A Very Irish Mystery by Verity Bright

 

Lady Eleanor and husband Hugh are on a trip to Ireland. Clifford and Gladstone are also part of the entourage. Enjoying the delights of gastronomic Ireland is one of their favourite activities and doing a tour of Finnegans, the most famous brewery was also on the agenda. Also meeting Samuel with an idea of finding out about Lady Eleanor’s parents was an important part of the trip. Finding the owner of Finnegans, murdered and dumped in one of his own barrels was definitely not on the agenda.

Taking the story forward from that, the detection proceeds dramatically. With turbulent Irish history in the making, the antagonism and dislike that the Irish seemed to have towards the English, the story gave one a very good insight into the relationship between the two countries, whilst finding out why a man was murdered and finding  a very divided family only keen to get their hands on the money. Getting justice for the dead was not going to be easy with this backdrop. Set in the 1900s this was atmospheric as well. Lady Eleanor and Hugh and Clifford had their hands much fuller than expected.

The book had a lot of twists and turns delving into the family shenanigans of the Finnegan clan but it was the turbulent history of the time that caught my interest.

Sent by Bookouture for an unbiased review, courtesy of Netgalley.

A street side view of the gorgeous Mysore Palace. My last visit.

 

Five Silver Spoons by Sam Steele

 

This was a page turner from the word Go. 

Five Cambridge educated people. Different professions, vastly different personalities and backgrounds. Some of them are downright nasty and there a couple who went with the flow, as one does to keep up with the popular ones. One has to go back twenty years - a horrific accident, and sheer indifference and calculations on how to get rid of a body which was for them, an inconvenience. How it led to blackmail, revenge, tortuous, painful death for some, a planned suicide for another who couldn’t take the guilt anymore and the corrupted politician who was manipulative, harsh with killer instincts to look out for only herself.

The story was brilliant. Very plausible. Kept me engaged throughout.

Sent by Allison & Busby for an unbiased review, courtesy of Netgalley.

I was on a small break and found this wayside shop on the way to Coorg. Loved the variety of chillies found there.

Lafitte Lives by Christi Keating Sumich

 

From the initial setting you knew the story is going to have some mystery.  It is 1831 New Orleans, and Tobias Whitney who is the sexton in charge of St Louis Cemetery has discovered a journal in the crypt of a famous war hero and former pirate and also the brother of the famous pirate Jean Lafitte.  Tobias himself is an honest, hard working man who takes his duties seriously and taking this journalist troubles him. His wife begins the translation as it is in French, and it uncovers a story of the lives of tge two brothers in great detail.

The story combines Tobias’s life as it is, his sorrows at the loss of his children and how he is trying to cope with his employment, and the story and great historical detail which is the background of Jean Lafitte’s life. Told in detail, a lot of it is harsh, but that period was always harsh towards anyone who was different. Combining many elements love and revenge, superstitions and voodoo practises this was an enthralling read, bringing history alive.

Sent by Level Best Books for an unbiased review, courtesy of Netgalley.

Sunset in Coorg South India. I am here right now on a short break.

The Monk by Tim Sullivan

 

Just love the books by this author. Coupled with excellent detection, you add an ecclesiastical background and I am overwhelmed.

The body of a monk is found savagely beaten. Inspector George Cross is at a crossroads in his own life. His mother who he believed abandoned him is now back in his life and he doesn’t know exactly how to deal with this. The monk belongs to a small monastery and has been liked by all his brother monks. His past is a mystery and it is from this past that clues emerge.

Apart from the murder story which is enough for anyone, George Cross is himself a character who gets more interesting with every story I read. Awkward, unreal and tolerated because of his uncanny abilities, he is a story in himself.

I loved this character driven novel very much and can recommend it to all.

Sent by Grove Atlantic for an unbiased review, courtesy of Netgalley.

The Lost Woman by Karen Mulvahill

 

Set in the era of WWII in Paris, the Nazi occupation was brutal. For Jews the gradual erosion of liberties meant that many did not escape in time. Nicole Cassin, a teenager at the time escaped but her parents did not. Owning a small but exclusive gallery, brought the attention of the Nazis, when they started plundering art across Jewish households and the gallery was not exempt. Getting a job there was clever, because Nicole kept meticulous accounts of who took paintings and where.

Fast forward to New York and decades later Nicole enlists Robert an art historian to search for some of the paintings with a few clues she had. Robert unearths not just paintings but a story of subterfuge regarding Nicole’s husband who they believed was dead.

There is a lot of harsh realities to be faced in this book and I took it slow, as it was not easy to read. However much we face or try to face the inhumaneness of man, it is not an easy subject to face.

Sent by Book Whisperer for an unbiased review, courtesy of Netgalley 

The beauty of Fatima Portugal.

Dark in Death by J D Robb

 

A normal girls outing to a theatre turns into a nightmare. A friend slips out during intermission to get something and returns to find her friend Chanel murdered with a small tool to the back of her neck, done quietly, surreptitiously and professionally the murderer slipped out of the theatre. People in the vicinity were not aware of the murder.

Detectives trying to find clues are now faced with what they think is a random killer until an author turns up at the station pointing out that the murder follows one of her mystery murder books. What is frightening is the author has written several books and now everyone is alert to what will follow.

The characterization is amazing and the detectives even more so. My first read in the series of a very prolific author (this one is I think 46th in the series). I do hope I can get to others.

Sent by St Martins Press for an unbiased review, courtesy of Netgalley.

One of the loveliest parts of Sri Lanka. What we call the up country Hatton region. Tea country.

Backstage (Stories of a Writing Life) by Donna Leon

 

I’ve been reading about the enigmatic, clever Guido Brunetti for years and picked out any story he was featured in. So it was good to read this collection of essays by the author who created this Detective. 

The collection deals with how she came about an initial idea for a story and then how the story grew. It deals with how a book or rather a story is created right to its end. It gives very little insight into the author though. 

A pleasant read for fans.

Thank you to Grove Atlantic for sending me a copy, courtesy of Netgalley. My apologies for the delay.