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Tuesday, May 2, 2017

Book Review: Thicker than Water by Lexie Conyngham

About The Author:
Lexie Conyngham has written multiple series in historical crime.  Murray of Letho and Hippolyta Napier aare two of her series. Thicker than Water is tenth in the series 'Murray of Letho' series. Author can be found on her personal website ~ Lexie Conyngham and on good reads profile.

The Blurb:
When young Walter finds a dead body along with the dead fish in his tutor’s fishpond, he knows he should tell his old master, Charles Murray of Letho. The dead man leaves a pretty wife and child and a broken string quartet, but someone must have profited by his death – could it be the avenger from his past as his widow fears, or is it someone from closer at hand? St. Andrews is once again the setting for a murder mystery, and a puzzle that Murray must solve before the murderer strikes again.

About The Book:
I generally do not read Crime Thriller but whenever I read them, I am always surprised by the imagination of authors. I personally find it extremely hard to pen down a crime fiction and that too in a thriller genre.

Honestly, I had some problem initially with the tone of writing, but as I held my patience, I got the heck of at and was more and more comfortable. I would not say that it's an easy read but then it's not difficult as-well. The story starts with artist, leading to a pleasant journey. There were curiosity, mystery, accidents, murder, blood, shock and almost all elements of a thriller. The way each chapter ended with a surprise or a question or a shock made the reader jump on to next one without stopping or taking a break.  The transition from one revelation to another felt surprisingly smooth and as a reader I found myself connecting various clues and trying to solve the mystery.

I must mention that there is something about horses that almost all writer capture very easily. I could not help but imagine the "beautiful black stallion" at every mention.

I found the plot very crisp and the author did not took much pages to get to main scene. I could not stop reading ahead after that. The story has background of long long time back and thus I could very easily identify the generation gap in all areas - society, dressing up, studies, occupation and many other things.

Many might not relate it, but I found below lines too inclined or inspired by old Bollywood movies.
"There were two signs of hope, as far as Murray was concerned: the thrawn old man had managed not to die straightaway, hanging on till he was found, and while he was being tended to he did, just once, squirm under the doctor’s hands and mutter something entirely incomprehensible."

Well, generally, some lines equivalent to quotes make a way to my diary, I am actually guilty rather being sad or disappointed that none did this time. Thanks to my bad vocabulary and difficulty in reading the style of writing. But here is one I typed:

"He was growing impatient to return to St. Andrews and see what progress had been made."
and so was I... I know its not funny. - wink wink.

It was a good and pleasant read which gave me a short break from the type of books I generally pick myself.

In case you wish to buy the book, here is the link to kindle edition:


Note: I received a kindle version of the book in exchange of honest review from  b00k r3vi3ws.