Customer Reviews

The Murder Stone

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

The plot of this novel doesn't really hold together into an integrated whole. The book rambled on far too long. Most of the inserts by the cousins were irrelevant; the shooter episodes didn't really further the plot and the entire shooter subplot could have been eliminated without damage to the plot. Does it really matter plot-wise that one of the cousins, now a wee bit mad, has returned? Even the Murder Stone does little to hold the plot together--it's just not made that important in the novel. Furthermore,the last one third of the novel went on and on, and the book's ending stretched credulity to the limit.

Characterization, for Todd, was quite poor. Leighton was little more than a stick figure, albeit, romantic, but still never a real person. Most of the other character came off the same way, wooden sticks wending their way through the novel. Not even the villianess fared any better. Of all the characters, only Francesca and Stevens, the rector, were given human touches. On the bright side, the book is a page turner and kept me going at a good pace; it's only later on that the book runs out of steam and so do you.

I will look forward to the new Rutledge novel, hoping that it will not be as
overdone as this one is.

the reviewer who was less than enchanted with this book makes many very good points, most of which i agree with. many of the plot twists are beyond hackneyed (antagonism turns to love, solitary heroine saves day), too much time is spent investigating the charges, not enough time is spent with the major plot twist, and the ending is completely unbelievable and unrealistic (since the heroine is not a sociopath). the village "characters" are undeveloped and there are scenes that are thrown in just for effect and not for any compelling narative developement. if the short apprearances of the dead cousins were supposed to be affecting reminders of all that was lost on the blood-sodden fields of france, they were too abrupt and too manipulative to move me (but then, i have family stories of trench warfare to draw on). the book might have been better had it been longer, or maybe only if it had been more focused. it seems a bit slapdash and there's also a hint of authorly 'how many plot devices can i shoehorn into this thing?'

although i enjoyed the writing enough to stay up much too late to finish the book, i won't be keeping this one in my library.

I had really enjoyed the Inspector Rutledge mysteries by Charles Todd, and checked this book out accidentally. It is not in the Rutledge series - and while it SAYS Charles Todd is the author, it feels as if someone else wrote it. A little research revealed that Charles Todd is a mother/son writing team. One of them seems to be missing here. The story is shallow, implausible and overstated, reading rather like a script for daytime soap opera.

In my opinion, Charles Todd is usually one of the best 5 mystery writers today. I enjoy his books because they are well-written...usually. This one meandered all over the place. I wonder if it was because he was trying to write it from mainly a woman's point of view. I really enjoy his other books, so this was a big letdown.

I figured the missing mother was going to come into the story alive, somewhere along the line. So much time was spent on the mutual angst of the two characters. Nobody moans that much, and has someone stick around to listen to it.

The second half picked up somewhat, and I really enjoyed the snippets by each of the brothers ... their take on their childhood, and on World War I. It was partly because of Todd I became interested in WWI. I am really hoping the next one is more like his original series...

Karen Sadler

In spite of page-to-page writing skill, ability to create atmosphere, and an obvious emotional connection to the post-World-War-I England of which he writes, Charles Todd fails to come up with a winner in "The Murder Stone." When a mystery enthralls, readers are willing to suspend disbelief, but here the overlong and familiar story and the underdeveloped characterizations foil involvement. By the end of the book, I didn't care who the villain was or why. What the author probably meant to be enigmatic in the conclusion, I just found irritating. Really too bad, because there are the ingredients of a good book in there somewhere!

I am an avid reader of these kind of books, and am usually very willing to make allowances for varying degrees of writing skill. Having said that, I found this book tedious and poorly written with pages of mind-numbingly vacuous dialogue, a meandering knee-jerk plot, and a preposterous ending.

I pride myself on finishing every book I start, and I did with this one, but it was like pulling teeth. By the time I got to the last five pages, I was just ready for it to be over.

If you like good mysteries, good World War I historical novels, or good thrillers, do yourself a favor - PASS THIS ONE UP.

I am an avid fan of Charles Todd's Ian Rutledge series having discovered him only in the last two months and having already read 7 books in the series. Consequently, his writing style is very fresh in my mind. I was disheartened to find this book so tedious. Unlike a mystery unfolding slowly but steadily, which his are apt to do, this book's "mysteries" were hidden for chapters and then suddenly chunks of disjointed information would appear. Unfortunately, these revelations led almost nowhere. The story was boring and repentitive, the characters irritating and inconsistent, the ending less than satisfying. The Rutledge stories are nicely contrived and pieces of information pertinent to the climactic discovery of the murderer craftily woven into the narrative. Not so in this book. Even with the WW I setting, you could easliy convince me that this was written by someone else entirely. If you love Charles Todd, pass on this one; no need to experience the disappointment.

Todd does much better without Rutledge's self-pity cluttering up the scene. This is a beautiful war-time mystery, with lively characters, all very well-realized, much better than can be done with their detective poking his nose in and relating it all to his trauma.

After enjoying a couple of Todd's Inspector Rutledge books I was quite looking forward to the potential this book offered but felt hugely let down instead. Whilst the book seems to answer the questions and mysteries that arise in this story, it really doesn't feel like it. I had to go back a couple of times to the ending to make sure I hadn't missed something. I think Todd missed a huge opportunity for a real potboiler of a murder mystery here and just ran out of ideas or lost interest in his own story at the end.

Todd's novels are always excellent reading, and this departure from the Inspector Rutledge series delivers a highly enjoyable story in the best traditions of the old-fashioned gothic. It's got all the elements: the beleaguered heroine suddenly all alone in the world, the creepy old mansion, fog, an elderly dog whining at his dead master's door in the middle of the night, possible ghosts, fog, a brooding and enigmatic hero, fog, a curse -- what more could you ask for? Served up in Todd's exquisite style, this book unfolds at a gothic, not thriller, pace with very much the transitional, unsettled feel of the Edwardian period.
The story takes a few creative risks that are most enjoyable. And who cares if suspicious characters tend to come and go at contrived moments? Francesca Hatton is a gutsy, marvelous heroine, very sympathetic, and never better than at the very end of the book.