Murder in Three Acts vs Mystic river: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Investigation, Murder, Mystery, Fiction
Murder in Three Acts
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Sir Charles Cartwright should have known better than to allow thirteen guests to sit down for dinner. For at the end of the evening one of them is dead—choked by a cocktail that contained no trace of…
Mystic river
“WHEN SEAN DEVINE and Jimmy Marcus were kids, their fathers worked together at the Coleman Candy plant and carried the stench of warm chocolate back home with them.”
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When they were children, Sean Devine, Jimmy Marcus, and Dave Boyle were friends. But then a strange car pulled up to their street. One boy got into the car, two did not, and something terrible happened -- something that…
Side by side
The verdict
- Readers rate Mystic river highest: Mystic river 4.2 · Murder in Three Acts 3.8.
- Murder in Three Acts is the quickest read — about 4 hours vs 9 for Mystic river.
- Mystic river has the widest readership — 171181 ratings behind its score.
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How to choose
Scores by source
| Murder in Three Acts | Mystic river | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 3.8 (51967) | 4.2 (171181) |
| Hardcover | — | 4.1 (184) |
| Apple Books | — | 4.5 (687) |
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Reception
| Murder in Three Acts | Mystic river | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 51967 | 171181 |
| Editions | 103 | 53 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | 26655 | 139549 |
| Reading it now | 2102 | 4943 |
| Written reviews | 4317 | 6742 |
| Wikipedia attention | 1056 | 5175 |
| Pages | 224 | 496 |
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Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: Murder in Three Acts or Mystic river?
Mystic river has the higher combined reader rating across sources (Mystic river 4.2/5, Murder in Three Acts 3.8/5).
Which is shorter to read: Murder in Three Acts or Mystic river?
Murder in Three Acts is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: Murder in Three Acts (224 pages, ≈ 4 h 09 m); Mystic river (496 pages, ≈ 9 h 11 m).
Which is harder to read: Murder in Three Acts or Mystic river?
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — Murder in Three Acts: Challenging; Mystic river: Moderate.
Have both books been made into films?
Murder in Three Acts: no film adaptation on record; Mystic river: 5 film adaptations.