The Great Houses of Pill Hill

 

The premise sounded irresistible. The execution? Not so much.

The Great Houses of Pill Hill had everything going for it on paper: an interior designer who builds miniature crime scene dioramas, a murder, and a house full of secrets. Cookie, the main character, even has two dogs, which honestly got her further with me than anything else in this book.

But here’s where it went sideways for me: the dioramas. The dioramas were whole reason I picked this up. They barely factor into the story. There’s a Lizzie Borden diorama scene that could have been genuinely thrilling, and then it just fizzles. The murder mystery gets buried under a tangle of subplots that pull focus in every direction. The characters felt flat. The dialogue is written without quotation marks (which made it nearly impossible to separate Cookie’s inner thoughts from actual conversation), and by the end I’d lost the thread completely. I don’t know if the no quotation marks was just an ARC thing or if it’s the author’s style. 

I wanted quirky and clever. Instead I got overwhelmed and a little bored.

If you love literary, character-driven fiction and aren’t too hung up on a tight plot, you might find more to love here than I did. But if you’re coming for the mystery and the miniatures, this one might leave you wanting. 

Thank you Soho Crime for the gifted ARC. The Great Houses of Pill Hillpublishes May 5.

QOTD: any plans for the weekend? 

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