YVO’S SHORTIES #260 – Fatal Promise & Sweet Sweet Revenge Ltd

Time for another round of Yvo’s Shorties! This time a sequel of a favorite detective series that once again delivered and a title that sadly didn’t live up to expectations.

Title: Fatal Promise
(DI Kim Stone #9)
Author: Angela Marsons
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Detective
First published: October 19th 2018
Publisher: Bookouture
Finished reading: October 14th 2021
Pages: 426

“Because you made your choice but it really wasn’t a choice at all.”

After that shocking conclusion in book eight, of course I had to make time for the next book as soon as possible… I’m still trying to process what happened to be honest, but I was also looking forward to see how things would go from there in Fatal Promise. This is already my tenth DI Kim Stone adventure, and I have to say that this series just keeps delivering. Book nine focuses a lot on what happened in the previous book, so definitely make sure to read at least that one first if you haven’t already to avoid spoilers. (That said, I would suggest reading the whole series in order to fully understand the dynamics and character growth.) Fatal Promise has a lot of focus on grief and moving on as well as an intriguing new case to set your claws in. It was interesting to see the team react to recent events and the case itself has many twists and turns to keep you busy along the way. The different murders, the clues, the killer’s POV… I really liked how the case was developed and eventually concluded. I do have to say that I guessed what was going on with the missing girl case Stacey was investigating quite early on, but as it wasn’t the main investigation I wasn’t too disappointed as a whole. Things definitely get intense though in the main case, and Fatal Promise is another sequel that will keep you reading until the early hours. I already can’t wait to read the next book very soon!

Title: Sweet Sweet Revenge Ltd.
Author: Jonas Jonasson
Translator: Rachel Willson-Broyles
Genre: Fiction, Contemporary
First published: September 1st 2020
Publisher: HarperVia
Finished reading: October 18th 2021
Pages: 367
(Originally written in Swedish: ‘Hämnden är ljuv AB’)

“If you could pitch nonsense, you could probably do the same with revenge.”

Right… I’m starting to wonder if I should just leave this author alone in the future. Don’t get me wrong: his debut The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out Of The Window And Disappeared is still an all time favorite, but the rest of his books somehow keep disappointing me and I’m losing hope any of them will actually live up to that first experience with his work. Sadly, Sweet Sweet Revenge Ltd is no exception to that rule and it mostly feels like a rather lackluster intent to copy the successful formula of his debut. While I can always appreciate the dry and rather sarcastic humor that is easy to spot as his style, there was just something about the main characters that made it really hard to stay invested. They are not exactly likeable, and the introductions to the different characters in play are so long that the story drags considerably and takes a long time to start running a bit more smoothly. Ridiculous sequence of events aside, it mostly felt like the story was trying too hard copying the feel of his debut, and the resulting story failed to charm me. The plot itself didn’t really feel appropriate in points, and as a whole it took me a long time to actually reach that final page (and wondering if it was worth it having made the effort to do so). Sadly Sweet Sweet Revenge Ltd definitely didn’t live up to expectations for me… And I think I will stick to rereading his debut or watching that movie adaptation instead if I want another dose of his writing in the future.