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.
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.
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.
Kerowyn’s comfortable if confining life is shattered when her mage-grandmother Kethry gives her the sword Need to rescue her brother’s kidnapped bride. Bored at home afterwards, she studies with Tarma to become a mercenary soldier. Kero joins a mercenary company but leaves after the captain is killed and his replacement gradually depletes the company through lack of ability. Desperate to protect herself from the replacement captain’s vengeance, she is astonished to learn the company has elected her the new captain. And it is the captain of a revived Company, years later, who leads them into Valdemar to fight as allies against Ancar.
This book is more a series of adventures than a unified story, but that’s a good thing. Lackey is superb at this style, much better than her more traditional novels. The adventures move along quickly so the story doesn’t bog down. And it was nice to find out what happened to Tarma and Kethry.
Tally lost her father to murder 20 years ago. Now she’s a grief counselor to other victims. When a childhood friend loses first her sister and then her own life, Tally starts untangling a convoluted web of lies, manipulation, and madness.
This is more of a psychological thriller than a murder mystery, and it scared me too much to finish. Tautly written, with lots of psychobabble and too involving to care whether the people feel real or not. OTOH, I sure can't complain that the title didn't reflect the story.
Stonewall Jackson Calhoun cannot remember his past, works at a bait shop although someone puts plenty of money in his account to live on, and is involved in an adulterous relationship with his boss. And a co-worker is missing.
Possibly the least organized book I’ve ever tried to read. I got a quarter of the way through, wading through multiple flashbacks (which are almost always a bad sign and detract from the story), and still found no current story. I gave up.
Thomas is assigned to investigate and identify the body of a boy found in the worst section of London, who turns out to have been the son of a baronet and sexually abused. Charlotte, naturally, uses her society connections to investigate, while Thomas fights a social-climbing partner and pressure from the chief to look past the obvious suspect and find the real killer.
I don’t know whether I’m getting tired of this series or whether this particular book wasn’t up to snuff, but it did not hold my interest the way previous books did. Thomas seemed inept and Charlotte just nosy and incompetent – why did she let the accused killer’s wife sandbag Thomas at home not once but twice? None of the characters were likeable. I gave up about halfway through and wasn’t even curious enough to skip to the end.
PI John Francis Cuddy tackles the case of a missing boy, which may be connected to the mysterious death of his mother four years earlier. With the shadow of the boy’s father’s bully boy following him, he finds that he has been lied to and everyone is scared of telling the truth.
I couldn’t finish this because it was too scary for me, more of the thriller than a cozy murder mystery, and I usually don’t like PI stories for just this reason.
Attorney Deborah Knott is so aggravated by the racism of the North Carolina judges that she runs for district court judge. But complicating her campaign are a young woman wanting Deborah to find the truth of her mother’s murder 18 years earlier, an unknown opponent sending out letters making her look racist, and the current murder of a gay scion of the local aristocracy.
Deborah is a believable character in spite of being a fairly honest lawyer, and the Southern setting rings true. Fortunately, Maron doesn’t drown the reader in dialect. I particularly liked it when she told off a client who had been lying to her.
Reluctant apprentice sailor Galwyn jumps at the chance to become horse-boy to “Comes Artos” (King Arthur to us) and learns to care for the large Libyan horses brought back to Britain.
McCaffrey did an amazing job presenting the details of this era without drowning the story. Galwyn is both likeable and believable. Arthurian fans like me will enjoy a portrait of that era from a different point of view, and anyone who likes historical novels will enjoy this one.
When household tyrant Gregory Matthews is found dead, none of his family are particularly grieved, and accusations fly thick and fast. But when an autopsy reveals that he had been poisoned, Inspector Hannasyde has to wade through multiple surprises to identify the killer. Even so, he stays one step behind another interested party.
What an amazing collection of unlikeable characters. One selfish wimpy sister, one selfish overbearing sister, one selfish manipulative sister-in-law, one idiotic wastrel nephew, and one troublemaking wastrel nephew. The niece who wants to marry the neighborhood doctor is the closest to a nice person in the bunch. But Heyer plays absolutely fair with the reader, providing all the necessary clues along with lots of distractors.
in The Chrome Borne
Tannim is a mage and a car fancier, working with the “good elves” against the “bad elves” who want to destroy man.
Another series I just couldn’t get into. None of the characters seemed real and the bad elves hated humans just for the heck of it.
When a Congressman about to hold hearings on violent music lyrics is killed outside his Washington home, Mick wonders whether the man’s accused stepson, a manager who stole over a million dollars from Mick and others, is really responsible.
Nicely convoluted plot, with baddies trying to eliminate Mick as he investigates a 20-year-old unsolved murder that may hold the key to the modern-day murder. Add enough sex and violence to resemble a Dallas episode and a family that makes the Borgias look affectionate and you’ve got a fine read.
Years ago, Marie abandoned her Mennonite family to marry an outsider. Now, in order for her daughter Beth to claim a substantial inheritance, they will both have to live in the community for 3 months.
Gentle, slow-moving story of healing hurts. Unfortunately, there wasn’t anything to justify claiming the reader’s sympathy for Marie and Beth, which meant there was nothing to make the book interesting to the reader.
Gull is born after her mother is raped following the fall of Troy, and she becomes a junior priestess in the temple of Pythia, goddess of the dead. When her countrymen invade Pylos, she escapes with the rescued captives and they wander for a while looking for a new home.
I never figured out the point of this book. It required that the reader know something of Mediterranean civilization around the time of the Trojan War, which I do, and otherwise the characters didn’t seem real. But Gull/Pythia shrugged off the rules governing Pythia’s servant far too carelessly to be authentic, and the story was uninvolving.
Temeraire and his crew fly the difficult overland route to Turkey to pick up three dragon eggs, but find the British ambassador dead and the Sultan’s officials claiming the eggs were not paid for. Lien worries Temeraire when she states she intends to see him lose everything he values as punishment for the death of her prince.
As the series progresses, Novik continues to give us a fast-moving storyline full of excitement and conflict, but it has become less believable. One might claim that since it involves dragons during the Napoleonic War, it’s not intended to be believable, but the presence of dragons is the big “what if?” that Novik asks the reader to accept. Straining the reader’s belief in other areas is not part of accepting that initial “what if?” and makes the book less enjoyable. Also, the title has hardly anything to do with story or setting.
Melanie goes to the national poodle show to exhibit Eve and winds up selling raffle tickets to benefit the club. But when someone kills one of the elderly sisters running the raffle committee, who happens to own one of the shining stars of the show, Melanie just can’t keep her nose out. A fast and enjoyable read, like all Berenson’s mysteries. I thought the identity of the murderer was obvious, but I was wrong and Berenson made her murderer believable.
Detailed history of frontier medicine, but unfortunately not very readable. I read it in small chunks because it had amazing information on what really happened on the frontier.
Kitzi is livid when a cousin wants to take over the family manse and appalled when his co-worker is found murdered in a dumpster next door. In between admiring bead creations and hosting an ovarian cancer benefit, she tracks down a missing candlestick and fights to keep her home. Better than the previous book in making sure the reader has the information needed to identify the murderer, but still more than a bit confusing as Smith runs numerous simultaneous storylines.
At a crafting weekend, middle-aged trust-fund baby and former state senator Kitzi Camden finds her best friend’s husband in flagrante delicto with another beader. When the woman turns up dead, Kitzi walks a fine line between protecting her friend and trying to catch the killer. With multiple suspects, Smith really didn’t supply information to distinguish the killer from the red herrings.
Bridget goes from savoring a loving relationship with Mark Darcy to letting jellyfish Rebecca sabotage it. Fielding continues to make the diary format work most of the time, although the story itself got sillier and sillier. Particularly annoying was the endless “interview” with Colin Firth. Fortunately, the last quarter was back up to the high level of funny pathos Fielding does so well.
Absolutely riveting autobiography of an NBC cameraman-turned-producer. Full not only of dramatic scenes he experienced but the effect they had on his psyche and his family. Another book that was not a fast read but well worth the time it took to get all the way through.
Historical romance about a lower-class young woman determined to become the mistress of a big house. More ambitious than sympathetic, which made her not very interesting, and I didn’t finish it.
Better than I expected. (Is there anyone on the planet who doesn’t know Bridget Jones is a thirty-something single obsessed with her weight and her boss?) Not as coherent as the movie, which is not surprising since the format is literally diary entries. I did have to laugh when Bridget’s new boss demands info about Hugh Grant and Colin Firth, since Grant eventually played Bridget’s old boss Daniel Cleaver and Firth played son-of-family-friends Mark Darcy.
This supposed colonial mystery tried to be a ghost story as well and basically set 21st century men and women into the 1700’s. Not believable and not even very interesting, I finally just skipped to the end.
Strange but well-written retelling of well-known fairy tales from a different viewpoint: Cinderella from the viewpoint of the prince, Rapunzel from the viewpoint of the witch, Jack and the Beanstalk from the viewpoint of the golden harp. Not, however, necessarily cheerful tales, although the final story was the happiest version of the Lady Godiva story I’ve ever read.
Essentially noir 1940s story about a young wannabe newspaperman who investigates the murder of a young socialite for which a black man is blamed. Not involving enough to keep me reading.
Full of unlikeable people, including a serial killer that literally gave me nightmares. Andrew Broom himself was okay, but not worth wasting the time on the rest of the characters.
Strange book about the crippled son of a British minor noble during the Restoration, that I never found a story in and gave up on.
Another mystery I just couldn’t get into. Since this was set in the restaurant business, and I love cooking, I figured this was a can’t-lose. But when I got a quarter into it and the most likable character was the corpse, and I figured out the heartless meaning of the title, I gave up.
Cassie promises the dying woman who practically raised her to find suitable wives for her two sons. Not as predictable as I expected, kind of a cross between Bridget Jones’ Diary and Love Story. I liked the beginning, even though it was a flashback, because it brought likeable characters to life. Cassie’s progress is realistic and involving even if a bit slow.
When a visiting celebrity turns up dead in Hannah’s bakery, she has to solve the murder in order to get back to work. Workmanlike cozy mystery, easy to read with likeable characters. The murderer was a bit obvious, but the “why” took longer to figure out.
Extraordinary but grisly novel about a new paramedic working in Harlem. Probably accurate AFAIK (and I worked on an ambulance in Miami’s Liberty City many years ago) but not for the squeamish. Although Burke himself was a paramedic in Harlem, this is not a memoir. It has a real plot, characters, and development, and is the best-written story I’ve read in ages. Burke leads the reader through the experiences and emotions that make the characters’ actions believable. I definitely want to read more by this author.
Grim more-or-less-fact-based novel of the building of the Taj Mahal, from the viewpoint of the oldest daughter of the beloved Empress. Beautifully written, with lush language reminiscent of Dickens or Austen, but I gave up halfway through because the story was just too depressing.
This was another mystery I couldn’t finish because it was too scary. A pastor who tries to be a good Christian is given an evening with a call girl by an old “friend.” Although he quickly leaves, when the woman is murdered, he becomes the prime suspect and must try to find the real murderer while on the run from the police.
Once again, Boynton has come up with a children’s musical way too good to waste on children. Sure, your little ones will enjoy hearing about a lost shoe and a band marching through the kitchen, but the adults can appreciate Steve Lawrence, Neil Sedaka, the Sparklets, and Patti LuPone performing Boynton’s songs in their own unique styles. Although "Mersey Lullaby" is probably the prettiest tune, I particularly liked Brian Wilson singing "Speed Turtle" and B.B. King wailing the "One Shoe Blues." Amazing, thoroughly enjoyable, and often hysterically funny.
In this collection of unrelated short stories, Lanagan demonstrates a strong gift for creating alternate universes and putting believable people in them. Unfortunately, that does not translate to enjoyable stories. The only one I really liked was the last piece in the book, "Rite of Spring."