It's always awkward when I'm considerably less enamored with a book than everyone else, so I apologize.
Looking back on this, it's clear my expectations were not set correctly going in. I thought I was getting a traditional murder mystery, where we the readers follow along as the investigation unfolds to catch the killer. Along the way, what the detectives know and what we know are pretty much in sync. But that's not the case here.
Here, the book opens with the crime being committed and we know exactly who did it and how it happened. Then the book alternates between scenes of the police investigating and the killers as they try to evade suspicion. But since it's mostly what we already know, I was bored out of my mind. And this continued for the first three quarters of the book.
It doesn't help that the police "investigation" is laughable. If a suspect can't provide an alibi, then they immediately fall under suspicion. But if they can provide one, then they fall under suspicion too. Huh? And this kept happening, over and over. In fact, the police zeroed in on their prime suspect simply because it felt too convenient that they should have an alibi for the time in question. My eyes sure got a workout from rolling so hard.
My other issue is that the titular Detective Galileo, who turns out to be just a private citizen that the police consult, kept meddling and interfering. The book is written such that the reader can't help but sympathize with the killers. We meet them first, after all, and get to know them the best. So to have to follow along as both the police and a private consultant bungle around, botching things up for our favorite characters, is rather annoying.
The book does eventually get very good in the last quarter, but it's a bit too little too late. While the denouement is certainly interesting and unlike anything I'd read before, its effect was dulled by the considerable amount of slog it took to get there. And I have to mention how much I didn't like the very end, which felt like a slap in the face after everything I had read.
Obviously, I am in the minority here. Everyone else I know loves this book, so you should take my thoughts with a grain of salt. I always rate based on my personal enjoyment, and for a book that put me in a slump, I think 3 stars is about fair.
Readaroo Rating: 3 stars
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