A Murder of Crows: A completely gripping British cozy mystery (A Dr Nell Ward Mystery Book 1)

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Each chapter is a third person narrative from a different point of view which I find distracting and prevents me from getting fully involved, just as I get settled into one character the viewpoint changes and I have to adjust. The usual romantic plot elements are present in abundance and for readers who don't like any romance in their cozies, proceed with caution - there's an unresolved dramatic triangle here which saw me raising my eyes heavenward on a couple occasions.

A Murder of Crows (film) - Wikipedia A Murder of Crows (film) - Wikipedia

As the only person with any clues as to what happened, Nell soon finds herself in the middle of the investigation.

A Murder of Crows is a solid, interesting debut, especially for the atmosphere created, which many readers will enjoy, unfortunately it's just not the type of novel I enjoy. I've the next book already downloaded so if you like mysteries with a touch of romance and some interesting ecological facts, then this is for you. It seems far-fetched that a promotion could skip two levels of rank and elevate a Constable past the ranks of Sergeant and Inspector and directly to the rank of Chief Inspector, yet that is exactly what the author wants us to believe. Late in the book, however, we learn that Colin receives confirmation of his promotion to DCI from the Chief Superintendent.

Murder of Crows: A Dunderdale Mystery A Christmas Murder of Crows: A Dunderdale Mystery

The origins of most collective bird nouns are not always as straightforward as they may first appear. Another incongruity I noticed was that Detective Constable Clements was clearly the superior of Detective Constables Driscoll and Campbell. Herd, a word most people associate with deer, horses, or cattle, has been used of porpoises, seals, and birds, and flock, a word we now associate with sheep and birds, has been used of elephants, lions, camels, and pigs.The plot which can get hidden in all this swapping is interesting and well thought out but the clever ending is extremely unsatisfactory with nothing tied up in a nice bow. In a voice-over, Russell states that the publicity of the case resulted in the skyrocketing of sales for the novel, making him a millionaire. I went into this with no knowledge of the podcast describing Tig's first successful solved mystery, but think I now need to check it out. Berners gave a list of which birds were suitable for hunting based on one's station in life, and the names for those groups were also class-specifics. Sophie’s husband of eight months, developer David Stephenson was, at the time of Sophie’s murder, at a conference in nearby Pendlebury, networking to get council approval for the development he has planned for Manor House Farm, which is not, in fact, the equestrian centre that Sophie thought they were creating.

Murder of Crows by K. Ancrum | Goodreads Murder of Crows by K. Ancrum | Goodreads

Both herd and flock are used of animals (and usually farm animals) that are domesticated and kept under the care of a person.

Then 2/3 in the author seemed to get frustrated with how long it was taking to get anywhere either that or someone else took over the writing as it morphed into a different style, then it was suddenly all over the place with a kind of staccato finish . So much so that I pondered whether to post a review or not as I don’t like negativity just for the sake of it. Its a well crafted plot with good well identified characters but for me it seemed more 'a woman's book' ( am I still allowed to say things like that?

A Murder of Crows: A thrilling new cosy crime series perfect A Murder of Crows: A thrilling new cosy crime series perfect

I also found myself invested in a love triangle for the first time in a long time… well, invested in one side of it. While the dramatic collective nouns are the ones that get the most attention, we use a number of collective terms every day.The possibility of romance is hinted at throughout with two men vying for Nell's attention, but she manages to get offside of both of them at various times. When applied to other creatures, swarm tends to be used of other insects, and particularly ones that fly—locusts, fireflies, cockroaches. The inclusion of these fanciful names for groups of people hints that perhaps collective nouns are founded as much in whimsy as in fact. MY THOUGHTS: A Murder of Crows is a nice cosy mystery with a twist - Lady Eleanor Ward-Beaumont, heiress, to a few select people; Dr Nell Ward, ecologist, to everyone else. THE AUTHOR: After spending sixteen years as an ecologist, crawling through undergrowth and studying nocturnal habits of animals (and people), Dr Sarah Yarwood-Lovett naturally turned her mind to murder.