Word Nerds Unite!
The Broken Teaglass, by Emily Arsenault, is a story for lovers of words . . . Word Nerds . . . enthusiasts who love reading words, but also love learning their definitions, musing on their origins, and finding the best and most accurate words for use in their own vocabulary.
Who knew this is how dictionaries are created? Amazing. Somehow the author took the rather dry world of lexicographers and made an intriguing mystery out of it. I was hooked and enjoyed the story within a story.
Pros and Cons
Toward the end though, the mystery dribbled away. I had figured out the culprit early on in the story. I also believe the author tried to beef up her characters by throwing in an illness, which to me was irrelevant to the character’s personality and actions. I was more intrigued by the relationships between several of the characters, and I was somewhat disappointed in how these developed. No POP there in the end, though we were left with a promise or two.
Still, I really liked the book and the way the author threw seeds of the mystery out there so the reader could gather the scattered clues. Well worth reading. Enjoy this different sort of sleuthing.
Jeanne Meeks ~ Fiction Author 