The Strings of Murder

Oh, I love this book! I re-read it sometimes. It's like a YA Sherlock Holmes. Brilliantly written, this book just gives off such a tense and provoking atmosphere filled with dark humour that even when you read it a second time, you're still left in awe. 


Characters:

My favourite character is Frey. Frey seems to be the Sherlock Holmes of the situation - he's witty, clever and has some attachment issues. The three dimensional characters are created through brilliant dialogue and some really poetic descriptions. I believe that if we are to compare any character to Sherlock Holmes - I would say that Frey would be right up there. 

Themes:

The theme of tragedy is brilliantly interwoven with character and storyline. After the murder of the musician - as a tragedy, we must look into McGrey's past - which is also tragic. Both contain amounts of superstition that we, as readers, find hard to process in the modern day - but our empathy towards McGrey helps us to befriend the characters and come to terms with their losses. 

Storyline:

Each theme in this novel seems to be hand-picked for the storyline. An amazing sense of lyricism and a brilliant poetically charged novel - the storyline is very Sherlock Holmes but with more tragedy, grief and lucidity. This storyline, I believe, is extremely clever with a brilliant self-awareness; that after a while - it almost seems like the tangle of a murder is undoing itself. 

Verdict:

Out of 9, I give this book 9. 

(Before anyone asks - yes I did enjoy this book more than Sherlock Holmes)

100% for characters: Frey and McGrey both seem like such three dimensional characters - it is almost as if they are perfectly real. You can feel them when they talk - you can put a voice to them and you can also feel their pain. 

100% for themes: As I said before, the themes are seemingly hand-picked for the storyline - no theme seems out of place or odd. Everything fits like a jigsaw puzzle. This, I believe, is just another layer to this multi-layered story. 

100% for storyline: I love how simplistic the storyline is and how multi-layered it has been written as. This contrast offers so many opportunities to the reader - do we feel empathy for the characters? Do we try to solve the mystery for ourselves? Do we concentrate on the superstition aspects? Where do we look. And, like a good magic trick - wherever you look in The Strings of Murder - you've not only found one thing - but you've missed something else.