A beautiful and exotic Eastern princess arrives at Elizabeth's court, the sole member of her family to escape a palace revolution. But when her priceless ruby is stolen and found in Ellie's laundry basket, Grace must find the real thief before Ellie suffers the traditional punishment for a thief: loss of a hand.
Finally, cover art that has something to do with the story! Not perfect - Grace is in Jane Austen-era clothing rather than Elizabethan - but at least it's not 1950's garb! And Banoo Yasmine is suitably exotic and wearing the famous ruby, although not dressed in the outfit described in the book. The story itself moved right along with a straightforward plot and likable characters. I continue to enjoy this series.
P.C. Evan Evans suspects that the deaths of two mountain climbers are murder, and related to the same event. But he must evade two persistent female admirers if he hopes to track down the killer.
Super fast read and quite enjoyable, with a feeling similar to the early Hamish Macbeth tales. The killer was pretty obvious, which sometimes happens when the author is scrupulous about giving the reader the information to figure it out, but there were lots of red herrings to distract poor Evan as well as a ripping good story. And a book title that is both clever and relates to the plot.
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.
Tim and Sally Willows are not a happy couple. Sally thinks she deserves someone richer and more romantic than Tim; he suffers working at an advertising agency and then comes home to Sally's endless complaining. Then a little Egyptian statue switches them around ...
Smith doesn't seem to understand the concept of brevity. This would have been a clever short story. But as a novel, even a short one, it just drags and drags - that one note got hammered mercilessly, recounting Tim and Sally's experiences in a body of the opposite sex. I skipped chunks of pages again before finally giving up.
Anxious to join her husband in France, Ursula finds herself agreeing to revisit the Masons to track down rumors of a Stuart plot that may have already killed two men. But suspicious rumors, a kidnapping attempt, and a surprise visitor may keep her from being able to carry out the Queen's commission.
No dragging-in-the-middle here - poor Ursula ran from one danger smack into another. And that actually got old pretty fast. Not *everything* should be life-threatening. And it was altogether too predictable that Matthew would be involved somehow. Ursula is rather atypical for an Elizabethan lady, even a court lady, in choosing her political beliefs rather than adopting her husband's, and Buckley only halfheartedly justifies this to the reader. The cover was pleasantly related to the story, featuring a woman in Elizabethan dress working with a lock, but the title was only marginally related. I did finish the book, but if the next is as harrowingly predictable, it may finish my tolerance for this series.
Semi-biography of an Elizabethan physician who, to put it as kindly as possible, had a rich fantasy life. It starts with his parents and progresses through childhood!
Apparently intended to be sympathetic, this book still presents Forman as a liar and rogue. I expected a short story collection and instead got a tedious and uninteresting biography that I barely made it a quarter of the way through before giving up. If the Simon Forman series is this boring, I won't be reading much of it.
Bond broker Lawrence Lamb, who annoys his adulterous wife for fun, finds himself attracted to an acquaintance of his daughter's. But a mysterious man who turns him into various animals saves him from respectability.
Tedious story with little plot, unlikable characters, and more description than anyone could tolerate. I skipped chunks of the story in case it got interesting later on. It didn't.
After being "cursed" by a vicious and self-righteous pillar of the Philadelphia community, young Benjamin Franklin fights the expectation of the community that he will shortly be ruined. It doesn't help that his new apprentice, who has been behaving in a suspicious manner, is soon found dead.
I generally don't like fiction featuring real people, and this was no exception. Franklin is presented as a 21st century man trying to enlighten his 18th century community. Nor were the characters or story interesting enough to keep me reading. I barely made it a quarter of the way through before giving up.
Short stories featuring investigating barrister Patrick Mulligan as recorded by his confidential clerk Alexander Mullins.
Clever and convoluted solutions but no real explanation as to how the barrister figured out the solution. Enjoyable as short stories but would have been too precious to tolerate in book length.
Magic has changed. The men who used to wield it now have no power, but some women have acquired it, including the favorite Summer Concubine to king Oryn. As she tries to develop her powers and protect the women who are developing theirs, the first girl novice magician suffers constant hazing and runs from one determined but unknown killer.
Intriguing concept, with a detailed and believable portrayal of a culture in crisis, but the tale itself dragged. After almost 200 pages and nothing really happened, I gave up.
Book hunter Lucas Corso is set on the trail of a demonic handbook.
I give up on this author. He writes about topics that I don't enjoy (in this case, legendary books about demonic magic) in an uninteresting manner. He seems to have never heard the maxim "show, don't tell" and none of his characters are likable enough to keep me reading. Supposedly a thriller/mystery, his books feel more like self-important "literary" fiction. I found absolutely nothing to like or praise about this book.
Shortly after Melanie checks out a posh daycare for dogs for friend Alice, owner Steve is found murdered. Alice volunteers Melanie's investigative skills to owner's sister Candy, and Melanie finds her usual assortment of suspects and lies.
Fast read without the usual drag-in-the-middle. I'm sorry that I've come to the end of this series!
After seeing Lynley and Helen off on their honeymoon, Havers heads for Essex where a race riot followed the murder of a Pakistani man. The detective in charge welcomes Havers onto the team, giving her an excuse to investigate and talk with her London neighbor, now advocating for the family of the victim's fiancee. The police investigate numerous trails, including a missing gold bracelet and the victim's rumored homosexual activity, under pressure from the Asian community to find the killer - and he had better be white.
George writes the most horrible families ever, complete with offensive and patronizing nicknames. In this book, she gives us a young Pakistani woman who is expected to consent to an arranged marriage and until then treated as a servant by her vindictive sister-in-law, a young English man raised by a super-manipulative grandmother, and a young English woman with the self-centered mother from hell. It was a pleasure to have a book focusing on Barbara Havers. Naturally, everyone the police question has secrets and Havers and cohorts waste endless time pursuing red herrings. This is a slow but rich read and I identified the killer halfway through but still had numerous shocks before the end. However, there were two fairly serious disappointments. One is the George did not resolve all the various plotlines, which I consider unfair to the reader. The other is that the title bore only a glancing relationship to the story, which I consider lazy. These two problems kept the book from the 5 ratings most of the Lynley/Havers books have earned.
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.
After failing to get a slave sacrifice to the altar alive, Yaotl is assigned by Emperor Montezuma to find some missing sorcerers to prevent the downfall of the Aztec empire.
I didn't expect to like this book because I have no sympathy for a culture based on human sacrifice, much less unwilling human sacrifice. And I was right, which is not a criticism of the writing style. Levack actually seems to do a pretty good job of evoking the atmosphere and details of pre-Cortes Aztec life and culture. But I found it so horrible I quit before I got a quarter of the way through, so I can't really comment on plot or characterization except to say Yaotl is another of the flawed characters so popular today.
Lady Grace, Masou, and Ellie investigate how the murder of a Thames boatman is related to counterfeiting of the Queen's new coin. After Grace and Ellie get nowhere following a boastful apprentice, Ellie notices that a poor woman offers better treats to her guests than she should and steers the trio in a new direction.
Fast and enjoyable read, as always. The horribly inappropriate cover art annoys me more with each entry in this excellent series. It portrays a teenaged girl at Elizabeth I's court as a 1950's schoolgirl in cardigan and beret. The publisher should be forced to sit through the most boring history lessons that can be found.
A third-rate opera company preparing "Rigoletto" with a guest soprano has plenty of drama even before an abrasive cast member claims someone is trying to kill her.
Good, unfancy workmanlike mystery, and the first by this author that I actually finished. I like a story that demands some knowledge on the part of the reader, in this case, opera. I'm not a big opera buff but even I am familiar with the character of "Mimi" in "La Boheme." Kept me reading and even though I'm not sure the reader had all the clues to identify the killer, there is nothing missing I can point to.
While waiting at the Paraclete for Edgar's return, Catherine becomes attached to an injured countess and determines to avenge her death. Abbess Heloise asks Catherine to find out why so many people claim a rocky wood left to the convent by the countess. Edgar and Catherine marry but continue to pursue the mysteries.
As usual, Newman interweaves several different storylines and shows a comfortable understanding of society's rules in medieval France, especially between Christians and Jews. I'm not sure the portrayal of Heloise is accurate but I don't know the history of that time well enough to point to any particular discrepancies. This is a slow read, and the story dragged just a bit in the middle, but not enough to make me start skipping pages. But almost at the end, Newman commits the worst sin against the reader: Catherine figures out the killer and doesn't share the information with the reader, just the other characters! Newman was heading for another 5 rating until this fiasco. Also, the title had only a tenuous connection to the book. I'm still going to read the next book in the series, but another hiding-the-solution will probably get thrown across the room and the rest of the series scratched from my to-read list.
The Duke is distracted from desperately trying to end a feud that has led to a kidnapping when his wife is found stabbed to death. Mysterious henchman Sigismondo and his mentally challenged servant Benno must wade through secrets to find a killer.
I couldn't get into this book. There was nothing terrible about it, but the different stories were too unrelated and I don't find enigmatic characters particularly intriguing. I quit about halfway through.
When an aged professor visiting a small Australian town is found with his throat cut, a detective with more interest in adultery than doing his job stumbles into investigating.
I had high hopes for this one because it was described as funny, and humorous mysteries are rare. But every character was incompetent or vicious or both, which I don't consider funny at all. Nor was the story involving or intriguing enough to compensate for the unlikable characters; in fact, it was just boring. I got a quarter of the way through before giving up.
Guardia Civil Sergeant Tejada is sent to investigate the murder of another guardia, who turns out to be a former compatriot. He executes a woman found bending over the body and pursues why the victim had a child's school notebook. Meanwhile, the woman's boyfriend is determined to execute her killer, and both men wind up tracing supplies being diverted from the guardia to the black market.
I thought I probably wouldn't like this book because Spain in the 1930's is not a time period I enjoy reading about, with hooligans on both sides and millions of innocent civilians suffering. The plot further aggravated me, as it snowballed from a single mistake and caught a little girl in its careless jaws. I quit a quarter of the way through, but it was the gloom and needless suffering that make it intolerable, not any flaw in the writing; in fact, one of the best character presentations I've ever read came early in the novel, when a young policeman can't think of anything to say that doesn't make him sound like a star-struck teenager. His thoughts did more to illuminate both his character and Tejada's than pages of more conventional description would have. If you can stand the depressing atmosphere, I suspect you would find this an engrossing book.
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.
Kate is off at a house party when Sir Charles is called to a murder of a policeman near Marsden Manor. Kate returns with a shy young Beatrix Potter in tow, and the two investigate the murder and a subsequent claim that the policeman had been a poacher and dishonest. Then a missing child spurs everyone's determination to find the killer.
I dislike incorporating real people into fictional stories, but this one wasn't too bad. If the quotes at the beginning of each chapter are indeed from Beatrix Potter's tales, the Alberts did an amazing job of devising a fictional situation to presumably be the basis for some of Potter's stories. Sir Charles' excessive "niceness" - not being able to declare his feelings for Kate since his friends are interested in her - struck me as stupid rather than honorable; he was basically refusing to give her information so she could make an informed choice. Very patronizing! I threw the first in this series across the room because it depended totally on spiritualism, but there was no problem with this story, and it held my interest to the end without even the dragging-in-the-middle so common in book-length fiction.
Royal clerk Edmund Beche is assigned by King Edward III to secretly find out how his father Edward II really died. Edmund's investigations reveal discrepancies between the official story and supporting documentation, but they also find him threatened by the king's henchman, and almost killed by the dowager queen's men.
Interesting take on one of the tragic tales of English royalty, in the form of letters from Edmund to a clerical friend. Some of the elements were obvious, such as who was providing information to the king. But it was still a solid tale and kept me reading to the end.
Young housemaid Hilda and her beau Patrick stumble over a murdered woman. Butler Mr. Williams' instructions to Hilda to stop thinking about the murder determines her to find the killer. As she watches the victim's social-elite family, she fights the prevalent anti-immigrant bias.
Dickens combined social crusading with enthralling stories, but few of his literary successors manage the blend. Certainly Dams doesn't. There is no question that immigrants were unfairly treated during much of U.S. history, but Hilda's ranting is not enjoyable to watch, and a fiction writer's first duty is to entertain. I wasn't even halfway through when the ranting became too much to tolerate, and the story hadn't caught my interest enough to skip to the end - I just quit reading.
Newly widowed Renisenb thinks her family unchanged when she returns to her father's house: oldest brother Yahmose is still bullied by wife Satipy, middle brother Sobek is still reckless and his wife Kait still obsessed with her children, and youngest brother Ipy can still do no wrong in their father Imhotep's eyes. But Imhotep's new concubine shatters the family dynamic for her own ends and winds up dead, and Renisenb feels obligated to identify her killer.
This is reputedly the only historical mystery Christie ever wrote, and she should have stuck to her usual style. There are long sections where nothing happens to either advance the plot or delineate the shallow characters, and I finally gave up halfway through. It might have made a good short story but was a tedious book. I can't find anything to praise in it.
Finding himself unsuited to a monastery, young Roger becomes a travelling peddler or "chapman." But two seemingly unrelated reports of wealthy travellers disappearing near the same inn pique his curiosity and he investigates.
While there was nothing glaringly awful about this book (other than some heavy-handed "I didn't know I'd be putting my life in danger" foreshadowing and occasional irrelevant comments from the now-elderly narrator), neither was there anything glaringly right. None of the characters felt real and the story never grabbed my attention. I got halfway through, realized I didn't care what happened next, and skipped to the end (and found I'd been right about whodunit).
Abbess Heloise asks young novice Catherine LeVendeur to pose as a misfit and leave the convent, in order to inspect a psalter sent as a gift which reportedly now contains heretical elements. She finds the psalter and copies the alterations, but also finds a murdered friend and is determined to bring the killer to justice. An unlikely workman who befriends her may be a help or a distraction. Her investigations reveal a complicated web of larceny and evil, in which her beloved father and uncle may be involved.
Superb presentation of believable medieval people. Catherine is not just a 21st-century girl placed in the 12th century, as happens too commonly in historical novels. Demons and saints are as real to her and her family as knights and horses. The story I'm not so sure about. It dragged a bit in the middle but not so badly that I started skipping sections. There was nothing obviously wrong, and I can't point to anything and say "the reader wasn't given this information," but it just wasn't a satisfying resolution.
Highlights of the yearly Ketterick arts festival include an opera starring a famous Russian coloratura and directed by a legend, and a production of "The Chaste Apprentice" at the ancient Saracen inn. But new landlord Des Capper's know-it-all attitude drives the performers crazy. When Capper is found dead, Inspector Dundy has a plethora of suspects who detested him.
Fast read and held my attention. The major drawback is that there wasn't a true main character, so the constant focus switches were disorienting. I had to look at the series title to realize who was supposed to be the main character, and found it was a very minor character who didn't even appear until halfway through and then didn't say ten lines during the whole book.
Troubled youth John Tyree joins the Army and straightens out. Home on leave, he meets lovely Savannah and falls in love. He re-enlists after September 11 and Savannah, spending long months alone, falls in love with another man. He returns and finds her married but with a secret.
The whole book is a flashback, which I really dislike. The "introduction" doesn't add anything to the story. I skipped most of the first 20 or so pages about John's childhood and dissociation from his father. Even after he meets Savannah, the story moved at such a glacial pace I skipped lots of chunks without missing any important story elements - not a good sign. Only the last quarter of the book held my attention. The element that rang truest was John's attitude towards his combat experience. This would have been a good novella but is a tedious novel.
Agatha finally opens her own detective agency and tricks herself into hiring her new neighbor Emma as receptionist/detective. Initially jealous of Emma's way with people and knack for detection, she finds herself liking the woman even as reformed-wimp Emma works at out-Agathaing Agatha. Meanwhile, Agatha and company try to find the person threatening to kill a young engaged woman.
I thought this might be the last Agatha Raisin I read. By turning pro, Agatha's investigative woes have lost much of their appeal. Emma aims a vicious streak at Agatha, who is far from perfect but doesn't deserve that attack. And the title is only tangentially related to the story. But while the plot definitely turned weird, it held my attention until the end.
Blossoming writer Kate Ardleigh, struggling to survive in 1894 New York, heads for England to accept a job as secretary-companion to an aunt she did not know she had. There she meets the neighbor Marsdens and their guest, Sir Charles Sheridan, and becomes involved in both her aunt's spiritualism and a murder investigation.
I lost interest in this book when it seemed all the characters were spiritualists. It was written in very Victorian prose, certainly authentic to the period but rather tedious to wade through. I'll try the next book in the series to see if Paige can write about anything other than spiritualism.
Ross Harte wants to write detective stories but decides all the good plots have been used. Then he finds himself in the middle of a classic locked-room murder, in which all the suspects are magicians of various kinds. As frustrated Inspector Havigan attempts to identify the killer, Harte suggests bringing in famous magician Merlini, reasoning that it will take a magician to catch a magician.
I was curious about this magic-based mystery because it made a “best locked room mystery” list put together by the editor from recommendations of several mystery authors, including Jon L. Breen, Frederick Dannay (better known as Ellery Queen). I have never read such a talky mystery. But even as Harte, Merlini, Havigan, and the other characters find hidden items by talking, shatter alibis by talking, and verbally rationalize how it must have been done, Rawson STILL managed to pull a "Oh, I've solved it" but leaving the reader out in the cold. He does give the reader the needed information, along with ten million red herrings. The admittedly clever solution wasn't enough to overcome the talkiness and hiding the solution from the reader, though, and I really hate leave-you-dangling endings.
Aramis, Porthos, Athos, and their new friend D'Artagnan stumble across a musketeer corpse that strangely resembles royalty, and swear to find the murderer.
I gave up on this book fairly quickly. First, it started with an "introduction" claiming that the author just found this old manuscript, which always annoys me. Then it featured characters that I already know quite well, acting in a manner inconsistent with their established personalities. I typically have this problem more with real people used as characters, but apparently misuse of fictional characters can also bother me. Finally, the copyediting of the book was so atrocious it distracted me from the illogical plot, such as "comradery" instead of the correct "camaraderie." I might have been able to struggle through if not for the other problems, but instead the word misuse was the last straw.
Retired dentist Paul Osborne is shocked when his fly fishing guide turns out to be Loon Lake's first woman police chief, Lew Ferris. But he is even more shocked when he stumbles over a body while night fishing. Drafted by Chief Ferris as a forensic dentist, he becomes more interested in the lady as she pursues a killer.
There was nothing terribly wrong with this book. Osborne and Lew are both nice enough if rather one-dimensional. There were only a few flashbacks and they were kept brief. There was a lot of fishing-related activity, which didn't particularly interest me and I skimmed or skipped. The killer was pretty obvious, but I've forgiven that flaw in other books if the story was intriguing enough. This one, for some reason, never caught my interest and the characters never seemed real. I got halfway through and realized I didn't care if I picked it up again.
Kaze stumbles across a murdered merchant and pauses in his search for his late mistress' daughter to right a village troubled by bandits, a greedy lord, and a cruel magistrate.
Odd and inconsistent but involving story. Why was Kaze so sensitive to the needs of peasants? That really would not have been a samurai characteristic, although it makes a more compelling story to 21st century readers. Kaze solves mysteries more by exercise of "little grey cells" than fighting, which keeps this convoluted story interesting.
A dead police officer falls out of a plane in front of Roe and Angel. Naturally half the police force, as well as Roe's erstwhile beau Arthur and the two mysterious men from Atlanta, think she had something to do with her old adversary's death. As Angel battles her own problems, Roe tries to figure out who wants Angel so badly.
The solution was kind of strange, and I'm not sure all the evidence was given to the reader but I can't point to anything that wasn't. However, the first book in this series had an equally strange rationale, so at least the author is consistent. As with the others, this one kept me reading to the end. And the title is perfectly relevant!
British art historian Charles Mowbray doesn't want to lose his young Italian wife Rafaella to a rich banker, while two female lovers waffle about leaving their husbands.
Not only is there enough adultery here to populate Peyton Place, it's not even interesting. When I got a quarter of the way through and nothing had actually happened, I gave up.
Amelia and Emerson interrupt their Kentish domesticity with precocious son Ramses to run the allegedly cursed Luxor dig of the late Lord Baskerville. Complicating their attempt to reach a possibly unlooted tomb are the quirks of a cast of undeniable characters, including Lady Baskerville's interest in Emerson, an American millionaire's interest in Lady Baskerville, a young English woman with an impossible mother, the men interested in Miss Mary, and an Irish newspaperman determined to milk as much copy out of the curse as he can.
Amelia seems much prissier than in the first book and less likable, although I couldn't complain about her catty comments regarding Lady Baskerville's flirting with Emerson - the woman asked for it. Amelia became less irritating as the book progressed, although her preachy comments never did add anything good to the story. The book kept me reading until the end, and with the confusion of characters I never had any idea whodunit.
eBook downloaded from www.Gutenberg.org
A malicious toymaker leads humble carrier John Peerybingle to the assumption that his young wife Dot is unfaithful, when he sees her with a disguised stranger. He must fight an urge to violence with the aid of the Cricket and eventually decides he has wrongly prisoned her in marriage.
An emotional story along the lines of "A Christmas Carol," complete with bad guy who sees the error of his ways. Not quite as much Dickensian description, with more of an emphasis on the story, but unfortunately not as much attention to making the characters believable, either.
In response to a blurred message from Rami, Pharaoh Ramses sends Semerket to Babylon to find his ex-wife Naia and bring back a Babylonian idol to heal Pharaoh. Searching for the Elamite princess missing since the slaughter in which Naia supposedly died, Semerket is summoned to the Elamite king and commanded to find the princess if he wants to take the Marduk idol back to Egypt. Semerket may not survive the waves of treachery and political machinations he must wade through to find answers.
The plot moves right along as Semerket finds allies and enemies on the trail to Babylon, and kept me reading to the end. However, following this story really depends on having read Geagley's first book more than is usual in a series. I also dislike wait-for-the-next-book endings, especially featuring unbelievable events, but up to the "epilogue" this was a winner.
Lord Nicholas, home on a brief respite from Henry VIII's court, finds his steward Matthew murdered and his neighbors possibly conspiring against the King. He also finds himself drawn to lovely Jane Warrener, a young woman who is determined to help him bring Matthew's killer to justice. Henry's spies arrest the conspirators but "Ultor" the avenger is still at large, threatening Henry's planned visit to Peverell's home, and Nicholas is told to eliminate the traitor in the ten days before the King's visit. But clever Ultor agitates the townspeople against an old woman, distracting Nicholas and Jane.
Involving story with minor fact errors, such as Henry VIII signing a handwritten note "Henry T." He was always jealous of royal privileges and would have signed Henry R. The story moves right along, weaving multiple storylines that may or may not be related, and avoiding middle-of-the-book doldrums. Jane is unacceptably forward for a Tudor maiden, but her neighbors and even her indulgent father are just as shocked at her behavior as the reader. Nicholas is a bit of a plodder, but honest, tries his best, and doesn't resent those more gifted intellectually than he is (including Jane). There is also a great example of subtle foreshadowing, when the jackdaws in the church tower are unexpectedly noisy as Benedict and Jane rehearse. The ending was somewhat weak and had a feel of "I've met the page count so let's wind it up" which is why this gets a 4 rating instead of a 5, but overall a very good read.
Detective supreme Vidocq drafts non-practicing physician Carpentier to help find the killer whose victim had Carpentier's name hidden in his underwear.
I couldn't get into this book. Carpentier is a spineless wimp and Vidocq a bizarre tyrant, and I don't find either type interesting. I didn't even make it 50 pages before giving up.
In post-Napoleonic England, Julian Kestrel is requested to stand up with a man he barely knows, and doesn't understand why this wedding is planned at all. But finding a murdered woman in his bed shocks Julian as well as his hosts, and he pursues the killer with the aid of his loyal servant Dipper.
This book started painfully slowly and I almost gave up on it. But once the murder occurred, the plot moved right along and held my interest. Julian is a type of hero that I like, a genuinely noble man hiding behind the mask of a fop. But the title bore no relation to the story.
Sophie Lilburn tries to be happy when husband Chris wins a coveted music and teaching position at Westmead Cathedral. Jacquie plans a licentious holiday abroad as a last fling before settling into marriage, which appalls her conventional sister Alison. Sophie cannot achieve pregnancy and sees a fertility specialist, while getting to know the cathedral denizens and hearing of a murdered girl found nearby 11 years earlier. Alison unintentionally ruins Jacquie's wedding and is banished. Years later, their father's last wish is to see Alison, and a now-divorced Jacquie determines to find her.
I gave up on this book halfway through. It was pretty obvious that the mysterious murdered girl would turn out to be Alison, which wouldn't have stopped me reading if the characters or story had been more interesting. But there was too much of an evil feel in the book, neither Jacquie nor Sophie were compelling characters, and switching back and forth between their stories felt awkward and disjointed. This isn't a terrible book, but after reading half of it I wasn't sure what genre it is and I didn't care enough about the outcome to skip to the end.
Corbett is sent to Scotland to secretly unravel the mystery behind the death of Alexander III, but someone is determined that Corbett won't have a chance to report any findings. Lacking authority, he still manages to question the important characters, and discovers the secret that someone used to kill a king.
Interesting speculation on a real event, the sudden, supposedly accidental death of the King of Scotland around the 12th century. The story moved right along as Corbett collects pieces of information. Since he had been a soldier, his almost fanatical fear of assassins didn't ring true but didn't spoil the rest of the story. A historical note from the author enlightened the reader as to the historical facts that formed the basis of the tale. The title bore only a tiny relationship to the book, one of my pet peeves.
A strange man turns up in a small English village, insisting he is the real Sir John Farnleigh, baronet and landowner. One of the two claimants is found dead and Inspector Hadley calls in Dr. Gideon Fell to determine the real baronet and find the killer. But is this murder connected with the death of a village woman a year earlier?
I found this book on a “best locked room mystery” list put together by Edward D. Hoch from recommendations of several mystery authors, including Frederick Dannay (better known as Ellery Queen). I wasn't sure about reading it, because I hated another Dr. Fell tale that presented him as an unbelievable know-all and relied on Fell keeping information from the reader. This book didn't offend me at all, but was still curiously unsatisfying. One critical piece of information wasn't hinted at in any way. The killer is a smug, self-satisfied con man. Fell sets up a logical scenario of the murder to trap another person but never explains why the scenario is wrong. I don't like the "now I've solved it … now I've solved it … now I've REALLY solved it" technique, either. The plot was clever enough, but the title was misleading and the style did not impress me. I found this in an omnibus of four Dr. Fell mysteries, and didn't bother to read the others.
Wealthy spinster Amelia Peabody and her beautiful companion Evelyn are travelling upriver on the Nile when they re-encounter an abrasive archeologist and his charming brother. Initially they delay to help the archeologist over a malarial crisis, but when someone dresses as a mummy to drive them away from the palace site, Amelia and Evelyn determine to stay and investigate. Then Evelyn's suitor Lucas, Earl of Ellesmere, arrives to continue his pursuit and joins the fray.
Since I haven't liked any of the Elizabeth Peters books I have read, I didn't expect to like this one. But it ensnared me almost immediately. Amelia is both educated and interested in learning, and she doesn't suffer fools gladly, yet she is basically kind. And her money gives her options most Victorian women did not have. It was pretty obvious that Evelyn would turn out to be the heir after all, and who the villain would be and why, but I must admit I was surprised by some of the details. The romantic entanglements were equally predictable. However, the story was strong enough that the predictability didn't keep me from finishing and enjoying the book.
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.
As Napoleon threatens Europe, the King of Prussia calls small-town Magistrate Stiffeniis to Konigsburg, to solve a series of horrifying murders.
I only got 47 pages into this book before giving up. It was a very slow, tedious read - lots of words with nothing much happening. An "introduction" explains that 3 years had passed since the horror he had experienced sent him into "a bottomless black pit." I do not enjoy horror. Since all the characters seemed wooden and one-dimensional, I just couldn't see any reason to keep reading.
At a country weekend, the host dies and two thugs force a forensic physician to sign the death certificate, then prevent the guests from leaving until a mysterious item is returned to them.
I got about halfway through, but the thugs are so unlikable and none of the other characters are interesting enough to keep me reading. This is the 4th Allingham book I have tried and I haven't been able to finish any of them.
In Tiberus' Rome, slave Caenis and noble Vespasian can't marry but can't keep their hands off each other either.
Caenus is so very likable that I had read halfway through before I realized there was no storyline. (Vespasian is pretty likable too, although not very believable.) It was like running into an old acquaintance that you haven't seen in a while, and listening patiently while she tells you about her life and her husband's and kids', and you may even find bits interesting - but it couldn't be called a story. According to the cover, this was "a novel of romantic suspense." Well, it wasn't very romantic and there was no suspense whatsoever by the time I gave up.
On a progress with the Queen, Lady Grace is as horrified as everyone else at three nearly-fatal "accidents." Assigned by Elizabeth to investigate, Grace is distracted by a handsome attendant but also finds someone is misleading her.
Good story, fast read, a bit unrealistic in that Grace keeps tripping over clues but since the book models loyalty as well as brains and courage, I can forgive the lack of realism. I enjoy this series!
Desperate to save his British PR firm from insolvency, Douglas Perkins takes on the task of shepherding an obnoxious American singer and his comic opening act with an even more obnoxious mother through their European tour. But as one dark secret after another comes out, the partners' ability to keep the Client out of trouble may be overtaxed.
I couldn't manage to read more than half the book. There was a story but it wasn't interesting enough to overcome the twin debilities of dislikable characters and "if I had only known" foreshadowing. I had a feeling from the book description that it was supposed to be a murder mystery, but there was no murder in the first half of the book so I have to categorize it as regular fiction.
Pretty Kitty Charing was adopted by a miserly friend of her late father's. Now her guardian is prepared to leave his fortune to her, as long as she marries one of his nephews. Otherwise, he will leave her penniless. When the man she would have chosen is too proud or uninterested to join the parade of poor relatives begging her to marry them, she conspires with the dull but wealthy nephew to fake an engagement.
Just another of Heyer's Regency romances. While she does the form well enough, I don't like the phoniness of incredibly beautiful women and handsome, rich men who magically anticipate their desires to win their hearts, and gave up pretty early in the book.
Collection of short stories set in ancient Greece and Rome, featuring some characters who really lived (although the stories themselves are fiction).
Wildly varied stories, from a moderately funny tale in which Aphrodite investigates the murder of a mortal to a twisted Gordianus the Finder contribution to stories with disturbing elements of horror. (Don't read "The Living Tree" if you are subject to nightmares.) It was a slow read but not because the stories were uninteresting, there were just a lot of them. The only flaw was that too many of the stories featured a "justified" murder of a horrible person, with a sleuth unwilling to see the killer punished. That works for an occasional story but it happens enough in this book to almost be a common theme.
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.
eBook downloaded from Gutenberg.org
Poor porter "Trotty" Veck works as hard as he can and cherishes his daughter Meg. But harsh Alderman Cute shatters his self-worth and challenges Meg's plan to marry Richard, a poor smith. Then MP Sir Joseph Bowley claims to be a "friend and father" to the poor, and to tell them what to do - but if they dare to question him, he blasts them as ungrateful. Seeing himself as one of the unworthy poor, Trotty dreams a future in which Richard abandons Meg before the marriage, and Meg winds up poor and desperate.
Like much of Dickens' work, this was a vicious damnation of how rich people treat the poor. Patronizing Alderman Cute sees Trotty savoring a special dinner of tripe and tells him not to pretend he doesn't have enough to eat, then helps himself to the best morsel. There are also traces of the "ghosts" from A Christmas Carol. Full of Dickensian descriptions but the story isn't as riveting as his best.
Publisher's assistant Elizabeth Jones is thrilled when she has an unexpected opportunity to assist her idol, author Margaret Rosenberg. But then Margaret disappears, and Elizabeth tries to help Margaret's hostile son Christian find her, with dangerous results.
Fast read but an odd story in which nothing particularly made sense and the characters were either unbelievable or obnoxious. I got 3/4 of the way through before I realized I didn't care if I picked up the book again, so I skipped to the end.
A co-worker from Sam's policeman past turns up claiming to be tracking down a massive international conspiracy. His alleged suicide sets Sam on the dangerous trail of the same companies and men, and he may meet the same fate.
Not quite as sharp as the other Sam Holts I've read, and the ending had a feel of "I've written enough pages, let's wrap this thing up" that wasn't really satisfying. But it was still a mostly enjoyable story.
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.
Girls' school headmistress Louisa Barrett enjoys her unusual freedom in the first decade of the 20th century, and doesn't like her suspicion that the widower of her best friend might be responsible for a murder.
There was nothing really wrong with this book. Louisa is a nice enough character, as are most of the rest. The history was accurate as far as I could tell. But it just never caught my interest. Maybe it was the endless paean to the city of Buffalo. I've been there (although not around 1900) and it's not a particularly interesting place. Maybe it was something else. For whatever reason, I gave up a quarter of the way through an admittedly thick book.
in omnibus The Bizarre Murders
Invited to dine at the home of an acquaintance, Ellery Queen is on the spot when a murdered man is found in his friend's office, and in a very strange condition. As the investigation proceeds, Ellery and his father NYPD Inspector Queen find answers to several mysteries surrounding the suspects, but not who the victim was or who killed him … until Ellery Queen puts the clues together.
I was curious about this book because it made a “best locked room mystery” list put together by Edward D. Hoch from recommendations of several mystery authors, including this one. But there was so much I disliked that I don't intend to read any more by this author. I disliked the blatant "they didn't know what was coming" foreshadowing that makes up most of the first chapter. I disliked the author interrupting the story to issue a "challenge" to the reader to identify the killer. I REALLY detested Ellery's solving the mystery, telling his father, and NOT telling the reader; instead, he pulled a "gathering of the suspects" to reveal the killer. Some of this may be period-specific style, but I think it's patronizing and obnoxious in any era, and there is simply nothing so compelling about the story or the characters as to motivate me to keep reading anyway. I finished the book, mostly to see if the ending justified the many offenses against the reader; it didn't. I'm unconvinced it even met the requirement of giving the reader all the information necessary to solve the murder.
in omnibus The Bizarre Murders
Fleeing from a forest fire onto an unfamiliar road, Ellery Queen and his father Inspector Queen take refuge in the house of a famous physician. But the Queens' sense of something evil in the house is borne out when one of the residents is found murdered. After the sheriff states he cannot come because of the fire and eagerly deputizes Inspector Queen to investigate the murder, the two wade through one disturbing relevation after another to identify the killer.
The feel of the book is dated, but the worst problem was that the Queens blundered from one proposed killer to another, and the author did not always supply reasons or evidence for the Queens' beliefs. The forest fire that supplied the time pressure to solve the murder practically required a deus ex machina resolution, and they are never satisfying. I did finish the book but do not consider it time well-invested.
Diego Alatriste y Tenorio was a soldier in 17th century España until the king made peace. Then he hired his sword out to whoever would pay, for whatever assignment.
Narrated by a young boy who was the son of a friend of Alatriste's, this book tries to justify being an assasin for hire but still paints Alatriste as self-centered and dislikable and the boy as boring and consumed by hero-worship. It didn't help that the boy's name was Inigo Balboa. I know Inigo is a perfectly legitimate Hispanic name, but all I could hear was "You killed my father! Prepare to die!" And I know there was a lot of casual killing in that era, and not just in España. But I don't enjoy reading about it. I got a quarter of the way through the book before giving up.
Young and unconnected, Investigating Judge Bernard Martin knows solving the brutal murder of Solange Vernet can make his judicial career. With the patronizing assistance of a police inspector who wants to share the glory of catching a killer, Martin collects clues that may lead him to the live-in lover or the well-connected painter.
I wasn't sure I would like this story, since I generally don't like stories featuring real people. But this is a wild speculation based on a tiny piece of information about Cezanne, and I guess I don't know enough about the artist to be bothered by this book. Although a slow read, it provides a descriptive portrayal of a society that is ossified in some ways and too liberal in others, and the people simply trying to live their own lives in uncertain circumstances. But the murder mystery part was terribly watered-down by Martin's wafflings about his own capability and his anarchist "friend," a thoroughly dislikable self-centered jerk who used Martin (and spineless Martin allowed Merckx to use him). The mystery part was solid enough for me to want to try the next book in the series, but not to finish this one - I got halfway through and skipped to the end.
Budding writer Aristide Ravel is drafted into police service in pre-Revolutionary France when Inspector Brasseur needs his deductive ability to solve a grisly murder. But Aristide may also smell out information certain high-placed personages will kill to protect.
Well-written and well-organized plot, skillfully misdirecting the reader several times and avoiding all my hot keys: no “now he knew the killer” without sharing the information with the reader, Brasseur’s drafting him into police service gives Aristide a logical reason to be sticking his nose in, and if Alleyn made any errors in French usage, they were too subtle for me to detect. And the ending was logical and satisfactory. Most of the characters were basically good people but had realistic flaws. Aristide’s ability to second-guess not only what was done but why is a little extreme, but stretching my suspension of disbelief was rewarded with a thumping good story. The only quarrel I had was with the title; the “Horseman” of the Apocalypse should be translated “Chevalier” rather than the Anglicized “Cavalier,” but if the title truly came from the apparently real item referred to in the book, Alleyn didn’t have much choice but to use the term Cavalier.
Short-story collection, including several featuring Aird’s characters Inspector Sloan (including the title story) and Henry Tyler, as well as a few historical mysteries set in 16th century Scotland and starring a local sheriff. Most are mysteries and the rest provide a twist ending, such as “A Soldier of the Queen.”
Somewhat mixed bag of stories. There were some stories that were quite clever, such as “Due Diligence” and “Losing the Plot,” as well as a few that were rather weak. But overall, an enjoyable book.
Amanda Pepper’s unsatisfactory life includes teaching at a private school for rich kids without academic ability or interest, and a mother whose goal in life is to see her married. But it drastically worsens when a casual acquaintance is murdered in her house, and everyone thinks they were best friends. Police detective C.K. Mackenzie annoys Amanda as well, first by considering her a suspect and later by telling her to stay out of the case while acting on information she supplied.
I was afraid I wouldn’t like this series, as it’s quite popular and started poorly – I don’t like whiny characters. But it quickly improved, as Amanda whined less even if she froze more. Not someone I’d want around in a crisis, but she’s a moderately interesting main character in a mystery. The resolution was weak but tolerable, and the book kept me reading all the way through.
Book editor Edward Stevens realizes a photograph of an 1860’s arsenic murderess is the spitting image of his wife, and with the same name. Then he learns that a neighbor seems to have died of arsenic poisoning.
I did not get far into this book before giving up. The people are too determinedly unexceptional, and the whole atmosphere too determinedly reincarnation-oriented, to interest me.
Two new college graduates and one new highschool graduate take an apartment in NYC to get away from their families and be independent, but of course they start by mooching money from their families so they can get away from them.
I think this was supposed to be a coming-of-age story, but the characters were so unlikable and what story there was was so boring I barely got a quarter of the way through before giving up. All of them barely managed to graduate their respective schools through bad attitudes and shenanigans. There just wasn't any point to reading further.
A man who specializes in debunking vampire myths is shot in a locked room, apparently by a gaunt illusionist. Dr. Fell assists Inspector Hadley of Scotland Yard in finding the killer, which involved a lot of European history to unravel the victim’s past.
I was curious about this book because it made a “best locked room mystery” list put together by Edward D. Hoch from recommendations of several mystery authors, including Frederick Dannay (better known as Ellery Queen). The story is started from the point of view of someone who heard about it rather than being a part of it, which I disliked. However, once the murder occurred, the main characters were as involved as I could wish. Dr. Fell’s excessive quirkiness distracted me from the plot, and his frequent comments about knowing who the murderer was - without revealing it to the police, much less the reader - are something that ordinarily make me throw a book across the room in disgust. His all-encompassing knowledge, absolutely critical to solving the murder, did not ring true, and his frequent lectures (including one on detective stories!) were simply boring. If Dr. Fell was a recurring character, maybe he would have been more real if I’d read other books featuring him, but as a stand-alone he was not intriguing or believable. I stuck with this very slow read because so many authors had praised it so highly and I was hoping the ending would redeem the rest of the book. It was certainly unusual, and I was struck with how cleverly the author had supplied some of the clues, but it was not fabulous enough to make up for the time I wasted reading it.
Graduate language student William Dougal accepts a well-paid translating commission from the man who murdered his tutor. When the man is reported dead, William receives a letter that the man had been pursuing a treasure and murdered by the other claimant, but inviting him to find and claim the treasure himself. William’s greedy girlfriend Amanda urges him to find the treasure, and they are off.
This book was so full of unlikable characters I barely got into it at all. Dougal doesn’t call the police when he finds the dead body of his supervisor because it would make him late for dinner with his girlfriend. His fellow students are shallow and self-obsessed. And the girlfriend is the stereotypical gold-digger. I can’t evaluate the plot because the characters were so obnoxious I couldn’t force myself to read much. The title refers to a medieval language in which the item is written that Dougal is originally commissioned to translate.
American Jessica Tregarthen is enjoying visiting England when two pursuers scare her into flight. Reluctantly rescued by a Cyrano-esque British writer, the villains manage to kidnap both of them and don’t plan on sharing the treasure to which they think Jess is a threat.
Suspense rather than mystery, which is generally too scary for me, and this had too many "if I had only known" comments which I detest. I got about a quarter of the way through and then skipped to the end.
A mysterious note from Letty’s godfather Daniel, written just before he was murdered, sends Letty and guardian vicar William Gunning to Burgundy to unearth his killer. Warned away from the violent Count by both William and the dig archaeologist, Letty is astonished to discover he claims to have been Daniel’s friend.
This book didn’t start as well as The Tomb of Zeus, which I really liked. Letty is just an spoiled, headstrong rich girl rather than a real archaeologist, and her false name fools no one in the little French country town. I slowly waded through half the book before giving up because I didn’t even care enough about the story or the people to skip to the end. The title had nothing to do with the story, another pet peeve of mine. It referred to one sentenced in an admittedly important but still short scene just before the denouement.
Supposedly an narration of the author’s association with justice Sir John Fielding, it immediately deteriorated into a long, boring flashback of the “I was born” variety. When the narrator finally got back to Sir John, he wandered through his impressions as a London newcomer and Sir John’s pledge to find him a printer to apprentice to.
I require a story in order to enjoy a book. When I got a quarter of the way through this book without finding any kind of orderly plot, I quit.
History professor Vicky Bliss finds herself in a race with her English-professor boyfriend Tony and greedy art collector George to find a priceless medieval relic.
I wasn’t wild about this book to start. None of the characters qualify as likable: Vicky is temperamental and self-centered, Tony is a self-obsessed wimp, and George is the stereotypical rich man who gets everything he wants and wants everything he sees. But when the story deteriorated into ghosts and seances, I quit in disgust.
A young woman in peril, with a brother-in-law ruining her father’s business in his absence and trying to force her to marry his friend.
If there was a story here, I couldn’t stick with the book long enough to find it. None of the characters were likable and every other page had an “if I had only known” foreshadowing that I despise. I barely managed to get ten pages into it.
Emily is heartbroken when George’s fancy settles on the lovely granddaughter of their hostess, but she determines to win him back. A horrifying development ends her marriage and puts her own life at risk.
I think this is the end of the series for me. Each book has been gloomier and less interesting than the one before. I wasn’t even interested enough to finish this one.
After a glorious Christmas Eve service at Sherebury cathedral, sixty-ish widow Dorothy trips (literally) over the body of a church canon. Although she has largely withdrawn from life following the unexpected death of her husband, she finds herself determined to identify the killer to save the primary suspect, a troubled young student.
The only thing wrong with this book is that it just didn’t hold my attention. Dorothy is likable enough, the canon was universally disliked, and there are lots of suspects. But I didn’t particularly care what happened next when I put the book down. I finally gave up about 3/4 of the way through.
When an expelled graduate student threatens to sue the University to return its property to the Indians, Roger and Philip are assigned to provide evidence the student participated in illegal activities such as kidnapping the chancellor.
Not at all up to the standard of previous books in the series. The book jumped around in time so much I absolutely could not tell what happened before or after other events. The only likable characters were Roger and Philip. And the story was boring as well. When I got a quarter of the way through and still couldn’t either figure out or care about the plot, I gave up.
Reluctant soldier William Boyle is counting on being the nephew of General Eisenhower to keep him out of danger during WWII. But Ike has Boyle assigned to his London staff to use his policeman’s skills in delicate situations, such as a German spy in the Norwegian royal household and a questionable suicide.
Boyle started out badly, presenting himself as a Boston Irish cop dedicated to preserving Irish control of his home district and taking care of his Irish neighbors and family first. But his moral sense grows as he realizes what the British are fighting for. Then Benn ruined the story again with a totally unbelievable action section, and I thought he was headed for an unsatisfactory ending, but he redeemed both with a convoluted but believable resolution. This was not an easy or simple plot, as much philosophy as action, and intensely reflects the dilemmas faced by commanders in wartime. Not for those who require a happy ending, but would be a good introduction to the historical mystery for those who prefer action plots, in fact I'm going to try to get my son to read it.
A bright but neglected girl meets Sherlock Holmes during WWI.
I didn’t think I’d like this book. The basic concept of a young woman out-Holmesing Sherlock Holmes struck me as wrong. Then King compounded the offense with an “introduction” insisting she was just the “editor.” Phony posing really irritates me. I kept reading, hoping there would be a great story that would make up for the awful concept and cutesy comments, but when I got a quarter of the way through and there was still no story at all, just backstory and snide comments about Mary's aunt, I gave up.
Lady Grace finds herself way over her head when she tries to rescue Lady Sarah from a forced marriage to a wily ship captain.
Another fast-moving and interesting story, although my suspension of disbelief was strained when a pampered Court lady was able to climb ratlines in a swaying ship. Trees are not the same! I also have been very pleasantly surprised at the portrayal of Elizabeth I. She is not a major character in the story but an important one, and demonstrates well-known characteristics: liking for young people and handsome men, excessive kindness to her friends (and, in Grace’s case, the children of her friends), and a strong temper. Her words and actions are fictional but ring very true.
Short-story collection, some murder mysteries, some thrillers.
I prefer the short-story format in many cases, partially because with the shorter length the story rarely has the dragging-in-the-middle problem. And I found Lutz’ short stories initially not nearly as scary as his books (most of which I haven’t been able to finish), but by the time I neared the end, most definitely earned the sobriquet “chilling.”
When her friend Rock hires unemployed journalist Tess to follow his fiancee Ava, Tess arranges for Ava to “confess” her own version of her affair to Rock. Then Ava’s paramour is found murdered and Rock is arrested.
Moderately interesting story of some nice and some vicious people, all doing fairly stupid things, but it dragged quite a bit in the middle (as many books do). I gave up halfway through but I was curious enough to also read the ending.
U.S. Senator Jerry Andrews’ life is so busy that he can put up with his sham marriage. But when a psychiatrist friend is found dead after discussing with Andrews that a famed multiple-personality may be leaving his institution, Andrews’ investigation may put his own life at risk as well.
Lutz writes thrillers with convoluted plots that are just too scary for me. As usual, I got a quarter of the way through and then had to skip to the end.
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.
Former archer Owen is sent to investigate two possible poisonings that occurred at a monastery.
I just don’t like PI stories, whether they are set in New Orleans or 1920’s Hollywood or ancient Rome or, as here, medieval England. I got 1/3 of the way through and realized I didn’t even care enough about the story to skip 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.
When Kate’s newly-ex-husband Craig’s fiancee is killed at a spa, he calls her for comfort and to find the killer, to prevent the sheriff arresting him. But none of the other guests even knew Suzanne … or did they?
After reading a quarter of the book, that’s all I can say about the plot. None of the characters were particularly likable or even real. I wasn’t even interested enough to skip to the end.
Unsuccessful actress Rita Farmer accepts a top-secret job to coach a murder suspect to appear more likeable at her trial. Meanwhile, an insurance investigator wants to find out if the suspect’s husband was really killed.
I didn’t think I’d like this book, partiallly because I don’t like anything involving harm to children, and partially because coaching someone to fool a jury is just wrong. I was fooled by a back-cover review that called it “hilarious” and I didn’t realize until later that was a review from a different book. This was not a funny book at all and I disliked it just for the reasons I had expected. Also, Sims kept switching POVs, from first-person with Rita narrating to third-person following the investigator. I’m not wild about dual main characters, although I couldn’t think of a better way to manage the separate plotlines, but the POV switching was just distracting. I quit forcing myself to read a quarter of the way through.
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.