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Das Regenmädchen (2010)

by Gabi Kreslehner(Favorite Author)

3.4 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

3550088604 (ISBN13: 9783550088605)

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Ullstein

review 1: Two police officers in the Munich area are investigating the death of a young woman who was hit by a car on the autobahn. There is no other car so she didn’t drive herself and her clothes and some of her injuries suggest an earlier attack. So how did she get out here without transport, who was she with, and what happened that made her run into the road in the dark and heavy rain that made visibility difficult for oncoming traffic?Rain Girl is the first book by Austrian author Gabi Kreslehner translated into English. Although I didn’t dislike the main characters, I never developed any sense of caring about them either. They had flaws and I would normally consider that a good thing but, because we’re told so little else about them, they become little more than these ... moreflaws: there’s not enough beyond the affairs and the manipulations to make the reader feel anything, certainly not empathy, even for the victim. And, honestly, no author besides Dickens can get away with using coincidence to create suspense without making the reader feel like they’re being manipulated. The mystery itself was interesting enough to keep me reading despite my lack of investment in the lives of the characters. The writing is very good even lyrical at times, especially in the descriptions. Rain Girl is listed as a standalone but it felt like the first in a series. If it is the first, I’m not sure if I would read another by this author. The author clearly has talent that makes me think future books could be very good indeed. But as to this one -it was a fast easy read, requiring little from me except a couple of hours and I can honestly say they weren’t wasted. I would recommend this for anyone looking for a decent enough mystery to fill up some time but that won’t keep you up wondering what will happen next.
review 2: This was an interesting approach to your average detective tale. One thing, it's written by a German writer and set in Germany, sorry can't recall the city. Another thing, the female detective, main character, is cheating on her husband because he cheated on her years ago with the Swedish nanny and now he has a daughter living in Sweden. Their son, grown now, tells his girlfriend who comes from an abusive home life that "even the best families have problems." Referring to his own. Which I thought was rather hilarious, knowing what he does about his parents' infidelities. For one thing, I wouldn't classify that behavior as typical of the "best families" and another thing-- adultery isn't a problem. It is what brings on the problems.Anyway, the author's themes of infidelity and family life aside, the detective story was only average. It was easy to figure out the culprit, and what could have been highly suspenseful scenes were rushed over or told about later. And the image of rain was really really really overdone. But her writing was solid in her use of the language. Parts of it were beautifully, poetically written and I thoroughly enjoyed that added flair which you don't usually get in detective novels. less

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