BIG LIES IN A SMALL TOWN
Diane Chamberlain
St. Martin's Press
January 14, 2020
It's 2018, and 22-year-old Morgan Christopher is starting the second year of her sentence for a crime she did not commit. Her incarceration in the NC State Correctional Center has completely derailed her hopes for a career in art. When she is offered a chance to be released to restore a WPA Post Office mural, which was never hung in the Edenton NC post office. The offer comes from the daughter of Jesse Jameson Williams, a renowned African-American artist from Edenton. Jesse had a history of helping young artists, but Morgan has no idea how he learned of her work and can't ask since he is now deceased. She, of course, jumps at the offer, despite her lack of any experience with restoration. There are several other strings attached, chiefly a hard date for the completion of the repair. The mural must be hung in the gallery that Jesse wanted to be built in Edenton. Compounding the mystery is the question of why the mural was not hung in 1940, and the fate of the young NJ artist, Anna Dale. Anna disappeared, and nothing has been heard of her since. The story is told from the viewpoint of Morgan in 2018, alternating with Anna in 1940.
I found Big Lies in a Small Town a somewhat difficult read. It pushed a lot of buttons for me since I grew up in a small town not that far from Edenton, and not that many years after Anna's time. Growing up in the Jim Crow South in the 1950s made me aware of the dangers and prejudices that a forward-thinking young woman from NJ faced in Edenton. Added to those problems, Anna had won the contest for the mural over a local, "favorite son." Reading Anna's viewpoint filled me with foreboding as to what her fate might have been. However, I came away from the book with an appreciation for its sense of place and time, and indelible characters. It's a wrenching story, beautifully told. I had never read anything by Diane Chamberlain before Big Lies in a Small Town, but I hope to read more of her work in the future. Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martins for an advance digital copy. The opinions are my own.
RATING- 5 Stars
A LONGER FALL
Gunnie Rose # 2
Charlaine Harris
Gallery/Saga Press
January 14, 2020
Lizbeth Rose, recovered from the events and injuries she sustained in An Easy Death, is hired by a new crew. Gunnie is a gunslinger in dangerous modern America, one in which the country split into independent nation-states. The split was precipitated by the assassination of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Even the Holy Russian Empire has a foothold in what was formerly California and Oregon. The crew is protecting a crate being sent into Dixie, one in which there seems to be much interest. The long train ride has been mostly uneventful until the very end when a gunfight erupts, and the train is blown up. The crew leader is injured but alive and is left to guard the crate while Gunnie tries to help survivors. When she returns, the crew leader is dead, and the box has disappeared. Surprisingly, an old friend, Ilya (Eli) Savarov, a "Grigori" (magician) who has his own interest in the crate, one that he refuses to disclose. Gunnie and Eli join forces to search for the container. Gunnie never wanted to go to Dixie, and the reality is as awful as she imagined. Slavery no longer exists, but Jim Crow, racism, sexism, and religious fervor are the norm. An unaccompanied woman, wearing trousers at that, can't pass under the radar in Dixie. Posing as a married couple, the two hope to find the crate and fulfill their respective missions.
I have been a fan of Charlaine Harris' particular blend of genre-bending fiction for a while now. I enjoyed the Sookie Stackhouse series (at least the majority of them) and particularly liked the Midnight, TX, and Harper Connolly series. The blend of alternate history, action, magic, romance, and an appealing lead in Gunnie kept me interested and involved throughout. I am already looking forward to the next in the series. I hope that Eli and Lizbeth can work out the differences in their relative "stations" in life and make a go of it. Since Eli is out of favor with the other Grigori so it might be possible. The differences are more in her head than in his, I think.
Thanks to NetGalley and Saga Press for an advance digital copy. The opinions are my own.
RATING-4.5 rounded up to 5
SOUTHERN HARM
A Southern B&B Mystery # 2
Caroline Fardig
Random House Alibi
November 12, 2019
Sisters Quinn and Delilah Bellandini are happy to be back to normal and running the family B&B after solving a murder in a local restaurant in Savannah (Southern Discomfort). At least Quinn is happy, having nearly lost her life in the investigation. Delilah, on the other hand, misses the excitement and longs for more. There is plenty of excitement to come when Quinn and her new boyfriend, Tucker Heyward, are digging in his Aunt Lela's yard to build a firepit and discover a long-buried body. When the body turns out to be Esther Sinclair, who supposedly left town for good after her high school graduation, Aunt Lela is in big trouble. She and Esther had quite a history that hasn't been forgotten in the intervening thirty-three years. In fact, Esther had more secrets than any 18-year-old girl should have, along with the members of her high school clique, the "Magnolias." Tucker, who is very close to his Aunt, changes his tune against Quinn's sleuthing and even participates. When the sisters' aging hippie mom and absentee father get dragged in as suspects, the chase is on to find out just who, of the many who might have wanted to kill Esther actually did.
I found the byplay between the two very different sisters particularly amusing. Two more different sisters could not be imagined, but those differences complement each other. I was very much "in the dark" as to who exactly could have killed Esther, and why. Southern Harm is an entertaining and enjoyable read. Thanks to NetGalley and Alibi for an advance copy. The opinions are my own.
RATING-3.5 Stars rounded up to 4
IN THE SHADOW OF VESUVIUS
Lady Emily Mysteries # 14
Tasha Alexander
St. Martins Minotaur
January 7, 2020
It's 1902 and Lady Emily with her husband Colin Hargreaves are on holiday in Italy with their friends Ivy and Jeremy, the Duke of Bainbridge. The plan is to explore the ruins of Pompeii, destroyed by the eruption of Mt.Vesuvius in AD 79. While exploring, Ivy comments on the sideburns showing on one of the plaster casts, not exactly a feature of a first-century body! Upon chipping away at the plaster, Colin finds a much more recent corpse, no more than a month or two old. The police call it a local mafia crime, but when another death occurs on an archaeological dig, Colin and Emily spring into action. In the midst of their investigation, an unheralded visitor brings marital strife. Colin's previously unknown daughter, the product of an affair with his partner in espionage, now deceased, arrives in Italy. Not unexpectedly the daughter, "Kat", and Emily get off to a very rocky start, even though Emily tries her best. There is a secondary story being told as well and the narrative switches from 1902 to AD 79 and tells the story of a sixteen-year-old slave girl in Pompeii, who is also a gifted poet.
I have enjoyed all of the Lady Emily mysteries to a greater or lesser degree, and I think In the Shadow of Vesuvius is one of the best of the series. I was much more invested in the slave girl's story that I had initially expected to be. The two storylines tied together very satisfactorily in the end. It's difficult to maintain the momentum in such a long-running series, but Alexander has pulled it off again. Thanks to Minotaur and NetGalley for an advance digital copy. The opinions are my own.
RATING- 4 Stars
MURDER, SHE ENCOUNTERED
Murder, She Reported # 3
Peg Cochran
Random House Alibi
December 3, 2019
It's the height of summer in 1939, New York City, but everyone is excited by the World's Fair. Rising star photographer Elizabeth "Biz" Adams and her partner, Kaminsky, are sent out to cover a murder at the Fair of one of the girls who demonstrate the new nylon stockings on display. Touted as being stronger, cheaper, and more long-lasting, a stocking was used to strangle her. The police quickly seize on an obvious suspect, the young hot dog vendor named Joey, who everyone says was obsessed with her. Elizabeth, however, doubts that he is the guilty party. She and Kaminsky set out to do some investigating on their own. When Kaminsky's notoriously unhealthy lifestyle lands him in the hospital, Elizabeth proceeds on her own. There is plenty of nefarious activity at the Fair to go around, and "Biz" finds herself in more danger than she bargained for.
The Murder, She Reported series is rapidly becoming a favorite of mine. Peg Cochran obviously does her research, and the reader is presented with a vivid picture of New York City before the days of air-conditioning; its heat, odor, and slow recovery from the Great Depression. Elizabeth is a very modern woman for her time and social standing, one who wants to be her own person. Her relationship with Sal Marino, Police Detective, takes a back-burner in Murder, She Encountered but Elizabeth takes steps that may change everything. Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for an advance digital copy. The opinions are my own.
RATING- 5 Stars
MURDER OFF THE PAGE
A 42nd Street Library Mystery # 3
Con Lehane
Minotaur Books
November 19,2019
The appearance of a beautiful young woman at Raymond Ambler's Crime Reading Room raises questions in the minds of both Raymond and his colleague, Adele. Her name is Shannon Darling, and she is researching the recently donated papers of a once-popular mystery writer. It's clear that this young woman has never done any research before and is entirely ignorant of the usual procedures. Their questions only increase when they encounter her in their local watering-hole. Shannon Darling is acting flirty with every man in the place, and as she continues to drink, she becomes more inappropriate in her behavior. Their friend, bartender, and confidant, Brian McNulty hands off the bar and escorts her to her hotel room. It's clear to all that McNulty has a prior connection to Shannon. Two murders later, Brian is on the run and a suspect in both killings. It turns out that Shannon Darling is actually Dr. Sandra Dean, a dermatologist living in Connecticut, and Dr.Dean has been leading a double life. Raymond's sleuthing skills will all be needed if McNulty is to be cleared.
The 42nd Street Library Series is a good example of a character-driven mystery, which is my preferred type. In the case of this book, I found all the character extras a little tedious and that they detracted somewhat from the narrative flow. For all his skills, Raymond is a bit slow in catching on to relationship dynamics, especially with Adele. He does try though with his grandson Johnny, who we met in the first book of the series. Murder Off the Page. I enjoyed this third book but thought it fell short of the first two in the series. Thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur for an advance copy. The opinions are my own.
RATING- 3 STARS
MAGIC AND THE SHINIGAMI DETECTIVE
The Case Files of Henri Davenforth #1
Honor Raconteur
Raconteur House, LLC
April 17, 2018
I've been reading Magic and the Shinigami Detective as a bedtime book and thoroughly enjoyed it. Imagine being a 21st-century police detective, kidnapped and magically abused for months by a mad witch. And upon managing to kill the witch, finding yourself in an entirely different world with no chance of returning to your own. That's what happens to Jamie Edwards. The new world she finds herself in has parallels to Victorian England in the social mores and dress, but with the addition of magic, plus such creatures as werehorses, werefoxes, weremules, brownies, and dwarves at which no one even raises an eyebrow. Jamie is fortunate in her friends, though, Royal Mage Sherard Seaton and especially her new police partner, Henri Davenforth. Henri is a gentlemanly, slightly portly, solitary Magical Examiner (akin to a Medical Examiner) who doesn't know what hit him upon meeting Jamie. The first case that they work together is a break-in of the evidence room at the Fourth Precinct. Everyone knows who did the crime, but how did they break the magical wards on the building? Henri is a little wary of Jamie in the beginning. But he soon makes it his mission to help the lonely refugee feel at home in his world. The two quickly form a meaningful friendship, and maybe more. There is a lot of humor in the two trying to make sense of their two cultures.
Despite finding the magical systems a little confusing, and a couple of editing errors, I give this one an enthusiastic thumbs-up. The characters are charming and even loveable in their humanity. I'm looking forward to the next one, Charms and Deaths and Explosions. Fans of imaginative fantasy will love this one.
RATING- 4 Stars
