Donna's comments on MOTL

Since I had to miss my first ever book club meeting (I know, so sad), I figured I would post my brief comments to the blog. I loved Murder on the Leviathan! It brought me back to my middle school and high school days when I was enthralled with Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple and could not get enough of Agatha Christie mysteries. MOTL recreated that type of mystery brilliantly. I thought the reasoning for some of the suspects being placed in the Windsor cabin was a bit shaky (i.e. not the ones missing their golden wings), but once they were all gathered together and you knew the murderer was among them, it was exciting. I enjoyed the different narratives and how suspicious they all were of one another, and I also liked that we never had Fandorin's direct point of view. The novel itself was very short and to the point (something I enjoy). Having said that, while I was reading, I felt like there were a lot of extraneous and slightly boring stories. Then I felt foolish for not realizing that of course every story was a clue! I was a little surprised by Gauche's actions at the end, because even though I thought he was a pompous idiot, I did not think he would commit murder (regardless of his greed). I felt like a point of view of someone wanting the shawl that badly would have been interesting. All in all, I enjoyed the latest pick.