The Single Staircase Owl Raccoon Book 1 edition by Matt Ingwalson Mystery Thriller Suspense eBooks
Download As PDF : The Single Staircase Owl Raccoon Book 1 edition by Matt Ingwalson Mystery Thriller Suspense eBooks 
A baby disappears from a carefully watched third-floor nursery. Did her parents murder their only child? What other solution could there be? This novella is the perfect doorway to the world of Owl & Raccoon. Two quiet, competent detectives whose frustration and cynicism only barely hides an icy resolve to bring missing children home.
The Owl and Raccoon mysteries are one of the most innovative things going in American crime fiction, combining modern police techniques with classical locked room plots. They will delight fans of Agatha Christie and Michael Connelly alike.
The Single Staircase Owl Raccoon Book 1 edition by Matt Ingwalson Mystery Thriller Suspense eBooks
The Single Staircase is the first installment of the “Owl and Raccoon” novella series by Matt Ingwalson. It follows the investigation of a missing three-month-old girl in the style of a locked room mystery.Owl and Raccoon are two Missing Persons detectives, and their given nicknames match their personalities; Owl is observant, critical, and solemn in his nature, while Raccoon is fast-acting and agile, often burning the midnight oil to pursue a lead. Of the two, I feel that more was revealed about Owl’s character, since he often led the discussions about the investigation and ultimately comes out as the stronger of the two detectives, in part due to his seniority. I’d like to have learned more about Raccoon to have a balanced opinion of both, but the series is still young and the sequel has already been released, hopefully providing deeper insight into these two main characters.
The plot is clearly well-thought-out, and I was pleased when the ending came as a surprise for me. Enough is revealed to give the reader a chance to puzzle it out, but the clues lend themselves to varying interpretations, making this reasoning exercise a full-blown workout.
As for pacing, the story flows along solidly enough, though some details were a little off at points. For instance, the story starts off in the early hours of the morning (the sun is just coming out and spreading its light across the sky), but when the detectives put their hands against the hood of a car to test it for warmth, it’s hard to determine because “it was summertime, hot outside, hot in the garage”. That early in the morning, there shouldn’t be enough heat indoors to be throwing off their hands from sensing recent use from the car engine. This a minor issue, of course, but it made me doubt the apparent omniscience of the narrator.
A larger pacing issue would be the multitude of chapters and the abbreviated nature with which events and details were related to the reader. Sometimes, the chapter split would be made to highlight an important or interesting detail (good!), but other times the creation of a new chapter seemed wholly unnecessary (not so good). These breaks provided some easy suspense in a mystery book with relatively few pages, but one chapter in particular was only two lines long. I laughed at the joke it contained, but then I winced, because that was one less “page” of story in an already short book. Truncated in a similar way to the chapters, the narration could also have benefited from more details to really place the reader into the setting of the story. The short, terse sentences fit well with the gruff mannerisms of the detectives, but they proved distancing when trying to engage my imagination. It felt like the story was whisking along at the pace of a runaway train, rarely pausing to let the reader absorb the details that were being given to them.
However, this changes partway through the book. I don’t know what caused the shift, but I noticed the sentences becoming more developed (and the ideas along with them) as the story transitioned into its climax and denouement. The latter half of the book, supported by the details flung throughout the first half, stood on much stronger legs. What started as a patchy and perplexing abduction/murder mystery turned into an engaging investigation as more avenues of explanation were exhausted.
I would have liked more depth from some of the periphery characters, but the abbreviated nature of their development was endearing at the same time. The level of knowledge we’re given is roughly akin to the actual level of knowledge you might have of someone after a few days of being their acquaintance, and their development reminded me of single-episode television characters unfolding on the screen.
As one reviewer noted, there are several instances of foul language here, and the dialogue is probably one of the weaker points of the novella. With so few pages to work with, some revelations came a little too easily, and the characters would sometimes switch from serene to severe in a matter of seconds. The low reading level of the novella is also at odds with its content and sometimes-harsh language; for those reasons, while a fifth-grader could pretty easily read the whole thing, I couldn’t recommend this book to a fifth-grader.
Finally, there are a few technical issues (a missing period here, a misplaced apostrophe there), but none of these would pull a reader out of the book.
Overall, I was pleased I got to read this. It was a good mental exercise and an easy read to accomplish in one sitting, delivering a fruitful way to spend the morning. The story will keep you guessing until the end, and the detectives are clever enough that I would read their next case.
4/5 stars.
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The Single Staircase Owl Raccoon Book 1 edition by Matt Ingwalson Mystery Thriller Suspense eBooks Reviews
A little weird, the book was okay but seemed a bit weird to me. Storyline okay.
I had the great pleasure of reading The Single Staircase. As soon as I purchased it...I couldn't put it down. I've read a lot of mysteries and can usually figure out the ending, but this was completely well thought out, intelligent and took me by surprise. It has everything you would ever want in a good mystery including well drawn characters, twists, turns, and great dialogue. I can't recommend this book enough, I totally loved it and can't wait to read more from this exciting author.
Poor characters & boring plot... The way the crime is solved is not only rushed but silly, and so it's the ending.
I enjoyed this modern locked room mysteRy
Do not expect flowing, flowery descriptive phrases. You will get blunt details...suits the venue well.
It starts slowly and I thought at first that the main characters were 2 young boys.
Then I thought they were elderly gentlemen.....
The action picks up quickly and then I was caught up for the duration of an invigorating ride.
Be warned that you will read this quickly.
This book is VERY short! I wasn't expecting that. It's more like a long short story than a fully developed novel. That said, I really enjoyed it. A three month old baby has been kidnapped, and the detectives, Owl and Raccoon (their SWAT nicknames) try to find out who took the baby and why. The "single staircase" refers to the staircase that goes from the main floor to the second floor, where the baby's room is. The way the story developed makes sense as to the length. A full-blown novel length would have been too much, in my opinion. If you want a quick read (2-3 hours) this is a book for you. If I remember correctly, it was free.
Wonderful little surprise! Police procedural crossed with a classic locked room mystery. The pace is brisk, the dialog terse, there's no fat on this story. Actually, I think I would have liked a bit more detail, especially description of the characters and settings, but it was a great read even without that. The case was interesting, and the final solution both surprised me and yet was fairly hinted at and made perfect logical sense. Kudos! I hope Owl and Raccoon will be the stars of many further books -- I look forward to reading them.
What a fun, non-stop page turner. The Owl and the Raccoon - in the first couple of pages I thought I was in a fairytale and then the crime happened - and then the case started and net let up. This book captivates the reader and sucks you into the pages without giving any thought you might want to put it down - which you don't. You read on like a hungry animal wanting more. Well thought out, cleanly plotted and paced, and clearly the writer knows about crime, investigations and the pain cops have trying to solve a case before it goes cold. It has all the usual suspects and you chase the wrong ones time after time. When you think you know the ending ... surprise ... you missed by a mile. I loved the book and can't read more from Matt Ingwalson. This is what a crime mystery thriller is all about. Great read - put it on your list. It deserves 5 stars and would've been given more if that was on the scale.
The Single Staircase is the first installment of the “Owl and Raccoon” novella series by Matt Ingwalson. It follows the investigation of a missing three-month-old girl in the style of a locked room mystery.
Owl and Raccoon are two Missing Persons detectives, and their given nicknames match their personalities; Owl is observant, critical, and solemn in his nature, while Raccoon is fast-acting and agile, often burning the midnight oil to pursue a lead. Of the two, I feel that more was revealed about Owl’s character, since he often led the discussions about the investigation and ultimately comes out as the stronger of the two detectives, in part due to his seniority. I’d like to have learned more about Raccoon to have a balanced opinion of both, but the series is still young and the sequel has already been released, hopefully providing deeper insight into these two main characters.
The plot is clearly well-thought-out, and I was pleased when the ending came as a surprise for me. Enough is revealed to give the reader a chance to puzzle it out, but the clues lend themselves to varying interpretations, making this reasoning exercise a full-blown workout.
As for pacing, the story flows along solidly enough, though some details were a little off at points. For instance, the story starts off in the early hours of the morning (the sun is just coming out and spreading its light across the sky), but when the detectives put their hands against the hood of a car to test it for warmth, it’s hard to determine because “it was summertime, hot outside, hot in the garage”. That early in the morning, there shouldn’t be enough heat indoors to be throwing off their hands from sensing recent use from the car engine. This a minor issue, of course, but it made me doubt the apparent omniscience of the narrator.
A larger pacing issue would be the multitude of chapters and the abbreviated nature with which events and details were related to the reader. Sometimes, the chapter split would be made to highlight an important or interesting detail (good!), but other times the creation of a new chapter seemed wholly unnecessary (not so good). These breaks provided some easy suspense in a mystery book with relatively few pages, but one chapter in particular was only two lines long. I laughed at the joke it contained, but then I winced, because that was one less “page” of story in an already short book. Truncated in a similar way to the chapters, the narration could also have benefited from more details to really place the reader into the setting of the story. The short, terse sentences fit well with the gruff mannerisms of the detectives, but they proved distancing when trying to engage my imagination. It felt like the story was whisking along at the pace of a runaway train, rarely pausing to let the reader absorb the details that were being given to them.
However, this changes partway through the book. I don’t know what caused the shift, but I noticed the sentences becoming more developed (and the ideas along with them) as the story transitioned into its climax and denouement. The latter half of the book, supported by the details flung throughout the first half, stood on much stronger legs. What started as a patchy and perplexing abduction/murder mystery turned into an engaging investigation as more avenues of explanation were exhausted.
I would have liked more depth from some of the periphery characters, but the abbreviated nature of their development was endearing at the same time. The level of knowledge we’re given is roughly akin to the actual level of knowledge you might have of someone after a few days of being their acquaintance, and their development reminded me of single-episode television characters unfolding on the screen.
As one reviewer noted, there are several instances of foul language here, and the dialogue is probably one of the weaker points of the novella. With so few pages to work with, some revelations came a little too easily, and the characters would sometimes switch from serene to severe in a matter of seconds. The low reading level of the novella is also at odds with its content and sometimes-harsh language; for those reasons, while a fifth-grader could pretty easily read the whole thing, I couldn’t recommend this book to a fifth-grader.
Finally, there are a few technical issues (a missing period here, a misplaced apostrophe there), but none of these would pull a reader out of the book.
Overall, I was pleased I got to read this. It was a good mental exercise and an easy read to accomplish in one sitting, delivering a fruitful way to spend the morning. The story will keep you guessing until the end, and the detectives are clever enough that I would read their next case.
4/5 stars.
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