Book 94, 2019

Poison in Paddington by Samantha Silver

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



I finished reading Poison in Paddington by Samantha Silver last night. It's the first in the author's "Cassie Coburn" cozy mystery series. The story is told in first-person pov by Cassie, which would lead one to believe she's the main character. However, if you ask me, the main character is Violet Despuis, the intriguing French woman that Cassie meets when she moves from the US to London.

After an accident derails her budding career as a surgeon, Cassie finds herself slumping into depression. In an effort to shake things up, she moves to London. Not long after, Cassie's bicycle is stolen, and when she goes to report it to the police, she meets Violet Despuis. Violet has been asked by the police to assist on a murder, in which four people were poisoned at a lunch stand. Violet's claim to fame is that she is keenly observant and has genius-level deductive reasoning. Think a female version of Sherlock Holmes. Cassie is astounded when Violet virtually nails her entire life story within moments of meeting her. Violet is charmed by Cassie's own ability to think things through, and she invites her to investigate the crime.

Cassie soon finds herself caught up in Violet's turbulence. She finds Violet amazing, annoying, and astonishing by turns. Violet drags Cassie along as she questions witnesses and potential suspects, as well as on a clandestine breaking-and-entering adventure.

This was a lot like what reading a book about Batman written in Robin's pov would be. On one hand, I enjoyed the refreshing take on things, wherein our main character is the sidekick, but on the other, I found it a tad off-putting. I mean, why not call the series the "Violet Despuis" series, in that case? I got much more of a sense of Violet's character than Cassie's. Violet was not a very likable person. It's not that she was mean-spirited; she just didn't seem to know how to relate to other people and was socially awkward, if that makes sense.

Favorite line: "I like to practice lying to people. It makes me a better liar."

I give the author kudos for writing something different, but it's only getting an average score from me.