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Snow White RedHanded A Fairy Tale Fatal Mystery Maia Chance 9780425271629 Books

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Snow White RedHanded A Fairy Tale Fatal Mystery Maia Chance 9780425271629 Books

Snow White Red-Handed is fun & fast-paced, comparable to a summer popcorn-action movie. Almost from the beginning there were red herrings & little mysteries that I couldn't wait to get answers to, such as who almost every character really was going to turn out to be. The main mystery of who killed Mr. Coop was pleasantly not one of those so ridiculously obvious it ruins your enjoyment of the book.

The set-up is purely for the sake of the convenience of getting to the plot. Nothing grounded, realistic, or deep here - I was not surprised to find out the author is a romance writer. The two main characters, Ophelia & Prue, just happen to be on a one way trip to Europe when they happen to unrealistically lose their jobs then happen to fall into their new ones that take them to Germany. They also seem to barely know each other yet be devoted like sisters just - because. (Actually it's Ophelia who is rather obsessively devoted while Prue seems strangely nonchalant. At one point I briefly even wondered if it would turn out Ophelia had romantic feelings for her to explain it.)

There are historical issues such as the story takes place within two years of the American Civil War yet it seems to have effected none of the American characters. How about just a few sentences about how wealthy Mr. Coop kept his fortune while so many others lost theirs? How happy Ophelia and Prue might be to escape the aftermath of war by going to Europe? Anything to make them seem more like real people. Prue especially never is more than a couple character traits. It is actually surprising when she has a couple insights into the mystery.

Nevertheless, as I said, I could not wait to find out what was going to happen. The story is told from the alternating points of view of Ophelia, Prue, and Gabriel, an Englishman with an interest in fairy tales, as they all investigate the mysteries. Prue gets only 25-30% of the narration and Gabriel even less (so I have no idea what a certain other reviewer here is complaining about that Prue gets all the action). Towards the end one character gets a major clue but the reader isn't told what it is- incredibly annoying. With many of the mysteries it is very satisfying for the reader to finally get an answer, but there is little emotional impact on any of the characters where there should be bombshells. Because of this, the ending comes with an empty "so that happened" feeling". Again, it's all conveniently arranged for the reader as entertainment rather than the feel of real characters. But being a fan of popcorn action movies, I can't wait for the sequel.


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Snow White RedHanded A Fairy Tale Fatal Mystery Maia Chance 9780425271629 Books Reviews

Primary characters are somewhat developed, with room for further development in later novels. The back-stories of all the secondary players reveal themselves over time; these details add flavor to the story and layers to the mystery. I also liked this because it kept showing new motives for the murders and other bad actions.

This is painted as a cozy mystery; however, it fails the traditional cozy mystery list in two ways - the murder occurs on stage, and there are a few swears sprinkled throughout the story. The prior is relatively mild - a single poisoning that proceeds quickly with little fanfare (other deaths happen off stage.) The latter are archaic forms from the time that are understood in context but also if you do any research on the language of the era.

I really enjoyed the pacing and the convolutions that the sleuths must both discover and navigate in order to get to the reveal and ending. I also enjoyed what the author did with the history of fairy tales and how they've been conveyed and generally dismissed.

There were a few word choices that I questioned (compass and gumption being two that jumped out at me,) a few tired choices of wording sentences (e.g. "all of a sudden,") some awkward phrasing, an overuse of similes, and excessive use of adjectives. I'll likely read the next few books in the series to see if these tendencies are downplayed or eliminated. If they were, the stories would be MUCH stronger and more appealing.

Further, this isn't a retelling of a fairy tale, it is an examination of the potential truth of fairy tales and how those tales are viewed by different parts of society.
Ms Chance immerses us into the story at an attention grabbing point where our protagonist, Miss Ophelia Flax, acts her way (so to speak) into a job as a lady's maid in a scene that captures the societal disparities of 19th century Europe. Ophelia is a strong character. Her profession as an actress comes in very handy to enable her charm her way in and out of trouble. The lengths to which she's willing to go to save her colleague show how loyal she is. These endeared me to her. I must confess, I took a peek at the blurbs of books 2 and 3 in the course of my read and discovered that Ophelia Flax is also the main character in those, which told me there probably wouldn't be as much romance as I would have hoped for. However, the mystery and the twists more than make up for it.

I enjoyed the array of characters and places, and the premise that fairytales stem from true events. Much to my frustration, I couldn't guess who the killer was until the moment where anyone else would have guessed it.

Ms Chance's writing is crisp with bits of humour thrown in here and there to make the book a delightful journey from beginning to end. I definitely recommend it for anyone looking for a new angle to a classic story.
Snow White Red-Handed is fun & fast-paced, comparable to a summer popcorn-action movie. Almost from the beginning there were red herrings & little mysteries that I couldn't wait to get answers to, such as who almost every character really was going to turn out to be. The main mystery of who killed Mr. Coop was pleasantly not one of those so ridiculously obvious it ruins your enjoyment of the book.

The set-up is purely for the sake of the convenience of getting to the plot. Nothing grounded, realistic, or deep here - I was not surprised to find out the author is a romance writer. The two main characters, Ophelia & Prue, just happen to be on a one way trip to Europe when they happen to unrealistically lose their jobs then happen to fall into their new ones that take them to Germany. They also seem to barely know each other yet be devoted like sisters just - because. (Actually it's Ophelia who is rather obsessively devoted while Prue seems strangely nonchalant. At one point I briefly even wondered if it would turn out Ophelia had romantic feelings for her to explain it.)

There are historical issues such as the story takes place within two years of the American Civil War yet it seems to have effected none of the American characters. How about just a few sentences about how wealthy Mr. Coop kept his fortune while so many others lost theirs? How happy Ophelia and Prue might be to escape the aftermath of war by going to Europe? Anything to make them seem more like real people. Prue especially never is more than a couple character traits. It is actually surprising when she has a couple insights into the mystery.

Nevertheless, as I said, I could not wait to find out what was going to happen. The story is told from the alternating points of view of Ophelia, Prue, and Gabriel, an Englishman with an interest in fairy tales, as they all investigate the mysteries. Prue gets only 25-30% of the narration and Gabriel even less (so I have no idea what a certain other reviewer here is complaining about that Prue gets all the action). Towards the end one character gets a major clue but the reader isn't told what it is- incredibly annoying. With many of the mysteries it is very satisfying for the reader to finally get an answer, but there is little emotional impact on any of the characters where there should be bombshells. Because of this, the ending comes with an empty "so that happened" feeling". Again, it's all conveniently arranged for the reader as entertainment rather than the feel of real characters. But being a fan of popcorn action movies, I can't wait for the sequel.