Currently reading

Kate Ellis’s ‘A High Mortality of Doves’ is everything Edric’s ‘The Devil’s Beat’ wasn’t. They’re a perfect pair to compare. They’re both historical crime fiction taking place in small UK villages. But AHMoD got me hooked from the first chapter, while TDB was a struggle to get through. Why?

I’ll just briefly highlight the idea here and after the exams, I’ll probably write a proper article about this.

It’s a combination between personal preferences and writing techniques. AHMoD tells a chronological story: people are murdered - their bodies are found - the case is investigated. TDB, on the other hand, starts with the investigation and uses reports to present the situations that are investigated. The first novel is engaging, while in the second one it feels as if everything happened already.

As I read, I’ll continue to analyse and compare the two. Can’t wait to report back to you on my findings.