Chaos at Carnegie Hall by Kelly OliverMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
I very much wanted to enjoy this book -- a music-centric cozy mystery with a fun heroine seemed just my speed, so I enjoyed this freebie on Kindle. Unfortunately, Fiona Figg is not Phryne Fisher (which was what I was hoping for) and at least for me, was a truly unlikeable character--fickle, judgmental, prudish, and a bore. She can't decide if she admires her fellow women ("I would be spending the night in jail with the best and brightest female minds in America") or whether her prudish sensibilities will rule the day ("I was glad when the luncheon was over. Mrs. (Dorothy) Parker's flamboyance was giving me indigestion.")
The book suffers from a lack of editing...how many times do we need to see cigars referred to as "foul"? How many times must Eliza be a little minx, or does she have "some cheek"? How many times do we hear that Eliza is not all she seems? When we are told for the umpteenth time, "But I suspected there was more to the girl than met the eye" it has already been revealed what that "more" is, at least in part. There are two references to Sherlock Holmes used as a quipped observation of two different characters in a matter of pages. The ending seemed a rather fantastical turn of events and I found myself rather sore at the protagonist.
There are moments of humor and the cast of historical figures lends some fun, when Fiona isn't busy judging them (outside of her murder investigation): Margaret Sanger, Dorothy Parker, Thomas Edison, etc. Eliza's character is fun, as is her little puppy, but I found myself wishing that she was the main protagonist. Sometimes the "Odd Couple" routine was a bit tiresome.
I realize this is the first book in the series, so I might try another since I feel the character(s) have a lot of potential to grow.
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