My Favorite Books

The Walking Drum
Ender's Game
Dune
Jhereg
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Curse of Chalion
The Name of the Wind
Chronicles of the Black Company
The Faded Sun Trilogy
The Tar-Aiym Krang

Thursday, May 18, 2023

Review: The Jubilee Problem

The Jubilee Problem The Jubilee Problem by Anna Elliott
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Performance: ****
Story: ***

Another Fantastic Addition to the [Pseudo]Canon

First and foremost I really liked the paired narration by PoV (John Watson and Lucy).  The over all performance was fantastic and makes a good mystery adventure story much better (you can also get the book on kindle unlimited and have Alexa read it, but I think the audible narration is worth the premium).  This is my 5th Lucy Mystery, so I am obviously a fan of the series ...

The story builds on the idea that a gathering of elites for the Queen’s Jubilee celebration makes a very tempting target for international intrigue (with a presumed nod to Guy Fox and the Gun Power Plot).  Rather than just stumbling into the mystery this time, Lucy, as Sherlocks previously unknown daughter, is recruited by the powers that be to help with uncovering the plot.  Like many of the Lucy stories, there is a mystery man along with the expected misdirections and betrayals.  While you could read these little adventures in any order, there are some developing themes that work better when read in order … not the least of which is the developing relationship of Lucy with Jack and Becky that was surprisingly sweet.  However, the mystery portion may not work for hard core Sherlock fans as he as his prodigious perceptions stay pretty much in the background (so this is actually similar to the Enola Holmes movies that I also find very enjoyable).

I was given this free advance review/listener copy (ARC) audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

#TheJubileeProblem #LucyJamesMysteries #FreeAudiobookCodes #KindleUnlimited

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My Ratings Explained ...

  • [ ***** ] Amazing Read - Perfect story, exciting, engrossing, well developed complex characters, solid plot with few to no holes, descriptive environments and place settings, great mystery elements, realistic dialogue, believable reactions and behaviors; a favorite that I can re-read many times.
  • [ **** ] Great Read - Highly entertaining and enjoyable, exciting storyline, well developed characters and settings, a few discrepancies but nothing that can’t be overlooked. Some aspect of the story was new/refreshing to me and/or intriguing. Recommended for everyone.
  • [ *** ] Good Read - Solid story with a 'good' ending, or has some other redeeming feature. Limited character development and/or over reliance on tropes. Noticeable discrepancies in world building and/or dialog/behavior that were distracting. I connected enough with the characters/world to read the entire series. Most of the books I read for fun are here. Recommended for fans of the genre.
  • [ ** ] Okay Read - Suitable for a brief, afternoon escape … flat or shallow characters with little to no development. Over the top character dialog and/or behavior. Poor world building with significant issues and/or mistakes indicating poor research. Excessive use of trivial detail, info dumps and/or pontification. Any issues with the story/characters are offset by some other aspect that I enjoyed. Not very memorable. May only appeal to a niche group of readers. Recommended for some (YMMV).
  • [ * ] Bad Read - Awkward and/or confusing writing style. Poor world building and/or unbelievable (or unlikeable) characters. Victimization, gaslighting, blatant abuse, unnecessary violence, child endangerment, or any other highly objectionable behaviors by Main characters. I didn't connect with the story at all; significant aspects of this story irritated me enough that I struggled to finished it. Series was abandoned. Not recommended.