like all of these books, this one was immense fun to read, and I read it quickly. The Ernest Cunningham schtick that Stevenson has developed - deploying all the greatest tropes of classic detective fiction knowingly and with a wink to the reader, but still priotising fairness in the sharing of clues - is smooth as glass now, but not getting boring as a device (quite the opposite in fact). 

The puzzle in this one had more moving parts than in previous books, and the complexity didn't always quite land. This may have been a feature of the slightly larger cast of characters than in previous books (where there may have been more *people*, but there was a clearer delineation between "characters I need to pay attention to" and "NPCs".) 

The complex interactions between subplots had me sometimes turned around and a couple of times convinced Stevenson had dropped the ball with a logical leap (once I still think he did, once it was my misreading!) I wouldn't say that made it less enjoyable to read, but it did mean that I found the denouement a little less satisfying than in previous books (especially Everyone on This Train is a Suspect, my favourite in the series).

That said, once again, it was an entertaining read by a great Australian writer whose use of Australian settings and vernacular adds a level of pleasure to the reading. 7.5/10.