"A literary mystery – antic and amusing, refreshingly profane, elaborately staged, compulsively readable"

This blurb at the beginning of the summary for "Corrupted Humours" by Donald Friedman is what led me to request an advanced digital copy of this novel from NetGalley.

Unfortunately, after giving it the old "gipper try" (read 50% of the novel) I am unable to finish. Perhaps it was the wrong time for me to read this , perhaps it was my mindset, perhaps the novel inside a novel was just too much, or ultimately a murder mystery built around death by flatulance was just a bridge too far...but to paraphrase a popular movie title: I'm just not that into you.

Sorry I tried twice to get through this book, The story line was odd and confusing, I didn’t really get the humor. I also worked in surgery for 20 years, so this is a No for me. I do appreciate the effort of the writer. I also chose not to add this review to other sites.

I can't finish this book. Maybe it was the beginning - so odd and technical that I lost the story line. Plus I realize that it's an advanced copy but the formatting was so off, I couldn't follow it.
Example - He reflected on how with his penis diverted from the marriage his wife turned daily more angry and depressed, and how there was really no reason he should feel guilty about that.

Sorry I did not finish.

i had a really hard time trying to understand what was going on in this book. After the 4th try i just gave up. i hope to return later with a different review

I really wanted to like this book more than I did. It looked so creative, dark, and funny. But I had such trouble getting into it--maybe because it opens with some very clinical language when Albert's body explodes on the operating table. Or maybe it's just the mood I'm in and I can't deal with anything this weird and quirky right now. Usually I'm all about weird and quirky but this took too much work getting into that I had to push myself which made me skim too much. I'm usually better about knowing what to request as I know what I like so don't take my word for it as it has some 5-star reviews! Just not the book for me!

The premise of this book was very interesting and I usually enjoy a mystery that is told in a different, creative way. However, I had a difficult time focusing on the storyline while reading this book. I found myself getting easily distracted several times and unfortunately I did not get all the way to the end of this novel. The idea of the story is what drew me to this book, maybe told in a different way it may have been more successful.

Corrupted Humours, had a very interesting plot, but I think the way they presented the story for us to read made the story hard to read. I think if I read it again in a format that was different from the one sent for us to review I may have liked the story better.

I loved this book. It was intriguing, funny and compulsively readable. The characters were also vivid and fresh. A fantastic literary mystery.

Corrupted all right. I gave this novel three tries and couldn't understand what it was about and finally realized that I didn't care. The idea of a doctor dying during surgery from his own gas was intriguing. Then, nothing so interesting, or intelligible. Perhaps a guide to reading the novel should be added. Or at least some overview that goes beyond the synopsis given. I was just confused and bored. Sorry, I wanted to like it.
Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC.

Perhaps I just wasn't in the mood for this. A good mystery is enticing and all-consuming, I've read more than one that was so engrossing I decided to take my own notes as I read along. This one didn't quite do it for me.