annieb123
Written on Dec 26, 2019
The Glass Forest is the third mystery in the Cara Walden series by Lisa Lieberman. Released 24th Dec 2019 it's 216 pages and available in paperback and ebook formats.
This is a stylish and superbly written fictional mystery written around a real historical framework. The characterization is intricately woven with the characters 'in character' and obeying their internal motivations. The beginning of the story was somewhat confusing for me, with a plethora of primary and secondary characters, an exotic setting, and changing scenes. There were a couple of parts which I had to go back and re-read to get the plot (and characters) straight in my mind. Once the story gelled in my mind though, it was a tense and well written noir plot with lots of dodgy characters and plot twists to sort out.
The story arc and pacing are variable (it dragged in a few places for me), but the dialogue and characterization are top shelf. The language is PG, used in context. Protagonist Cara is intelligent, likeable, and independent. I found no glaring historical errors whilst reading; it has verisimilitude.
Very well written and readable. Five stars for this entry and for the series as a whole. Despite this being the third book in the series, I think it would work quite well as a standalone.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.