Split: Secrets by the Sea

“As ashes, we are all the same”

My Thoughts

I started this book with the expectation of being thrust into a murder mystery in Split during the 30s and the beginning of the book did just that. The first chapter immediately dives into the mystery with the discovery of the victim’s body and lovely imagery to bring you into the world, but, it only goes downhill from there.

A lot of the book focuses on reiterating the history of the time including the Russian revolution, Communists, Nazi Germans, Italian fascists and the Freemasons to name a few. It was like reading a history textbook rather than a murder mystery novel. Secondly, the author kept introducing characters without fully developing them which left me feeling disconnecting and honestly, indifferent to what happened to them.

Majority of the characters didn’t even contribute anything meaningful to the investigation or the plotline. Almost everyone the superintendent spoke to would give their thoughts on the culprit’s identity based on their prejudices. For example, a character that hated the Nazis would say it was a German and a character who opposed Communism would say it was a big Communist conspiracy. The mystery took a backseat in all of this until I honestly could not even remember what was being investigated in the first place, which is quite unfortunate for a book marketed as a ‘historical fiction murder mystery’.

One positive aspect though, was the description and vivid imagery in this book. I could very clearly visualise the places the author was talking about like the port. Even when describing the characters, Bremer would slowly bring in aspects of their physical appearance and traits until it snowballed into a fully-formed person.

Now, although these are my views on the book, I am a firm believer that not every book is for every reader. So, if you are the kind of person who enjoys historically deep novels or is simply looking for a unique beach-side read, pick this one up!