Review: The murders were creative...
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 10 12, 2013
Though I'm disappointed in the overall story as a mystery, because it was well written and the eight murders were creative, I'll still offer `Whodunnit' three stars.I will also offer that I was correct. I had the killer pegged in the first scene, but I always figure out `whodunit'. The only time I am incorrect is if the author resorts to trickery. Sadly, I feel he did. I never write spoilers, so I won't start now. But I feel he could have done exactly what he wanted without misleading the reader. A writer can mask a killer's words and actions so that a reader is uncertain about their guilt. However, when you jump into the POV of the murderer--unless the killer doesn't know they are the murderer--and write misleading thoughts, that is deceptive and not true mystery writing.Also, there are several fatal flaws with the story:Firstly, a butler knows all in a household, and Giles, as one of the best in his field, would know everything that is going on in a household. Otherwise, he wouldn't be good at his job.Secondly, each death, though creative, was nearly impossible to plan, unless the killer had known the victims intimately for more than one day. Each murder was planned out using something that the victim was in the habit of doing since they'd come to the mansion. But since the murders started immediately, the killer would have had no way of knowing the likes and dislikes and where the victims would be at all times.And lastly, the hardest part for me, and though I know there's never a good reason, I need a motive. It bothers me that instead of giving me any reason--even if convoluted--for the murders of eight innocent people, the author offered an epilogue of what I can only suspect is a prelude to another 'whodunit'.