None of that is relevant to solving cases. In between the non-detecting we are treated to flashback scenes of characters losing their virginity, fights with his ex-wife and a bizarre inheritance. All of these old unsolved cases solve themselves with a few questions. It's a detective novel without any substantial detecting.
She's a good writer (of sentences) but a terrible storyteller. God In Ruins annoyed me no end and I should have never bought this one. Would you ever listen to anything by Kate Atkinson again?Ībsolutely not. This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?Ĭlearly some people enjoyed it because it was the previous good reviews that convinced me to try the book. But I just don't even begin to understand the glowing reviews this book is getting. I was pre-disposed to give this novel a lot of leeway - as I wrote above, Atkinson's writing is very solid, which is a nice thing. * The stories are resolved with the kind of magical wand-waving that I associate with Victorian literature, not modern serious writing. One of the cases is solved by one phone-call. Coyote attempt to kill someone by dynamiting his house?) * The detective does virtually no detecting - probably just as well, because by the time the third case comes his way, we're almost 2/3 through the novel.
* There are wild events that are more appropriate to a Tom Clancy novel or a Roadrunner cartoon (does anybody except Wile E. * There are plot points that come out of nowhere (Brody's inheritance, for example). * There are coincidences at a level to make Dickens blush.
Unfortunately, at any higher level than that, this book is awful. Nothing particularly spectacular, but nothing wince-worthy either. I'll start with the positive - on a sentence-by-sentence level, Atkinson is a solid writer. Bad literary fiction, awful mystery story
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