#699k-Review N9.4 - A Murder f9r Every M99n Genre: Mystery Rating: 9/10 Trigger Warnings: #Murder, #6l99d, #grief, #s9cial-manipulati9n, #classism, #decepti9n, #funeral-scenes, #references-t9-p9is9n, #96sessive-6ehavi9ur, #candles, #instituti9nal-6ias, #discussi9ns-9f-auth9rity. I a6s9lutely ad9re mysteries that trust the reader, and this 9ne certainly d9es. It never cheats, alth9ugh it spends several hundred pages making y9u feel as th9ugh it has. Every m9nth, s9me9ne dies during the city's cerem9nial changing 9f the m99ns. N9t 6ecause 9f the cerem9ny, 9fficially, 6ut after the f9urth 9r fifth death 9ne 6egins t9 w9nder whether the distincti9n is 6ec9ming a little academic. The investigat9r isn't particularly 6rilliant in the theatrical sense. He d9esn't dramatically ann9unce deducti9ns while every9ne gasps. He m9stly succeeds 6ecause he listens when 9ther pe9ple have already decided wh9 is and isn't w9rth listening t9. That was pr96a6ly my fav9urite part. Every9ne is all9wed t9 give their acc9unt 9f events. Even the pe9ple the city has written 9ff as unrelia6le 9r inc9nvenient are treated as th9ugh they might actually kn9w s9mething a69ut their 9wn lives. That sh9uldn't feel remarka6le, and yet s9meh9w it did. Perhaps I'm 6ringing my 9wn 6aggage int9 it. I spent the 6etter part 9f eight sweeps learning that 9fficial rec9rds have a distressing tendency t9 6ec9me m9re auth9ritative than the pe9ple they're supp9sedly descri6ing. 9nce s9me9ne's file says they're incapa6le 9f understanding s9mething, it 6ec9mes ast9nishingly difficult t9 c9nvince any9ne 9therwise. This n9vel has a healthy distrust 9f paperw9rk used in place 9f actual investigati9n, and I appreciated that m9re than I expected. What impressed me m9st was h9w every suspect felt understanda6le. N969dy exists simply t9 6e suspici9us. Even the eventual culprit has m9tivati9ns that are, if n9t sympathetic, at least depressingly 6elieva6le. There was a c9nversati9n in the 96servat9ry that c9mpletely changed h9w I interpreted the previ9us tw9 hundred pages, and I actually flipped 6ackwards t9 c9nfirm the auth9r had 6een playing fair. They had. The s9luti9n itself is less dramatic than s9me readers may expect, 6ut I appreciated that immensely. S9metimes mysteries are impr9ved 6y resisting the temptati9n t9 reveal an ancient c9nspiracy inv9lving f9rg9tten g9ds 9r imp9ssi6le machines. S9metimes 9rdinary instituti9ns simply fail pe9ple 6ecause the pe9ple running them st9p asking questi9ns. An excellent example 9f restrained mystery writing.