Art in the Blood - Verdict

[kalinara]

So yeah, I've finished another book! Yay!

Did it pass?

Yeah, I think it did. But let's talk about it in a bit more detail.

So this book is a different style of mystery than any of the previous books in this series. For once, Jack's issues are not the plot. Instead, this reminds me a bit more of something like Midsomer Murders, where we have a complex cast of characters and dynamics that weave together in its own story. Our investigating heroes are separate, friendly outsiders with no stakes in the mystery except the drive to find out the truth.

Well, kind of. There are a few elements that keep this from being a standalone story.

Most of that comes from Alex Adrian. It's not a coincidence, I think, that Jack gets very invested in Alex's story. Alex is a grieving widower, who thinks he knows the cause of his wife's death, but hasn't been able to truly comprehend it or move past it.

And of course, Jack Fleming knows exactly what it's like to grieve a woman that he loves, without understanding what happened to her or why. He finally got those answers in the last book and now he can give those answers to someone else.

We also see a lot of development for Jack and Bobbi. Jack's still pretty avoidant and his trust issues are on full display. But they talk and they move forward, and Bobbi makes her choice for the future. That's pretty great.

And I think it's significant that Jack now has three people who know the truth about what he is, who are not horrified or disgusted or judgmental. He's getting to be honest with them and has been rewarded for it. That's kind of nice.

That aside, I do think that this is the weakest book in the series, so far. But that's not necessarily a bad thing. A breezy Midsomer adventure is a welcome reprieve after the intensity of Bloodcircle and before, well...

If my memory's correct, this reprieve will not last that long. Hah.

So yeah, I enjoyed it very much, and it's time to make a decision for next week.