Rating: 2 out of 5

The writing style was delightful and there were some really lovely phrases being used such as “you never know the best about men till you know the worst about them”. The stories were clever and flowed well. But I found it to be a struggle to read and did consider giving up at one point. The recurring characters were well described but didn’t come alive for me, and I didn’t have any affection for them.
I’d recommend this book to lovers of fine prose, of clever plots but not to those who want good characters and good gripping crime stories.

Highlighted passages:

it looked like a tavern for vinegar instead of wine.

“I told you before I had to throw back the big fish.”

He’s burst more like a bubble than a bomb.”

a large pocketknife, almost to be described as a small tool box, a complex apparatus on which he seemed disposed to linger, pointing out that it included a pair of nippers, a tool for punching holes in wood, and, above all, an instrument for taking stones out of a horse’s hoof. The comparative absence of any horse he appeared to regard as irrelevant, as if it were a mere appendage easily supplied.

Modern intelligence won’t accept anything on authority. But it will accept anything without authority.

Believe me, you never know the best about men till you know the worst about them.

Originally posted to my Goodreads account