WWI nurse Bess Crawford visits Kent to pass on the last message of a dead soldier. She finds herself in the midst of a confusing web of deceit and mysterious deaths, pursuing the truth about a murder from years earlier.
I'm still trying to figure out if I liked this one or not. Some elements, like Peregrine's guilt, were obvious almost from the beginning. But I've forgiven obvious plot developments in other books if the story was involving enough. It was a very slow read and dragged in the middle, but the same is true of Todd's Ian Rutledge series, which I love. And the author made it believable that Bess would investigate; although it is technically none of her business, when her nursing saves the life of one of the men involved, I had no trouble (as a nurse myself) identifying with her compulsion to find the truth. But, while I did finish the book, I didn't have the "what comes next?" feeling making me want more.
Being considered for promotion to archdeacon and simultaneously threatened with exposure of a long-ago homosexual affair, a married vicar calls on his former lover for advice.
Should have been categorized as gay/lesbian fiction rather than mystery. Way too much information for my interest, and I gave up pretty quickly.
Newly appointed as eldress to the tiny 1930's Shaker community of North Homage, Rose tries to make sense of attacks on the Shaker community that may be tied to a long-ago death.
I couldn't get into the story. The Shakers are portrayed both as stupid incompetents and victims of hate crimes. None of the characters are particularly appealing. There was nothing appalling about it but nothing to keep me reading, either. I got a quarter of the way through and gave up.
Hugh is suspicious when the local beadle is found with his throat torn out, apparently by an animal. The next death is definitely murder, and Hugh's head suffers as he follows a devious trail involving a piece of wood, a possible poacher, several clerics, and a lovely distraction.
Interesting story but could have been better written. Starr sprinkles the story way too generously with "if I had only known" and "I later found" comments, which are distracting at best. There are numerous religious comments, and even though I agreed with most of them, they were irrelevant to the story. However, this is a case of a good story making up for technical flaws. I read until the end and the series stays on my to-read list.
Hired by a baronet to retrieve a pocket-book lifted by a prostitute, Benjamin Weaver has to kill the girl's thug and then is blamed by his employer because something is missing from the book.
I barely got 40 pages into the book before giving up. It was a miserable combination of unlikable characters, heavy-handed "if I had only known" foreshadowing, and tedious narration.
An oil company hires Kate to find out who is selling drugs to their employees. She is appalled to find that she likes the people and the company-sponsored luxurious lifestyle, complete with gourmet meals and a sauna, and that her suspect list includes a former co-worker and a new friend.
A straightforward mystery and a fast read. One of the elements that I particularly like about Stabenow's stories is the blending with native Alaskan culture. Sadly, it was lacking in this book except for a minor thread, but hopefully it will reappear in future Kate Shugak tales.
Annie discovers she is pregnant by her almost-ex-husband Gary while trying to start a new business as a mural painter with her first client Sam.
I could not get into this story at all. Annie is whiny, Gary is sleazy, Annie’s client Sam is impossibly wonderful, none of them were real enough to care about. I barely for a quarter of the way through and I wasn’t even curious enough to skip to the end.
Erlendur and the team try to find the killer of a 10-year-old boy, with a secretive mother, traumatized brother, and translator of questionable loyalty hindering their investigation. After the mother spirits the brother into hiding and refuses to identify her boyfriend, a hint from a child molester sends Erlendur hunting for an unknown pedophile who lived nearby. Meanwhile, Eva Lind reappears and wants to talk to Erlendur about the rumors concerning his brother’s death.
As always, I loved it even though it is exactly the type of book I normally avoid: a gritty police procedural with mostly unlikable characters. I wouldn’t want to sit in a coffee shop and chat with any of them. Less of Eva Lind in this book was a Good Thing and let Indriason concentrate on the main story. The translator should be put through some suitable torture for all the Britishisms jarring my focus on the story. British and American English have so many words in common that there is no need to use those that are clearly one or the other and present an incongruity. (Iceland isn’t England, you know. Nor is it the U.S., and I would have found Americanisms just as jarring.) Although a slow read, Indriason continues to hold me enthralled in the story.
Forced to choose among three suitors selected by Her Majesty Elizabeth I, 13-year-old heiress Lady Grace Cavendish is later horrified when one of the rejected suitors is found dead and her fiance is charged with the murder.
I’ve found two types of “juvenile” novels. The more common type focuses on the silliness of young people, with lots of emphasis on slang and texting, and I have no interest in those at all. The wonderful “Chronicles of Narnia” best represent the second type, which offers straightforward but logical and involving plots and unsubtle but accurate characterization, and can be read and enjoyed by all ages. I am happy to report this series starts as the second type. There are a lot of convenient plot devices, such as Grace and Ellie happening to overhear a substitution plot and Grace’s uncle being the court physician, but the plot moves along as such a spanking clip that I didn’t realize it until afterwards. There is even a critical piece of information that is not given to the reader and I didn’t throw the book against the wall. Very fast read (only took me 2 hours) but thoroughly enjoyable.
Beautiful parson’s daughter Arabella looks forward to a “season” in London to snag a rich husband and help her younger sisters. Forced to seek shelter at a nearby house when her borrowed coach breaks down, she is so offended when the rich bachelor host assumes she staged the accident to try to “catch” him that she impulsively presents herself as also rich and desperately pursued. Impressed by her (but not by her obvious-to-him deception), he lets drop a few words to ensure she is accepted and admired by London society. He eventually proposes and Arabella, desperately regretful at having started the deception, feels she must refuse.
Usual Regency romance, completely obvious as to what would happen. I got a quarter of the way through and then skipped to the end.
Lily and her brother Robert are among the nouveau-poor following the Crash of ’29. So when they learn they will inherit a late great-uncle’s house and a million dollars if they live in the house ten years, there is no real choice. They discover that the uncle was murdered and determine to track down the murderer with the help of a hungry reporter, but everyone seems to have a secret to hide.
It was a pretty interesting story (even though most of the developments were obvious well in advance) until Churchill pulled a “now they knew the murderer” trick near the end of the book. I think she was trying to mimic Agatha Christie but it was still very annoying to have Lily and Robert discussing it with Mr. Prinney but hiding the information from the reader. I certainly can’t complain that the reader wasn’t given the information to identify the killer, I had the murderer pegged halfway through the book. The title had nothing to do with the story, one of my pet peeves. Lily and Robert are both very likable people who have become stronger through adversity, so I’ll check out the next in the series to see if Churchill has learned to avoid these irritating problems.
Collection of the “best” locked-room and otherwise impossible mysteries.
I’m not sure what criterion Hoch used to select these stories, but if not the “best” they’re certainly very good. I found them intriguing and well-written. The short-story format is wonderful for a locked-room mystery, which basically requires the detective to determine only how the suspect who cannot have done it actually did it. There were even a couple of science-fiction mysteries by two greats in the field, Poul Anderson and Isaac Asimov.
A group of pilgrims travelling to Thomas a Becket’s shrine in Canterbury decide they should entertain each other with stories each evening. A knight volunteers to start with a tale of Satan-worshippers committing grisly murders in Oxford.
I wasn’t thrilled with the series idea, and the frequent interruptions of the knight’s story by comments from the other pilgrims was terribly distracting. But the clincher was that I really dislike Satanists-based stories, so I barely read this one at all. But I'll still be checking out the rest of the series.
Psychologist Peter Zak is asked to help a man accused of murder solely on the basis of his brain-injured ex-wife’s recollection that he did it.
I really thought I would like this series as I like psychobabble and stories in which a psychological element is critical to the resolution. But the main character was too far gone to hold my interest, and none of the others were particularly interesting to start. Zak is practically crippled by the murder of his wife a couple of years earlier and unwilling to go back to working with criminals. Ephron neatly avoids dumping tons of backstory on a not-yet-interested reader, but Zak is so clearly obsessed with what happened that it is the elephant-in-the-corner problem. Sylvia reminded me too much of various people I've known who refused to grow up and relied on some aspect of their personality to keep their lives pleasant and undemanding. I got about 1/3 of the way through before giving up.
When a critical witness is killed, newly-elected DA Chris Sinclair watches his case fall apart against a criminal mastermind with a perfect public persona.
As soon as I realized this was a legal thriller rather than a murder mystery, I quit. Legal thrillers are just too scary for me.
Jill Francis comes to Lydmouth to visit friends after quitting her newspaper job. Richard Thornhill is new to Lydmouth CID and trying to cope with a critical, micromanaging boss. Charlie Meade is much more interested in his criminal activity than his fussbudget boss. The only element remotely connecting them is the discovery of the skeleton of a baby.
Bouncing between three seemingly unrelated stories makes it hard for the reader to figure out what is going on, but I would have stuck with the book if any of them had been interesting. They weren’t. Jill is running from some unspecified grief, Thornhill has an unsatisfactory marriage, and Charlie is just a typical thief. I only made it through the first 50 pages before I gave up.
Agatha and the latest gorgeous-man-next-door, computer programmer Paul Chatterton, briefly investigate a reported ghost haunting the cottage of a feisty old woman. But when she dies under suspicious circumstances, Paul and Agatha make several dangerous discoveries while hunting for the killer.
Agatha’s obsession with any attractive man continues to irritate, but fortunately there is enough going on in the story to keep me reading. Beaton’s villains are never the most realistic characters but the story moves at a fast pace.
Vicar Bloxby’s gorgeous new assistant puts the ladies of Carsely in a lather. But when he is found murdered in the vicar’s study, Mrs. Bloxby asks Agatha and her writer-neighbor John Armitage to find the murderer and lift the suspicion from her husband.
Solid workmanlike mystery with even more twists than usual.
During the sixth century A.D., Sister Fidelma is part of the pro-Columba delegation to convince a Saxon king he would be wrong to ally with the Roman Church.
Authors need to remember that it’s their job to interest the reader in their characters instead of acting like it’s the reader’s privilege and obligation to sop up lengthy explanations. I waded through 50 pages of who Sister Fidelma’s fellow travelers were, and who made up the Archbishop’s party, and who was arguing for Rome and who for Columba, and who was the king and his three wives and the children of each before I gave up.
Worried about her husband’s long absence on a supposed business trip, an incredibly stupid 17th century Scottish woman insists on traveling to Edinburgh to find him, even though Edinburgh is full of Edward Longshanks’ English troops and his cousin was just killed on the same errand.
Maybe the author thinks ignoring the realities of war is supposed to show courage and independence of mind. I think it just shows stupidity and I had no sympathy for Margaret, so I had no interest in her trials.
Ageless and undying priest Nicholas Segalla is sent by his master Archbishop Beaton to protect Mary, Queen of Scotland, from plots to dethrone her. With two of Beaton's agents posing as his wife and servant, Segalla is unaware that his own service is being watched by Elizabeth I's spymaster Walsingham, who is also curious about Segalla's failure to grow older.
This book lost me for several reasons. First, I'm not overfond of rewriting history, period. Second, adding the fantasy element of an immortal who managed to be present at crucial moments of history was even more jarring. Finally, there was an awkward introduction in which Segalla, still alive on the cusp of the 21st century, conveys his nature and story to historian Ann Dukthas. I kept reading, thinking maybe the story would be involving enough to overcome these flaws, but gave up 1/3 of the way through.
Kathryn Swinbrooke practices as a physician and apothecary in Canterbury. Having ended the War of the Roses, King Edward assigns his aide Colum Murtagh to investigate the murder of pilgrims coming to the shrine of Thomas a Becket, and Colum recruits Kathryn to help, and together they try to identify the killer who is following a tale.
Slow-moving plot with occasional change of POV to that of the killer. Both Colum and Kathryn have an awful lot of emotional baggage; apparently Doherty bought into the “a little trauma is good so lots is better” philosophy, for at least this book. I think it just gets in the way of the story. Even worse, Doherty (who I KNOW knows better) pulled a “now she knew the murderer” without telling the reader the crucial evidence near the end of the book. I HATE that, it is lazy writing and disrespectful of the reader. That’s the last book in this series I’ll be reading!
Beautiful actress Christine Clay is found drowned on an English beach. But her death turns out to be murder and Inspector Grant’s prime suspect disappears after being proved innocent.
Solid workmanlike mystery with enough red herrings to make a large pie. I’m not sure all the clues were there because I was totally misled, but there were no “now he knew whodunit” escapes although Tey doesn’t make it easy for the reader. (Nor should she.)
Harper and warrior Lugh Mac Romain accidentally kills the King and hastily leaves his home for fear of the curse of the Queen.
I would have said there was no period in history that absolutely did not interest me. I was apparently wrong, and the period that simply bores me is ancient Ireland. The author did a fine job of presenting the feel of the era, I just didn’t like it, and got barely a quarter of the way through before I gave up.
An unemployed would-be burglar courts a kitchenmaid to gain access to her employer’s home. Meanwhile, the owner of the house is obsessed with preventing a burglary, no matter who he discommodes.
Full of unlikeable characters. I gave up halfway through.
Claire Hanover only let handsome Enrique Romero into her bedroom to give her a paid-for massage. But no one believes her: not her husband Roger who is charged with Enrique’s murder, not her friends who think she deserved a little playing around after Roger’s long neglect, and not the police detective who refuses to accept that Roger was framed.
I sure can’t complain about a slow start in this book; on the first page, Claire is talking to the detective right after Enrique’s murder. But I do complain about the long flashback to tell the reader, in tedious detail, what led up to the murder. Plus, this was a classic “woman puts herself in danger over and over” case. I got halfway through but then couldn’t stand it any more and skipped to the end; turns out I didn’t like her murderer’s rationale, either, for personal reasons. I wanted to like this series, since it’s set in fairly-nearby Colorado Springs, but I just couldn’t.
In 1434 England, Joliffe and his fellow players are thrilled when the local squire hosts them at the instigation of a retarded ward. But when a Lollard spy is found murdered outside the barn where the players have been staying, Joliffe has more to worry about than how the chief actor knows the squire.
Slow read with more about the everyday life of the players than any mystery, but it held my interest and I read through to the end even though I could see whodunit.
Symington Smythe III is on his way to London to try to find work as an actor when he encounters young Will Shakespeare, who wants to write poetry and plays. The two share adventures as they meet famous people and try to work their way up into the company.
I couldn’t get into this for several reasons. First, I generally don’t like using real people as fictional characters. Second, it was just unutterably cutesy for Shakespeare and Smythe to keep coming up with what would “later” be famous lines from Shakespeare’s plays. Third, the secondary story of an arranged marriage had a different tone and only the most tenuous connection to the main storyline. Finally, the main plot didn’t seem to go anywhere or have a point, and the characters weren’t involving enough to keep me reading such a disjointed story. I gave up about halfway through.
A Christian girl living in Jerusalem when the Romans destroyed it in 66 AD suffers starvation and keeps flashing back to when her father was alive. A barbarian man leads a small band of fellow engaging in guerilla warfare against the Romans.
If there was more to this book, I sure couldn’t find it. It was so boring as well as disjointed that I kept skipping forward, trying to find a section that would hold my interest, and never did. I gave up about a quarter of the way through.
A runaway princess and a beaten boy find a new life in a forest hut.
Very short but charming story, quite enjoyable until I got to the simplistic ending.
Forcibly retired by a heart attack, Thomas finds a new interest in life when a secret room in his newly-purchased country manor yields a 150-year-old skeleton of a boy. The police are more interested in the murdered woman found locally but cannot find her husband to charge him with the crime.
Unusual mystery but held my attention, intertwining two separate murder mysteries. Most of the events were pretty well telegraphed but I didn’t guess who was responsible for the modern-day killing. However, I think it was shabby of Aird to not let the reader in on the secret behind the murder.
A stranger misdirected to Magdalene’s house sports with a girl and then keeps an appointment at the church, where he is stabbed and later found by his playmate. The sacristan accuses the whores of killing him, so Magdalene appeals to the bishop for help. The bishop sends an aide, Sir Bellamy, to investigate.
Slow read, and full of items that might be accepted individually but together put too much of a burder on my willingness to suspend disbelief. A woman might be running away from a false murder charge OR have learned to read somewhere OR be protected by a nobleman and set up in her own “stew” OR be protected by a bishop in return for paying a high rent. I might even accept a couple of these. But all of them happening to the same person was too much. Then she addressed her protector as plain “William” in front of his men. In fact, later in the book she addresses him (properly) as Lord William. And then Gellis pulled the stunt of having a character learn something that she didn’t share with the reader! Boooo! I don’t think I’ll be reading any further in this series.
I had the pleasure of a response from the author to a post on Magdalene I made on the CrimeThruTime Yahoogroup. She was very polite and explained a couple of items that bothered me, namely ignoring the Saxon/Norman conflict or the prevalence of smallpox scarring, saying they were irrelevant to the story, the Saxon/Norman conflict was over and the people of that time didn't notice smallpox (or lice or other common events that we would definitely notice today). That tells *me* that I wouldn't enjoy her books - I'm enough of a history buff to need more emphasis on authenticity to be able to concentrate on the story - but there are plenty of people who wouldn't notice those details and it was certainly gracious of her to respond.
Christmas-themed short story collection.
Okay for when you’re in a Christmas mood, but only “Exultate Jubilate” stood out positively to me. I really disliked “Watchman, Tell Us of the Night” and “My Name Is Joseph.”
Collection of four Pern stories, three dragon-themed. Two have appeared elsewhere, about Keevan and Araminta, and two were new to me.
I was a bit disappointed that I’d already read half the book, and the last story was rather wimpy, but the remaining story revealed a new aspect of life on Pern. I wouldn’t go out of my way to read this, but if you’re a Pern fan you’ll probably enjoy it.
A reporter in 1989 Syracuse investigates the unsolved murder of two girls twenty years earlier.
One of the back-cover blurbs commends Read’s “keen eye for detail.” She definitely has that: she describes people and situations in Dickensian quantity as well as style. What she forgot is the story. By the time I got a quarter-way through the book, I knew about Madeline’s childhood and adolescence (yup, lotsa flashbacks) as well as her marriage, in-laws, social background, furniture, boss, co-workers, car, and husband’s job. But all I knew of the murder was that two girls had been victims. Tired of endless minutiae, I gave up.
A flipped-out man goes on a shooting spree, leaving several people dead. But when it turns out one of them was killed by a bullet from a different gun, Jack assigns Kate to find the second killer.
The killer was pretty obvious, but the story makes it obvious to Kate also. There were certainly flaws in the story: Kate does some things that are ethically questionable at best, and Stabenow never explains or shows *how* the murder was committed, only *why*. Stabenow’s mysteries are neither the cozies I usually prefer nor classic police procedurals. They are an intriguing combination of detective work and understanding Alaskan culture. Not exactly what I’d call enjoyable, but they keep me reading.
Kate’s wilderness retreat is disturbed by a former colleague, asking her to find a missing cheechako ranger and the investigator sent to track him down, who is now missing also.
Yet another wounded-heroine series, but this one has some redeeming features. Stabenow keeps the flashbacks very short, just a few paragraphs, to provide backstory without bringing the current story to a slamming halt. Kate is not only scarred by her injury, but by her experiences as an Alaska native in a white world and then trying to return home. Stabenow writes in a dark mood, very Sam Spade-ish, peopled with exotic characters sharing the same basic needs: self-image, control, power. The pace slowed a bit in the middle but mostly moved right along.
Agatha notes odd behavior in a honeymooning couple while on her vacation. Later, she thinks she sees similar behavior in an engaged couple and when the girl is found dead, she investigates to prove the boyfriend is responsible. But there are lots of other suspects, especially as Agatha discovers the victim was not the young innocent she appeared. She has a new helper, a novelist who has bought James’ house. But of course she isn’t interested in him …
Good workmanlike mystery, a bit more convoluted than normal and with way more unlikeable characters than I enjoy. But the story overcame them and I kept reading.
Another short story collection edited by Stabenow, this one with a theme of crimes solved by forensic evidence.
I have definitely enjoyed Stabenow’s collections, and this was no exception. Some of the stories weren’t murder mysteries, which made a nice change. Some were more gory than I thought necessary, and in some the twist at the end was predictable. But overall, well worth reading.
Romanov princess Juliana flees Russia for England when her family is murdered. Living as a gypsy, she is forced by Henry VII to wed Baron Stephen de Lacey, but the two determine to leave their marriage a sham until the king’s interest turns elsewhere. Neither had counted on being attracted to the other.
This was a “historical” romance, with all the usual drivel: incredibly beautiful noblewoman who attracts him despite himself, brilliant and handsome man who knows how to bring her to the peak of pleasure, and both of them wanting each other but fighting it. And the princess magically knows just what will help the baron’s sick son, better than the physicians and nurses of the time. It was just icing on the cake that Wiggs mucked up Juliana’s name: her father was Gregor Romanov, so Romanov was her family name (which would not be changed to Romanovna) and she would be known formally as Juliana Gregoriovna. Absolute twaddle, and I won’t be bothering with the rest of the series.
Weyr, Hold, and Craft are mostly thrilled at the opportunity to learn history and technology from computer Aivas. But even as Aivas teaches and drills them to be ready for a window of opportunity to eliminate Thread forever, someone is determined to destroy Aivas - and anyone who approves of it.
Even not counting the unbelievability of a computer surviving 2500 years with no human attention, I didn’t’ think suddenly bringing the Pernese into a technologically-based culture was a good idea from a storytelling POV. I enjoyed the world McCaffrey had created and didn’t want to see it turn into just another Terran world. Then impossibility simply built on impossibility as the story progressed … . . but that didn’t keep me from reading.
Agatha & James’ new marriage is not going well. Desperately in love, Agatha tries to ignore his criticisms and lack of affection, but her temper flares often enough for their arguments to become the talk of the village. Fortunately, she is at a concert in front of thousands of people when James disappears, leaving behind a trail of blood. A few days later, his alleged girlfriend is also found dead, and the still-missing James becomes the prime suspect. Determined to prove him innocent, Agatha and Sir Charles investigate the background of the murdered woman, and of course find more than they had bargained on.
Although self-righteous and obnoxious James was not an asset to the series, this was an unbelievable and unsatisfying way to write him out. This has been a pattern throughout the series: a well-written and logical mystery with confusing and illogical secondary stories. The title had less connection than usual to the story as well. At whatever point the annoyance of the secondary stories becomes more than the enjoyment of the mystery, I’ll give up.
Paul Hudson accepts a call to pastor a dying church, but becomes so focused on growing the church he offends the longtime servants and neglects his family.
I couldn’t finish this book. Paul was too self-centered to be interesting, and I don’t enjoy watching people do evil, especially in the Lord’s name.
The day Graham Marshall learned he would not receive his expected promotion, he killed a derelict. Getting away with that murder made him feel special and he soon identified others that his world would be better without …
This book was just as unpleasant as it sounds. I couldn’t get far into it; Graham’s initial dislikeability only increased as he blamed everyone else for his loss of temper that resulted in a man’s death. If you need a report on a thoroughly horrible character, this would be a great book; otherwise, pass it by.
Dalgliesh investigates the murder of a psychiatric clinic administrator.
Clever convolutions within convolutions, and I let them completely fool me as to the murderer's identity.
The adventures of newly-qualified Doctor Barry Laverty as he adjusts to the demands of a country GP practice and a quirky but knowledgable boss.
Meandering collection of events rather than a traditional novel, but well-enough written for those who like this type of book. I’ve enjoyed similar books, particularly James Herriott’s, but this failed to catch my interest and I won’t be bothering with the sequels.
The chance to buy the building of Fire at Will excites Carolyn, but then a building inspector is found murdered and Bill is the prime suspect.
Glazer started with the oldest and weakest foreshadowing of all, the hackneyed “if only I had known this-and-such would happen.” Other than that, it’s well enough written, with the Firing Squad identifying one suspect after another.
Dominic and Clarice Corde are filling in for a vacationing vicar when Clarice finds his body in the basement of his house. Their attempts to investigate the murder conflict with their desire to show how well Dominic can fill a vicar’s position.
So slow-moving I gave up when the murder didn’t appear until almost halfway through. This series seems to make use of characters from Perry’s other series, and for whatever reason I haven’t read the book introducing these characters, and there was nothing in this book to make me care about them.
Agatha rents a house in Norfolk and is baffled by fluttering lights in her garden that the residents do not want to talk about. After she brags to the local ladies about authoring a book, she starts writing a murder mystery called “Death at the Manor.” When the self-appointed squire is murdered, just as described in her book, she has some explaining to do to the local police.
The James obsession continues to be annoying but it’s a background issue now, as Agatha and Sir Charles try to find the murderer. Otherwise, another solid mystery in this series.
Roe inherits a house with a horrifying secret.
Not the usual mystery, as the murder victim is already a skeleton when the story starts. And to be honest, I didn’t have any sympathy with Roe’s decision to keep her find a secret instead of immediately telephoning the police. But I also did NOT identify the murderer, although there was as much evidence pointing to this person as anyone else.
Agatha runs away to the seaside town of Wyckhadden and finds a local witch murdered. Still obsessed with James, she uses a love potion on a local police inspector and becomes engaged.
Agatha’s and James’ frustrated interest in each other remains the big weak point of this series. Agatha truly tries to let the police investigate the murders but while I can see her relishing the situation of two men wanting to enjoy her company, it wasn’t believable that she would accept a marriage proposal from someone she knew she didn’t love.
Vetch and Avatre arrive in Alta, but to stay with his dragon, Vetch will have to remake himself as Kiron, a young noble worthy to ride her. When he rescues a young sea witch, he gains a valuable ally. The Altans jump at the chance to raise tame dragons like Avatre, and Kiron teaches them to hatch eggs like he did. Meanwhile, both Kiron and his Altan friends become suspicious of the Magi.
Involving, mostly believable story that I had trouble putting down. One weak spot is the Winged One, who first manages to evade the Magi, then become a dragon rider in a society that did NOT accept women as fighters. Another weak spot is relying on, and eventually using, the mythical city-in-the-desert that every culture seems to have.
In the little English town of Castlemere, a new DI investigates the murder of a nurse while Supt Shapiro pursues the murderer of one of his officers.
Nothing particularly wrong with it, but I don’t care for police procedurals and neither the story nor the characters were so compelling I just had to keep reading.
Odd book with no real story, featuring the unlikeable members and staff of a country club who want to get rid of the geese fouling their golf course.
I could not figure out what the purpose of this book was. There was no plot, not a character in the bunch that you’d want to invite home, no character growth, just no reason to keep reading.
Agatha suspects a gifted hairdresser of blackmail, but when he is poisoned, her detective efforts are hampered by James’ continued absence and Sir Charles’ desire to be amused.
Straightforward mystery with lots of red herrings. I’m not sure the reader was given enough info to identify the murderer but probably.
In this prequel to earlier books in the series, Deborah has just returned from studying in America and is engaged to Lynley, who is already working for Scotland Yard. An engagement party weekend in Cornwall, including Lynley’s brother Peter and other cocaine addicts, is interrupted by the murder of an adulterous newspaper editor. After the arrest of the victim’s father-in-law, an addict who knew Peter was at the murder scene is found dead at the base of the Cornish cliffs. Lynley’s and Simon’s investigations are cluttered by their own beliefs and family loyalties as well as by the attempts of other people to protect their secrets.
I find prequels disorienting. It’s hard to take Lynley & Deborah’s engagement seriously knowing she’s actually going to marry Simon. This was also much slower-moving than earlier books; the first part of the book is solely concerned with the Deborah/Lynley/Helen/Simon relationship, complicated but not nearly as interesting as George’s usual twisty plots and far too dependent on coincidences to be believable. The murder and investigation are up to her usual standard if you can put up with the whiny relationship storylines.
Agatha and James are still avoiding each other so Agatha takes on a new client, a water company selling water from a roadside spring in the nearby town of Ancombe. But her PR efforts fight against scandal when the chairman of the village board is found murdered.
We’re back to James and Agatha alternately interested in each other and avoiding each other, which became unbearably tedious several books ago. But if you skim over those parts, the mystery itself is solid but unfortunately peopled by the largest collection of unlikeable characters I’ve seen in a long time. If you prefer likeable characters as I do, skip this book in the series.
Young PI Cordelia Gray lands an assignment to find out why the son of a prominent microbiologist killed himself. She moves into the cottage where he died and soon realizes the young man was murdered.
The characters weren’t particularly interesting although they were inoffensive, there was a lot of dialogue telling the reader about Mark rather than showing him, and the story just moved along too slowly to hold my interest. I got halfway through and didn’t even care enough to skip to the end to see whodunnit.
in Queen’s Own (omnibus)
Now a full Herald, Talia tackles the ruling Council, a possible traitor, and a mission to an ally that turns into a deadly trap.
The problem with writing a series like this one is that the danger has to keep escalating, resulting in this book where the Heralds and the Army stand up to an invading army complete with mages, and the result just isn’t believable. (Not that Lackey really had an ending that the reader would buy … she painted herself into a corner very nicely.) Nor is the battle the only action that doesn’t ring true. It’s a shame, because the first two books were so strong, and anyone who enjoyed them will want to finish the trilogy even knowing of its weaknesses.
in Queen’s Own (omnibus)
Newly-promoted Herald Talia faces the trials of her internship, including a deadly snowfall, plague, raiders, and townsfolk suspicious of her fey gift.
Not as well-written as the first book, with too much heavy-handed foreshadowing, but still a ripping good story that carries the reader along.
in Queen’s Own (omnibus)
Talia, misfit in a repressive community, discovers a beautiful white horse and can’t bear to leave him to the elements. Following him leads her to a future as a trainee Herald and a chance to help those in emotional pain.
Charming and fast-moving, with a wealth of likeable characters.
1830’s midwife Martha Cade has just delivered a baby when she discovers her daughter has run away from home. After an unsuccessful search, she returns home to defend her practice against an overeager young doctor, stand up to gossip about the missing Victoria, and befriend a young orphan who may need more help than it seems.
This seemed a bit more slow-moving than Parr’s Candlewood series, but are rich with lively characters and historical details. I can’t wait to read the next in the series.
Mrs. Pargeter, a widow with an interesting background, moves to a private hotel just before one of its residents is found dead. Convinced the woman was murdered, she gradually reveals rather unusual skills in hunting down the killer.
Nice fast read, with a lot of red herrings but only one that I don’t think was fair to the reader. Nor were the characters wholly believable.
Carstairs asks Mrs. Pollifax to travel to a Swiss spa in search of missins plutonium. A frightened small boy and a cat burglar help her investigate.
Mrs. Pollifax is surely a unique spy. Using grandmotherly skills, she leaves the professional spies in the dust. Workmanlike mystery with plenty of legitimate clues but no real red herrings – Gilman invariably turns them to good use. The only flaw is that the title turned out to have NOTHING to do with the rest of the book.
Have stories gone out of fashion? I sure couldn’t find one here, just a collection of self-absorbed and thoroughly unlikeable characters. Parents not caring for their children, children ignoring their parents and tormenting each other – trying to read it was a complete waste of time.
Emily investigates the murder of a man who owned some Marie Antoinette memorabilia, avoids agreeing to marriage with Colin, and tries to identify a mysterious admirer.
This series is starting to pall on me. Emily is too self-centered to be likeable, and most of the other characters range from shallow to despicable. Colin is a suitable romantic hero but not enough to salvage the book.
Disjointed narrative of the author’s parents buying land in Corfu and building a house.
Wonderfully evocative of the mood of an ancient Greek island but weak as a story, with two-dimensional stereotypical characters and no real format to the minimalist plot.
Widow Emma Garrett runs Hill House, an 1841 bed-and-breakfast, in the fictional little town of Candlewood, NY. When another widow runs away from her quarrelling sons, Emma tries to bring peace to the family as well as caring for the staff and guests of her B&B.
Writing Christian fiction must be difficult, since so few writers manage to produce interesting stories without a heavy-handed religious lesson. C.S. Lewis was the master, of course, but Parr’s efforts are genuinely enjoyable, with imperfect but sympathetic characters facing realistic situations and not always relying on God as they should. I’m looking forward to other books in this series.
Rosie is a teen in 19th century Ireland, her father’s pet and her mother’s scapegoat, trying to achieve a better life than going into service. The main character is sympathetic enough, but the story was not very interesting and so slow-moving that I was able to skip chunks of pages without missing anything, and I eventually gave up.
How many babies and young children have lives that would make interesting reading? At best, one less than Kimmel thinks. Utterly trivial and boring.
A priest finds a Yorkshire farmer beheaded and his daughter by his side, readily admitting to the murder. But no one in their little town believes the girl killed her father. D.I. Thomas Lynley, eighth Earl of Asherton, Scotland Yard’s golden boy with an impressive record of convictions, is assigned to investigate. Assigned with him is D.S. Barbara Havers, who has managed to alienate every partner she has ever had. As they try to find a murderer, they both have to confront their inner demons. Interesting detective team. Havers isn’t as annoying as she could be, and Lynley has his own ghosts to elude. The great secret behind the murder is pretty easy to foresee, but there were plenty of twists and turns on the way there. Not a fast read, but worth the time.
Very odd book that switches between Queen Victoria’s “secret” diary, a narrative following the royal family right after Prince Albert’s death, and a narrative following an Irish solicitor and a female doctor as they try to avoid being killed. If there is actually a story here, I never found it.
Kirsty comes from distant China to Scotland after her brother’s and father’s deaths, to find her distant grandfather, titled but unhappily married neighbor, and curiously aloof son of the dragon-like housekeeper. As she comes to desire her grandfather’s good opinion and tries to understand her brother's mysterious last message, she still insists on retaining her independence. Classic Gothic novel but with unusually involving characters, well worth reading.
Odd and not very interesting story of a woman living on a “good” street becoming involved in the lives of some children on a neighboring “poor” street. One of Godden’s worst efforts, totally lacking her usual engrossing characters and contemplative narrative.
I did not get far into this book at all. I don’t like supercilious characters setting themselves above their fellow characters as well as the reader, whether such character is human, canine, or extraterrestrial. I honestly didn’t have a problem with a dog narrating the story, but not such an obnoxious dog.
When another unwanted female joins Grandmama Pitt for the holidays at Caroline’s house, she is both enthralled and appalled at the new arrival’s endless stories of her travels. But when the woman is found dead, Grandmama is the only person who suspects a possible murder, and she is determined to expose the killer.
Apparently Perry’s “Christmas mysteries” are written to feature minor characters from her other series in Christmas settings. This book features the obnoxious Grandmama Ellison from the “Charlotte and Thomas Pitt” series, not a bit less disapproving than usual. Like Perry's other mysteries, the killer is usually pretty obvious but the "why" is baffling, and I don't think the reader is given the information that Grandmama uses to identify the murderer.
An elderly woman is found face down in a stream, and her grieving husband is sure she was murdered. A year earlier, a professional knife thrower buried a knife in the throat of an actress and disappeared. The knife thrower’s wife hires Jack Scott to find him and then disappears herself. Are the events related? This was another story I just couldn’t get into. The characters didn’t seem real and I couldn’t care about even the nice old lady. I gave up after the first 100 pages.
I skipped the first book in this series because it just sounded too depressing. This one recounts a family Christmas gathering spoiled by the death of the oldest brother and allegations that he had been a corrupt judge who convicted and sentenced an innocent man. The widow asks her godfather for help: Henry Rathbone, a character from Perry’s Inspector Monk series. Tedious as well as depressing, I gave up about 2/3 of the way through and skipped to the end, which was just as unhappy as I had expected.
Sweet and sentimental story of a scared young woman who tries to rebuild her life in a new town. Not great literature but a pleasant read.
Deadly dull, slow-as-molasses story of an apprentice doctor who falls in love with a new-girl-in-town in early 19th century England. As his desire for the girl conflicts with knowing she is living in a brothel, he wanders further from the straight and narrow. Moderately interesting twist at the end but otherwise not worth reading.
Charming story of an upper-class 1920’s lady-of-the-house who is asked to investigate when a mutual acquaintance claims her priceless diamonds were stolen earlier, at a ball. When the daughter is found murdered, Dandy and the dead girl’s fiance have more to find than the missing diamonds.
Dandy is a bit superficial but the contrast between her personality and her ability to investigate is enjoyable.
I couldn’t figure out the point of this book. Woman who abandoned her husband and baby in Britain during WWII comes back to ask for divorce and custody of daughter she abandoned so she can remarry her boss. No one seemed to understand what they were doing and the closest thing to a likeable character was the woman’s boss. I gave up about a quarter of the way through.
Agatha follows James to Cyprus and stumbles across the murder of a British tourist. Beaton took an awfully long time to give the reader clues about the murderer, as James and Agatha continue to not get along, Sir Charles reappears and woos Agatha, and someone keeps trying to get Agatha out of the picture – permanently. But this is another workmanlike entry in the Agatha Raisin series.
Utterly predictable start – Agatha’s long-gone husband Jimmy reappears just in time to stop Agatha’s wedding to James, is found dead shortly thereafter, and Agatha becomes the prime suspect – but Beaton quickly gets past the predictable section and then splits the story between Agatha and James’ hunt for the real killer and Agatha’s continuing obsession with James. If she isn’t dressing up to try to get him back, she’s congratulating herself that she is over him. So much about the premise here doesn’t ring true. A hardheaded business woman like Agatha would have made sure Jimmy couldn’t bother her again years ago. If by some chance she didn’t, she’d quietly take care of it long before her anticipated wedding. But the trail of death that follows Agatha’s investigation distracts the reader from this sensible analysis. Uncharacteristically, Beaton “hides” the murderer by having James and Agatha miss an obvious question to ask about their missing prime suspect.
Usually, when an author tries to write in an unusual manner, it’s distracting and does not contribute to the storyline. This book is no exception. It is written in the present tense, which does nothing to mask cold, unlikeable characters and boring lives. I gave up halfway through.
The author tried to turn her hip replacement surgery into a humorous story. She didn’t succeed. Even though it’s a very slim book, I couldn’t make myself finish it.
Agatha returns to Carsely and joins the local ramblers to lose some weight (and hopefully get closer to the leader, James). But when a confrontation-seeking rambler from a nearby town turns up dead, Agatha has to overcome class divisions as well as lying witnesses to find the murderer. Still way too much obsession with James – why does Beaton want to make older women look like man-crazy idiots when her continued sales depend on the reader liking this older woman? And I suppose she thinks the ending justifies the James-obsession.
Sadly, Watson should have taken his own advice. Another memoir starting with the great-grandparents, and lest the reader miss his heavy-handed point, each chapter ends with a “Lessons I Learned” section. Sheesh!
Dual plots, one about an abandoned baby raised by a conscienceless thief and one about a couple claiming to inherit a New York house. I don’t like most of Clark’s suspense novels because they are just too scary. I made it halfway through this one before I couldn’t stand it and skipped to the end.
I hate to be the one to say that Barbara Walters’ story is boring, but the way she tells it, it is. Starting with gory detail about the immigration from Eastern Europe of her grandparents, she then regales us with tedious minutiae of her family and growing up. I gave up at the start of her college memories.
Collection of chick-lit short stories of uneven quality from notable chick-lit authors. Some were enjoyable, some left me wondering what the point had been. All of them featured women obsessing about men, which doesn't speak well for American womanhood.
Spiritualistic drivel, without even a good plot as justification
Desperate to keep James away from a new woman in town, Agatha joins the local horticultural society and tries her hand at a garden. But a rash of garden vandalism culminates in yet another murder. Still too much obsession with James, but not as bad as the previous book, and a nice workmanlike mystery.
Moving autobiography of an Army nurse who served in Viet Nam during the early days of that conflict. Not for the faint of heart, with accurate descriptions of horrible wounds as well as grisly details about the life nurses as well as soldiers had to endure. Unlike most “I was there” reports, Smith also writes about her return to “the world,” her difficulty adjusting and lonely life, and her life-changing treatment for PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder).
An about-to-be-famous designer is murdered, and the husband of Josie’s friend Alyce is the prime suspect. Will following the money lead Josie to the real killer? Involving as usual, but I don’t think the reader was given all the necessary info to figure out the murderer.
Oddly complicated story featuring Lady Emily Ashton, a young Victorian widow who discovers her late husband may have been involved with stealing antiquities from museums. It was quite simple to identify the villain but still interesting to watch how the heroine figured it out.
The title was the most amusing element of this collection of supposedly humorous essays in which the author shares that she is a compulsive liar, drinker, and sleeper-around. Not funny at all, and not particularly interesting, either.
A handsome new vet has the Carsely ladies drooling, until most of them realize he doesn’t like treating pets and is a sleazy womanizer to boot. When he is found dead, Agatha realizes investigating it as a murder gives her an excuse to be with James. But what if he really was murdered and the person responsible doesn’t want Agatha to find out? Way too much of Agatha dreaming of James marrying her and trying to keep him away from local femme fatale Freda. I’m also not sure the reader was given all the information to identify the murderer; I sure didn’t.
In spite of the rave reviews on this book, it had no story, just a disjointed set of events, and the characters weren’t interesting enough to hold my interest.
Very slow start, with a very unlikeable so-called heroine! She retires to a small Cotswold town intending to run it, outbids her neighbor to obtain the services of a cleaning lady, and buys a professional quiche to make sure she wins a baking contest. Serves her right that she doesn’t win, and the person who eats the rest of her rejected quiche dies. But if you stick it out, the story becomes quite enjoyable and Agatha more sympathetic.