Just finished this book and I will need to rant - it will contain spoilers, so I'm hiding this post from existence.
I loved the first book. It gave nostalgia, it gave golden era detective sleuthing, and it gave anything an Agatha Christie fan would enjoy. Of course, there were a few bits which pointed to Katy Watson being new at this, but you could see that she had a good vision and the characters she created were able to carry the upcoming books. So in cases like these, you forgive the debut mistakes and if it's worth it, you focus on the positive.
I've read an interview where the author said she wrote this in 2020, but it was released only in 2022. Why am I bringing this up? Because a good book needs development time. It needs to be chiselled like a fine diamond... This did not happen with 'A Very Lively Murder'. The idea was there, but it had not received enough time to blossom into what it could have been.
I would argue that even the name of the book is selected incorrectly - what makes this a lively murder? It doesn't have anything to do with the story. Katy Watson - explain yourself.
Now - when it comes to a second book, you start looking at things you might not have fully enjoyed in the first book with a more critical eye - example one: Why do we get chapters randomly hacked in pieces calling them 'Posy' 'Caro' 'Rosalind' when the full focus is not really on that character anyway? This just felt like an irrational division - one that not everyone might be a fan of.
Example two: As the story progresses, you slowly start thinking that these women are delusional and are having some sort of mental problems, where they think they are Dahlia. They act and dress the part in real life and take charge of investigations very callously, not considering consequences. There are also a few character inconsistencies that slipped through the editing phase. Since when is Rosalind the one keen on biscuits? The way she is described in the first book and until the page where they visit Brigitte in London, that lady never touched a biscuit - if anything, Caro would be the one hoping for biscuits with tea.
Now let's pick on the story, shall we?
At the beginning we are in Caro's home, she is not part of the movie that's being made and feels left out and confused as to what to do next in life. I am unsure what happened there, I might need to re-read the last part of 'The Three Dahlias' as for the life of me I can't tell why Anton hates her now and she is left out of the movie. Although I am sure that she was invited to Aldemere in the last book to promote the movie, as she was also part of it. Another thing I am very unsure about is Rosalind's husband. I feel like she was unmarried, hence she was secretly having an affair with her friend's husband. This book treats that affair very poorly. I get that they broke the relationship off now, but nonetheless, the last book described Hugh as the love of her life, not mentioning a husband. (or doing it in such a forgettable way that I ... well, forgot) But I digress!
So Rosalind received some death threats and they called Caro to come on set and stay with Rosalind, so they have someone there to help them investigate.
After a lot of pages of- nothing-happenings and Rosalind being threatened, but won't go to the police -later (which is around 168 pages or half mark of the book) we finally get the first body dropped. However, due to the circumstances, it may or may not be an accident.
A good 100 pages pass when we get a second death, this time murder for sure, as one of the old actors has been stabbed. SO now the author has about 80 pages left to make this story make sense. She even writes in a storm, that locks all of the suspects in the mansion and you think to yourself, nice, this is salvageable. But no - guess what happens during this night of being trapped in with suspects and building tension. NOTHING. The housekeeper brings them snacks and drinks and they sleep until the morning. In my books, this is an unforgivable mistake. How can someone miss an opportunity like this? There wasn't even an accusation thrown out, not even a small argument - nothing....
We are also trying to tackle a pretty heavy subject here, where an old actor used to drug and rape young actresses... And I need to say that this subject was not handled very well. It's a hard subject to talk about and this was neither the time nor place for it - with the freaking book being called 'A very Lively Murder' and all..... There was a sentence that left me with a bad taste in my mouth. The actor, who allegedly raped a young actress is killed, to which Caro wishes he wasn't dead, so she could bring him to 'real' justice.
And now to the big reveal! This was such a killer - I can't recall the last time a murder reveal disappointed me this badly. Especially, because in the last two chapters, they build up Nina as being the perfect suspect with a very valid motive, but then Watson decides that she wants to dabble with twists and throw in one that doesn't make sense, so it's revealed that it was Tristan all along (The charismatic young actor, who is good looking to the level where he even seduces the wife of the Inn owner) And why? Because he was FRIENDZONED. I kid you not. I'm OK with twists, but make it MAKE SENSE.
It doesn't fit. Truth be told, Nina would not have fitted either, as she was pregnant, so why would she risk it all revenging something that happened 8 years ago now, when she is happy and about to have a baby, which she is excited about.
And do you remember that we spent 168 pages discussing Rosalind's threats to exertion??
Well, Tristan wanted to scare her for the pure fact that she was at this bloody party 8 years ago. That's all.
Here is a much better-suited solution:
Brigette, the old actor's ex-wife is the killer. She either does it alone or with her son with the motive being grief and responsibility.
She knew about what her husband did all those years ago and it became clear that justice will never be served. He escaped and covered up all of the evidence of his wrongdoing, so out of guilt, Brigette picks up the mental of the judge. She will have to work with her now ex-husband again on the upcoming Dahlia Lively movie and when she accidentally discovers a secret passage and disappears, she takes this one-of-a-lifetime opportunity to roll out well-deserved justice. She never leaves the house, she lurks around doing her justice stuff. And Keira got hit by a car accidentally or by someone entirely different. (Tristan would make sense here - he and the Inn owner's wife been in the car doing the deed, Keira sees them, and he runs her over by mistake, but doesn't stop or call an ambulance, as his scared that they will be exposed)
Tell me how this doesn't make more sense.
Katy, I get that deadlines need to be met when it comes to publishing - I do. But releasing new books every year will never be the right solution, especially if you need more time to build this lovely world you have created. Let it marinate, let it sit for a bit so all the quirks can be ironed out and you don't lose your newly acquired fandom.
While I will pick up the next book, I'm really scared about the quality of it. Not only will this be released in 2024, but there is another one in the pipeline for 2025... and I want to continue reading them.