LemonSky reviewed Death on the high C's by Robert Barnard
Review of "Death on the high C's" on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
This was my second attempt at reading a Barnard book. The first attempt didn't go too well - the book got on my nerves and I gave up. Barnard tells a good story, but he can get pretentious and annoying at times. However, this one is fun and interesting with its portrayal of a struggling English opera company trying to put on "Rigoletto" when the singer performing Maddalena is murdered. She's such a delightfully nasty character you can't help but feel the killer should get a reward, an opinion echoed by more than one character:
“Pity,” said Mrs Hogben, shaking her head, “because it would have been so neat, and she did have it coming to her. And whoever did it, I’d hate to seem him actually suffer for it.”
It seemed to Sergeant Chappell that no murdered had enjoyed such universal sympathy since the gentlemen who robbed the Russian …
This was my second attempt at reading a Barnard book. The first attempt didn't go too well - the book got on my nerves and I gave up. Barnard tells a good story, but he can get pretentious and annoying at times. However, this one is fun and interesting with its portrayal of a struggling English opera company trying to put on "Rigoletto" when the singer performing Maddalena is murdered. She's such a delightfully nasty character you can't help but feel the killer should get a reward, an opinion echoed by more than one character:
“Pity,” said Mrs Hogben, shaking her head, “because it would have been so neat, and she did have it coming to her. And whoever did it, I’d hate to seem him actually suffer for it.”
It seemed to Sergeant Chappell that no murdered had enjoyed such universal sympathy since the gentlemen who robbed the Russian Imperial family of the counsels of Gregory Rasputin.
None of the characters are saints. In fact, they are all rather self-centered, including the young lovers, Calvin Cross and Bridget Lander, who is a rising star. The death of Gaylene Ffrench (born Gay French) is nothing more than an inconvenience to them. The motive for Gaylene’s death appears to be pretty simple – someone hated her enough to kill her. However, a second murder complicates matters.
Barnard’s constant fat-shaming is tiresome. Yes, we understand that Gaylene is overweight, but there’s no need to beat it into the ground. Barnard’s other weakness is that I never really cared for any of the characters. There’s always more than an element of satire in his books, and his characters tend to suffer for it by being rather cardboard at times. The ending falls a little flat as well, and I never entirely believed the reason for Gaylene’s murder. However, this is a fun, short read that is well worth a try.