Lisa Vegan's Reviews > The Locked Room

I love this series and always look forward to these books. I read this one as a buddy read with GR friend (artist, politically active) Laura. As always, it was fun to read with her. Since we weren’t reading at the exact same times we sent discussion emails after almost every chapter.

It took until 5 days after publication date for me to finally get an e-copy and audiobook copy. When I finished the book the hardcover edition was still on order so I’m glad I was able to get a Kindle edition. It’s always hard to wait a year between books. This one ended on another cliff hanger but I’m so tired of that part of the story it is not a painful wait for me with this storyline, though I will continue to read these books.

The short chapters made this an easy read and a page-turner. I read it in 3 days over the long holiday weekend.

Kate is 11 and that is a fun age and I’ve always enjoyed Kate’s character, even when she was a toddler.

I read this series to catch up with the characters and their relationships more than for the mysteries. I like seeing how their lives change over time. I like the mysteries too. I also like the settings and the archaeology.

I thought that the mysteries in this were pretty good though. However; there were so many characters in this one. Tons. A lot of the old regulars and some old characters were back and there were more new and temporary characters than is typical. It wasn’t that I had a hard time keeping track of who was who, most of the time, it was that I had so many guesses and there were so many red herrings and potential red herrings that it almost became like a comic play, but without the humor, and scarier. The main problem for me with so many characters is that none of them appeared often enough for me, especially the regulars. The old photograph of Ruth’s cottage/the three cottages was the thing about this book that most intrigued me and there was a satisfying answer to that mystery.

I would not classify this series as cozy but I am appreciative that they’re light on violence and gore. There is suspense but not too much violence on the page, and not in this book. I also adore the humor, all of it good, much of it subtle. It always perfectly fits the characters and the situations.

This is a contemporary series and I do like how the author incorporated the Covid-19 pandemic. I hadn’t read any other fiction books/novels that have done that. I know there are others. The author explains in a note in the back of the book why she did this, and I think it’s worked. I’m not sure what she’s going to do about future books in the series though. The pandemic is going on and one, and she can’t even skip forward to a time when we’re past it because we don’t know when that might be or if there might be other pandemics coming in the near future. I got a kick out of Ruth’s brother talking conspiracy theories regarding the pandemic. He sounded like some people in the United States. I figured that some characters were likely to get the virus. The book opens in February 2020 and a lot of it takes place in spring 2020.

The thing I like least about this series is the love triangle/cheating. I will say that I never enjoy love triangles in any type of story. In fact, I hate them. I really hope that the author brings this part of the story to a conclusion as it’s gone on way too long and I do have strong feelings about how I’d like it to go.

I love the cats and dogs in this book. They add to my reading pleasure in all the books.

I loved the touch of at the end of the book having an excerpt included from the science fiction novel about a cat that Kate is writing.

I appreciated the character list with its details of some of the main characters that is also at the end of the book. Perhaps it should have been placed at the start of the book?

I’m putting the rest of this review in a spoiler tag. If you’re reading the series (or think that you might) and haven’t read this book yet, I recommend skipping the following:

(view spoiler)[ At the very end when Michelle finally come home and the first thing she says to Nelson/Harry is that they have to talk, my hope is that she’s going to ask for a divorce. These people do not make a good couple. They have both cheated on one another and Nelson is continuing to cheat and with one other women for whom he has some feelings. If they separate and that means the next thing that happens is that Nelson and Ruth pair up as a couple I hope that it’s extremely short lived. All three of these people need to be alone for now. They all need to work out a lot of things, and only then should they be part of a couple, and probably not with each other, except eventually I guess I could see Nelson and Michelle back together, but not with a lot of hard work on both of their parts. As on now there can be no trust between any of these characters. They should not be romantically/sexually involved with one another!!! Usually, the cliff hangers at the end of these books make it painful to wait for the next book but I’m past caring that much about what’s coming next though I do have my hopes. A fear I have it that many readers want Nelson and Ruth together and that the author will give them that satisfaction. I think that would be a grave error for the reasons I’ve stated, and I could also present more arguments going against this scenario. I enjoy the books anyway but it’s in spite of and not because of the soap opera aspects.

The worst thing I think Nelson and Ruth have done occurred in this book. Having sex at Ruth’s house, even if Kate hadn’t come into their bedroom and saw them in the same bed, is putting Kate in the worst possible position. Kate has little contact with Nelson’s wife Michelle she has relationships with Nelson’s two grown daughters and his young son. What a secret for a child to be expected to keep. The very worst thing about the incident is that there is no discussion and no explanation and no questions. At all. That was completely bizarre, in my opinion. Kate’s non-reaction was odd though more understandable than Ruth and Nelson staying completely silent about what Kate witnessed.

I knew that Cathbad would survive covid. I figured that if the author had Cathbad die this would be the last or second to last book in the series. Yet, the reader is put through way too much stress over his medical condition. As Laura said, way too much drama.

I think a lot of things with people’s relationships happened off the page in this book. Nelson was rightly concerned about Ruth and Kate because of the pandemic and the probable murders and threats to Ruth but the reader didn’t show him expressing the same concern for his wife and other children. He’s so hypervigilant and he does love them and so we know he had to have had more contact with them than we got to see.

My favorite part of this book turned out to be Zoe. I’m so happy that Ruth and Kate have another family member. She’s an interesting character and she’ll be a great addition to the series. This might be totally unrealistic but I hope she convinces Ruth to end everything with Nelson. I do think that it’s right that Nelson acts as a good father to Kate and stays involved, but he and Ruth should have only minimal contact and that should consist of transferring Kate and talking about Kate. (hide spoiler)]