Customer Reviews

The Celtic Riddle (Archaeological Mysteries, No. 4)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I've read Ms. Hamilton's mysteries once before. The last one I enjoyed, and though I do enjoy the time and effort put into the background for the story based in Ireland, the book ended up being extremely confusing. I finished it, but didn't find it as well written as the book I had read of hers before. The reason for the presence of the major character being in Ireland was a bit contrived, and the 'clues' were very strained and never seem to come together in any way. It's fine to want to teach more about another country, but this genre is not the way to do it, unless you are will to put a great deal of effort into the background and explanations. I am not sure I will be reading any other books from this particular author in the future because my time is limited for 'fun' books when I have educational/medical books I have to read for my work. When I read something different to get my mind off of my daily work, I still want it to be well-done. This book wasn't. Karen Sadler, Science Education, University of Pittsburgh

Lara McClintoch owns Greenhalgh and McClintoch, an antiques and design store in Toronto. She loves traveling the globe seeking unique items to sell in her shop. When Lara is on the road, her friend Alex Stewart runs the store.

In turn, Lana accompanies Alex to Ireland for the reading of the will of the recently deceased Eamon Byrne, a wealthy businessman. Alex and the rest of the Byrne family learn that Eamon wants them to take part in a treasure hunt that the he hoped would finally bring his fractured relatives together. Each person receives a different clue in which teamwork will lead to the treasure. Eamon's dream fails because some of his relatives refuse to work with other recipients of the clues. Someone takes matters into their own hands by killing clue-holders. Lara decides that finding the treasure is the only way to stop the murders. She puts together a team of locals to help her, but now the culprit is aware of a new threat.

Superb storyteller, Lyn Hamilton imbues her fascinating plot with myths and legends of Eire that explains the call of Erin. THE CELTIC RIDDLE is a wonderful tale starring a brave heroine who remains loyal to her friends even when danger appears. The sharp mystery has many suspects that makes it nearly impossible to identify the villain. With this excellent archeological mystery and her previous tales (see THE XIBALBA MURDERS, THE MALTESE GODDESS, and THE MOCHE WARRIOR) Lyn Hamilton has dug her own niche within the genre.

Harriet Klausner

As someone of Irish descent and one who has traveled extensively throughout Ireland, I thought this would be a fun read. Sadly, it wasn't. The plot is ridiculously convoluted with no logic whatever to the "clues" and no good explanation as to how they are interpreted. The dialogue is absurd with one character even reduced to speaking backwards for several chapters (and does that ever get annoying)! As to the Irish accents, one can only shake one's head as characters seem to develop it then drop it all in the same sentence. This book, which I honestly had hoped to like, is a real stinker. If you're looking for a good mystery, this isn't it, and if you're looking for a good book with Irish locales and plot, this isn't it either. Don't waste a penny on this one.

THE CELTIC RIDDLE is the fourth installment in Hamilton's Lara McClintoch series. The first one was passable, but nothing to get excited about. I found the second one disappointing and decided, at that point, to give up on Hamilton. Relenting after a couple of years, I gave the third one a shot. Lo and behold, I liked it. Not great, you understand, but pretty good. I began thinking that Hamilton had found her muse.

Now we have THE CELTIC RIDDLE (and several more, actually, but I'm taking them in order). For me, this is something of a letdown. Not horrid, but not up to the standard of THE MOCHE WARRIOR. The premise is shaky (a wealthy man leaves a treasure hunt behind in his will, hoping that his squabbling heirs will cooperate to find an unspecified treasure. Now really, what could be more divisive?). The background mythology is interesting and Hamilton has done her homework, but the meanings hidden within the mythical poem are obscure and the connections drawn are often either solved outside the thread of the narrative or involve improbable leaps of intuition. And what's up with the silly device of speaking backwards? It is more annoying than cute.

I don't quite know what to make of Hamilton. Thus far, her stories have been inconsistent. THE CELTIC RIDDLE is a mediocrity, and it could have been a good deal better. If you're into the series, you'll want to read it. If not, you might want to try the next one. I haven't read it yet, but the more recent books in this series are getting better reviews. I'm hoping that the best is yet to come.

My 12yo daughter and I were in the library looking for books and I chose this one for her as the protagonist is a female anthropologist (as is my daughter's mother) and I saw it was part of a series which I took to be a good sign for the quality of the writing. Boy, was I wrong! My daughter is smarter than me as she couldn't stomach even the first few pages. I plowed through most of the book, hoping it would improve, until finally I just skimmed the back pages to find out what the writer had chosen to make the "treasure". As others have already mentioned, the way in which the "clues" are solved either makes no sense, happens offstage, or involve incredible coincidence. One might think of this as a novel to be enjoyed more for its "atmosphere" but that would be a mistake. Cottages on windswept cliffs are so trite as are smoke-filled pubs and besotted Irishfolk. What I felt was good about this book was that it's encouragement for anyone who wonders if s/he could be a writer. Absolutely! This is the publishing house for the writer who aspires to be a cut above the works put out by Harlequin Romance

This book was kind of interesting but had all sorts of unbelievable stuff in it. Like all these people in this little town in Ireland are getting murdered, one right after the other, and no one in town or the family is in the least bit upset or worried about it. They just merrily go on about their lives as if nothing unusual was going on and they never even mention it or seem to notice, in fact.

And the whole reason that this woman and her friends are there in the first place for so long, that the police are investigating one of the murders so she has to hang around, is ridiculous, especially since it stretches on for months and months.

There's another part where this lady and her friend get kidnapped and locked up, and instead of being scared or trying to get out, they sit around blabbing and making jokes for hours about his relationship with his daughter and the history of little huts in Ireland. Don't you think they might be a little bit worried and concerned for themselves, especially after several recent murders and the fact that they've been kidnapped??

There's also this teenage girl who talks backwards - give me a break! She would never be able to do that, and no one would be able to understand her either!!

At the end, a lot of the weird stuff that went on is left unexplained. But by then, you don't really care anyway!

This is the first book that I've read by this author, and I kind of enjoyed it. Unfortunately, the premise behind the story is much better than what actually occurs. I love the idea of trying to solve a riddle mystery, and by making the riddles Celtic (or more particularly Irish based on old Irish legends) it was something I just had to read. I was also intrigued by the antique element in the book. But I found that the prose was a little hard slogging, and I just didn't connect with the main characters like I felt I should. The mystery itself was a good one, and there were a lot of surprises there. I was interested enough to finish the book, and I am considering reading other books in the series.

Being of Irish descent and having travelled throughout Ireland, I thought this would be a fun book to read. It wasn't. If there was an award for cliche filled tripe, this would win first prize. The writing is awful, the plot unbelievable (if there's any logic whatsoever to the treasure hunt clues I missed it, and defy any other reader to explain it) and the dialogue as bad as I've ever read. One of the characters even speaks backwards for several chapters! The attempts at Irish speech turn on and off, even within sentences. One has to wonder what the editor was thinking to have let such poor writing pass as a story. I really did want to like this book but I just can't recommend it or any others by Ms. Hamilton. There are numerous other books out with an Irish theme or locale and one should look for those before ever wasting money on this effort.

Love the series. Mystery with a good dose of learning about a new place or historical history.

Having read the previous books in this series, I was moderately excited for this one. I was more than pleasantly surprised. The writing has improved quite a bit. The whodoneit not that surprising, but that was ok. I loved the addition, here, of some more light hearted humor. I laughed out loud on a number of occasions. Ms. Hamilton is on the right track...I can't wait to read the next book.