I am a fan of Horowitz. I brought Magpie mysteries to our bookclub. To date, I have enjoyed his writing. I have appreciated the formulation of his mysteries. I could not, and I tried, get in to this book. At the heart of it, I now realize is that, this is the first of this series where the first person voice was "alone" so much in the action. I know it's supposed to be a weird parallel universe of this author himself. However, I find this Horowitz distinctly unlikeable: self-centered, selfish to the point of narcissism. he's so insulated in his perfect life when things go awry his negative flaws and disbelief drive the character towards these traits. And then Hawthorne, who is meant to be a great unkown, slowly revealed, just really stays annoying and a bit pompous through the entire book without being in any way meaningfully explained. Bottom line, I had no one I like or even for whom to cheer.

But it's a mystery... how was that? Meh... yeah, it was a mystery... and there were clues and a path to truth... but somehow no engagement... no investment... no excitement..

if you are a fan of the series I welcome your thoughts and also warn you of potential disappointment. if this will be your first... give it a miss... start w/ book #1... and maybe pause after the third...