"This ended up being fun"
It took me a while to get into this one, and a while to like the main character. This started as a procedural, but most of the mystery was revealed half or two-thirds of the way through. The rest was just a thriller, but a good one.
"Excellent for a collection"
Like all the collections I've heard, the stories and narrators vary. In this one, they range from good to excellent. That's much better than most, so giving this one 5s.
"Good stories"
The mystery part of these tales get lesser and lesser, but the stories get stronger and stronger. I've given up on a presentation of a mystery, and just listen to the story now. As such, it's first rate.
"Different"
The mystery in this one is weaker than the others in the series, but the character development is terrific. I really enjoyed it.
"Good collection"
As with mot collections, the quality differs. I already had a few in collections of the respective authors. Several were outstanding. Several were good. Several were average. None were bad. The narration was uniformly very good.
"Wonderful"
To me, this is the best yet of the series. All of them are terrific. This is the 1st not to involve any of the Three Pines villagers. Best to read these in order. Events from previous books are referred to, but explained. The characters build though, and it would be hard to appreciate that without reading in order.
"Mixed"
I really enjoyed the stories in the first part of the collection. The stories in the last part are more science fiction. Still interesting, but not what I would consider mysteries. The narration is good throughout, unlike with many collections.
"Best Mary Russell yet"
Like all the books in this series, this is more story, characters, and thriller than deduction. I enjoyed this story and these characters the most of all in the series yet.
"Truly one of the best"
I read all Rex Stouts books in the 70s, but fortunately I've forgotten most of them. I love them all, but this plot is particularly good.
"Historical fiction"
The mystery in this one is almost an afterthought. However, taken as historical fiction, it's very enjoyable. The reviews of the written books on Amazon say the SPQR series really gets going with the 3rd in the series. I really wish the others were available.
"The best yet"
The mystery is not as well developed in this 3rd BB book, but the literary value is the best of the 3. All 3 are extremely well written. The events of the 1st 2 books are important in this one, so it's best to read them in order.