17.12.24
This was a 'by numbers' Christmas cash-in (literally - the structure was based on an Advent calendar) that was almost self-aware enough, in the usual Stevenson style, to pull off. But not quite - it lacked the passion to be anything other than a gimmicky read - although I liked the determined portrayal of the festive Australian summer.
58%
21.10.24
Fair play to Stevenson for tackling that difficult 'second in the series' with so much meta energy. His decision to continue with the trademark self-referential elements livened up the old 'murder on a train' cliche, but the characters and plot were still too confusing and I don't think I'll remember much about it.
14.08.23
There's a thin line between cleverly self-referential and plain irritating, but I think this mostly balanced on it successfully. It's an entertaining murder mystery that plays by the rules - all sorts of rules - and is a lesson in writing (and editing) itself too. The actual story was more confusing than exciting but the hook - a family of killers! - held it together, even though (spoiler!) that turned out to be somewhat misleading.