The Glass Sided Ants Nest by Peter Dickinson

2 stars

212 Pages
Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media, Open Road Media Mystery & Thriller
Release Date: February 24, 2015

Fiction, Mystery, Thrillers

This is a James Pibble mystery. The book was written in the third person point of view. It was very descriptive, but I did not connect with any of the characters. I am not a fan of this type of writing style. I felt the author was just droning on. I tried several times to read this book but I could not get into the story.

I received a free copy from NetGalley. Originally published in 1968 it is dated. I read and watch a lot of British authors and shows and found myself rereading often because I knew the words but still had no idea what the author was saying as it was too British and I didn't know what was said. As a mystery, it certainly didn't take very long to be solved.

Considering this book was published in 1968 and racist humour was more accepted then, I can understand how and why it may have won some awards. Reading this in 2017, I could not finish it. Racial humor is always going to be controversial, of course. A Caucasian writer who takes pot-shots at Black folks is going to have a limited readership, whether the subjects are from another country or not.