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The Crooked House Christobel Kent 9780751556971 Books

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The Crooked House Christobel Kent 9780751556971 Books

In this British mystery, Alison's family was murdered, and she was whisked away by her aunt Polly, an equally introverted sort. She had no plans to ever return to to the village by the sea where she lost her father, mother, brother and two twins sisters.

But then she met Paul, a thirty-ish sort, thirteen years her senior; Paul was a historian with an interest in traumatic shock, the sort of thing Alison (formerly Esme) went through. Then he invited her to attend a wedding in her home town where he would be the best man. Of course, she was reluctant, but Paul convinced her it would be good for her, in a way. And she had this somewhat subconscious desire to prove her father, who got the blame for the murders, was innocent.

Paul forgets to tell Alison that he once had a relationship with the bride, and not only Morgan, but also the entire family who treated him like some kind of emotional adviser.

I read a lot of mysteries, and author Christobel Kent seemed to be giving this one away from the start. Mystery writers are supposed to introduce the murderer early on. It's too convenient to bring on somebody totally new at the end. But Kent keeps pointing at this person like a blackboard. I thought I was wrong when it appeared someone else had murdered the family, but that proved to be misdirection. What Kent's plot is missing is motivation. Why in the blazes would this person murder an entire family? Sure Kent is British and maybe she did show why, and I was just clueless when it came to her psychological goings on. But it doesn't seem so.

Take the ending for instance. Alison has visited the old homestead for the umpteenth time. Someone else is there and Alison is in dire straights. Detective Sarah Hamilton is on the way, but an old friend of Alison's is there to save the day. Kent pulls a jump cut between his/her arrival and the demise of the killer. We don't know how the savior pulled it off. This really chapped my hide. The person who saved the day was sort of a misanthrope in the first place. Would he/she actually be a knight in shining armor? The book ends with Alison talking to her brain dead father. “Look, Daddy, I proved you didn't do it.” It's easy to miss that as well. Kent uses pronouns instead of names. I guess what I'm trying to say is that Kent's style is really annoying.


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The Crooked House Christobel Kent 9780751556971 Books Reviews

Slow, convoluted and boring. Every single character is beyond unlikable, including the heroine. I didn't even care about what had happened, I just wanted it to end.
Terrific! I knew nothing about it and was constantly surprised by where it went and what began to happen. Atmospheric and suspenseful, with complex characters and a fully realized, compelling main character. Kent's writing is wonderful and the way she discloses information, tricking the reader, is a blast. Highly, highly recommended.
I was quite disappointed in this book. Purchased it on the recommendation of an NPR review, which praised it as similar in suspense to a Du Maurier mystery. However, the descriptions of the unnamed evil force at work in the small town were over-written, and the climax did not live up to the hype. The characters were not believable and the plot was mechanical; too many red herrings.
Alison/Esme is a believable character, emotionally disturbed but totally sympathetic and intelligent. Finding herself, her place, is the theme of this riveting novel, more about human needs than criminality. The swinging back and forth from character to character, present to past, was challenging but also gave a psychological realism to scenes that otherwise might have declined into horror fiction.
I found this book difficult to read at times. The story was good and it kept me intrigued but the style of writing was annoying. I'm erring on the side of 3 stars instead of 2 because I'm going to give the story the benefit of the doubt in the context of formatting. I read the kindle edition and it was confusing at times, like there were spaces missing between paragraphs. One minute there'd be a description of a situation, the next sentence the story has lept ahead, then next paragraph it's back again. The scene where Allison is running from the wedding after/during having a conversation with Danny is an example - one minute she's talking to him, then she's running away (and why you would take your shoes off when you're running to a derelict house is beyond me!) and then she's back having the conversation again, then she's running again. I get the feeling the author was trying to write certain parts of the book like a movie. It just confused me at times and I had to keep re-reading pages to get it right in my head. Who knows, maybe that says more about me than the author!
This is a very well crafted story with a gradual build up of details which keeps the reader engaged to find out the missing connections. The character development is excellent and multiple layers of information about each person build a picture which becomes richer through the book. The psychology of the protagonist is well depicted and her confusion adds to the tension of the building plot. I loved this book and immediately went back to buy another by this author when I had finished it.
This story was well written but I found it a bit unsatisfying. The story had a lot of twists and turns, and I felt that I didn't like many of the characters. Alison became orphaned as a young teen due to a bizarre murder of her family at their home in a small town in England. Alison (née Esme) somehow managed to live her life after therapy, moving away and changing her name, but you can sense in the story that she is damaged. Paul, who later becomes her boyfriend, is an odd guy who strangely accepts Alison's peculiar behavior as they forge ahead in their rather sluggish relationship. It all gets more interesting and complicated as Alison and Paul head back to Alison's hometown to attend a wedding together. The story is an acceptable read, but the ending didn't really hold together for me and I didn't feel any particular attachment towards any of the characters, which is why I only gave the book 3 stars.
In this British mystery, Alison's family was murdered, and she was whisked away by her aunt Polly, an equally introverted sort. She had no plans to ever return to to the village by the sea where she lost her father, mother, brother and two twins sisters.

But then she met Paul, a thirty-ish sort, thirteen years her senior; Paul was a historian with an interest in traumatic shock, the sort of thing Alison (formerly Esme) went through. Then he invited her to attend a wedding in her home town where he would be the best man. Of course, she was reluctant, but Paul convinced her it would be good for her, in a way. And she had this somewhat subconscious desire to prove her father, who got the blame for the murders, was innocent.

Paul forgets to tell Alison that he once had a relationship with the bride, and not only Morgan, but also the entire family who treated him like some kind of emotional adviser.

I read a lot of mysteries, and author Christobel Kent seemed to be giving this one away from the start. Mystery writers are supposed to introduce the murderer early on. It's too convenient to bring on somebody totally new at the end. But Kent keeps pointing at this person like a blackboard. I thought I was wrong when it appeared someone else had murdered the family, but that proved to be misdirection. What Kent's plot is missing is motivation. Why in the blazes would this person murder an entire family? Sure Kent is British and maybe she did show why, and I was just clueless when it came to her psychological goings on. But it doesn't seem so.

Take the ending for instance. Alison has visited the old homestead for the umpteenth time. Someone else is there and Alison is in dire straights. Detective Sarah Hamilton is on the way, but an old friend of Alison's is there to save the day. Kent pulls a jump cut between his/her arrival and the demise of the killer. We don't know how the savior pulled it off. This really chapped my hide. The person who saved the day was sort of a misanthrope in the first place. Would he/she actually be a knight in shining armor? The book ends with Alison talking to her brain dead father. “Look, Daddy, I proved you didn't do it.” It's easy to miss that as well. Kent uses pronouns instead of names. I guess what I'm trying to say is that Kent's style is really annoying.