I used to like Jill Churchhill’s Jane Jeffries mysteries. With that in mind, I picked up A Midsummer’s Night Scream at the library. Can I say that I am sorely disappointed? I felt this was a clear case of phoning it in—the characterisation was weak and all contradicting the “show, don’t tell” school of thought. The paragraph and chapter breaks were inexplicable, and there was so much extraneous information—a no-no for mysteries. There were quite a few instances where a character’s every action was described, even if it didn’t lend anything to the story. Blech. Plus…I hate that I automatically know which characters I’m supposed to love and find precious, because the author makes sure of it. Sigh. Too bad, because I enjoyed the early books in this series.

Worth reading. However, I liked the Paladin of Souls more, and felt more of a disconnect emotionally with this story than I did with the other two Chalion books. STILL….a Bujold story not quite at the top of its game is still a thing of beauty and generally surpasses its contemporaries.