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I should check TBB more often; glad there’s a second mystery read along  some random thoughts:Building off the dead souls powering horrible things idea...maybe that’s why the other 200 kids were killed? It’s a suspiciously round number. I can’t help but think that whatever’s in the locked tomb is related. I have suspicions that Harrow killed Jeanne and maybe Isaac. Early on, there’s an incident when Gideon is digging through her overcoat and realizes that there’s bone fragments in there, which Harrow can make use of. I’m thinking that that’s a good way of making Jeanne’s locked room death not locked. Isaac I’m less sure about because the construct isn’t something we’ve seen her do before but she’s been around them enough. I mean, hosed up necromancy is also an option but that’s not really satisfying is it  I’m down with Teacher being a Lyctor choosing his successors. My initial thought was that someone was trying to frame Harrow but her actually killing Pro as blackmail makes sense, especially if he’s not human. Agreed that it’s weird she wouldn’t just bring it up, although I guess she’s not exactly a cooperative sort. And if he’s not human...why would Teacher let her ship dock? Does it balance out given the three from Third House? At this point, Corona is either a really good necromancer or not one at all. What does it accomplish to bring her to the first house if she’s not a necromancer though? Is it just a facade they have to keep up.
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Sep 4, 2020 01:53
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| # ¿ May 17, 2024 18:09 |
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Guess the Second hadn't been doing much but dang, what a way to go. Can't really blame them, it would've been sensible in a different genre. The story behind the death of the 200 kids was even more hosed up than I thought! Gideon surviving not-on-purpose is weird; I'm thinking she's descended from somebody super special via her mom? It'd be more interesting if it wasn't something along those lines but I have a sneaking feeling. Okay, time to mess this up royally: Rand Brittain posted:Okay, it's time for the home stretch! Read to the end of Chapter Thirty-Three. The most recent chunk is really pushing us towards the Third isn't it? We can rule out the Second and the Fourth as having done it, they didn't have keys (and I think they were the only groups without keys to the hatch from asking Teacher, at least at that time?). We know it wasn't the Ninth, Gideon is the narrator and I'm not sure Harrow is good enough to be stealth murdering people while occupied with the imaging puzzle. I assume we can rule out suicide. Sixth had me with his fake confession in this chunk for a second there, but he seemed really genuine. The bit about him helping Camilla hide the body if she killed anyone was certainly weird but I can't think of a reason for her to off them on her own. I don't think the Eighth did it for reasons of...moral consistency? This leaves Third, Seventh, Teacher and the other priests, and unknown necromancy shenanigans as the remaining options. Now the key being gone from Abigail's body is making it look like Third attacked them for the key, Abigail hid the key from them by swallowing (?), and now they've got it back by going into the morgue. I can't decide if I'm over or underthinking this. Why would they choose now and not as soon as possible to get into the morgue? Figured they'd watch the other participants and snatch up the goods all at once? As to who in the Third did it if they did it... If I'm recalling correctly, when they were all together and taking count of the keys, it seemed like Ianthe had gotten a key separately from the rest of the Third. But I think later on it was revealed that Nabs the cavalier had asked Teacher? Am I making that up? So they just faked that whole scene in front of the rest of the Houses? And then there's the whole one twin says "we" the other says "I" bit. Assuming I'm not making up the whole scene faking thing up, I say Ianthe and Nabs at a minimum, I'm torn on Coronabeth. Like, it seems too easy that her role is just as a decoy necromancer but do I only think that because of the nature of the readalong? Were I reading this on my own I'd be blazing through chapters very quickly. quote:Isaac Tettares and Jeannemary Chatur? Going all in on Harrow. She has no motive but nobody else does either and it's the neatest way of solving the locked room  Gideon was kept alive because she likes/needs Gideonquote:Who, if it was related, killed Protesilaus Ebdoma, Hmm, as was mentioned, the fact that Dulcinea seems to imply that Pro is only one body is odd. I mean, maybe there was another body already in the furnace completely unrelated to current events, but that seems rather unsatisfying. So she's either fudging the truth and Pro's body was multiple people or someone else did Pro and someone else in and burned the bodies in the furnace. Metagaming a bit, fudging the truth wouldn't be important to the mystery if it was just a nobody from Seventh House. But Foxfire's theory of Dulcinea not being the original intended wannabee Lyctor but her forcing her way in with a franken cavalier certainly qualifies as important and Dulcinea doesn't know that they found a second body so why not keep things simple to explain. Multiple people has the issue of who else was even around to be killed a few months ago and chucked in the furnace. So I guess Dulcinea quote:Ortus Nigenad, and Glaurica Nigenad? Crux but now I'm gonna also  about their inclusion on the listquote:Who, if anybody, is in the furnace? The original necromancer from Seventh House, very ready to be wrong on this quote:WTF is up with absolutely everything? I don't even know. Like, the whole thing seems set up to be a cooperation game so all Eight Houses can make it but why not just say that it is? If it's not a cooperation game, you'll just end up with horrible Lyctors at the end of it. Unless that's the point but what's the point of having horrible people be Lyctors? I suppose that could be a side effect of the nature of how necromancers get their powers. If the cavaliers and other anonymous souls have to be human batteries for the whole thing to work, you might as well go for the backstabbing from the start.
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Sep 7, 2020 03:03
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My locked room theory, I thought I was so clever  Foxfire_ posted:
All necromancers are nerds, pulling them away from the brink is among a cavalier's most important duties Is the next book in the series a mystery like this one or should I plan to read it on my own time?
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Sep 8, 2020 06:06
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In for Smallbone Deceased as well
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Sep 9, 2020 16:59
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I looked up photos of a lawyer deed box and I guess you might get a whole body in there with sufficient limb severing and some Tetris. It’s odd that no one smelled the body until it was opened, two months is long enough, but I admit to not knowing anything about how decaying flesh smells can permeate I agree that the two deaths are likely related and it’ll probably be one of the first things that Henry and yet to be introduced detective figure out Edit: you know, I assumed he had been killed when he was first missing but maybe he got back from Italy and was only recently killed, making it a crime of opportunity for getting rid of the second trustee. Would explain the smell issue Mecca-Benghazi fucked around with this message at 03:10 on Sep 18, 2020 |
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Sep 18, 2020 03:07
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I'm really enjoying the style of writing, I see why the foreword praised Gilbert so much. There goes the theory about the two deaths being related  List Two:
The face being face-down in the box would seem to narrow down the list of extremely suspicious people but it could also be a red herring. My initial thought is that it was committed with multiple people, at least one of whom was a woman (that entire section could have been a red herring tho). At the very least, it had to have happened during normal business hours and to get to Horniman's office, you have to go through at least one of the secretaries. I suppose Cockerill could be in on it instead if it happened later. Really want to know who the skeleton staff has been on Saturday mornings. If it was the skeleton staff, it rules out everyone that's not a lawyer, secretary, or Cockerill. Guess it's worth mentioning List One, the new arrivals: our Henry Bohun, Mr Prince (litigation), Mr Waugh (cashier), Mrs Porter (typist, doubles for Bohun and Duxford), Charlie Flower (who works with Cockerill in the basement) Looking at the map, in the basement we have Waugh, Prince, and Cockerill/Charlie sharing. Upstairs, one half are the partners and their secretaries. The other half, the typists share a room, Duxford has a room, and Cove and Bohun share.
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Sep 19, 2020 22:59
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My first thought once the detective pointed out the placement of the signature was also that the signature was the only original part and the rest had been typed onto it afterwards, to give an alibi to one of the Saturday people. I guess there's not much hope for Miss Chittering to just be out cold since she did see the face of the person coming in late I want to say that this means we can rule out the sergeant as Miss Chittering's assailant unless he's good at acting and the narrative is deliberately obfuscating things.
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Sep 26, 2020 23:37
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I was leaning towards Cockerill in this last section but that point about bringing a garrote to just get rid of some papers makes it lean towards Chittering's death being intentional. I thought I was being clever figuring out Bob and Anne being an item while reading it I guess I'll agree with Cornel for killing Smallbone and Chittering. Guess golfers have some decent grip strength. Horniman Sr was likely a natural death.
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Oct 1, 2020 01:48
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That was a good read and a very fair mystery. I’m glad Bohun gets a saucer now
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Oct 2, 2020 01:14
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| # ¿ May 17, 2024 18:09 |
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I already own The Shortest Way to Hades because I planned on reading it after the last mystery thread but never got around to it, so that one because it saves me money
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Oct 4, 2020 17:56
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