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What an original murder/mystery set in an American series of exclusive lodges on a private estate - named West Heart.
Macinnes is both the book's narrator and a private investigator, spending the 4th July holiday with an old friend.
The author 'treats' us to how murder books are set up with many examples, before returning to the story. Odd, original and mostly enjoyable but with a hint of self indulgence. I think the mystery could have developed on it's own?
Thanks to Net Galley and Bloomsbury PLc for the chance to read and review.
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I enjoyed the story, interspersed with thoughts around ‘how to write a murder/mystery’, having read some of the books referred to. The author has clearly done his research.
The characters were not particularly likeable, but I think this was the author’s intention.
Adam is a PI and is hired to get himself invited to West Heart luxury holiday park and investigate what’s going on there.
People aren’t what they seem, is anyone? Secrets abound and eyes look the other way. Adam sees everything, taking nothing at face value, he’s experienced after all. But is he really prepared for what follows?
A page turner, yes. Despite the distractions from the story line - these were interesting but didn’t really add to the plot, although we’re rather thought provoking.
Undecided about scoring, a 3 or 4?
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Thoroughly enjoyed this even if I think the structure and changes of perspective might put off readers more accustomed to a traditional linear style. This book is quite meta as it dissects the murder mystery genre as it goes and the twist at three quarters through genuinely surprised me, although I wonder if I am a dolt because I struggled to piece it together before the end! Very clever, almost too clever for its own good but will be a murder mystery fan's dream for all the references alone.
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West Heart Kill is certainly a contender for the most original take on the murder mystery genre.
Set at the exclusive Eest Heart country club, our narrator is a private investigator, spending the 4th July holiday with an old friend and the family/friends/"frenemies" of this old friend.
I was initially intrigued by the story and the level of information provided to the reader; for example, the country club location is described in detail but the reader is left to determine the timeframe for the setting through the references to fashion, and historical events.
As events progress and bodies mount up, we have all of the elements of a classic Golden Age murder mystery (think Agatha Christie, Ellery Queen etc etc) and the narrator makes frequent references to these stories and tropes. In many ways, the mystery acts also as a "How To .." guide for murder!
The narrator also speaks directly to the reader, sharing their opinion and their plans for the next step of the investigation.
There are many brilliant elements to this story but the overall pace was a little too slow for my liking and I feel it could have been wrapped up sooner. However, I did love the ending - I really didn't see it coming.
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This book is very divisive as to its unusualness of style. I was asked if it was Fiction or Non-Fiction. In fact, it’s both in different parts, but mixed together. Maybe it would have worked better if there were clearly defined sections for each. Sadly, it’s not the easiest read.
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I had high hopes for this book as the blurb and summaries made it seem like it was going to be the next big thriller, instead I found it boring. I should have DNF’d this book but I stuck to it and was so disappointed with the ending. The breaks in between the story with facts were awful, I don’t read non-fiction for a reason and often skipped these parts.
I never give 1 star reviews but unfortunately this book tried to hard to be smart and ended up making me, the reader feel not connected to any of the characters and uninterested in the progression of the story.
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West Heart Kill is definitely a unique book but it was all a little too much for me. In my opinion there was too much information to absorb and too many characters to keep it all straight in my head - I prefer a bit of a lighter read.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC.
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I was sent a copy of West Heart Kill by Dann McDorman to read and review by NetGalley. This was an intriguing and original book. It was part murder/mystery/whodunnit and part instruction/theoretical manual on writing such a book! It was very well constructed, and well researched, with plenty of twists and turns to keep the reader thinking. This novel won’t be to everyone’s taste but I enjoyed it and learned a lot about the murder/mystery genre.
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Unfortunately I just could not get into this book at all. It’s written in a very different format to the norm, and is I suppose, quite unique. There was too much that didn’t work for me, it felt like it was trying to be way too clever.
This was a DNF for me.
My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my advance copy of this book.
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A whodunnit but in a unique format. A clever idea and the presentation is very well done!
There is (in my opinion) too much to notice for everything to fall into place, and maybe a bit too many characters. But it was fun, nee and different and for that it’s a round of applause.
The country club is where it’s at, and it’s funny, there’s a balance between murder and an actual story and that can be perceived as too much info too soon, at some points? However, it was fun!
Thank you Bloomsbury & NetGalley!
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I am at a bit of a loss as to how to review this very different murder/mystery set at a hunting club - West Heart Country Club. With lots of characters involved, there are suspects galore and as we follow a detective who is there looking into a different case, they are very well placed to investigate when a body turns up.
This is a very original and unique book. An immersive read where the reader is involved in the story and while I appreciate the effort at mixing it up and the premise of the main story, sadly I think the chopping and changing of formatting and writing style drew attention away from the story.
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This is definitely an original format - but of what I am not quite sure. In part it is a mystery, but one where the bodies and time period are known to the reader before they start! It is in part text about other authors, their characters and their formats; I found it quite irritating that the author kept telling me what I thought. Then suddenly it is set out as a play. I found the reasoning behind the deaths a description of what the author decided to do not genuine reasons from the characters.
May appeal to some but sorry not for me!
Many thanks to Netgalley/Dann McDorman/Bloomsbury Publishing plc for a digital copy of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.
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Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this book.
This book is written in quite a unique way, picking up elements of various historical criminal events and weaving them in. I wanted to love it but I really didn’t. Not sure if it was the time period or the very American setting/style but this book wasn’t for me.
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In 'West Heart Kill', Dann McDorman uses multiple perspectives, literary devices and a scattering of non fiction chapters to augment his detective story. One the one hand, this is a novel about murderous events at a bicentennial weekend held at a hunting club in America. McAnnis is a detective, who for reasons unknown to us has inveigled himself into attending the 4 day break with one of the founding families. On the other hand, this is a novel that asks us questions about the role of the reader, writer and characters in detective fiction, and the reasons we read them.
For much of the novel I wondered where it was going, and whether the different devices uses by the writer (which often brought the reader out of the action) were worth it. I hoped that the ending would made sense of it and use the devices. For me it absolutely did and I felt the ending was clear and enjoyable. The one reason people read whodunnits that McDorman missed, was that often everything is brought together neatly at the end, and at times of chaos in the world, this is often what readers need. Whilst McDorman played with the form, he didnt miss this out.
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West Heart Kill is an intriguing and original novel that I found enjoyable, though it did leave me a bit perplexed at times...
The plot focuses on a murder that has taken place in a members' lodge. A Detective has been invited along to investigate a different matter, but ends up getting sucked in, and eventually we realise that everyone there could be a suspect...
Because of the location, there are a LOT of characters to keep track of - which I struggled with at times. The reader is being spoken directly to by the author, which I don't often come across, especially in crime novels, but I thought this added some extra originality to the story. There were also some excerpts where the author discusses other classic 'whodunnit' plots and devices, and I really enjoyed those.
I tend to enjoy a locked-room mystery, and West Heart Kill is no exception. It's entertaining and readable (although I did slightly lose track of what was going on in the middle, before getting back to grips with it towards the end), and it certainly stands out amongst other books in the genre. I'd recommend giving this a go if you enjoy an original, fast-paced whodunnit!
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I found this impossible to get into.
I dislike the several side stories which I understand are to illustrate the investigation. I found them superfluous. The whole style of writing is not for me and i failed to become involved in the story at all. There was little description of the time frame, so I struggled to work out when it was set. I found the chapters so similar that it was difficult to see the story progress.
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Detective Adam McAnnis reconnects with a friend so he can get himself into the exclusive hunting club. He has a job to do there which soon becomes investigating a murder.
This is an interesting story as its split into different parts and narratives. The early chapters are either standard view or from the POV of a narrator. Then towards the end its more like a script of a play. The beginning was so hard to follow, the chnaging narrative really made the story disjointed. I did like the refrerences to crime writers and plot tips but it took away from the actual mystery. The ending too was a bit of a let down. I wanted so much more than what we got. An interesting premise and others will love it but its not for me.
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The perfect way to re-do the overused trope of rich people murdering each other(and anyone threatening them) in order to keep old secret buried and to protect family interests and/or tradition. Very quirky, therefore it's not gonna work for everyone, but it got my attention and managed to keep me entertained until the end. Maybe I would have liked more clarity at the end, but I do agree with the idea that justice is blind and oftentimes unjust.
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Despite my initial enthusiasm for the read, upon delving into the text, I found it to be rather challenging due to its style, format, and layout. The plot, while well-constructed, began to falter around the 70% mark, ultimately losing the momentum it had been building throughout the narrative. This left me feeling disappointed with the conclusion, which failed to deliver on the promises made earlier in the story.
In summary, while the book showed potential, its execution was ultimately flawed. The writing style, formatting, and layout proved to be obstacles to an otherwise well-crafted plot. As a result, the conclusion failed to provide the satisfying resolution that the story had been building towards.
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I really struggled with this book to begin with. It tries to draw you into the plot, but to me, it felt a little too like reading a textbook at times. The actual plotline was good, but personally I prefer a much easier read. Saying that, I'm sure many people would like a more challenging book, but for an insomniac like me it was a bit much