Where do you go for murder mystery novel reviews? I like to read reviews of books before I buy them, but there do not seem to me to be as many reliable book review sites and blogs for murder mysteries as there are for romances. Not sure why.
So, when I want to check out a review I go to Amazon.com, though I find the reader reviews shaky, at best. Too often the 'reviewers' (to be kind and call them that) allow personal grievances to color their review. Now, I (better than many) understand that a review is a personal opinion, but I want to know WHY the reviewer feels the way they do, not just 'this book was crap'.
My other source, right now, is The Mystery Reader: http://www.themysteryreader.com/
Their reviews are not bad, but they don't do them enough, and they often don't review the books I really want to know about.So... where do YOU go for murder mystery novel reviews? Or do you even bother reading reviews? Inquiring minds want to know!
Other stuff: I am still on the hunt for reviewers, as well as point-of-view pieces of murder mystery novels, 'Why I Write Mysteries', 'Why I Read Mysteries', or anything else of interest pertaining to writing or reading mysteries!
Also... tomorrow we have a treat. Elspeth Antonelli, blogger, game creator and writer, will give us her insight into the difference between creating/writing a story for a mystery game and writing a murder mystery novel.
Check it out!
Lesa Holstein does a lot of mystery reviews) among other kinds on her site, http://lesasbookcritiques.blogspot.com/ . She does reviews for Library Journal, as well. The Mystery Gazette is good: http://themysterygazette.blogspot.com/. Also like The Mystery Bookshelf: http://themysterybookshelf.blogspot.com/ . Not Enough Books: http://notenoughbooks.blogspot.com/2009/04/cozy-mystery-challenge-april-reads.html In Reference to Murder posts quite a few: http://inreferencetomurder.typepad.com/my_weblog/ . Donna says, "Enough already!" Sorry. :)
ReplyDeleteElizabeth
Mystery Writing is Murder
No, no, never enough! Thanks, Elizabeth!!!
ReplyDeleteTo be brutally honest, I make up my own mind. I like reading reviews for opening my eyes to authors I haven't read, but I read all reviews with somewhat of a wry eye. I shall take a look at the sites Elizabeth has suggested; you never know what's out there until you look!
ReplyDeleteElspeth
Elspeth,
ReplyDeleteI agree about making up one's own mind, but I find reviews helpful sometimes for alerting me to books I might otherwise miss, or a type of book I'd enjoy!
I like www.mystery-books.com. I signed up to get a daily email from them. They cover all things mystery, including books (not just cozies), TV shows, movies, games, etc.
ReplyDeleteThere is also cozy-mystery.com, but they link back to Amazon. And you could check cozylibrary.com. They don't have a ton of reviews, however.
Like you, I use a review just to get a sense if the book is something I might enjoy.