Em Thompson

I was surprised to find myself fall in love with the most naively annoying character in this fanciful book full of heart. The intwines mysteries were captivating, the heat smothering (what a warm summer!), and the crooks were mighty crooked. Most of all, the writing style is distinct, using the most superfluously big words to build the setting including smells, sounds, and sensations, it was a joy to learn so many new words and experience this landscape of words. The style took a chapter to show more get used to, but it's very much worth it to read on! show less

“Elliefant’s Graveyard: The Curious Case of the Throatslit Man” by Em Thompson follows two women with different connections to two curious murders. The first, Constable Heather Prendergast is trying to gather clues to solve the unusual murders. The second, Ellie Fantoni, the daughter of the two deceased tries to decide what’s next in life. This novel was an interesting and witty mystery. It was full of an extensive vocabulary (often mismashed words and or colorful words), quippy show more dialogue, and twists I didn’t expect. I had a bit of trouble with some of the dialogue bits where pronunciation was very British. Overall, I found the writing to be like nothing I had ever read before, and there were quite a few laugh out loud moments along the way making this a delightful read! show less

This is a challenging read. I think I would have enjoyed it more if I had listened to the audiobook. I initially found it quite fun, but the wordplay & accents become tiring after a while. This was partly as I often wasn’t confident in my understanding of the words, which are often made-up word combinations and nouns that have been made into verbs, amongst other imaginative creations. This, along with the absurdity of the characters (who are what would traditionally be referred to as show more “social misfits”), and their interactions with one another, is all a bit bizarre and extreme. Maybe because of the book cover, I was reminded of Tim Burton movies (though it has been a while since I have seen one of those, so I may be off). I would recommend the book to readers who are curious about playful language, and something “different”.
I won a free copy of this book (thanks to the author & publisher!) and am voluntarily providing an honest review. show less

This book is a nice read.
Heather is a, I do have to say, dumbwitted police officer, who tries to uncover a murder. Notwithstanding the fact that her superior explicitely told her not to bother.
Heather is not a very good listener, and that shows. She was too dumbwitted for me, I was continuously exasperated by her remarks, thoughts and deeds.
Ellie is the daughter of the murdered man. She is very, very good in repairing household utensils.
The two meet after the dead of Ellie's father. They do show more meet later, but it takes a long time for them to realise who the other woman is. I liked Ellie a lot.
There are more, quite strange characters in the book.
And the language, I simply loved the words the writer invented.
It is the first book of a series. I do hope other people will like Heather and continue reading this series. I cannot. show less