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Dear Ambivalence: The Mustachioed One, the Witches, and the Suspended Body
When the naked, hairless, brutalized corpse of a young girl is discovered in the British countryside, everyone finds themselves asking the same question: Who did this, and why...?
Normally, this quiet idyllic town's policemen spend the bulk of their time chasing around lost sheep.
But then, one day, they found her... Elizabeth Cole. 17 years old, female... Hanging upside down from the town's symbolic elm tree... Dripping with morning dew, shaved completely hairless, missing every last one of her organs.
Witch hunts... Magic wands... Milk lorries... Nuts and coffee.
Neverending rumors... Inescapable sins.
Emily, a detective who was recently demoted from her post in London, teams up with a small moustachioed gentleman named Poco in order to bring the truth to light.
This is the first mystery novel published by SWERY, the world-famous game director who was named as one of the 50 most influential creators in North America.
His representative works include: Deadly Premonition, D4, The MISSING, and The Good Life.
Normally, this quiet idyllic town's policemen spend the bulk of their time chasing around lost sheep.
But then, one day, they found her... Elizabeth Cole. 17 years old, female... Hanging upside down from the town's symbolic elm tree... Dripping with morning dew, shaved completely hairless, missing every last one of her organs.
Witch hunts... Magic wands... Milk lorries... Nuts and coffee.
Neverending rumors... Inescapable sins.
Emily, a detective who was recently demoted from her post in London, teams up with a small moustachioed gentleman named Poco in order to bring the truth to light.
This is the first mystery novel published by SWERY, the world-famous game director who was named as one of the 50 most influential creators in North America.
His representative works include: Deadly Premonition, D4, The MISSING, and The Good Life.
484 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 8, 2022
7 people are currently reading
58 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 30, 2023
This is exactly what I expected from the author. SWERY is a video game creator and if you've played any of his games you'll get the vibe that is present in this book. A murder mystery in a small English town mixed in with some minor supernatural elements, and one of the main characters is "a gentleman and not a cat" (a cat), who helps the disgraced "big city cop" to both settle into her new town and solve the case.
If you're looking for a more "straight-laced" murder mystery, you could find some of the more fantastical bits a bit too odd for your taste (for example: the cat narrates most of the tale from his point of view and interacts with other characters as if they were a human too, most of the time), but if you're happy with these sorts of twists, you'll likely enjoy this book.
Especially if you've played something like Deadly Premonitions and thought "I'd like to read a book from the mind that made that game".
If you're looking for a more "straight-laced" murder mystery, you could find some of the more fantastical bits a bit too odd for your taste (for example: the cat narrates most of the tale from his point of view and interacts with other characters as if they were a human too, most of the time), but if you're happy with these sorts of twists, you'll likely enjoy this book.
Especially if you've played something like Deadly Premonitions and thought "I'd like to read a book from the mind that made that game".
March 31, 2025
A decent read but severely hamstrung by its faults. The weird sex stuff in the back half goes way past what it really needs to, undercutting the atmosphere the rest of the book built up.
Characterisation could do with a little work, too: the main character, Poco, is an absolute simp who just cannot stop complimenting the female lead even when she's making mistakes, and the murderer's motivations seem a bit too ridiculous to really work.
Still an entertaining read, but with some notable flaws.
Characterisation could do with a little work, too: the main character, Poco, is an absolute simp who just cannot stop complimenting the female lead even when she's making mistakes, and the murderer's motivations seem a bit too ridiculous to really work.
Still an entertaining read, but with some notable flaws.
August 11, 2025
While I was hooked by the mystery and enjoy the "Study in Scarlet" styled villain explaining the crime near the end, Perhaps a few bits are too odd, the double reveal with the protagonist at the very end, some (Probably) unneeded tie-ins to his other work, and a laughably graphic climax compared to the rest of the book make it hard to fully recommend.
What could be an entry level PG/PG-13 Twin Peaks with a cat hero, instead drifts nearly into extreme horror at the end with not much warning.
8/10 if you are already a SWERY fan, not sure how a casual reader would feel about the blindside of a tone shift near the end.
What could be an entry level PG/PG-13 Twin Peaks with a cat hero, instead drifts nearly into extreme horror at the end with not much warning.
8/10 if you are already a SWERY fan, not sure how a casual reader would feel about the blindside of a tone shift near the end.
October 29, 2022
This is exactly the kind of book I would have expected from SWERY: some really touching and beautiful moments, unfortunate bizarre horny moments, a minor occult element and a super charming main character. The way the case shook out didn't really work for me and some of the internal politics stuff with the cops was really stupid but overall I had fun.
February 7, 2023
Amazing
Swery always manages to hit me with twist after twist making me think I've solved the case only to pull the rug from under my feet
Swery always manages to hit me with twist after twist making me think I've solved the case only to pull the rug from under my feet
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews