A Blunt Instrument vs Why shoot a butler?: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: 1930s, Country homes, Contemporary, Investigation, England, Murder
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…
Why shoot a butler?
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Every family has secrets, but the Fountains' are turning deadly…On a dark night, along a lonely country road, barrister Frank Amberley stops to help a young lady in distress and discovers a sports car with a corpse…
Side by side
The verdict
- Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
- A Blunt Instrument is the quickest read — about 3 hours vs 6 for Why shoot a butler?.
- Why shoot a butler? has the widest readership — 5577 ratings behind its score.
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Scores by source
| A Blunt Instrument | Why shoot a butler? | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | — | 3.7 (5577) |
| Hardcover | 3.7 (9) | 3.4 (10) |
| Apple Books | 4.0 (34) | 4.0 (37) |
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Reception
| A Blunt Instrument | Why shoot a butler? | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 34 | 5577 |
| Editions | 49 | 41 |
| Citations | 3 | — |
| Film adaptations | 1 | — |
| Want to read | — | 2926 |
| Reading it now | — | 458 |
| Written reviews | — | 582 |
| Wikipedia attention | 3147 | — |
| Pages | 199 | 336 |
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Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: A Blunt Instrument or Why shoot a butler??
A Blunt Instrument has the higher combined reader rating across sources (A Blunt Instrument 3.8/5, Why shoot a butler? 3.7/5).
Which is shorter to read: A Blunt Instrument or Why shoot a butler??
A Blunt Instrument is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: A Blunt Instrument (199 pages, ≈ 3 h 41 m); Why shoot a butler? (336 pages, ≈ 6 h 13 m).
Which is harder to read: A Blunt Instrument or Why shoot a butler??
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — A Blunt Instrument: Challenging; Why shoot a butler?: Challenging.