Review: Three Sisters by Helen Smith

Three Sisters is the first story in a new comic mystery series featuring amateur sleuth Emily Castles.

It’s bonfire night in London.  Emily has been invited to a party in the big house at the end of her street by the new owners, whom she has never met.  Emily’s dog Jessie has recently died so Emily is feeling a little raw and emotional.  How could she know, as she left her house that evening, that she was making an appointment with death?

REVIEW

As the description explains this is the first story in the Emily Castles mystery series by Helen Smith.  Three Sisters is actually a small novella which sets up and introduces Emily.  Three Sisters was a hard book for me to read, even though it’s only about 44 pages long.  I attempted to read the book three times before I actually finished it.

The story takes place in London on what I believe is the equivalent to Halloween.  Emily and her neighbors go to a party located at the end of her street, put on by what appears to be a traveling performance organization similar to a carnival.  In essence, it’s like dinner theater, where people who come to see the show bring potluck dishes.

The whole premise of the book is that Emily is the only person who sees a murder and no one believes her.  More than half of the book is about the set up of the storyline and characters.  For me, I didn’t get into the book until about 44% of the way in and even then I wasn’t totally sure I even liked the book.  I didn’t start to enjoy it until about 70% of the way.

I’m not going to say it was easy to determine who the murderer was because there were several possibilities.  I will say the murder itself and the events leading to the capture of the murderer were interesting.  Could the story have been better?  Most definitely.

Rating: 2.5 (The book could have been better.  I didn’t start to enjoy it until it was almost finished.)

Release Date:  February 5, 2011
Book Length:  About 44 pages
Source:  Author/Blog Tour
Reading Format:  Available in eBook
Author’s Website:  Helen Smith

Purchase Link: Amazon