“Like a bit of romance? Like a bit of mystery? Then “A Matter of Degree” is for you!”
Rating: 4 stars
Genre: Thriller/Mystery/Romance
I’ll give you a prize for guessing where this is set (ok so I won’t really…).
The heroine (or character) of this piece is Katherine Valletta, an Administrator who’s just started work at Deerhampton University. In the style of what I would class ‘chick-lit’ there’s a broad mix of romance, mystery, humour and suspense. It’s clear that the author has experience in the University setting – I found the description of the balance between academics/admin/students and broad swathes of incompetence from all sides as rather apt.
The only thing that I found potentially distracting was the changing POVs. For the majority of the novel it’s narrated in the first person by Katherine, but when told from the view of ‘our mysterious poison pen’ or the amorous ‘Chris’ the POV shifted to third person. This still worked (and clearly separated the different viewpoints) but I found it a little jarring.
Overall this novel was a relaxing and enjoyable read (I, for example finished it during a particularly stressful weekend). If you check the blurb for this book on Amazon you have the line:
“This witty, light-hearted novel is a great holiday read. Written in bite-sized chunks, it is also ideal for devouring on the move—while travelling to work, or when waiting for your kids to finish their swimming/piano/karate lessons, for example… “
and you know what? I couldn’t agree more.
See also:
