Helpful Score: 1
In A High Mortality of Doves, author Kate Ellis has given us a marvelous evocation of time and place. Readers can see and feel how World War I affected Inspector Lincoln, his family, and all the villagers in Wenfield.
The story is told by two people: Flora Winsmore, the local doctor's daughter, who yearns for freedom from her oppressive life, and Albert Lincoln, the Scotland Yard inspector who's filled with his own demons. There is much sympathy to be had for both characters as the story unfolds.
The mystery hinges on brilliant misdirection which will not please some readers, and although I wasn't completely satisfied with the outcome, I didn't find it off-putting. What did bother me was the fact that the book had "too much middle," and the pace bogged down significantly. Some judicious editing would have tightened up the story and made reaching that shocking reveal much less like work.
The story is told by two people: Flora Winsmore, the local doctor's daughter, who yearns for freedom from her oppressive life, and Albert Lincoln, the Scotland Yard inspector who's filled with his own demons. There is much sympathy to be had for both characters as the story unfolds.
The mystery hinges on brilliant misdirection which will not please some readers, and although I wasn't completely satisfied with the outcome, I didn't find it off-putting. What did bother me was the fact that the book had "too much middle," and the pace bogged down significantly. Some judicious editing would have tightened up the story and made reaching that shocking reveal much less like work.
