 There's sometimes better ways to do that. I mean, I can't tell you what they are. She's just talking shit! Hi everyone, welcome back to my channel. I hope you are well. And for this reading vlog, we are doing something very, very exciting. So if you are a regular on my channel, you'll know that I absolutely love murder mysteries. Like, I'm obsessed. Like, I just think murder mysteries are the coolest thing ever. Let me tell you, before I press play, I like the song. I'm in love with the song. And a little while ago, I asked on Twitter and Instagram for your recommendations for murder mysteries. Because I wanted to read stuff that you guys have loved, would recommend. I thought it would just be fun to read your favorite murder mysteries. That was months ago. I've been supposed to be doing this video for literally months, and I've just kept pushing it back for other videos, but we're gonna do it now. These are the books that I got recommended the most. The first literally got recommended so many times. Like, everyone. Everyone loved this book. And it's, and then there were none by Agatha Christie. This is gonna be, like, my fifth or sixth Agatha Christie that I have read. I've been working my way through the Hercuparo series, and I've actually been really enjoying it. So I'm really looking forward to this. I feel like I could absolutely love it. I know it is about 10 people who go to an island, and they start getting killed one by one, until I think they all die. I don't think that's a spoiler. Like, I think you know going into it that they all die. Literally all of you recommend this to me. So if I don't like it, something's up. Then the next one. This is actually a very popular book. And it's something that, like, everyone talks about recently, and everyone recommends. And it's The Seven Deaths at Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton. Evelyn Hardcastle is murdered at a party that her family is holding. Our protagonist is waking up every day, reliving that same day where she's murdered, in a different body of one of the guests at the party. I put out another tweet asking specifically for POC, author recommendations for murder mystery, because I feel like murder mystery as a genre is so white. Like, it's almost entirely white. It's all white people. So I really wanted to read from a POC author to get a different perspective and to explore different cultures and to hear a murder mystery told in a different way. I decided to read The Widows of Malibar Hill by Sugeta Massey. A man dies, and his three wives want to sign over all of their inheritance to a charity, essentially. Our protagonist, who works at a law firm, is like, nah, that ain't it. That ain't it. Oh, I'm sorry, but it ain't on. No, it's not on. No, no. She's like, I ain't buying this. That will leave these women in such a bad position. And then murder starts occurring. It's set in 1920s India, which I think is gonna be such a fun time to explore, both in terms of like a different culture. I can't remember the last time I read a book set in India, maybe like a year ago. And that was in modern day India. So this is going to be even more different because it's set in the past and learning about a women's place, working a law firm in the past and stuff like that. So I'm very excited for this. That is what I'm gonna be reading in this video. I was originally going to be reading An Unwanted Guest by Shari Lupina as well. A few of you recommended this, and it is very short. So if I have time, I will read it. I am so excited for this because I just think murder mysteries are such like autumnal wintery reads. I love the intrigue. I love the mystery. I love like a horrible cast of characters. I just love it so much. So I'm very excited. I think I am going to start with and then there were none by Agatha Christie because it's short and it's Agatha and it was definitely the most popular one being recommended to me. So it's been a week. Number one, please judge me. Number two, please hate me because number three, I love it. I literally have not read in a week. I have not read in a week. This week has been so, it's been rough. But I am now halfway through and there were none which is only like 110, 115 pages. I don't know if I'm enjoying it. I don't know if I'm enjoying it. There's basically 10 different people on this island. They all get accused of murder. There's this like voice that rings out from this gramophone and accuses them all of murder and then they all start getting picked off one by one. I don't know if it's because of what's been going on with me but I have really struggled to know who all of them are. Two of them are women. No, three of them are women. And the women are like clear cut. Like I know who you are. But all these seven men, like so many of them blare. What I'm curious about, what do you think of her? What do I think of her? Yes. I don't think of her. I'm like, I can't remember the difference between all of you. I've had to get up like a picture of the cast, one of the films, just to like help me visualize who all these different men, like these different white men are all like military or doctors. Like it all just blares into one. These are all the same kind of man. So I've really been struggling to like get into it because of that. I think I can't quite articulate it in my head. There's something. Okay, this is like one of her most popular books. Like you all recommended this to me. But I think for me, there is something to be said about like the murder at the beginning of the book and then the structure that a normal murder mystery would take. But the fact that we are currently just having like a lead up to a murder, a lead up to a murder, a lead up to a murder, like it's feeling a bit repetitive. And because the murders are following this rhyme, you know kind of how they're going to be killed. And I just don't know if I vibe with the structure. It's not for main park. But it would just be strange, I think for me to not like this when it's one of her most popular ones. So I don't know. I do like the isolated setting. Any of you who have watched a lot of my videos will know that I in my murder mysteries, I don't like like a really isolated setting. But like I feel like usually you know your cast of suspects, whereas I don't feel like necessarily these people are our cast of suspects. Like our perpetrator could be someone we don't know. And I don't know if I like that. I like to know who I should suspect. Like I like to know these are the people chopped in the island. It's one of them. Go. I don't know how to feel about it. Essentially. I want to like it, but here's hoping that the second half turns it around. Apologies, by the way, there hasn't been any like B-roll clips with me reading yet in this vlog. It's I'm just getting back into this. It's like it's been a weird week. Hopefully this week will be better. So I finished and then there were none by Agatha Christie. And I am very disappointed. Let me just go in the bush and weep. Let me just go in the bush and weep. I just have to go in the bush and weep. I think I'm going to give this like a 3.5 stars and considering how many of you recommended this to me, like this is the one that everyone recommended. I'm really sad about it. Like I thought I was going to love this. It's everything I asked for. Like it's it's everything that I enjoy that you've got this isolated group of characters stuck on a silent together. There's murder occurring. We don't know who to suspect. We don't know who's guilty. People keep dying. Like it's everything I love and you know, I didn't love it and Agatha Christie is an author I've loved. So like I really don't understand why I didn't like this. Well, I didn't like it. I just didn't love it. Okay. I've moved locations because it was too bright over there. I think my problem with this is with the structure of characters dying after one another. It just felt a bit repetitive to me. Like I was like, oh, no one's dead. You know, fine. Great. How many do I get zero, zero, zero. The murders lost their excitement. I wasn't excited over the murders anymore. I never fully understood all these characters well. Like I kind of did towards the end, but I did struggle to pick them out and like with Christie, her characters are always quite distant from you. You never kind of go into their emotions. It's very like them as a suspect. Like them as like a suspect with key facts about them. You know, so I don't mind that, but there were so many of them and because you didn't have like a key character like Proro who you were attached to. I just kind of felt like they all blurred to me. All these men, all these old men blurred. I also did not like the way it ended. I don't, I'm not gonna spoil anything, but the way stuff was explained to us at the end. If you've read it, you know, I didn't like that. I just thought, oh God, I just felt like a cop out. Like it just didn't feel like a fun reveal. I think with Agatha Christie stuff, you either leave it feeling like amazed and so like, oh my God. Wow. That was incredible. Or you leave it feeling disappointed. Like I, that's the two feelings I've really felt. I just kind of felt disappointed with this. Here's what I wanted from this and like, listen, I'm not by any means better writing the Agatha Christie. However, I wouldn't give her that much credit. I feel like what this needed was some reveals other than the murders, right? So like I feel like you needed to learn something about maybe the second murder when we're down to however many people. After some murders have happened, you should learn something about a previous murder that makes you suspect other people because you almost like, I didn't suspect anyone. Like I didn't have any suspects out of our cast of characters. Like the majority of the time, the way it was wrapped up at the end felt too convenient for me. Like, aha, I didn't feel like there was any clues to that. You know, like I like when you look back and you go, okay, I see how it was you. Whereas at this, I, it just felt like I've tricked you this entire time in a way that doesn't make sense. Like in a way that I can't see the seeds for that throughout. I'm sorry. I didn't like it. Well, I did like it. Like it was fine. It was good. I am shocked at how many people have given us five stars. Like when I go on Goodreads, all of my friends list like five, five, five, five, five, five, five, five. I'm going to go for the Widows of Malabar Hill next by Sujata Massey. I've heard it's kind of got hints of Acre the Christie but hints of more cozy mystery type of feel. She goes to this case where this rich guy has died on his widows, all of their inheritances. They have willingly signed over to charity and our gal is like something ain't up and then tensions escalate to murder and it gets very dramatic. I want some drama. I want some 1920s drama in this. I'm going to go start this and I will probably let you know my thoughts when I'm about a hundred pages through. I think I'm going to get the audio book for this as well. I've just read the first hundred pages of Widows of Malabar Hill and like I don't fully know how to feel about it. Or joking. Not another one. Oh, for God's sake, I can't honestly, I can't stand it. I'm really liking some aspects of it. So basically, Paveen is working at her father's law firm and she's like the only female solicitor in Bombay but she's literally in the first hundred pages. She's only just gone to meet the wives. Like I'm literally only just reading her meeting them for the first time. The rest of it has been like her meeting her old childhood friend from London when she studied there and also flashbacks to this relationship she had with this guy in like 1916. This is in 1921. She's going to have some kind of history. I think that relationship went wrong. She's in fear that he's back in Bombay but like that's not the murder mystery. Like I don't, I don't understand. Like we literally spent 50 pages of what I've read in the past about her relationship and romance with this guy and I've looked ahead at like the year time stamps and like almost like 70 pages are all that. You know, they're not in the present investigating the mystery. So I'm just a bit confused as to what route we're going down here. I just don't get it. What is the story? There's nothing about this relationship on the back. I think it was something like tragic and something horrible has happened in that relationship but like I'm here for a murder mystery. Do you know what I mean? Like I'm not here for a romance. Maybe it will all come together but I'm really enjoying the setting of 1920s India. I really like Pervin as a character. I think it's such a unique setting. We're learning so much about the context of the plays what women are allowed to do, what women are expected to do. I'm actually hoping to finish this today. We're actually moving today from here from this flat we're going back home and I've got the audiobook and I've got just over five hours of the speed I'm listening to it out of. Hopefully just in packing and everything I can listen to most of that today. I can't do it. You can, you can do it. You can, you can. I am now on page 225. I don't know how to feel about it. Like I really, I don't. I enjoyed the section where we followed Pervin in this marriage that she got herself into and how difficult it was and her past that had been heavily suggested up until that point. But I don't understand why it's taking up like half the book unless it becomes very relevant and like the murderer is her ex-husband or something which I don't understand how the two would be linked so I can't see that happening. It's interesting but it just feels like a different book. Like they feel like two different books. So like I am enjoying it but I really don't have much to say because I always find this when you have books that flick back and forth between two different storylines is like neither of them have really gotten anywhere yet. Even though I only have like 150 pages left. I love the exploration of like women's roles and women's rights in 1920s India. Like that is so interesting. Pervin coming into contact with these three widows who live completely different lives. You know, one who is the only female solicitor that there is in the area and the other three who live in complete isolation and don't come into contact with men. And it's very interesting to see their worlds come together. So I am enjoying the location and the writing is pretty good but I just feel like the plot is so stagnant. Like literally the murder is still only just happened in the present day timeline and we are well over halfway through. Like it's literally only just happened. Like the murder literally just happened. So I feel like the pacing of it is really off. Back with the cats, back with my family, back with my books. That's the order of importance there. So nasty and so rude, so nasty and so rude. I have finished the widows of Malabar Hill and I think I'm going to give it like 2.75 stars. So I just really struggled with the two timelines in this. It's something I struggle in with a lot of books. I struggled with it in Next Room Havana. I struggled in Never Tilting World. I don't mind it when it's like completely directly related to one another. So like the guest list has the couple days before the wedding and the night of the wedding like going back and forth and that makes sense to me because it's like they're both revealing information about the other slowly. I really enjoy that. But when it's like two separate storylines, I really struggle and to me, the past storyline with her whole ex-husband and that or deal that she went through was really just not relevant. Like it didn't pay off in any kind of way. It was relevant to the murder mystery and the way that it was resolved was whacked. I really didn't like the way that storyline ended. I thought it was like a real disservice to her and then the murder, the murder mystery was shit as well. If I'm like, it just wasn't intriguing or captivating or mysterious or like anything. I just wasn't excited by it. Push me up against the wall. Give me a kiss. Then I might get excited. We didn't really have suspects. There was not much investigation. There wasn't many clues. There were parts I liked about it. I loved reading a book set in 1920s India because it's such a different setting than I've ever read before. I thought the writing was pleasant. Like it was fine, but it wasn't really a murder mystery in any kind of way. And I think it was very confused over what story it wanted to tell. I don't really want to spend much more time on it because like we're not doing that well. Like we've got like a 3.5 and a 2.75. Like this is not what I wanted this vlog to be. And that brings me on to my next point in that I'm quite disappointed in how this is going. This is a video I've been planning for ages and I've been really excited to do and then I've kind of just like slacked a bit. I feel like my filming hasn't been very good and basically I'm just in a life slump at the moment. Like I'm really struggling to balance everything and I think I'm getting back on the horse now but I just like this video has suffered a bit of because of that. I haven't been reading and because of that I know I said I was going to be reading the seven deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle. However, this video is due to be uploaded tomorrow. And although I can read a book in a day this is like 500 pages and I've heard people say that it's very confusing and like very difficult to get your head around and that's just not what I need right now. Like I know me and I know that's just not what I need, you know? Like I need something easier to read. So I'm going to go with the other book that I originally like cut out of this video that a lot of people recommended to me still on that original tweet and that is An Unwanted Guest by Shari Lapina. This is only like 300 and something pages long and the font is like massive. So I know this is going to be a really fast paced murder mystery thriller that I can just like breeze through today and it'll make my life a lot easier. And hopefully reading this book in a day will just like make me feel like I've got my shit together again. Sorry about it. But I'm very excited to read this. I know that all of these guests arrive at this really beautiful remote in hotel. They all going to have like this relaxing evening. We've got quite a lot of them. There's a lot of couples because it's like kind of like a couple hotel and they're all going to be snowed in and then like murder starts occurring maybe like someone gets killed and they all stuck with the killer. They know the killer's them and that's just my favorite thing ever. And that's the whole point of this. I wanted isolated mysteries and I love it. I'm a hundred pages just over a hundred pages into An Unwanted Guest and I am really enjoying it. I think the atmosphere of this like cozy old-ish hotel in is a really great environment because you've kind of got that like luxury but also you are surrounded by nature. Nature is completely in control. So I'm really enjoying that. Finally. We've met all the characters and what I liked about them is sometimes in like these murder mysteries you meet all the characters and they've all like you think they've all got really dark secrets and they're all evil. But in this one, they've all kind of got secrets and things about them but they seem on the surface at the moment a hundred pages in kind of like a lot more realistic almost like not like how I've murdered 10 people or something like struggling maybe with PTSD or a difficult marriage things that they don't necessarily want to share openly about themselves and will affect the way that they act but at the same time they're not like outlandish like they're not ridiculous like it's possible that someone could have those secrets or whatever but I don't know if we have multiple murders but our first body has been found and it's unclear as whether it's an accident or a murder but like I think it's a murder I think we all think it's a murder. You are going to jail, period. There's like an obvious suspect and I don't think it's them like there's someone who if you had to guess straight up you're like, oh, it's that person but I don't think it's them. I don't really don't know who to trust like I really don't know who is sus. I really don't know. So I am very much enjoying it. It's exactly what I needed today. I'm just flying through it. Okay, I've read way more than I said I was going to on page. I'm on page 250 so I've only got a hundred pages to the end. I just want to go away and read it so I don't even want to check in with you. It's getting really good. I'm actually scared. Like just in the last kind of 20 pages I've started to get a bit scared whereas I hadn't before that. What it's doing really well is like being in the dark and like no lights, no lamps, no torches. Like when you're in this kind of situation how do you deal? Like how like it's so the dark is so scary. Like the dark is one of the scariest things in isolation. That's why I love book like this and it's doing it really well. It doesn't feel like a five star but I think this could be like a really strong four star at the current trajectory or depends on the ending with any kind of murder mystery. The ending may call breaks it. Like the ending can take it up a star can knock it down two stars. You know what I mean? Everyone is so interesting all the characters. Some of them are being a bit too quiet for my liking like I just don't trust them. So I'm going to go and I'm going to finish it and then I'll come back and tell you what I think. This is much more successful than the other two so far. I've just been sitting here finishing the book. I've been burning my grease and honey candle finally and it smells so good. This is from Becca and back in the books candle store. Oh my God. I would definitely I'll link her store down below because it just smells smells so good but I finished this and it did remain like a strong four star. Success which I'm very happy about because the other two books you know the other Christy one was a 3.5. It wasn't bad. I was just disappointed in it. You know, I just wanted more with his mother by Hill I felt very disappointed in but this I feel like it's a solid murder mystery. Like it's a really solid closed isolated circle murder mystery. Like it does the job. It does what you want it to do. I did get annoyed by the killer. You know when they have like this big explanation for why they killed each person and how it came about and how they did it and it just it just felt a bit heavy-handed. I feel like there's sometimes better ways to do that. I mean, I can't tell you what they are. Just talking shit. I feel like there's better ways to do that that don't feel there's like like just word vomiting all the reasons out. But there was a twist at the end that like I I I am I live for it. I live for that end twist. I really do. It was very good like the end-end twist feel like it did such a good job of having this such a claustrophobic on-edge horrible atmosphere. Like it was horrible these people being trapped together knowing that one of them was the murderer. The murderer feel like some of the reasons were a bit like far-fetched. You know, like why they killed but on the whole I feel like it's a really solid enjoyable story. I breezed to throw it in a day like it wasn't even hard and I love that not not everything was answered like some things were left unanswered that you don't know about these characters and you're suspicious of them for and I'm like you don't have to tell me everything like I don't have to know everything you can leave some things in the dark and I will just live for it and finally what I was going to say Oh yeah clues I love okay this was my problem with them and then there were none there were no like clues throughout there was just murder after murder after murder but there were little clues like I don't think this is a spoiler but like a whole one of the hotel rooms the bed had been slept in and it looked like someone was living in that hotel room when no one should have been in there so like little clues like that that you find out throughout the book that interspersed with all the murders I love like I love little hints towards what's actually happening or what could have happened like I think if you have a book like this where a lot of people are dying you need those clues to like give you suspicions and like keep the story moving yeah four stars I'm very interested in reading more Shari Lapina in the future I really thought it was just like a solid thriller when this came out she had written The Couple Next Door which I've heard of and I haven't heard of a stranger in the house I don't know if she's come out with any other books since then but I am interested in picking up The Couple Next Door I would really recommend this if you want like a simple quick isolated close circle mystery these people are trapped with the murderer it's my favorite trope so that is all from me thank you so much for watching this video if you've enjoyed it be sure to give it a big thumbs up and ring the bell button I keep meaning to mention this but basically the YouTube algorithm is really fucking me over and I'm getting like half of the recommendations from YouTubers I had been previously so ringing the bell would like make my day like it would help me out so so much because then you get notified and you're sure to see my videos in your subscription box they're stopping showing all of the people you're subscribed to in your subscription box that's a big reason as to why I'm getting less impressions so that would really help me out I hope that you enjoyed it and let me know down below some of your favorite murder mysteries so that maybe I can do this again when I'm a bit more with it and I don't mess it up but yeah thank you so much for watching and I will see you very very soon bye