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Thursday, February 28, 2019

Danger on the Downs. by Bianca Blythe





I like cozies. I like when the setting is in England in nice old fashioned houses but this particular read though it ticked all the boxes was a little too stilted, a little too constrained for me.

The gentleman of the house - suave, polished and Bulgarian was found stabbed to death in his study. There was a full party of guests in the house. Of course all are suspect. The one who has to take the fall is initially the butler who is Bulgarian himself. The Bulgarian part was given a lot of emphasis in the story as if by being Bulgarian you were automatically judged as being anarchist and looked at with suspicion by all. The butler was harmless. The guilt lay elsewhere. A second murder takes place. This time it is the innocuous Accountant. The pace hots up and the detectives know that they have a killer in their midst.

Cora is one of the invited guests but her aunt is a servant in the house. So her position is rather mixed. Neither upstairs or downstairs though the hostess appeals to her to find out who is going to kill her husband (this was just a day before he was actually killed).  The onus of guilt spreads amongst almost all the house guests and then by a series of deductions falls on the murderer.

Cora is a former Hollywood child star. The other guests are a mixed bunch and some of them have much to gain from Mr. Ivanov's death but many have no link to him at all. When the Accountant is killed, there is no one who is going to gain by his death so who and why was he murdered.

Sent to me by Netgalley for an unbiased review, courtesy of Victory Editing Netgalley Co-op


Monday, February 25, 2019

A Murder Unmentioned by Sulari Gentill



Having finished the book in record time, I am so sad that I could not get to all the books by this author. I just missed out one by a couple of days as it is archived, but I did get one at least.

Rowland Sinclair is an odd bird for the upper classes. He is more democratic, has communist ideals, does not fit in with the hounds and huntin groups, does not conform to finding a deb and a suitable bride and seems to have an eclectic bunch of friends. He is also financially independent, artistic (paintings not considered  exhibition worthy because of their content!) but is a happy man.

His father's death several years ago was always under suspicion. He was found shot one evening when Rowland was just a teenager and Wilfred the elder a few years older. Now the case is being resurrected, and a series of happenings show that there is a sinister hand afoot, giving out information which was private and within the family. A series of accidents involving Rowland, Wilfred's children  is too much to be a coincidence and the whole family is on guard.

Set in Australia on sweeping farms, with tones of more Downton Abbey than rural Australia this was descriptive and very good reading. The characterization of all was varied and added to the interest in the story. The uncovering of the villain in the piece was done step by step and the general telling of a simple mystery murder/s was very well handled.

I enjoyed my introduction to this author and will be looking out for more books.

Sent to me by Netgalley for an unbiased review, courtesy of Poisoned Pen Press.

Thursday, February 21, 2019

Summer on the Italian Lakes by Lucy Coleman



I was first drawn to the cover. Who wouldn't like that appealing cover? I cannot understand the covers of some of the stories I read. So drab, so unreasonable for want of a better description.

Brie Middleton is a successful author of romance fiction, hot dashing heroes and steamy love scenes. Her personal life is in a shambles right now. Let down by a boyfriend who was more interested in image than her sterling qualities, he wanted sexy arm candy and when her weight started ballooning he ditched her. Brie went into hibernation, could hardly write and had no self confidence at all.

Her agent pushes her to go into a working conference in Salo, Italy helping out a fellow author in a crisis. How meeting Arran, working again with other writers and to be authors helped Brie to change her life around. She found a new love, a new focus in her life and it helped that the setting was so idyllic.

Liked the change from psychological thrillers and murder mysteries!

Sent to me by Netgalley for an unbiased review, courtesy of Aria.

Sunday, February 17, 2019

The Girl at the Border by Leslie Archer



Richard Matthis is a renowned archaelogist and he has discovered Etruscan remains on the island of Crete. Angela Harris is working for him very happy in her job. She is also escaping from her past and feels safe in Crete, thinking that no one would link her to this remote site.

When Bella, Richard's daughter goes missing Matthis drops everything and flies back home to help in the search. Four days later he dies in a strange accident. The relationship between Richard Matthis and his daughter has been tense and Angela over a very short period of time, pretended to be Richard and started a message conversation with Bella, hoping to make the relationship between father and daughter a warmer one.

With Richard's death, Angela has a compulsion to return to the scene of Richard's death and find Bella on her own. She has a feeling Bella needs her, and compromises her own safety because there are people out there who want Angela found.

A rather convoluted tale, including ISIS, a spy network amongst other things it was rather fragmented when all the other stories got in the way.  My personal view was that there were too many strands to connect and this led to a lot of confusion. I also felt the cover was awful.

The book was sent to me by Netgalley for an unbiased review, courtesy of Lake Union Publishing.

Thursday, February 14, 2019

The Victory Garden by Rhys Bowen



It is the time of women's suffrage and Esther has fought for the Cause and lost all that she has held dear and close to her heart. Her father is firmly under the influence of her step mother and she is now not allowed to go home. Living with her Aunt is not a happy state but she is very happy at her job at Pennington's where she is given a free reign to create artistic and eye catching window displays for which the store is now becoming famous.

Despite her success at her job, Esther is not happy. She is lonely and feels that her Aunt is just tolerating her in her house. On top of it all Esther feels that progress in the suffrage movement is very slow and wonders whether a more militant way is the correct way to go forward.

Into this scenario steps Lawrence, a successful hotelier with two young children whose wife has died a few years ago. Balancing a career and his family he is not looking for love though seeing Laura he is attracted to her and then starts the story of Esther and Lawrence. Covering the shift in the suffrage movement and Lawrence's wholehearted support for Esther, they have to overcome personal hurdles to come to some sort of place where they can be themselves. Both have family histories of hurt and bitter feelings towards parents so they cannot let themselves be hurt by those they love the most.

A descriptive story of 1911 England, the suffrage movement and a love story coupled with the beginning of women's right to independence.

Sent to me by Netgalley for an unbiased review, courtesy of Lake Union Publishing.

Monday, February 11, 2019

The Sisters' Secrets by Katlyn Duncan



A story of family - and two sisters who have now survived and one particularly reaching out to the other sister with a hope of drawing closer and being a family once more.

Reen left the Burrow under less than pleasant circumstances. On her father's sudden death, her mother withdrew from her and never attempted to bridge the divide. Now diagnosed with dementia and very ill, Reen has returned mainly out of a sense of duty to just pay her respects and leave the next day. She did not think that meeting her ex boyfriend and her sister and seeing her mother in her pitiful state would lengthen her stay.

Rose her sister has a fantastic tale to tell of her mother's past and one which is unimaginable and not very plausible. Rose is of the mind that her mother was a mermaid at some part of her life, and that accounts for Reen's brilliant swimming performances in the past.

This was the basic story. I found the mermaid part a bit difficult to fathom or understand. I also found the writing rather stilted and this took away from the story.

The highlight of this story for me was that life is short, you never know which way life will turn out to be and it is better to forgive and forget and move on, rather than hang on to bitterness and history which can anyway not be erased.

The book was sent to me by Netgalley for an unbiased review, courtesy of HQ Digital.

Friday, February 8, 2019

Murder in Langley Woods by Betty Rowlands



I read my first Betty Rowlands last week and now I am hooked! it is a rather addictive type of cozy and I will be sad when I cant get any more!

A local couple are vociferous when they find out that the old, broken down freezer that they put out for Council pick up has been nicked. Why they should be so angry only they will understand. They are even more angry when they discover that the murdered body of a girl is found in the dilapidated freezer. Slowly unraveling the mystery is Melissa Craig our own mystery murder writer and always looking for new copy to the annoyance of her boyfriend Ken former Police.

The setting is idyllic. We have a Cotswold village, all the usual characters and ongoing with the murder and solving the crime is Melissa's own personal life and how it is going to turn out. Her friend who owns the adjoining cottage has decided to move to Provence and get married and wants to know within a week what Melissa's idea is about buying her out and then we have her partner Ken also pressurizing her to decide on how they could make their partnership more permanent.

Hannah Rose our victim is from a colony of travelling gypsies. They are furious with the man who took her away and who is hence responsible for her death and they want to mete out their own form of justice to him.  Hannah also took a ride to Hungary with a truck driver in the area and all signs point out to Rocky as the most likely suspect responsible for Hannah's death.

Like all village murder settings, the suspect and the actual murderer are two completely opposite characters. You'll be kept guessing till the end.

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

Tuesday, February 5, 2019

The Girls at 17 Swann Street by Yara Zgheib




This was a sad read and especially for anyone who is anorexic themselves or has a friend who is, not an easy read. It did not make it easier to understand the condition, and I really could not find that it makes it easier even for an outsider to think what one can do to help.

A dancer who is anorexic must be a dangerous condition. She thinks she could do better, dance lighter, get more roles, be more successful if she just avoids the cheese or goes one more mile as that is the obstacle holding her back. Reading it makes one realize the futility of this obsession and obsession it is.

No 17 Swann Street is set up to help girls like her but can it help permanently. Slipping back into the chasm is so easy, so very easy and for every girl they help, plenty more slip back.

A debut novel very emotional.

Sent to me by Netgalley for an unbiased review, courtesy of St. Martin's Press.


Sunday, February 3, 2019

A Rebel at Pennington's by Rachel Brimble




It is the time of women's suffrage and Esther has fought for the Cause and lost all that she has held dear and close to her heart. Her father is firmly under the influence of her step mother and she is now not allowed to go home. Living with her Aunt is not a happy state but she is very happy at her job at Pennington's where she is given a free reign to create artistic and eye catching window displays for which the store is now becoming famous.

Despite her success at her job, Esther is not happy. She is lonely and feels that her Aunt is just tolerating her in her house. On top of it all Esther feels that progress in the suffrage movement is very slow and wonders whether a more militant way is the correct way to go forward.

Into this scenario steps Lawrence, a successful hotelier with two young children whose wife has died a few years ago. Balancing a career and his family he is not looking for love though seeing Laura he is attracted to her and then starts the story of Esther and Lawrence. Covering the shift in the suffrage movement and Lawrence's wholehearted support for Esther, they have to overcome personal hurdles to come to some sort of place where they can be themselves. Both have family histories of hurt and bitter feelings towards parents so they cannot let themselves be hurt by those they love the most.

A descriptive story of 1911 England, the suffrage movement and a love story coupled with the beginning of women's right to independence.

Sent to me by Netgalley for an unbiased review, courtesy of Aria.