Two short reviews. One philosophical. One historical!

A self proclaimed exile is rediscovering himself and trying to build a new life for himself in a small town in Oregon.

Adam has to find himself before he interacts with others. He is also fascinated by the history of the woman who lived in the house before him.

The book is peopled with a lot of day dreaming and life seems to be a bit dreamy. Moving to a small town and starting a new life in a library could be considered idyllic by many. For Adam it was a way of life he looked at whether this would work for him or not. There was a fair amount of negativity as well and altogether it was not an easy read to pin down to review.  I never really got to grips with the book but this could very well be my fault not that of the author.

Sent to me by Netgalley for an unbiased review, courtesy of Zimbell House Publishing.






King Frederick issues an invitation (an order actually) for Haydn to meet him. Haydn definitely thinks its a trap. The King has never appreciated his music and its a bit difficult to understand why. The Kings of this time are such wily beings that nothing they ever do seems to be what it should appear to be. It is wheels within wheels within wheels.

The story shifts from one point to another. From Empress Maria Theresa to Haydn to King Frederick himself. In between there are plots and sub plots all devious, all very complicated and all very reminiscent for history at the time. There is marriage talk but it is the hard headed talk not the romantic kind.

There is murder and Haydn has to prove that the ambassador was not just a common thief apart from finding his murderer.

Lots of sub stories within the main. Good for history buffs and lovers of European monarchs.

Sent to me by Netgalley for an unbiased review, courtesy of Kobo Writing Life. 

After the Funeral

Julie has taken the death of her mother very hard. Emily was ailing and weak and now Julie feels bereft and all alone. Finding a total stranger at the funeral claiming a relationship with her mother, and a very close one at that leaves Julie bemused, nervous and curious as to why her mother never ever mentioned this before.

To add to Julie's misery, she is not getting over her break up with her partner for five years and his apparent finding a new girl friend and also finding her heavily pregnant has added to her woes. She cannot believe that Greg had been unfaithful for such a long time and the agony is acute as he did not want children with her and she now finds him very happy about his impending fatherhood.

Unraveling the secrets of who Linda is, is the main crux of the story. Complicated and going back decades to a time when mental stress and post par tum depression was not understood the complications are dire and reflect on the present day as well. Handling misery on so many sides Julie feels her life is crumbling as nothing seems to be going right for her - personally or professionally. Her family life even with her step brother is disintegrating and there does not seem to be anything she can do about it.

The coincidences dovetailing are a little too precise to be believable but the story covering three generations of a family is a good one. It also reinforces my belief that every family has secrets well hidden!

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

What The Wind Knows by Amy Harmon

Anne Gallagher grew up with stories from Ireland. Not all the family secrets but enough of Irish history for her to love her roots. When her grandfather lay dying his last wish was his ashes to be sprinkled over the Lake or Lough of his birth. Though his death was inevitable, when it happens she is devastated and goes to Ireland wanting to also find something for herself of her history.

Going across the lake Anne is pulled into another time going back decades to when her grandfather was a little boy, and she his mother. Convoluted as it is, her absence and then her presence in Ireland draws the suspicion and questions of where she disappeared for five years and what her intentions are now. With her husband Declan dead, Ireland in continuous strife, Anne is drawn towards the calm, enigmatic Doctor Thomas Smith. How she is going to balance what she knows of the future, what she knows of her own life in America and can she decide to stay back in the past, or move back into her future is the question here.

Drawn into a history of which she has a little knowledge only, Anne is literally torn into two. To give her son the protection and love he needs in the absence of his father and to return the love shown by Thomas and then her other life as a successful writer in New York.

A very intense love story. Plenty for the history aficionados. This was a wonderful read.

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

Song of the Dead by Douglas Lindsay

John Baden has been dead for twelve years. So when someone purporting to be him walks out of an Estonian forest claiming to be John Baden opens up a dead case which sees Ben Westphall go back to Estonia and then back to Inverness to track the case.

The case becomes stranger and stranger and facts begin to appear as fiction - as it becomes very complicated with overlapping characters and events. Ben Westphall our detective is himself carries an overlay of  sadness, loss and desolation. He seems slightly other worldish able to decipher feelings of loss and sadness in others and is able to read an atmosphere of most locations which seems out of place in a supposedly hard boiled detective, dealing with facts and figures.

The story is fantastic but intriguing. Not boring in the least but very complicated and at times I lost the thread of the story but I grasped it again soon enough.

I like the characterizations and the descriptiveness of the physical surroundings of both Estonia and Scotland.

Sent to me by Netgalley for an unbiased review, courtesy of Hodder & Stoughton.

The House of Secrets by Terry Lynn Thomas

Sarah is running away from an unsavoury past. The court case where she became the victim was horrendous and because Jack Bennett was the "nice" guy she has been hounded ever since. Dr. Matthew Geisler a psychiatrist with his own private hospital, has offered her a safe haven. Providing emotional support as well as financial she will work as a typist for his copious notes, and also use her talents as a psychic to help him.

Sarah is also in love with Zeke, a spy who inexplicably left her to face the wrath of everyone when the case blew up re Jack Bennett and she finds it difficult to move on from that fact. He is an inmate of the hospital and this adds to her mental troubles. At the same time she is worried by the spirits of people especially Matthew's sister who is definitely trying to tell her something and it seems it is vitally important.

Balancing the world of psychics and spirits, along with the machinations of someone who only wants to benefit from riches and who is trying to convince the world that a person is insane is this story.
Very well told and alternating between the two, both stories are separate but linked at the end.

Very good characterization, and the setting is very good too.

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

The Standard Grand by Jay Baron Nicorvo

Spanning just a year in the lives of several people, this book encompasses a whole spectrum of emotions and actions.

The book deals with current issues and those that have still not been resolved. War veterans returning to an empty life, no direction, no care. The book is very heavy and at times it did seem to drag but it is good reading and shows how great the impact of American interference in the Middle East has created. The havoc played on the minds, families and hearts of the American people alone is enough for generations to come.

I cannot say I enjoyed the read, but it was compelling reading.

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

The Colour of Murder by Julian Symons

John Wilkins was a very simple man. He did not like to create waves, he tried to be pleasant - overly so and was disliked for this. He was almost coerced into marrying someone who he began to dislike and then he fell head over heels for an attractive girl, who was way out of his reach.


Wilkins was subject to blackouts. No reason, no trauma and he had no clue what he did during one of these time outs.

Sheila Morton the girl whom he liked very much, was found dead at the beach at the time Wilkins was on holiday with his wife. Brutally murdered. The odds were stacked against Wilkins. He did not do any favours to himself during the proceedings. Even at the end of the story I was not convinced of his guilt!

The story is predictably slow - taking on the pace of the characters themselves. It may be tedious for some readers but it was fine by me. Not a story to be hurried through. A typical classic crime in an old fashioned manner.

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