Ripper by Isabel Allende

I have enjoyed the books that I have read by Isabel Allende in the past. My favourites are The House of Spirits and Zorro. I had heard that she had written a crime novel and was curious about it, even though I had heard only one decent review on it.


There is a serial killer in San Fransisco. An online group decide that they are going to investigate the crime.

This is such a tricky one to review. I feel as though I should retract my initial review on Goodreads. Basically, I said that this book was not a good example of a crime novel. In fact, I think I was a bit more blunt and used the word "sucked".  But now that some time has passed, I am wondering if my criticism is a result of me wanting a 'typical' crime novel and not appreciating the qualities in this book that I usually love in Allende's other works - lots of character detail.

Yes, this was well-written, that goes without saying. The plot, and the who dunnit part was well thought out and kept me guessing. The problem comes in that the first 300 pages or so of the 475 paged novel read more like a contemporary character study. The hints at the crimes that had happened were pretty much just that, hints. We hardly saw a crime scene, so the suspense and the opportunity for reader participation was limited (And let's face it, people who read crime novels enjoy being able to spot clues and solve it.). The majority of the crimes that we heard about were via the folks playing the Ripper game online - second hand information where all the thinking and work was mostly done for us, the reader. And then the last 150 or so pages happened and EVERYTHING happened. Wow. That part was gripping. In hindsight, I think would have preferred it if the pacing was a bit more balanced.

But the characters were interesting and well done. I liked the inconsistencies in their statements - although some I question. It was obvious with the love interest that the discrepancies were a result of his own inability to critically review his own actions, seeing himself as wronged. But other parts left me wondering if the discrepancy was an oversight. For example, the house keeper from Mexico who left her better paying jobs to look after this family, when it later stated that she had to slowly bring her own children across to the US one at a time, as she could afford it. Yes, she seemed caring initially, but would a genuinely caring mother put another family's issues above her own, when her children are in another country from her?

I gave this 3 stars. It was OK. I did enjoy reading it. I think it is that my enjoyment of other works by her, along with my guilty-pleasure love of crime fiction, has compounded my disappointment. But as I said, the problems I had with this while reading it, were exactly the things I love about her other books.

If you are wanting a regular crime novel, skip this one. If you don't mind really getting to know characters (she does that part brilliantly) and then fear for their lives for 100 pages, then maybe give this a go.