🕰️ West Heart Kill by Dann McDorman, Two Minute Book Reviews 🕰️

🔪 WHY I read it: I was lucky enough to get a review copy from @aaknopf!

🌲 WHAT I got out of it: What sets this book apart is its fearless exploration of different narrative techniques. McDorman seamlessly transitions from traditional narrative to engaging history lessons to even breaking the fourth wall, creating a dynamic and immersive reading experience. The way the narrative unfolds keeps readers on their toes, constantly guessing and second-guessing as they try to unravel the mysteries alongside the characters.

The setting of the exclusive West Heart club in upstate New York is rich and captivating. McDorman paints a vivid picture, immersing readers in the atmospheric and secretive world of the hunt club. The sense of isolation and the brewing storm add to the tension and make the setting an integral part of the story to the point where the club felt like a character itself.

🔎 READ IF YOU WANT TO EXPERIENCE...If you want to have a little fun and read a novel constructed in a non-traditional way. It deftly combines classic murder mystery elements with a refreshing and inventive narrative style, so if you're looking for something both familiar and unfamiliar, you'll love this.

An isolated hunt club. A raging storm. Three corpses, discovered within four days. A cast of monied, scheming, unfaithful characters.
So our story begins.

While I appreciate the mix of writing styles, this felt more like a screen play idea. I lost interest quite quickly.

West Heart Kill is a mystery book, a book about mystery books, and a book about the act of reading mystery books all mixed together, in a fascinating jumble of puzzle pieces. It takes chances with where it goes with both format and style, and those risks are definitely going to lose it some readers.

Unfortunately the actual mystery is the bit that never quite comes together - the components are there and have potential, but many of the players don’t receive enough attention to stand out as distinct entities; they’re all just a jumble of ‘rich, vaguely condescending person’. Which I almost think might be the point given how they’re introduced. Does it really matter once you’ve read your hundredth version of a ‘murder in a group of rich people in the country’ plot what the personal details are? Don’t they all start blurring together?

Don’t read this if you need a straight-forward story and an ending where every loose end is tied up. There’s not much closure here. Do read it if you enjoy a strong narration that frequently diverts into analyzing itself and the history of its genre and plays around with them. Honestly, it lost me from time to time, but overall I enjoyed the originality of the style. If it had just been the mystery I probably wouldn’t have finished.

I am an avid reader of mysteries and am always intrigued by the author's choice of plot devices. Something about a "new twist on a time-honored genre," prompted me to pick up this novel. In this case, the twist was the author carrying on in between chapters about the origins and tropes of mystery novels. If I wanted to read about that I would have chosen a more substantial nonfiction tome on the subject. There were no interesting (or even new to me), insights into the genre. The author also thought it would be clever to shift the point of view from the detective to the club members and then finally, to make us (the reader) the audience for a play. Gimmicky, but I was willing to play along. Unfortunately, when all that is stripped away, the actual mystery is pretty thin. There's nothing wrong with a traditional "locked room" mystery - in this case set at an isolated hunting club whose members all have sins and secrets to answer for. However, it's as if the three deaths (four if you count the dog, and then there's the "accidental" shooting), are an afterthought. Who did what and why are rather clumsily revealed leaving a most unsatisfying ending. Read only if you enjoy being led in circles.

Did not like this book. Alternating between a mystery and a lecture on the art of mystery. Really disliked the ending and the oh so clever trick.

Unfortunately I have to agree with the other reviewers. It seems like the author is trying for something new and interesting with the style, and it completely fails. :-( It reads as pretentious and trying too hard to be artsy, and it's impossible to connect with the characters. I gave up after a little while and skipped ahead to see if it got better but, nope.

This mystery was like Clue but messier. Set in the 1970s at a hunting lodge, you follow a detective as he investigates business dealings, and then he meets danger. I can't reveal too much more but certainly a lot happens. Lots of death and secrets! I thought it was really interesting that the detective was (most of the time?) narrating, but then the author took a step back and analyzed mystery tropes and the history of murder mysteries.
Thank you Netgalley and Knopf for a free copy of this ebook in exchange for a fair and honest review.

At first, I enjoyed the book but after a couple of switches from story to analysis and lectures of what a mystery was I had enough. I read the whole book but it was a chore. I did want to know how it ended. A mistake. It definitely is not my type of book. I do know the author is talented and capable of masterfully telling a story. I just wish he would have just told the story. Thank you, NetGalley and publisher Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for allowing me to read and review this book.

This is not your typical murder mystery. Our detective finagles an invite to a "wilderness" hunting club/resort with his old college friend. While there, three deaths occur--are they all murders or something else? Why is the detective there? Who hired him and why? If the author had stuck to a classic "Mystery & Detective" story, this would have been much better. The fact that McDorman verges off track to give readers a history of the genre, changes viewpoints, writes a play and basically is trying to ask readers if they think they are smart enough to solve the mystery of who is the murderer is very off putting. I struggled through to the end, hoping that at last all would be revealed and the murderer revealed - no such luck. A very unsatisfying read with no clear resolution at the end. As a reader who does not read a lot of crime/murder/mystery fiction, I needed some of those obvious clues dropped in to help me along the way.

This was an interesting take on a locked door mystery. It's part mystery and part homage to mysteries which I found fun. If you haven't read a lot of the classics of the genres (i.e., Christie, Doyle, Chesterton)., that may not appeal to you as much and it will also give some spoilers for those books. As an avid mystery reader, I really enjoyed that part. I also liked the mystery as well but there is an abrupt change in style 80% into the book that threw me for a loop. It took me out of the story and confused me for awhile. I did get into the new rhythm and tone and enjoyed the ending but it felt like a different book. Still, I would definitely recommend this read to mystery lovers - it's a unique approach and worth the read. Thank you to Netgalley and Knopf for an ARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

If you are looking for a review you already know this is a "locked room" story so no need for a synopsis. The unusual thing in this one is the narrator and that you learn many things about mystery stories throughout this one, There is a very nice twist that you will not expect. I recommend making a list of the people involved as there are many of them and you may need to be reminded about some of them. I received an arc from NetGalley and am under no pressure for a positive review.

This book was just ok for me. When the book was actually focusing on the storyline it was intriguing and kept my interest but then it would cut to analysis of the mystery genre and lose momentum. I found that those were the times I would lose interest and stop reading to do something else.

The premise of the story was very promising and I can see why the note at the beginning by the editor would pull the reader in even more with high hopes. Unfortunately this book failed to do that. The narrator and writing was difficult to read and wasn’t executed in a way that a reader could “involve” oneself into the story but also enjoy reading it. The story is written as screen play and then book format, while also having the reader be “apart” of the book with no audience. I personally feel this would have been better as a screen play itself based on the author/writer trying to create an interactive mystery debut.

Detective McAnnis joins his old college friend for a weekend at a remote, exclusive hunting club in upstate NY. Is he there for fun? Is he working a case? It certainly seems like there's work for him to do, when the bodies start appearing...

This book was an interesting break from the typical murder mystery genre, despite its very typical locked-door mystery description. In some ways, it reads similarly to Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone, except a bit more cerebral and with an omniscient narrator breaking the fourth wall rather than a first person character narration (though there is a little bit of that, too). There are sections that read like an essay dissecting the history of the murder mystery, sections narrated by Detective McAnnis, and -- strangest of all -- a section written as a play. The description, which read in part, "it’s the daring structure and mischievously subversive narration that set this debut apart. This is no ordinary whodunit. Both an homage to the masters of the genre, and a wholly original spin on the form, it’s a sheer delight from start to finish," reeled me in, and while in theory, this description is accurate... it just didn't work for me in practice. I guess I expected something a little more like Everyone in My Family and a little less academic.

I appreciated the opportunity to read this book, but unfortunately, the story just didn't really work for me.

***DNF***
I saw another reviewer refer to this as a mix between a book and screenplay, and I feel that that is a very good description. While a unique and interesting take, I do blame this narrative style for my not finishing this book. It was incredibly hard to stay motivated in reading this book. That, and in the very beginning a dog is accidentally run over and killed by car. I really don't love when animals are harmed really in any capacity in books. Especially, when it was only to cause strife between two characters and muddy the waters of the mystery itself.

I may pick this up again in the future perhaps as an audiobook if they release one. Maybe that will help keep me engaged in the story.

Thank you to Netgalley and Knopf for the e-arc of this book!

A good premise that falls short- the synopsis was compelling; the actual story not so much. I found it very difficult to finish

The buzz about this book made me want to really, really love it. Alas, this is just not a book for me. I found the unusual convention of how the story is told to be jarring and hard to follow, which I should have expected given my experiences reading other novels told in a similar way. I am sure there will be lots of readers who adore this book.

After reading other reviews, The Emperor’s New Clothes comes to mind….

I really wanted to like this book, but unfortunately it was just emphatically not for me. Readers who love meandering prose and about a thousand deviations from actual plot in favor of meta-analysis of the story's genre and a non-existant fourth wall will eat this up.

This book is sadly not for me. While the title, synopsis and narrative style seemed really interesting and unique eventually the narration just became too weird and cumbersome. Yes it’s unique to have the narrator reading to the reader and have the reader part of the story but it’s hard to get into.

I don't really know what to say about this book. I found the history of the genre, the authors thereof and true crime cases, off-putting and annoying. I did a lot of scanning. In the end, I'm still not sure what happened. Many will enjoy the journey, but i just didn't get it!