Penny, The Review Group's reviewer Penny for Your ThoughtsThe Review Group
Series ✦ Penny’s Take

A Case of Knives

Peter Rose · 2005
79/100
👍 Worth It

Our records had this wrong — it's not poetry, it's the debut novel of Peter Rose, longtime editor of Australian Book Review, and it was longlisted for the Miles Franklin, Australia's biggest literary prize. A satirical literary mystery in high-society Melbourne — opera, publishing, politics, a vanished young man, two narrators who don't quite trust each other. Only seven Goodreads ratings, but prize juries read it and kept it in the room. For adult readers who like their mysteries witty and literary, worth it.

✦ Penny’s Take — this is The Review Group’s own editorial assessment. Penny’s analytical review line researched this book from real sources and scored it across the lenses shown below. It’s an honest first-party read — not a page-by-page personal one. The gold ✓ Penny Tested mark is reserved for books Penny reads cover to cover herself.
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Show the math
Verdict receipt0–100
safety70
substance82
craft85
originality78
accuracy85
Penny’s verdict79
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