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A review by pagesplotsandpints
A Grim Reaper's Guide to Catching a Killer by Maxie Dara
3.25
<b>Read Completed 10/27/24 |</b> 3.25 stars
I would say this book leans more cozy mystery than anything. It's fun and light with a mystery to solve, a mission to complete, and has some goofy characters. It's probably less silly than most of the other cozies I've read, but didn't really have enough world-building for me to primarily call it fantasy / urban fantasy / paranormal, etc. There really didn't need to be much world-building at all, but I was actually fairly disappointed that we didn't get to know really anything about S.C.Y.T.H.E., most specifically how Kathy even came to work there when it's something the general public shouldn't know about. How was she recruited? How does anyone get to work there? I just really wanted more there.
I thought the answer to the mystery was a little weak. There really didn't seem to be that much motivation as far as the killer went, and the characters do follow people around but it the investigation wasn't that deep either. In the end, I really wasn't satisfied with the answer and there just wasn't really a good reason for it all.
The characters were really hit or miss for me. Kathy was okay, but she was a little too insecure for me to really like. She explains this by saying growing up she always had the touch where everything turns bad, but I felt like we either needed to lean in hard to this or shoo away from it. Instead, I just felt like she used it as an excuse when something bad happened to wallow in it and not help herself out. I didn't like that the reason she didn't want to be with her husband anymore was pretty much ONLY because she couldn't tell him about her work... which she eventually does anyway. So she threw her whole marriage -- while she was pregnant -- away because of that but does it anyway. Simon was a little too over-the-top for me. He was a little sad and goofy, and worshipped Kathy, which is nice but it was a little too unrealistic in a few ways. I loved seeing a husband who was so supportive, but they made him a little pathetic and I just felt like we leaned into it a little too hard. Jo was fun, and I liked her. I actually really liked Connor. I just didn't know what we were going for here. It felt like cozy mystery, in which case we should have leaned in harder to some of the kookiness, but it just kind of fell somewhere in the middle. I also really didn't like a lot of the things involving Kathy's pregnancy. Some things just felt off and like she should have had a lot more doctor's appointments. The one we see on-page made it seem like it was one of very few.
Anyway. This was an easy read, and kind of fun, but the ending really didn't seal the deal for me. I was hoping for a little bit more to really round out the book, plot wise and grim reaper wise. This just didn't quite deliver for me (no pun intended? Since a baby was born at the end...) so I'm not sure that I'd continue the series.
I would say this book leans more cozy mystery than anything. It's fun and light with a mystery to solve, a mission to complete, and has some goofy characters. It's probably less silly than most of the other cozies I've read, but didn't really have enough world-building for me to primarily call it fantasy / urban fantasy / paranormal, etc. There really didn't need to be much world-building at all, but I was actually fairly disappointed that we didn't get to know really anything about S.C.Y.T.H.E., most specifically how Kathy even came to work there when it's something the general public shouldn't know about. How was she recruited? How does anyone get to work there? I just really wanted more there.
I thought the answer to the mystery was a little weak. There really didn't seem to be that much motivation as far as the killer went, and the characters do follow people around but it the investigation wasn't that deep either. In the end, I really wasn't satisfied with the answer and there just wasn't really a good reason for it all.
The characters were really hit or miss for me. Kathy was okay, but she was a little too insecure for me to really like. She explains this by saying growing up she always had the touch where everything turns bad, but I felt like we either needed to lean in hard to this or shoo away from it. Instead, I just felt like she used it as an excuse when something bad happened to wallow in it and not help herself out. I didn't like that the reason she didn't want to be with her husband anymore was pretty much ONLY because she couldn't tell him about her work... which she eventually does anyway. So she threw her whole marriage -- while she was pregnant -- away because of that but does it anyway. Simon was a little too over-the-top for me. He was a little sad and goofy, and worshipped Kathy, which is nice but it was a little too unrealistic in a few ways. I loved seeing a husband who was so supportive, but they made him a little pathetic and I just felt like we leaned into it a little too hard. Jo was fun, and I liked her. I actually really liked Connor. I just didn't know what we were going for here. It felt like cozy mystery, in which case we should have leaned in harder to some of the kookiness, but it just kind of fell somewhere in the middle. I also really didn't like a lot of the things involving Kathy's pregnancy. Some things just felt off and like she should have had a lot more doctor's appointments. The one we see on-page made it seem like it was one of very few.
Anyway. This was an easy read, and kind of fun, but the ending really didn't seal the deal for me. I was hoping for a little bit more to really round out the book, plot wise and grim reaper wise. This just didn't quite deliver for me (no pun intended? Since a baby was born at the end...) so I'm not sure that I'd continue the series.