Mythology, Magic and Steampunk in London

THE UNDYING LEGION (Crown and Key #2)
Clay and Susan Griffith
Random House Del Rey Spectra
June 30, 2015

Following closely on the heels of The Shadow Revolution, first in the Crown and Key series, The Undying Legion continues the adventures of a motley crew of monster hunters and magicians. A supernatural war is brewing. The beautiful and brilliant alchemist Kate Anstruther, magician- scribe Simon Archer, monster hunter Malcolm MacFarlane, young werewolf Charlotte and maker of marvelous gadgets Penny Clark are the first line of defense.

Kate is occupied in trying to reverse the damage to her sister, horribly mutated by a mad scientist in The Shadow Revolution. Kate has had only limited success and now a new threat has arisen. Someone is ritually sacrificing young women in London churches, and the dead are rising. An artist and necromancer, Rowan Barnes, is at the heart of these events. However, is something more ancient and deadly the driving force? The talented Griffith team combines Egyptian mythology with allusions to the prophetic poetry of William Blake and comes up with something entirely different and quite thrilling.

The action is non-stop and very cinematic, but I think that the character development is the most enjoyable element of The Undying Legion. The deepening attraction and respect between Kate and Simon is one element, but more enjoyable is Malcolm's relationship with Charlotte. As Malcolm's previous attitude to werewolves has always been "kill them", his struggle to work with and trust Charlotte is entertaining to say the least. I have no idea where the next in the series, The Conquering Dark, will take me but I am really looking forward to the ride.

Thanks to Random House Del Rey-Spectra and netgalley.com for an advance digital copy in return for an honest review.

RATING- 4 Stars

Brilliant "Noir" Trilogy set in Nazi Germany and Beyond

BERLIN NOIR (Bernie Gunther Books 1-3)
Philip Kerr
Viking Penguin

Berlin Noir is a repackaging of the first three books in the Bernie Gunther series: March Violets, The Pale Criminal, and German Requiem. Noir is not and has never been a preferred genre for me but having read a review of the most recent Bernie Gunther, The Lady from Zagreb, I decided to give the series a spin.

Bernie is a cynical, hard-drinking, somewhat overweight PI working primarily on missing persons cases. The setting for March Violets (a derisive term for late-comers to Nazi Party membership) is Berlin in 1933, and missing persons cases are plentiful. A former Kriminalinspektor with Kripo, the Berlin Police, Bernie quit his job when the Nazi's began purging the police officers who were not party members. A new case of two murders takes him to the highest reaches of the party.

Skipping to 1938, The Pale Criminal shows a Germany even more under the jackboots of the Nazi Party. Personal freedom is non-existent, the persecution and deportation of Jews are in full implementation and Bernie is still stubbornly resistant to Party membership. But when none other than Reinhold Heydrich summons Bernie to solve the cases of missing and murdered young girls there is no way he can refuse. Kripo has had no luck, but Bernie's reputation makes him a likely candidate. Not that Heydrich has any real interest in the girls; indeed he is hoping to implicate his Nazi rivals.

A German Requiem skips over the war and covers the occupation by the Three Powers (American, Russian and British) of Berlin and Germany. Having been blackmailed by Heydrich into SS membership, Bernie found that the wholesale killing of women and children was something her could not stomach. He asked for a transfer to the Eastern Front, ending up in a Russian POW camp. Returning to Berlin he finds a ruined landscape, food shortages, ever-present corruption and an unfaithful wife. There is little to choose from among the occupying Americans, British and Russians. When a former Kripo colleague is accused of murdering an American Captain in Vienna, Bernie takes on the investigation, for a substantial fee.

Bernie Gunther is very much the tarnished knight; amoral, prone to dispatching opposition with no second thoughts and in it for the money. But he does have a sense of honor and an unfailing eye for hypocrisy. I am not a stranger to the brutality of the Nazi regime, but I found some of the books very hard to take. Nevertheless, the three books of the Berlin Trilogy are extraordinarily well-written and historically accurate.  The audiobooks (available as separate units) are narrated very competently by John Lee, even though I found his American New York accent a little lacking. The Bernard Gunther series is relentlessly dark and while I will be continuing, I will be taking a break for something a little lighter.

RATING- 4 Stars

The High Price of Celebrity and Beauty

THE FORTUNE HUNTER
Daisy Goodwin
St. Martin's Press
July 2014

The Fortune Hunter tells a story set in Victorian England based on actual characters and events. Charlotte Baird is a very wealthy young heiress, Bay Middleton a well-known cavalry officer and horseman and the beautiful Empress Elizabeth of Austria. Elizabeth is an accomplished horsewoman and has come to England to hunt and to escape the stultifying Austrian court and her equally stifling marriage to the dutiful Franz-Joseph. The lives of the three collide when Bay is assigned to be her "pilot" while hunting by his commander. He is to guide her on unfamiliar terrain and protect her from injury. Both are reckless riders and feel an immediate attraction. The problem is that Bay has an informal engagement to Charlotte.

Beautifully written, The Fortune Hunter is rich in historical detail and paints a picture of a bygone era. The parallels between Princess Diana of England and Empress Elizabeth are obvious; both were totally unprepared for the constraints of royal life and hounded by a public unable to get enough of news about them. Even though Elizabeth hated the attention and refused to be photographed after around the age of thirty, she was obsessed with her appearance. Her beauty rituals are bizarre in the extreme. Charlotte, on the other hand, is not a beauty but makes up for the lack in spirit and charm. Unlike most young women of her social standing, Charlotte is an accomplished photographer and is not particularly interested in marriage. Until she meets Bay, that is. 

The Fortune Hunter has exciting descriptions of foxhunting and steeplechasing. Even though I deplore foxhunting and blood sport in general, I found both engrossing. One gets a clear sense of the danger involved in galloping and jumping a horse over rough terrain and the skills required. At times, Goodwin's dialogue among the rich and leisured is hilarious. The British upper crust had entirely too much time on their hands, wasting whatever talents they might have had in useless pursuits and meaningless gossip.

Goodwin's portrayal of her three main characters in this love triangle is mostly sympathetic but I'm afraid I couldn't connect with Elizabeth or Bay. She was a shallow, selfish, manipulative creature, and Bay was a womanizer whose true love appeared to be his horse, Tipsy. I can't help but feel that Charlotte deserved better. As much as I enjoyed the book I was not enchanted by either Bay or Elizabeth, so that colored my overall opinion. I still have to give it a solid four stars and recommend it to anyone who enjoys well researched and written historical fiction.

Scandal and Murder among the "400"

MURDER AT BEECHWOOD (Gilded Newport #3)
Alyssa Maxwell
Kensington Books
May 26, 2015

Murder at Beechwood is the third book of a historical mystery series set in Newport, RI, during the 1890s, the "Gilded Age" when the richest Americans retired to their "cottages" (read "mansions") by the sea. Names like Vanderbilt, Astor and Fish were common among the summer residents. These  were lavish and ostentatious homes and the parties more so. All of New York's "400", so named after the number of people who could fit into Mrs. Astor's New York City ballroom traveled to Newport on a regular basis.

Emma Cross is a year round resident of Newport and a Vanderbilt poor relation. She is neither a real insider nor an outsider. Her Vanderbilt relations are fond of her so she moves on the fringes of Newport society and is invited to the parties. That's very handy since she is a reporter for the local newspaper and can cover the social events. After all what is the point of the lavish parties if the public doesn't get to read about them and marvel? She is somewhat of an anomaly in other ways as well: she supports her household on her own, has no real interest in marriage and has a reputation for taking in unfortunate young women and giving them a new start in life. Not many of the upper crust of Newport think that is an admirable pursuit, however.

Murder at Beechwood begins with Emma's discovery of an infant boy left on her front porch. Rather than simply turning him over for the authorities to deal with she is determined to find the mother. The only clue is a fine handkerchief with distinctive lace left with the baby. Very soon, bodies start turning up in Newport and Emma is sure that they are linked to the child and one of the eminent families. Someone is trying to stop her questions and she finds herself in real danger. Scandal, financial impropriety and madness lie beneath all the glitter of Newport.

Alyssa Maxwell bases many of the events of Murder at Beechwood on reality.The grand party at Beechwood that is so richly described really did take place in 1896. It's clear that she has an encyclopedic knowledge of Newport and the families. I wish that I had known that this was the third book so that I might have had a better understanding of the characters involved. That is easily remedied by downloading the previous books which I plan to do in short order. I would recommend it to readers who like historical mysteries with accuracy and somewhat unconventional heroines.

Thanks to Kensington and netgalley.com for an advance digital copy.

RATING- 3.5 stars

Fast Paced Historical Urban Fantasy from the authors of Vampire Empire

THE SHADOW REVOLUTION (Crown and Key #1)
Clay Griffith and Susan Griffith
Del Rey Books
June 2, 2015

The Shadow Revolution is the first of a new urban fantasy trilogy from the talented pens and imaginative minds of Clay and Susan Griffith. Set in a steampunkish fog-bound Victorian England, it introduces us to a world of spell-casting magicians; the only ones with the power to battle a new supernatural threat. Simon Archer is a talented scribe, a magician whose spells are written on his body in the form of tattoos. He is also somewhat of a charming playboy who cuts quite a swath through London Society. He and his mentor, Nick Barker, are feeling new powers stirring. When they witness the brutal death of a former mistress of Simon and almost lose the ensuing battle with the monstrous werewolf who killed her, they know that their playboy days are over. At least Simon does but Nick seems to want to stay out of it.

The other players in this battle against darkness are Malcolm MacFarlane, a deadly Scottish monster hunter, and Kate Anstruther, an alchemist whose sister is being targeted by lycanthropes. What follows is a rocket ride of battles with lycanthropes, mad scientists, and creepy homunculus; all centered around the legendary Bethlehem Hospital, "Bedlam".  The three unite to stop London from being taken over by a werewolf hoard and to rescue Kate's sister. 

Parts two and three of Crown and Key are being released in rapid succession this summer and I am looking forward to both The Undying Legion and The Conquering Dark, thanks to net.galley and Del Rey. While I didn't find The Shadow Revolution quite up to the standard of Vampire Empire, I still quite enjoyed it. The worldbuilding and characterization of Vampire Empire are so extraordinarily fresh. The Shadow Revolution covers much more familiar territory at least to a steampunk fan like me and sometimes tips into the horror genre. It is, all in all, a very good read.

RATING- 3.75 Stars

A Fun New Series from Marty Wingate

THE RHYME OF THE MAGPIE (Birds of a Feather)
Marty Wingate
Random House Alibi
June 2015


I have been a fan of Marty Wingate since the first of the Potting Shed Mysteries, The Garden Plot, and was delighted to have the opportunity to read the first book in the Bird of a Feather mysteries. I have always said that her books are "almost" as good as a trip to England. The Rhyme of the Magpie proved to be no exception.

Julia Lanchester's life has been in disarray since the remarriage of her famous birder father, Rupert. Not only did her father remarry within months of her mother's death but the woman he married was her mother's closest friend. Hurt and angry, Julia quit her job as his assistant on his BBC series and broke off all communication. She relocated and is settling into a new job as tourism director at a historic estate when her father shows up, seeking a reconciliation. Julia refuses but when her father goes missing, everything changes. Along with her father's new assistant, Michael Sedgwick, Julia discovers even more mysteries swirling about her father and his somewhat uncommunicative assistant.


The Rhyme of the Magpie is chock full of birding lore and ongoing environmental concerns about destruction of the English countryside. The characters are strong and likable even though Julia brings new meaning to the word "stubborn". It was a very enjoyable and fast paced read. Thanks to netgalley.com and Alibi for an advance digital copy.

RATING- 4 Stars

Well-told and Intensely Romantic Historical Fiction

A DESPERATE FORTUNE
Susanna Kearsley
Sourcebooks Landmark
April 7, 2015


A Desperate Fortune  tells a dual story, one set in the present day and one in 1730's France among the Jacobite followers of exiled King James of Scotland. Sara Thomas is a computer programmer and amateur cryptologist who is hired through the recommendation of her cousin to break the code on a diary from the era. The writer of the diary is Mary Dundas, born at the "shadow court"of King James at Saint-Germain-en-Laye. She is the daughter of a Scots wig maker to the court and a French mother. When her mother dies her father takes her to live with her French aunt and uncle. He and his sons follow James into further exile.

The diary's owner insists that Sara go to France to work with the diary, a problem for Sara who has Asperger's Syndrome. Sara vastly prefers working and living alone but agrees to the conditions of the job. The first part of the diary is not encoded and Sara is able to break the coded sections to transcribe the story of Mary Dundas. Mary on the whole had a very happy childhood but feels the loss of her father and brothers and yearns for adventure. When her brother, Nicholas, comes to fetch her at last, she is overjoyed. But Nicholas has other plans for her. The Jacobites need her to pose as a man's sister; a man who is being sought by the British authorities. Mary can only see this as one more abandonment by her family, but agrees. So her great adventure begins in the company of an older woman, Madam Roy, the fugitive Thomson and their fearsome bodyguard, MacPherson. Mary is terrified of MacPherson but grows to trust him to keep them safe.

I must admit that I preferred the historical narrative to the contemporary but Kearsley is a master of the dual story line. I never felt annoyed by the switches as I sometimes am with this sort of story. Sara's Asperger's Syndrome and it's effects on her life make her much more interesting and accessible. It is a pleasure to see her open up, finding romance and permanent connections in France. But it is Mary and the wounded MacPherson that are the heart and soul of the story. Their slow growth into trust and love made this a very emotional and sometimes tearful read for me. Mary and Hugh MacPherson are characters I could follow into their future, but the story has to end and it does with a very satisfactory ending.

Susanna Kearsley's research into the period is as always extensive and meticulous. The early part of the book offers the most succinct explanation of the religious and political causes of the doomed Jacobite cause I have ever seen. The author's notes at the the end of the book bring further detail and a twist that I didn't see coming, so don't pass them by! I really had to "sleep" on this review but although the book can be slow moving, I think it surpasses The Winter Sea to become my new favorite Kearsley book.

Many, many thanks to Sourcebook Landmark and netgalley for an advance digital copy of A Desperate Fortune.

RATING- 5 Stars