City of Dark Magic

 

 

*May have a few things that could be considered spoilers*

 

When I saw the summary for this book I was instantly intrigued. I LOVE Beethoven and this book was a mystery set in Prague around his music. However, what I thought the book was going to be about and what it actually was when I finally read it, were two completely different things.

 

Sadly, there were several things about the book that detracted from how amazing it could have been. The main character Sarah and her sexual escapades was the biggest one for me. There was too much sex in the book for me and unless it serves a purpose to the plot, then it doesn't belong in the story. In this case it did not amplify or make the plot better and could have been left out without causing any issues with the overall feel of the book.

 

The other issue was the writing itself. I think at times it was quite brilliant and I loved all the music imagery in it. However, on many other occasions it seemed to detract from the story being told and I began to skip through areas. Flyte's attention to dialogue was quite wonderful though and it was extremely realistic. That I did enjoy, since I am not skilled at writing good dialogue.

 

For me, the last big issue was with the overall plot of the story. I was hoping that there would be some sort of time travel and it is shown that the main character Sarah was actually the "Immortal Beloved" the Beethoven wrote the three letters to that were never mailed. Unfortunately, the book really wasn't about the music, but about the Golden Fleece? It went from a murder mystery with political conspiracy to suddenly an alchemy driven search by a secret order. That was a little too much for the writing to handle and it did not work in the final version. I think that it would have been wise to stick with the Beethoven angle and then set it up for a sequel book dealing more with the alchemy and golden fleece plot.

 

If you like sexually driven characters that carry a murder mystery based novel, then this book may be for you. However, if you are like me and like your mysteries to have a little more mystery and little less sex, then this book may not be for you.

 

Rating: 2 out of 5

 

I borrowed this from my local library; I was not asked to write a review of this book.