Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Nope. Just no. This book was not for me. I adore mysteries and Golden Age mysteries are awesome. This book has a TON of 4 and 5 star reviews about how awesome it is and how it totally honors the genre. No, it doesn't. The only way it honors the genre is the gathering of the suspects at the end of the fictitious book. That was well done. But the rest was a steaming pile of 'wtf was that' attempt at a historical detective novel. Now your mileage may very but I was super upset and here's why. This book is a mystery within a mystery. There's the modern day storyline where the editor receives the book only the last few chapters are missing and then there's the mystery book itself set in 1955. The author of the fictitious book ends up dead and turns out there are hidden little easter eggs within the work that might lead to what happened to the author. First off, the book, the mystery inside this book is atrocious. It's FULL and I mean FULL of anachronisms. And this was supposed to be written by a lauded mystery author? HUH? I couldn't get past it, I'd read a page and BAM anachronism!! This read like bad fan fiction from an American who didn't understand British culture and history y'all and yet … Anthony Horowitz is British? And this was his personal cultural history? I know more British history than a native??? Then we get back to modern times and the editor searching for the missing manuscript pages and digging into her author's life and history and that went slightly better but I was so frustrated and let down … I like Anthony Horowitz I really do but I kept wanting to smack him and his editor with a stack of post-it notes about the anachronisms. Really disappointed. If you loved it, good for you! I love things many others don't and that's okay. This is going on the 'super glad I got it on sale but I will never torture myself' pile. this review was also posted on Goodreads.