A Blunt Instrument vs The Unfinished Clue: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: 1930s, Contemporary, Police, England, Thriller, Mystery
A Blunt Instrument
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Inspectors Hannasyde & Hemingway #4 Who would kill the perfect gentleman? When Ernest Fletcher is found bludgeoned to death in his study, everyone is shocked and mystified: Ernest was well liked and respected, so who…
The Unfinished Clue
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It should have been a lovely English country-house weekend. But the unfortunate guest-list is enough to exasperate a saint, and irascible General Sir Arthur Billington-Smith was nobody's idea of the perfect host. In…
Side by side
The verdict
- Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
- The Unfinished Clue has the widest readership — 5712 ratings behind its score.
- A Blunt Instrument runs the darker storyline; The Unfinished Clue stays the lighter read.
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How to choose
Scores by source
| A Blunt Instrument | The Unfinished Clue | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | — | 3.9 (5712) |
| Hardcover | 3.7 (9) | 3.6 (14) |
| Apple Books | 4.0 (34) | 4.5 (37) |
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Reception
| A Blunt Instrument | The Unfinished Clue | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 34 | 5712 |
| Editions | 49 | 31 |
| Citations | 3 | — |
| Film adaptations | 1 | — |
| Want to read | — | 2919 |
| Reading it now | — | 257 |
| Written reviews | — | 512 |
| Wikipedia attention | 3147 | 3147 |
| Pages | 199 | 246 |
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Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: A Blunt Instrument or The Unfinished Clue?
The Unfinished Clue has the higher combined reader rating across sources (The Unfinished Clue 3.9/5, A Blunt Instrument 3.8/5).
Which is shorter to read: A Blunt Instrument or The Unfinished Clue?
A Blunt Instrument is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: A Blunt Instrument (199 pages, ≈ 3 h 41 m); The Unfinished Clue (246 pages, ≈ 4 h 33 m).
Which is harder to read: A Blunt Instrument or The Unfinished Clue?
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — A Blunt Instrument: Challenging; The Unfinished Clue: Challenging.