THE GARDEN PLOT
Marty Wingate
Random House LLC/Alibi
May 6, 2014
Pru Parke grew up in Dallas, Texas, only child of an English mother and American father. Pru is a professional gardener and landscape designer with a perfectly good career. But when her mother dies Pru decides to follow her dream and move to England. She gives herself one year to get a position at one of the many historical English gardens. So far, she has had no luck but has gotten several jobs in private homes. When Pru stumbles over a dead body at one of those homes she finds herself drawn into the investigation.
We first meet Pru in the last month of her self-imposed year limit. She is just about out of funds and coming to the end of her lease on her house. She has made friends in England but her old Dallas friends and an old flame are pressuring her to come home. She can even get her former position back but England has become more of a home to her than Dallas could ever be. There are so many things I loved about The Garden Plot. Pru herself is a mature woman; over fifty and extremely self-reliant. Some might even call her stubborn. Yet she is also vulnerable, feeling that she has always been somewhat of a fish out of water. She wants more than anything to stay in England but things just haven't worked out. Every chapter of The Garden Plot begins with an extremely polite and very English rejection letter from an interview she has had for a position. Those letters get more and more painful as time grows short.
Pru is a delightful and sympathetic character with a small support network of other well developed and slightly eccentric characters. When a dishy Chief Inspector joins that network, things really get interesting. There are also a couple of sleazy bad guys to contend with but Pru is up to the challenge. The Garden Plot is an almost perfect cozy, a great antidote for the snowy day in February when I read it. I look forward to more of what I hope will be a series. Thanks to netgalley and Random House/Alibri for an advance digital copy.
RATING- 4.5 Heirloom Roses
SILENCE FOR THE DEAD
Simone St. James
NAL/Penguin
April 1, 2014
Silence for the Dead opens in 1919 England and Kitty Weekes is headed to Portis House, a remote mansion in which men shell-shocked by their wartime experiences are treated, hopefully to recover and be able to resume a normal life. Kitty has been hired as a nurse, which she is not, and under an assumed name. She is on the run from an unknown menace and Portis House seems her best chance of refuge. When Kitty arrives at Portis House she finds that nothing is quite as it seems. There doesn't appear to be much real therapy for the men, the work is grueling and what about the mysterious "Patient Sixteen"; an inmate who is not seen by the other residents and only by staff with "clearance". And how about the things that go bump in the night and the nightmares that plague the men?
Simone St. James breathed new life into the Gothic genre with her first book, The Haunting of Maddy Clare, and An Inquiry into Love and Death, her second. Silence for the Dead is a worthy third novel exploring the period following WWI and I enjoy the historical accuracy of the books. Shell-shocked veterans suffered greatly from their malady and were also burdened by social stigma. Kitty is a brave and resourceful heroine and she is surrounded by a well-rounded cast of characters. Besides the chills, a very satisfactory romance develops.
I did not find Silence for the Dead quite as frightening as her two previous novels and the end seemed somewhat rushed to me. Therefore I am giving the book a 4.5 rather than 5 stars. I would recommend it to anyone who loves historical fiction especially those who enjoy gothic thrills along with the history. This edition includes an excerpt from her next book, The Other Side of Midnight. I am counting the days already!
RATING- 4.5 Stars
THE BURNING
Jane Casey
St. Martin's/Minotaur
August 2011
London is in the grip of panic after the brutal murders of four young women. The killer, dubbed by the press as "The Burning Man", attacks his victims with a stun gun, a claw hammer and boots and then sets the bodies on fire. Maeve Kerrigan is a young Detective Constable attached to the task force charged with apprehending the killer and has worked long hours in the search, putting her health and relationship with her live-in boyfriend in jeopardy. When a fifth victim is found, Maeve notices enough differences to make her think the new victim might be be a copy-cat. When she presents her doubts to her charismatic boss he assigns the new case to her to investigate separately. The victim, Rebecca Haworth, was a young woman who should have had everything going for her, but upon closer examination was in a downward spiral.
The Burning is a very solid police procedural with extremely well drawn characters. The story is told from several viewpoints, primarily those of Maeve and the friend of the latest victim, Louise. While I had pegged the real killer very early, Casey threw in a few red herrings that kept me doubting my own judgement. Maeve herself is an appealing character, very likable, and very driven to find the answers. I am looking forward to catching up with the next four books in the series. The Burning is a great read for fans of psychological crime fiction.
Thanks to netgalley and St. Martins for a digital copy of The Burning.
RATING- 4 STARS
MURDER OF CROWS (The Others #2)
Anne Bishop
Penguin Audio
March 4, 2014
Anyone who read my review of Written in Red last year knows that I was blown away by it's originality and thought it was one of the best urban fantasies of the year (or any other). Anne Bishop has a history of building fully realized and entirely believable fantasy worlds, peopled by characters that jump off the page. She succeeded brilliantly with her first venture into urban fantasy and once again with her second, Murder of Crows.
Meg Corbyn is settling into her life among the terra indigene; the shapeshifters, vampires and powerful elemental spirits inhabiting The Courtyard. Even though Meg is human, her abilities as a cassandra sangue make her safe among them. She has built relationships and even friendships and they are determined to keep her safe. However, the humans surrounding The Courtyard are becoming more and more aggressive and breaking all agreements. Meg begins to have visions involving blood and black feathers and the dangerous drug, "gone over wolf" is showing up everywhere. "The Controller", the man who kept Meg and other cassandra sangue imprisoned and abused seems to be at the bottom of the the unrest. He is determined to get Meg back, even at the cost of war between the terra indigene and the humans. Simon Wolfgard, leader of The Courtyard, knows that they must move quickly to avoid all out war. The question is, do the terra indigene of other regions feel that the effort is worth it or has trust eroded too far?
The characters we met in Written in Red, both human and "other" are back, along with new characters. Simon, the same aggressive and angry wolf no matter what his form, is finding that his relationship with Meg is very important to him. He is not exactly happy about it and is more than a little confused. Meg is still finding her feet in a world she has only a limited understanding of but retains the spirit that has allowed her to survive so far. I have absolutely no idea where the relationship is going but I certainly am enjoying the journey! "The Controller" is entirely loathsome, as is his associate, Mr. Jones. What has been done to the cassandra sangue is truly appalling and can't continue to stand. All this leads to a very explosive ending.
The ending is the only slightly disappointing part of Murder of Crows. Since the humans are so outmatched I didn't feel much tension about it. One wonders how the human inhabitants of this world can be so arrogant and stupid as to think they could win a war. Conflicts in the past have ended in wholesale destruction of human towns and cities and there is no reason to think a new war will end any differently. The only difference is that The Courtyard's inhabitants are trying to avoid the conflict. Despite this quibble, I highly recommend Murder of Crows.
RATING- 4.5 Wolf Howls
CITY OF JASMINE
Deanna Raybourn
Harlequin MIRA
February 25, 2014
Deanna Raybourn's newest book, City of Jasmine, set in the wide open 1920's, takes us on a quest from Damascus into the Badiyat ash-Sham or the great Syrian desert. Evangeline Starke has gained fame but little fortune as a celebrity aviatrix. Accompanied by her eccentric and adventuresome Aunt Dove, she is embarking upon a flight across the seven seas of antiquity. Just before embarking from Rome she receives a photograph of her husband, Gabriel Starke, marked "Damascus, 1920". However, Gabriel supposedly was lost in the Lusitania disaster of 1915. The two parted company in China after a whirlwind courtship and brief marriage and Evie headed back to England to sue for divorce. The divorce was not finalized before his reported death and Evie has never been quite sure that Gabriel really is dead. The photograph sends her to Damascus to find out what she can about Gabriel.
Evie's search for Gabriel leads her to an archaeological dig in the desert run by a staff that is not what it seems, encounters with bedouin and bandits, some highly questionable Hungarian aristocracy and the quest for an ancient antiquity. The hardships and dangers are very real and life threatening. I really admire Deanna Raybourn's ability to bring the sights and smells of other times and places to life and this may be her best book yet. The characters are vivid and memorable. She has even cleverly woven in characters from other books into the plot. Who would expect to meet one of the "Mad Marches" in the 1920's? There is a prequel, "Whisper of Jasmine", available in ebook and on kindle that covers Evie and Gabriel's first meeting and marriage. Evie has come quite a long way since their meeting at the beginning of WWI!
Now for the not so good- the cover. The cover of City of Jasmine is in no way representative of the book's contents. Raybourn's books have been blessed with some gorgeous covers, but this one misses the mark. Evie was not wearing lace and pearls in the desert. Neither was she sharing playful glances with Gabriel as they picnicked! It's a small thing to some, I suppose, but it bugged me. Not the author's fault I'm sure, as I don't think authors have much, or sometimes any, input into covers.
I highly recommend City of Jasmine to anyone who enjoys adventure, historical fiction and romance.
RATING- 5 Stars
THE MIDNIGHT SIDE
Natasha Mostert
Portable Magic Books
December 2013
Isabelle "Isa" de Witt is awakened early one morning in her Durban, South Africa apartment by a call from her cousin, Alette, who is now living in London. Isabelle is not surprised as the two girls grew up together on a homestead in the Transvaal and were always very close. Imagine what she feels when she learns that her cousin was already dead, killed in an accident, at the time of the call. Isabelle is already in a very fragile state, grieving for the loss of her married lover of thirteen years. She is Alette's only heir. Alette requested that she come to London for at least a month to claim the legacy. When Isabelle arrives in London and meets with Alette's attorney she finds that Alette has a task for her to accomplish, one all about revenge, obsession and murder.
The Midnight Side is a complex psychological thriller with elements of lucid dreaming, African folklore and the possibility of a vengeful woman manipulating events from the grave. It is the kind of book that I kept wanting to flip to the end in order to find out if my suppositions were correct. Instead, I just stayed up late reading. Natasha Mostert writes wonderfully descriptive prose that evokes both South Africa and wintertime London. Filled with mystery, suspense and characters one does not necessarily like, but are completely credible in their obsessions The Midnight Side is a great read. I had not heard of Natasha Mostert, but this debut novel that has evidently been updated and re-issued will not be my last from this gifted writer.
Thanks to netgalley.com and Portable Magic for an advance digital copy.
RATING- 4 Stars
AN OLD BETRAYAL (Charles Lenox Mysteries #7)
Charles Finch
November 2012
Minotaur Books
It's a Spring morning in 1875 London and Charles Lenox is on an errand for his friend, Dallington, Charles' apprentice in the detection business, who has opened his own successful agency. However, Dallington is ill and asks Lenox to meet with a prospective client in a railway cafe. This prospective client has sent a very cryptic note and Charles does not know whether the client is a male or a female. His lack of knowledge leads to his missing the client, to the death of a reclusive country squire and a chase across London from the slums to the highest reaches of imperial power. In the course of the investigation Charles uncovers a plot generations in the making.
The Charles Lenox Mysteries have been a favorite of mine since the first in the series, A Beautiful Blue Death. Lenox is a very attractive character;a real Victorian gentleman with a social conscience and now a doting papa to his new daughter, Sophie. His social conscience has led him away from detection into Parliament. But he is finding Parliament very demanding of his time with his family and not as satisfying as he thought it might be. So the chance to jump into an intriguing and important investigation is just what he has been looking for, even though he did not realize it. I am glad to see Charles so fully engaged in an investigation again.
Charles Finch obviously does extensive research into the era and gets into the "nuts and bolts" of Victorian society and government. These factual gems are seamlessly woven into the narrative, not just dumped. I enjoyed An Old Betrayal greatly and look forward to the next in the series.
RATING- 4 Stars
