strange and random happenstance

The Wife Upstairs  by Rachel Hawkins
Published by: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: January 5th, 2021
Format: Kindle, 227 Pages
Rating: ★
To Buy (different edition than one reviewed)

To be one of the housewives of Thornfield Estates, now that would be something. The gated community feels a world away from the apartment "Jane" begrudgingly shares with John, literally the last person she wants to share a roof with, but he is literally her last lifeline. Perhaps that's why Jane takes the odd piece of jewelry while walking the housewives' dogs, not just to help herself financially, but to feel like she's one of them. But if things go according to plan she won't be a dog walker for long. One of the houses seems different from the other McMansions. It's set back a bit from the street and Jane can't help but admire it. While she's standing in the middle of the street one day the owner of the house peels out of the driveway and almost hits her. Luckily the only thing hurt is the car. Eddie Rochester's car. The mysterious widower whose wife Bea ran the famous Southern Manors lifestyle brand and tragically disappeared with her best friend Blanche the previous year while at their lake house. Eddie Rochester who would be a catch in anyone's book. Jane knows she has to play this right. She can tell that he's interested and actually finds the "real" her funny. It's not long before she's out from under John's thumb, despite his attempts to extort her and Eddie for money, and under Eddie's roof. She even starts to ingratiate herself to the other housewives. But she has two big problems to overcome, their love of Bea and Blanche, and the fact that she's not a wife. Until Eddie puts a ring on it it seems the housewives will be friendly but still hold her at a distance because they aren't sure if she'll be sticking around. If Jane has anything to say about it she'll be there for the long haul. But the longer she's there, as soon as that ring is on her finger, she starts to wonder is this all there is? And what about the rumors about Eddie? What really happened to Bea and Blanche. Once Blanche's body is found everything changes. Will Jane lose this life she's fought so hard to get or will Bea take it all away from her?

Rachel Hawkins premise for this book is Jane Eyre deserved better than Mr. Rochester. While I disagree for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that given Jane's situation in life in the original novel her prospects were limited, I don't disagree that it's nice that Jane got the money and the dog in this version. The problem I have is this version of Jane. This isn't my Jane. This isn't anyone's Jane. Unless you like manipulative grasping assholes. Sure, she's a survivor, but does she have to be such a bitch? Rachel Hawkins clearly thinks that Mr. Rochester was below Jane and instead of elevating him she brought Jane down to his level. Why!?! I mean, really, why? I just don't get the purpose of this retelling other than the author airing her own grievances without really keeping it all in context. And she's drawing from some classic material, not only is she reinterpreting Jane Eyre, but there's also a lot of Wide Sargasso Sea folded in, and a huge helping of Rebecca, which makes a ton of sense given Daphne Du Maurier's obsession with the Brontes. But that's where so many of my issues then come from. These three books are classics, they are beautiful and lyrically written, and this, this is just workman language. Therefore whenever Rachel Hawkins actually uses a line from the source material, for example when she says that "[w]hatever souls were made of, mine and Jane’s were the same - or at least similar enough" dragging Emily Bronte and Wuthering Heights to the table, you are just gobsmacked by how basic this book's writing really is. But when Bea declares that "[r]eader, I fucked him" I'm sure my groan was audible for many miles. If I wasn't reading on my Kindle, well, the book would have been hurled. Much as I felt like doing. I'm sorry, that's not a funny joke and the fact that Rachel Hawkins thinks it is is a true sign as to why I would never have liked this book. I am so wary of retellings and yet, despite everything in me saying, oh, this could be different, this could be good, reader, I hated it.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Charlotte Bronte, Daphne Du Maurier, Emily Bronte, Jane Eyre, Jean Rhys, Murder Most Foul, Rachel Hawkins, Rebecca, Retelling, Rochester, Southern Manors, The Wife Upstairs, Wide Sargasso Sea, Wuthering Heights

The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
Published by: Penguin
Publication Date: September 3rd, 2020
Format: Kindle, 382 Pages
Rating: ★★
To Buy (different edition than one reviewed)

Coopers Chase might seem like your regular upscale retirement community, but there's a group that meets every Thursday in the Jigsaw Room to discuss murder. Cold cases to be specific. One of the founding members, Penny, was a cop. Any case where they never caught the culprit or she wasn't sure whodunit, she bent the rules and made copies of the files and brought them with her into retirement. Her dear friend Elizabeth though is the de facto leader. Not just because Penny's dementia has taken over and she was transported to the hospital on site, but because Elizabeth has "connections" and was involved in the security services. The other two members are Ron, AKA Red Ron the union organizer, and Ibrahim, a therapist, who may or may not still be seeing patients. Now that Penny has left the group they are down a member and a certain kind of expertise, which leads Elizabeth one day to approach Joyce. Joyce used to be a nurse so can answer questions about wounds inflicted on a body and therefore becomes indispensable to The Thursday Murder Club. Whereas Joyce is just excited to be included. It's all so thrilling getting to be a part of the cool gang. She doesn't dwell on how alone she is and how her daughter never comes to visit. But the club never thought in a million years that they'd get to be on the scene and investigate a real live case! Tony Curran is the property developer behind Coopers Chase. He and his business partner Ian Ventham are planning on expanding the retirement community. Coopers Chase used to be a convent and the expansion would require the razing of the cemetery where the nuns are buried. Needless to say this plan isn't met by the community with open arms. In fact Tony Curran is murdered. Which means it's time for The Thursday Murder Club to swing into action and inveigle themselves with the police. A job that is perfect for Joyce. She's so nice and unobtrusive and always there with a tasty treat and something to drink. Elizabeth sees that Joyce really was the perfect addition to the club at this exact moment. Especially when more bodies start turning up. Will the group be able to solve the crimes being committed at Coopers Chase or will the police beat them to the finish line?

When The Thursday Murder Club was released and jumped immediately onto ever bookstore's "best of" lists I was instantly gun-shy. Me and popular books don't go hand in hand. At all. But then I was watching an episode of The Graham Norton Show and Richard Osman was on. I never connected the British comedian whose appearances on Graham Norton's show whom I've always enjoyed with the author of The Thursday Murder Club. I seriously don't know how that piece of information, which is clearly printed on the front of the book, didn't sink in. I claim distraction by fox as the only logical explanation. Therefore I got myself on the wait list at my library for a digital copy and it eventually came in and I slogged my way through to the bleak and bitter end. Here's the thing, I should have stuck with my gut and not been lured in by Graham Norton. Yes, this book has witty dialogue, so "shocking" because it's written by a comedian. But what people love about it is that it evokes Agatha Christie and Midsomer Murders. I wonder why that is? Could it be because the title (and concept) is literally two days off from an Agatha Christie book!?! The Tuesday Club Murders is a set of thirteen short stories, six of which are told at the Tuesday Night Club. This club is a group of people meeting at Miss Marple's house to discuss mysteries. Does that sound familiar Mr. Osman? Secondly the Midsomer Murders angle. Am I the ONLY person to remember the episode "Blue Herrings?" DCI Tom Barnaby's aunt goes into a nursing home where death and missing property soon follow. Now this wouldn't be the first time an author builds on greater authors to acclaim. As I've lamented several times The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo just filched the ending from two different Val McDemid books and smashed them together and everyone loved it. No, what really got me was that for a book that started out so jovial it ended up so bleak. I mean, how many suicides and assisted suicides can one book have? A lot would be Richard Osman's answer. It's not just a sloppy way to end a book but a damn depressing one given everything that came before. Though the pièce de résistance for me is just how unrealistic this retirement facility is. After how much money went into the care of my mother in a nursing facility I know what things cost, and it's dear. The whole of Coopers Chase pissed me off with it's wealth and luxury. This isn't what health care is! Who are these people? How can they afford this life? This isn't cozy, this is infuriating! I want to speak to the manager! Oh he's dead? A likely excuse.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Agatha Christie, Cold Cases, Graham Norton, Midsomer Murders, Murder Most Foul, Retirement Community, Richard Osman, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Thursday Murder Club, The Tuesday Club Murders

Nine Liars by Maureen Johnson
Published by: Katherine Tegen Books
Publication Date: December 27th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 464 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Stevie Bell solved the case of Truly Devious, and now she's taking her detecting skills abroad when she becomes embroiled in a mystery from 1990s England. Another pulse-pounding and laugh-out-loud stand-alone mystery from New York Times bestselling author Maureen Johnson.

Senior year at Ellingham Academy for Stevie Bell isn't going well. Her boyfriend, David, is studying in London. Her friends are obsessed with college applications. With the cold case of the century solved, Stevie is adrift. There is nothing to distract her from the questions pinging around her brain - questions about college, love, and life in general.

Relief comes when David invites Stevie and her friends to join him for study abroad, and his new friend Izzy introduces her to a double-murder cold case. In 1995, nine friends from Cambridge University went to a country house and played a drunken game of hide-and-seek. Two were found in the woodshed the next day, murdered with an ax.

The case was assumed to be a burglary gone wrong, but one of the remaining seven saw something she can’t explain. This was no break-in. Someone's lying about what happened in the woodshed. Seven suspects. Two murders. One killer still playing a deadly game."

It's murderous Peter's Friends and you need to read it.

The Lost Witch by Paige Crutcher
Published by: St. Martin's Griffin
Publication Date: December 27th, 2022
Format: Paperback, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In Paige Crutcher's The Lost Witch, a witch discovers that finding your way home is sometimes the most perilous journey of all.

1922. Brigid Heron is a powerful witch and healer in the seemingly lost, but charming small town of Evermore on a forgotten isle in Ireland. However, there is one thing that she longs for above all else: a child of her own. She is even willing to be seduced by the mysterious Luc Knightly, head of the Knightly coven, whose pull is potent and impossible to resist. When their child is born and falls ill, Brigid will risk anything to save her daughter - even tap into the forbidden magic of the Lough of Brionglóid. But when the wild magic takes her daughter from her, Brigid is swept away as well.

2022. Evermore is under siege. The witches of Knight have been using their chaos magic to widen the rift between the island and the Otherworld. Creatures from folklore prey on the villagers, consuming their very humanity.

Brigid awakens in this world with no memory of how she traveled into the future, but she learns that she helped unleash this curse on Evermore. To seal the lough and stop the witches of Knight, she must work with her magical descendants, Ophelia and Finola. But the knowledge she seeks lies with Luc Knightly himself - mysterious, handsome, and powerful. To save Evermore, Brigid may have to lose everything once again."

Magical families coming together yes!

The Marriage List by Ella Quinn
Published by: Zebra
Publication Date: December 27th, 2022
Format: Paperback, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"By popular demand, USA Today bestselling author Ella Quinn returns Regency England's beloved extended family, The Worthingtons, for the first in a sparkling new spin-off series! Determined to tame the marriage market on their own terms and make advantageous love matches, three confident sisters draw up a list of qualities they expect their new beaus to meet. But as they are about to discover, people are hardly ever perfect and the road to love is far more thrilling and interesting than they could ever have imagined...

As part of a large, rambunctious family, Lady Eleanor Carpenter has gained some knowledge of what makes a successful marriage. She's even compiled a list of essential qualifications in a potential husband. John, the Marquis of Montagu, seems of good character (check), with money enough to support a family (check). But what of the many other requirements on her list?

Montagu, meanwhile, believes the key to a comfortable life lies in marrying someone quiet and docile. Yet the one lady who captivates him could hardly be more different to what he envisioned. Lady Eleanor is as opinionated as she is lovely, determined to improve working conditions for coal miners, even at risk to her own safety.

From evenings at Almack's to carriage rides in Hyde Park, this Season will contain many pleasures - and a few surprises that compel both John and Eleanor to rethink their expectations. For one thing is certain: love will not be defined by any list..."

This last Tuesday Tomorrow for the year kind of sums up my reading for the year, something witchy, a lot of Regency romance and Truly Devious.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Ella Quinn, England, Mauren Johnson, Murder, Nine Liars, Paige Crutcher, Peter's Friends, Regency England, Regency Romp, The Lost Witch, The Marriage List, Truly Devious, Tuesday Tomorrow

Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz
Published by: Harper
Publication Date: October 6th, 2016
Format: Paperback, 498 Pages
Rating: ★★
To Buy

Editor Susan Ryeland has a bit of a problem. Alan Conway is a very successful author for her publishing house. Without him they'd be in serious trouble. As it is they've had a very rough year and his next book needs to be a success to stabilize everything. She's never much liked Alan, but there's no doubt that the reading public adores his Atticus Pünd series. It's classic golden age detection written today, with a deeply affecting and dark backstory for it's lead. The problem is his newest book, Magpie Murders, is missing the final chapters and Alan has committed suicide. Her boss Charles even receives Alan's suicide note in the mail. Susan knows how important this book is, not just to Alan's readers, but to her continued employment. Therefore she sets out to find the missing pages. But that's when things get weird. Alan's home turns out to be the fictional Pye Hall where both deaths happened in his newest manuscript. What's more, everyone in Alan's life has a counterpart on the page. Alan's sister, his lover, his neighbor, even the vicar, everyone is somehow represented within the pages of his story. Which makes Susan wonder, what is really happening on these pages? Could they be hiding a secret? Did Alan even kill himself? Perhaps it was murder! Alan seemed to really rub everyone the wrong way. When events start to happen just like they did in the book, Susan wonders what is really going on. There are some deep and disturbing secrets held within the pages of Alan's work. He was a vindictive man who wanted not just fame but prestige. He was wasted on golden age procedurals, at least in his mind, and he amused himself in very spiteful ways. If she can solve the crimes in the manuscript perhaps it will lead to solving the mystery of Alan. That or she's out of a job. At least her boyfriend would be happy. He wants to whisk her off to a Greek isle to help his cousin run a hotel. But Susan, the woman who could never guess whodunit, wants to solve the case, even if it costs her her life.

If there's one thing that Anthony Horowitz knows it's murder. Which might actually be my issue with this book. It's not that it's not deftly plotted and keeps you on your toes, it's that with Susan, an editor who can never guess whodunit, we have a character who has to give us "teaching moments" about writers and television shows, most of which Horowitz has written for, and I just felt like it was condescending while at the same time insulting Susan's, and the readers, intelligence. But Susan is a whole other problem I don't know if I feel like getting into. If you picked up this book because of Horowitz, you know what he's written, you know that Atticus Pünd is going to be a pitch perfect Germanic cousin to Poirot because Horowitz adapted eleven episodes for David Suchet. And so he is. There is no doubt of the bona fides here. And yes, you could say that it's done tongue firmly in cheek, like with his Hawthorne and Horowitz series where he has gone so far as to make himself an actual character in his books, but it just didn't feel that way to me. Perhaps it was just that Alan Conway is so full of himself and such a pompous ass that that superiority of being seeps into the whole book and it just gives off a smugness that I just don't care for. I don't know if it's that Horowitz is actually that smug about his career, or that I'm misreading it. I just felt like this book was in may face. It was at me trying to get it's point across. What was that point? Well, it's interesting in that it seems that Horowitz thinks authors have a duty of care towards their readers and that they shouldn't betray their trust. I totally agree with him here, it just could have been presented in a different manner. In fact, the number one thing I kept thinking about, as he'd name dropped her a few times, is what does he think about J.K. Rowling's decent into TERFdom? Because she has totally betrayed her readers. And looking online I saw him tweet in defense of her and then try to reframe the narrative. So. Yeah.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alan Conway, Anthony Horowitz, Atticus Pund, David Suchet, Editor, Hawthorne and Horowitz, J.K. Rowling, Magpie Murders, Manuscript, Murder, Murder Most Foul, Poirot, Roman A Clef, Suicide, Susan Ryeland, TERF

Troubled Blood by Robert Galbraith
Published by: Mulholland Books
Publication Date: September 15th, 2020
Format: Hardcover, 944 Pages
Rating: ★
To Buy

Cormoran Strike and Robin Ellacott are presented with an intriguing case. Margot Bamborough disappeared in 1974. She was never found. Forty years later her daughter Anna just wants answers. She hires Cormoran and Robin to investigate the disappearance. If they turn up nothing within a year Anna has promised her wife that she will accept that she will never know what happened to her mother and move on with her life. The reason Anna reached out to Cormoran in particular is that him being a "celebrity" private investigator he might be able to interview the prime suspect in Margot's disappearance, Dennis Creed. Dennis Creed, known my the sobriquet The Essex Butcher, abducted, imprisoned, raped, and murdered at least seven women between 1968 and 1976. Margot's disappearance falling during his active years before his subsequent arrest and imprisonment in Broadmoor has always made him a person of interest. But he doesn't do interviews and he definitely doesn't answer questions. That might change if the person talking to him were famous. Creed loves publicity. But getting clearance to see Creed is going to take a while so Cormoran and Robin start by tracking down every single person directly and tangentially connected to the disappearance. This takes time as it's been over forty years. They also find leads that the cops missed, such as a connection to organized crime. But there are only so many times you can poor over the pages of The Demon of Paradise Park before you have to resort to sheer luck that a new clue will land in your lap. What's more is that Cormoran and Robin's personal lives are more out of control than ever before. Cormoran is often having to hare off to Cornwall at a moment's notice because his Aunt Joan, the woman who was more a mother to him than his own mother, is dying of Cancer. And as for his ex Charlotte, if she has her way she will really be out of his life for good this time. As for Robin, what should have been a fairly straightforward divorce from Matthew, seeing as he cheated on her, is turning into a nightmare. She wants to move on, get her money from the sale of their home, find a new signature scent, and start fresh. Will the two investigators find closure for themselves and their client or will they always be left wondering what went wrong?

When the initial buzz quickly rose to a clamor for Troubled Blood and it looked like J.K. Rowling was going all in on being a TERF I was willing to withhold my judgement until I had read the book. I fully admit she's a horrible human being but perhaps that didn't translate to her writing. Perhaps? Ever since I was young and first learned about Lewis Carroll I have been able, to an extent, to separate a book I love from the author. Of course it helps that in his case he's not profiting off my purchases. So I approached Troubled Blood with an open mind and quickly saw that all the reviews I've read have gotten it wrong. Yes, this book is transphobic. Yet the transphobia in this instance is a common murder mystery trope that needs to be retired wherein to lure in female victims a male will dress as a female so they feel safe until the realize they're not. Far more troubling to me was the homophobia, sexism, sexual harassment, and exploitation of the mentally handicapped. But again, while the way these topics were handled in the book physically repulsed me this isn't what we need to be talking about when we talk about this book. Because there's no way calling this book out on these atrocities will actually make J.K. Rowling sit up and take notice. She is unrepentant in her hate. So while yes, this book needs to be called out, she won't listen and just say it's part of "cancel culture." Therefore I want to change the narrative. This book isn't bad because of the deplorable author spewing her hate, it's just a badly written book and everything else is just extra shit piled on top. I have this feeling that when this book arrived at her publishers they realized she had finally gone all in on being a deplorable and no editor touched this book. They didn't want to wade into the cesspit that is everything about this book. The plot is boring. There is no driving force what with the case being a cold case. There is no jeopardy. Months go by between any developments and the plot just plods along. Also, why is Robin so obsessed with finding a new "signature scent?" I get that she's trying to leave her life with Matthew behind, but she's a PI, she's tailing people all the time, don't you think that a PI shouldn't announce their presence with a whiff of perfume? For an author and series I loved it took me over a month to force my way to the meandering finish. So please, hate on this book not just for the hate but for the bad writing, it's deserving of both.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Cold Case, Cormoran Strike, Dennis Creed, Deplorable, Hate, Homophobia, J.K. Rowling, Murder Most Foul, Robert Galbraith, Robin Ellacott, Serial Killer, Sexism, Sexual Harassment, TERF, Transphobia, Troubled Blood

Stranger Things Holiday Specials by Michael Moreci, Chris Roberson, Keith Champagne, and Todor Hristov
Published by: Dark Horse Books
Publication Date: December 20th, 2022
Format: Paperback, 112 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Get all three Stranger Things holiday specials in one package!

In the Halloween Special, Will, Mike, Lucas, and Dustin gather in Castle Byers to eat candy and scare each other with a spooky story, revealing the quaint town’s darkest secret: the Child-Eater of Hawkins.

In the Winter Special, Eleven and the kids of Hawkins are getting into the full spirit of the season. As they recall their favorite stories from their childhoods to teach Eleven about Christmas, tensions run high as Dustin swears he saw something spooky lurking in the forest outside.

In the Summer Special, Officers Powell and Callahan patrol the "mean" streets of Hawkins, Indiana with the enthusiasm of two hefty dachshunds pretending to be bloodhounds. Typically they don’t have to chase down more than the occasional petty theft and teenagers smoking refer but lately, the town has been getting weirder, and while they might not get to the bottom of it they just might be lucky enough to survive.

Featuring writing by Michael Moreci, Chris Roberson, and Keith Champagne, and art by Todor Hristov, ABEL, and Caio Filipe. Colors by Chris O'Halloran, DJ Chavis and Dan Jackson, with lettering by Nate Piekos."

Because obviously I had to feature something Christmassy this week.

Lair of the Crystal Fang by S.A. Sidor
Published by: Aconyte
Publication Date: December 20th, 2022
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"When a mysterious killer haunts Arkham, three struggling investigators must confront the eldritch horrors of their past in this action-packed pulp adventure from the world of Arkham Horror.

In the swirling sewers beneath Arkham, excavators uncover a crystalline formation that hints at dark events from the city's past. As the discovery makes headlines, so too does a series of bizarre murders. With no leads, the Arkham police are always one step behind. Acting on a hunch, down-on-his luck former journalist Andy Van Nortwick reunites with adventurer Jake Williams and struggling filmmaker Maude Brion to unearth the truth. The trio know of the supernatural horrors that lurk beyond this world, and the reality haunts them. But time is running out and between them they must face their nightmares before the city of Arkham is lost to blood and chaos."

Seriously, Lovecraft and pulp go together so well, but don't take my word for it.

Sleeper Omnibus by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips
Published by: DC Comics
Publication Date: December 20th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 736 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Sleeper is the critically acclaimed graphic novel series written by Eisner Award-winner Ed Brubaker (Criminal, Deadenders, Captain America) and stylishly rendered by legendary artist Sean Phillips (Marvel Zombies, Criminal, Incognito).

Agent Holden Carver is forced to live one day at a time in a deadly game of cat-and-mouse he plays with the leader of the secret criminal organization he has infiltrated while trying to elude detection."

I'm just saying, if there's a chance you forgot to buy me a Christmas present, well, look what came out this week...

Death of a Minor Character by E.X. Ferrars
Published by: Felony and Mayhem
Publication Date: December 20th, 2022
Format: Paperback, 206 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Virginia Freer has had it with her sort-of-ex-husband's taste for drama. Yes, Marcus Avery was a dear old duffer who lived in Virginia's town. Yes, Lillian Pace, Felix Freer's neighbor in London, was a sweet old bird. Yes, it's terrible they were murdered, but we live in a naughty world. But look at the coincidences! - Felix insists. That unpleasant silversmith. That awful couple seeking revenge. These were not two separate murders, I tell you: There is Something going on.

Virginia raises an eyebrow and sighs deeply: The world lost a second Olivier, she thinks, when Felix opted for gambling, mooching, and petty theft rather than the stage. But eventually even her relentless pragmatism gets worn down, and thank goodness, because there is, indeed, Something going on. And Felix and Virginia are just the duo to sort it out, chalk and cheese though they may be."

Why have I never heard of this series until now? It's like a snarkier Nick and Nora!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Arkham Horror, Chris Roberson, E.X. Ferrars, Ed Brubaker, H.P. Lovecraft, Nick and Nora Charles, S.A. Sidor, Sean Phillips, Sleeper, Stranger Things, Stranger Things Holiday Specials, Virginia Freer

The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith
Published by: Mulholland Books
Publication Date: June 17th, 2014
Format: Hardcover, 464 Pages
Rating: ★★★
To Buy

Leonora Quine's husband Owen is missing. He was once a literary success story, but not anymore. His latest novel, Bombyx Mori, which slanders those he holds responsible for his fall from grace has been leaked. He could be in hiding, worrying about the repercussions of having his protagonist eaten alive by the cruel caricatures of his colleagues. All his wife knows is that she needs Owen back to help with their developmentally disabled child. So she turns to Cormoran Strike, whose detective agency is on firmer footing since the infamous Lula Landry case. Strike thinks that one of the seven people depicted in the book is sure to know something. And when Cormoran finds Quine's body strung up in an abandoned house, pulled apart and doused in acid, just like a scene in his leaked manuscript, those seven people all become murder suspects because of Quine's slander. There's Owen's wife, Lenora, then there's his lover, Kathryn Kent, and her protégée, Pippa Midgley, his agent, Elizabeth Tassel, his editor, Jerry Waldegrave, his publisher, Daniel Chard, and his rival, Michael Fancourt. Cormoran meets with each and every one of these people, often over drawn out meals, and they all point the finger at each other. The truth is each and every one of them has a reason for wanting Quine dead. But the police are convinced it's Leonora. Cormoran must get his client cleared and so he starts to narrow in on Fancourt. Fancourt's first wife committed suicide after her book was lambasted by a cruel parody. Fancourt has always believed Quine was the author of that parody. But what if Quine wasn't? What if Quine didn't even write Bombyx Mori? Yes, that is the title of the book he was working on, but once Kathryn and Pippa get their hands on the leaked manuscript they notice major differences to the work in progress that Quine was showing them. Could one person be behind both attacks on this literary group? And if so, will they strike again if they think they are in danger or simply frame someone else to take the fall?

I will admit, it has taken me awhile to warm to Rowling's new series. While there is oddly a similarity between Harry and Cormoran, both being people thrust into the limelight who don't want to be there, this series is almost all about character and doesn't have the action of constantly avoiding death time and time again. It's not even about the mystery, it's about the characters. Which leads to the book occasionally dragging. Rowling is in no hurry to wrap things up. I could say she did this on purpose because this is probably a more realistic PI story because it takes time to get around to all the clues and to get everyone interviewed. But I think she was just enjoying herself with this scathing roman a clef that she didn't really think too much about finally revealing the killer. Because this is an insiders look at the publishing world and all that entails. It entails a lot of meals if you were wondering. And backstabbing. And backbiting. And general dislike of everyone else. You eventually get to the point where you're wondering if Rowling is using this as some kind of therapy to vent all her frustrations on the would in which she has become the darling. Perhaps she's even wondering what will happen when she falls from grace? Seeing as the book within the book is libelous slander against other writers I can't help but wonder if all these people in Quine's orbit are actually based on real people in Rowling's. Could she be using a book about using a book to exact revenge to exact her own revenge? We will probably never know. But that insular little literary world while interesting, up to a point, is ultimately the downfall of the book reaching perfection. It's too insular without explanation. So Strike, and therefore the reader, are just left scratching their heads instead of coming to any sort of appreciation. Perhaps the next book is when she'll hit her stride? And hopefully kill Robin's fiance Matthew.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Authors, Bombyx Mori, Cormoran Strike, J.K. Rowling, Literary World, Lula Landry, Meals, Murder Most Foul, Owen Quine, Parody, Revenge, Robert Galbraith, Roman A Clef, Slander, The Silkworm

In The Woods by Tana French
Published by: Penguin Books
Publication Date: May 17th, 2007
Format: Paperback, 429 Pages
Rating: ★★
To Buy

Knocknaree, 1984. A new housing development outside Dublin that strives to be something more. It will be something more shortly as it becomes the scene of a baffling crime. Three kids were playing in the woods that abutted the development. One night they never came home. Only one of the kids, Adam, was found. He has no idea what happened to his two friends. He was found clutching and clawing at a tree with his shirt torn and his shoes full of blood not his own. He couldn't stay in Knocknaree. He couldn't take the endless questions he could never answer. He left to go to boarding school, changed his name, adopted a new accent, and never looked back. Over twenty years later Adam, now going by the name Rob Ryan, is a rising star of Dublin's Murder Squad with his partner Cassie Maddox. They get things done at work and are rumored to get things done in private too. But the past is about to come back to haunt Rob as they are assigned to the murder of a twelve year old girl in Knocknaree. Cassie is one of a few who know's Rob's history and wonders if perhaps they shouldn't take the case because it might compromise the investigation. Rob bulldozes over Cassie's objections but he has some trepidation as he steps back into the woods and looks at the body of Katy Devlin, laid out on a sacrificial stone that is part of an archaeological dig that is about to be shut down because of a proposed motorway. Could Katy's death be related to the disappearances all those years ago? A clue at the crime scene does link them. And what of Katy's family? A wounded older sister, a non-communicative twin, a cipher of a mother, and a father with many enemies as he tries to stop the motorway. Or could her death have to do with the archaeological dig? One thing is clear, the answers won't be easy, and for Rob, they might be hard to accept. He's starting to piece together more of what happened in the past, but will he ever get any closure of his own? At least he can bring closure to the Devlins.

In The Woods was heralded as a new kind of mystery when it was released. It broke the mold and swept all the awards. The thing is, I don't see it. Instead of just having Rob be an unreliable narrator he's an asshole narrator who also happens to be unreliable. This is supposedly groundbreaking? Sometimes I just scratch my head in bafflement. Does no one remember Agatha Christie's Endless Night? Michael Rogers is a total dick first person narrator who is also completely unreliable because he's not just a dick he's a murderer. While Rob isn't a killer maybe it would have made him more interesting if he was? I just don't get how time and time again people who are reviewing or lauding books come across like they are doing so in a bubble. Yes, a book should be take on it's own merits but if you are trying to say that it's doing something that's never been done before, please just look to the precedence and see if this is actually the case. Because this was so not the case here. What annoyed me most about Rob is that he would listen to no one, take no advice, would do stupid things, and his own stupidity led to a killer walking free AND he broke Cassie's heart. Most of that I could forgive because he's a total feckin' eejit, but Cassie!?! I mean really, what was this book supposed to prove? That even if we think we're over the past it can still hurt us? That damage in our youth will continue to damage us if we don't face up to it? When I first picked up this book when I was out shopping with one of my friends she commented on how she really couldn't get into this book. I can see why. But at the same time I am grateful for this book, as strange as that may seem, because I adored the second book in this series, The Likeness. So, if I had to wade through the muck and despair and denial that is Rob Ryan's life to get to sublimity that is Cassie Maddox in The Likeness, I think it was worth it.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Agatha Christie, Asshole Narrator, Awards, Cassie Maddox, Disappearance, Dublin, Dublin Murder Squad, Endless Night, In the Woods, Knocknaree, Murder, Murder Most Foul, Rob Ryan, The Likeness, Unreliable Narrator

Devil's Delight by M.C. Beaton
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: December 13th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 256 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Beloved New York Times bestseller M.C. Beaton's cranky, crafty Agatha Raisin - the star of her own hit T.V. series - is back on the case again in Devil's Delight.

Agatha and her assistant, Toni, are driving to their friend Bill Wong's long-awaited wedding, thinking of nothing more than what the beautiful bride will be wearing when a terrified young man comes running down the country lane towards them wearing...nothing at all.

The encounter leads them to become embroiled with a naturist group, a disappearing corpse, fantasy games, witchcraft, an ice cream empire, intrigue and murder. In the meantime, Agatha’s hectic life swirls along at dizzying pace, her private detective agency as busy as ever and her private affairs in turmoil, with old loves to contend with and a new suitor on the scene.

But when she begins to close in on a suspected murderer, she finds herself in deadly peril, as the sinister nature of the ice cream business leads her to a chilling conclusion..."

Do we think Agatha endures where Hamish doesn't because of the TV series? Oh wait, there's a new Hamish out next year!

A Death in Tokyo by Keigo Higashino
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: December 13th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In the latest from international bestselling author Keigo Higashino, Tokyo Police Detective Kaga is faced with a very public murder that doesn't quite add up, a prime suspect unable to defend himself, and pressure from the highest levels for a quick solution.

In the Nihonbashi district of Tokyo an unusual statue of a Japanese mythic beast - a kirin - stands guard over the district from the classic Nihonbashi bridge. In the evening, a man who appears to be very drunk staggers onto the bridge and collapses right under the statue of the winged beast. The patrolman who sees this scene unfold, goes to rouse the man, only to discover that the man was not passed out, he was dead; that he was not drunk, he was stabbed in the chest. However, where he died was not where the crime was committed - the key to solving the crime is to find out where he was attacked and why he made such a super human effort to carry himself to the Nihonbashi Bridge. That same night, a young man named Yashima is injured in a car accident while attempting to flee from the police. Found on him is the wallet of the murdered man.

Tokyo Police Detective Kyoichiro Kaga is assigned to the team investigating the murder - and must bring his skills to bear to uncover what actually happened that night on the Nihonbashi bridge. What, if any, connection is there between the murdered man and Yashima, the young man caught with his wallet? Kaga's investigation takes him down dark roads and into the unknown past to uncover what really happened and why.

A Death in Tokyo is another mind-bending mystery from the modern master of classic crime, finalist for both an Edgar Award and a CWA Dagger, the internationally bestselling Keigo Higashino."

Are the deaths on the Nihonbashi bridge connected? I really need to know!

The Last House on the Cliff by Anne Wyn Clark
Published by: Avon Books
Publication Date: December 13th, 2022
Format: Paperback, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"When a young widow's little girl vanishes, could a dark family secret hold the answer?

On the death of her aunt Gwyn, Lowri returns once more to Gwyn's home on the remote island of Anglesey, Wales, with her young daughter Ruby in tow. Lowri hadn't seen her aunt in years, but this beautiful island offers a fresh start.

Yet right away, strange things begin to happen. Ruby insists an old woman is visiting her when no one else is watching, and a tattered old doll keeps being left for Ruby to find.

Then Ruby goes missing. Desperately seeking answers no one seems to have, Lowri looks to her dark family past for clues. But the secrets she uncovers suggest that Ruby is not the only one in danger, and time is running out - for both of them...

A terrifically dark and twisty tale that asks: can you ever really trust those closest to you? Perfect for fans of Ruth Ware, Cass Green and C.J. Tudor."

Perhaps the remote island was a mistake? I mistake I will love reading about late into the night.

Festive Drinks and Season's Hijinks by Laura Greenwood
Published by: Drowlgon Press
Publication Date: December 13th, 2022
Format: Kindle
To Buy

The official patter:
"With Azíl's first Christmas around the the corner, Willow is determined to make it special, no matter how much goes wrong.

Festive Drinks And Season's Hijinks is book seven of the Cauldron Coffee Shop Series, a witchy modern fantasy series with a romantic sub-plot, a mysterious teapot, and a cat who might be up to no good."

The only problem with this delightful series is they're too short and therefore too pricey for their length.

Our Encounters with Evil and Other Stories by Mike Mignola
Published by: Dark Horse Books
Publication Date: December 13th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 240 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Join monster hunters extraordinaire and jump into eerie and whimsical Victorian-style tales of monster hunters, vampires, and supernatural sleuths in this collection of stories that is equal parts chilling and charming.

In this three part collection, Professor Meinhardt and his assistant Mr. Knox pursue the undead and Mr. Higgins' tragic history; explore strange supernatural happenings with investigator Ms. Mary Van Sloan; and seek to uncover the truth of the prolific vampire slayer and one-time compatriot of theirs, James Falconspeare.

Collecting Mr. Higgins Comes Home, Our Encounters with Evil, and Falconspeare from Mike Mignola and Warwick Johnson-Cadwell's iconic team-up."

All things Mike Mignola!!!

Monstress, Book Two by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda
Published by: Image Comics
Publication Date: December 13th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 528 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"War between humans and the hybrid Arcanics is poised to explode across the Known World, but the wounds of the last war have yet to heal. Maika Halfwolf, a hardened Arcanic survivor, is on a mission to discover the secrets of her past -- and to understand Zinn, the eldritch monster that lives beneath her skin. But to find those answers, she'll have to figure out who she can trust - and who is poised to betray her.

Collecting volumes 4-6 of the Eisner, Hugo, Harvey and British Fantasy Award-winning series by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda, Monstress, Book Two is a deluxe, oversized hardcover brimming with more than 500 pages of art deco beauty and steampunk horror that will make an elegant addition to any fan's shelf.

Collects Monstress #19-35 and Monstress: Talk-Stories #1-2."

If you're not reading and in awe of Monstress what is wrong with you? Time to course correct!

Giuseppe's Italian Bakes by Giuseppe Dell'Anno
Published by: Quadrille Publishing
Publication Date: December 13th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 176 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Giuseppe Dell'Anno won hearts the world over when he was crowned winner of the Great British Baking Show in 2021. In Giuseppe's Italian Bakes, his first cookbook, Giuseppe shares his skill, knowledge and love of baking through over 60 new sweet and savory recipes.

Growing up in Italy and learning to cook at the side of his beloved chef-father, Giuseppe has mastered everything from focaccia to florentines, each with his own signature twist on the classics of Italian baking.

Through his step-by-step recipes, Giuseppe guides you through making focaccia, pannacotta, tiramisù, rum baba, piadine, Sicilian cannoli and, of course, pizza, among many other delectable treats. With gorgeous color photos throughout and tips and tricks from the master of the technical challenge, bring a taste of the Italian bakery to your home with Giuseppe's Italian Bakes."

If you didn't cry when Giuseppe won you have no heart!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Agatha Raisin, Anne Wyn Clark, Cauldron Coffee Shop Series, GBBO, Giuseppe Dell'Anno, Hamish Macbeth, Keigo Higashino, Laura Greenwood, M.C. Beaton, Marjorie Liu, Mike Mignola, Monstress, R.W. Green, Sana Takeda

Aunt Dimity and the Duke by Nancy Atherton
Published by: Penguin
Publication Date: 1994
Format: Paperback, 464 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy

Emma is forty. Emma is forty and alone. Her "boyfriend" has just married a lithe young thing in an obvious midlife crisis. So Emma is off to England to take a much needed holiday from her high tech job. She is there to indulge in her passion, gardening! She might not know much, but she does love plants and soil. At an out of the way public garden Emma runs into an odd duo. Two elderly identical twins who tell her that she must visit Penford Hall, further down the Cornish coast. Emma is intrigued and heads there. Only the house is more than off the beaten track and once there the Duke, Grayson, is under the impression that she is the new gardener. She tries to explain that she was just there to see the gardens not to prepare them for a giant fete in a few months time. Yet Grayson insists that the twins were doing the bidding of Aunt Dimity, so that's that, she must stay. Her fellow inmates at the house are Grayson's washed up cousin Susannah, who used to be a model, and Susannah's manager. Yet all Susannah talks about is the late rock star Lex Rex who died off the coast in Grayson's boat. There are a plethora of the usual taciturn servants but more importantly there is the widower Derek and his two children, Nell and Peter. Derek has been hired by Grayson, whom he knew peripherally in college, to restore the stained glass window in the church on the grounds. Susannah soon falls prey to an accident, or perhaps an attack and is rushed to the hospital. Grayson fears that it will be the Lex Rex incident all over again. If he can just get everything put to rights and get the celebrations underway, the house will be safe and perfect forever... or so he hopes. Aunt Dimity did promise him. If Dimity has her way perhaps Derek and Emma's broken hearts will mend together and there will be happy endings for all.

I found this second book in the Aunt Dimity series far more enjoyable than the first because Cornwall. Seriously Cornwall people. What drew me to this story and kept me interested was the Cornish Coast with dreams of Daphne Du Maurier and death on the jagged rocks. Yes, I know it was a lot of my own romanticism that made this book work for me, but there you have it! But also, the gardens! The descriptions of these gorgeous and abundant gardens built in and around the remains of a great house made me want this place to truly exist so that I could go there. Like ruins overrun with flora. The Secret Garden on crack. I want to go to there! Aside from that, there really wasn't much else. This prequel follows Emma and the ordeals her and Derek go through on their way to wedded bliss. Because it isn't even a surprise that they will be the couple matched, they're already married to each other when we meet them in the first book! Not to say that Aunt Dimity won't match a few more along the way, it's what she does. There was something actually resembling a mystery in this "mystery" series, which was a nice change of pace, but still, the romances seem to be the thrust of the series and were too contrived. The children and their belief in their father's happiness and the weird and convoluted theories about their dead mother's soul and the stained glass window that their father was there to repair bordered on the ludicrous. I will say this one did make me want to pick up the next in the series... but only if it was with these characters, not Lori and Bill from the previous installment. Emma and Derek made this book work, so perhaps I might skip the rest if it's just bland Bill and wet rag Lori. So perhaps I should thank this omnibus because if it wasn't for the fact I wanted to finish the whole book I wouldn't have read the enjoyable second story. So even if the next one doesn't work, at least I'll always have the one with the Duke. It's all about Dukes these days!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Aunt Dimity, Aunt Dimity and the Duke, Cornish Coast, Cornwall, Country Estates, Daphne Du Maurier, England, Gardening, Matchmaking, Murder Most Foul, Nancy Atherton, Penford Hall, Prequel, Ruins, The Secret Garden

Aunt Dimity's Death by Nancy Atherton
Published by: Penguin
Publication Date: 1992
Format: Paperback, 464 Pages
Rating: ★★
To Buy

Aunt Dimity has died. Lori Shepherd never knew that Aunt Dimity was real. She always assumed that she was a fictional character her mother made up for Lori's bedtime stories. Lori has been struggling since her mother's death, and now this news has rather rattled her. She shows up at the home of the lawyers Dimity has hired, Willis and Willis. The younger Willis, Bill, is overzealous and beyond excited to see Lori, his father is far more circumspect. They instantly insist that she stay with them as she begins the journey that Dimity Westwood has laid out for her. And an undertaking it will be. Dimity has requested that Lori travel to England and take up residence in her cottage and go through all her papers and edit them with the intention being the publication of The Aunt Dimity Stories. She has a month, and Bill is tagging along. When Lori enters the cottage, it's as if the house has been waiting for her. In fact, strange things are going on in this house. Aunt Dimity's neighbors, Derek and Emma, don't bring it up themselves, seeing as that would be rude, but when asked directly if Aunt Dimity might be haunting her previous house, they both concur that that is the conclusion they have also reached. It's little things, like doors slamming and Lori being able to succeed at cooking anything when before she could barely manage toast. As time goes on, she is daunted by the enormity of what she must do but also by the fact that there is a definite secret that Aunt Dimity was holding onto. Lori's mother also sensed it. Perhaps Dimity can not rest until that secret is revealed?

Anyone who is a mystery reader has heard of Nancy Atherton. She's a staple of the cozy mystery genre. Having never read the series the thing that really struck me was that for a "Paranormal Detective" she's a pretty lame entity writing just one or two lines in a book and then fixing Lori's stuffed bunny and helping her become a magically good cook. Hell, if that's what it takes I could be a "Paranormal Detective!" I make a mean cookie and have an ever expanding baking repertoire, so can I get hooked up with some crime solving ghost or does this mean I have to become a ghost? Because I was really kind of expecting something more in the vein of Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) wherein half the crime solving duo is a ghost. That might be what it evolves into but so far I'd say Aunt Dimity's just a very intuitive woman who is matchmaking beyond the grave. Speaking of the matchmaking. Lori really is a dumb, oblivious girl. Firstly, she really has done nothing with her life and the only thing really special about her is that her mother's best friend was Aunt Dimity. Because of this tenuous connection she gets everything she could hope for just because she remembers some stories she was told as a child? Hell, I want someone to show up and give me a cottage and a husband just for being able to sing the nonsense song "Lou the Gnu" that my dad made up! She never grasps the answers right in front of her. Likewise her ignorance of the fact that Dimity wasn't just helping her, but helping others, made me want to smack her over the head and say, hey, dumbo, Bill was handpicked and groomed by Dimity to be your husband, wake up and smell the coffee! So, I have to say, I can't stand Lori and therefore if she doesn't mature, me and this series will have a very short time together.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Aunt Dimity, Aunt Dimity Paranormal Detective, Cottage, Cozy, Dimity Westwood, England, Ghost, Inheritance, Lori Shepherd, Matchmaking, Murder Most Foul, Mystery, Nancy Atherton, Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)

Feel the Bern by Andrew Shaffer
Published by: Ten Speed Press
Publication Date: December 6th, 2022
Format: Paperback, 256Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Who knew fighting for a living wage could be so deadly? Bernie Sanders and his Gen Z intern are drawn into a murder investigation in a small Vermont town in this hilarious spin on cozy mysteries from the New York Times bestselling author of Hope Never Dies: An Obama Biden Mystery.

Fall is bursting out all over Vermont, and while the rest of the Congress enjoys its recess, Senator Bernie Sanders has returned to his beloved home state for a weekend of events in Eagle Creek, "America’s #1 Leaf Peeping Destination." It's up to intern and Eagle Creek native Crash Robertson to keep the senator on schedule - and out of trouble.

Crash's hopes for a quiet homecoming are dashed, however, when the lifeless body of a community banker with ties to "Big Maple" is found in Lake Champlain. While the sheriff's department closes the case as an accident, a leaked autopsy indicates foul play...with a trail of syrup leading directly to one of the senator's oldest friends. Bernie, taking a page from the cozy mysteries he's addicted to, enlists Crash in a quest to uncover the killer’s true identity.

If Crash allows the senator to go too far off-script, it will be the end of her yet-to-begin political career. But as the suspect list grows to include a tech bro set on "disrupting" the maple syrup industry, struggling small-business owners, and even Crash's own family, she realizes there's more on the line than her own future. If the unlikely duo can't solve the mystery of the Maple Murderer before they strike again, Bernie's life-long fight for justice may come to an unplanned end.

This (totally fictional!) mystery also features recipes from Eagle Creek's Vermont Country Shed, including Vermont Cheddar Mac and Cheese, "Feel the Bern!" Maple Sriracha Hot Sauce, and more!"

I needed this Bernie book in my life so bad. I also really hope that in some universe he is addicted to cozy mysteries.

Well Traveled by Jen DeLuca
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: December 6th, 2022
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The Renaissance Faire is on the move, and Lulu and Dex are along for the ride, in the next utterly charming rom-com from Jen DeLuca.

A high-powered attorney from a success-oriented family, Louisa "Lulu" Malone lives to work, and everything seems to be going right, until the day she realizes it's all wrong. Lulu's cousin Mitch introduced her to the world of Renaissance Faires, and when she spies one at a time just when she needs an escape, she leaps into the welcoming environment of turkey legs, taverns, and tarot readers. The only drawback? Dex MacLean: a guitarist with a killer smile, the Casanova of the Faire...and her traveling companion for the summer.

Dex has never had to work for much in his life, and why should he? Touring with his brothers as The Dueling Kilts is going great, and he always finds a woman at every Faire. But when Lulu proves indifferent to his many plaid charms and a shake-up threatens the fate of the band, Dex must confront something he never has before: his future.

Forced to spend days and nights together on the road, Lulu's interest in the kilted bad boy grows as he shows her a side of himself no one else has seen. The stresses of her old lifestyle fade away as she learns to trust her intuition and follow her heart instead of her head. But when her time on the road is over, will Lulu go with her gut, or are she and Dex destined for separate paths?"

I love anything Ren Faire, and I would totally see The Dueling Kilts if they came to my faire.

Witcha Gonna Do? by Avery Flynn
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: December 6th, 2022
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"An unlucky witch and her know-it-all nemesis must team up in the first of a new, spicy romantic comedy series from USA Today bestselling author Avery Flynn.

Could it possibly get any worse than having absolutely no magical abilities when you're a member of the most powerful family of witches ever? It used to be that I'd say no, but then I keep getting set up on dates with Gil Connolly whose hotness is only matched by his ego. Seriously. I can't stand him. Even if I also can't stop thinking about him (specifically kissing him) but we're going to pretend I never told you that part.

So yeah, my life isn't the greatest right now, but then it goes straight to the absolute worst hell when I accidentally make my sister's spell glitch and curse my whole family. And the only person who can help non-magical me break the spell? You guessed it. Gil the super hot jerk.

Now we have to work together to save my family and outmaneuver some evil-minded nefarious forces bent on world domination. Oh yeah, and we have to do all that while fighting against the attraction building between us because I may not be magical, but what's happening between Gil and I sure feels like it."

Because you need your cute witchy fix and Charmed was canceled.

Enola Holmes: The Graphic Novels Book Two by Serena Blasco
Published by: Andrews McMeel Publishing
Publication Date: December 6th, 2022
Format: Paperback, 208 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In Book 2 of the series, Enola is back on the case, deciphering clues and developing leads in each of three new mysteries. What she doesn’t know is that she, too, is being pursued - by her own brother! Once again, Sherlock Holmes' brilliant, strong-willed younger sister takes center stage in this delightfully drawn graphic novel based on Nancy Springer’s bestselling mystery series.

London, 1889. A woman is being held prisoner while she awaits a forced marriage. Another has been kidnapped, and yet another disappears...

As Enola seeks to rescue the three women, her brother embarks on a quest of his own. When Sherlock receives a mysterious package, he knows he'll need Enola's help to decipher its meaning. In the end, the three Holmes siblings will have to work together to answer the question that started it all: What happened to their mother?

Book Two contains three engrossing mysteries: The Case of the Peculiar Pink Fan, The Case of the Cryptic Crinoline, and The Case of Baker Street Station."

Interesting that they've renamed the sixth book yet again...

Bryant and May: Peculiar London by Christopher Fowler
Published by: Bantam
Publication Date: December 6th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 496 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Thinking of a jaunt to England? Let Arthur Bryant and John May, London's oldest police detectives, show you the oddities behind the city's façades in this tongue-in-cheek travel guide.

It's getting late. I want to share my knowledge of London with you, if I can remember any of it.

So says Arthur Bryant. He and John May are the nation's oldest serving detectives. Who better to reveal its secrets? Why does this rainy, cold, gray city capture so many imaginations? Could its very unreliability hold the key to its longevity?

The detectives are joined by their boss, Raymond Land, and some of their most disreputable friends, each an argumentative and unreliable expert in their own dodgy field.

Each character gives us a short tour of odd buildings, odder characters, lost venues, forgotten disasters, confusing routes, dubious gossip, illicit pleasures, and hidden pubs. They make all sorts of connections - and show us why it's almost impossible to separate fact from fiction in London."

You've always wanted a rather "peculiar" tour of London, right?

Murder in the Basement by Anthony Berkeley
Published by: Poisoned Pen Press
Publication Date: December 6th, 2022
Format: Paperback, 272 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"When two newlyweds discover that a corpse has been buried in the basement of their new home, a grueling case begins to trace the identity of the victim. With all avenues of investigation approaching exhaustion, a tenuous piece of evidence offers a chance for Chief Inspector Moresby and leads him to the amateur sleuth Roger Sheringham, who has recently been providing cover work in a school south of London.

Desperate for evidence of any kind in the basement case, Moresby begins to sift through the manuscript of a satirical novel Sheringham has been writing about his colleagues at the school, convinced that amongst the colorful cast of teachers hides the victim - and perhaps their murderer.

A novel pairing dark humor and intelligent detection work, this 1932 mystery is an example of a celebrated Golden Age author's most inventive work. This edition includes an introduction by CWA Diamond Dagger Award–winning author Martin Edwards."

For Golden Age Detective enthusiasts many haven't heard of Roger Sheringham, and let me tell you, you are in for a treat. I was delighted when I first discovered Anthony Berkeley's creation almost a decade ago! 

The Earl and the Pharaoh by The Countess of Carnarvon
Published by: Harper
Publication Date: December 6th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Bestselling author the Countess of Carnarvon tells the thrilling behind-the-scenes story of the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun on its centennial, and explores the unparalleled life of family ancestor George Herbert - the famed Egyptologist, world-traveler, and 5th Earl of Carnarvon behind it - whose country house, Highclere Castle, is the setting of the beloved series Downton Abbey.

In November 1922, the world was mesmerized by news of an astonishing historical find in Egypt's legendary Valley of Kings: the discovery of the tomb of the Egyptian Pharoah Tutankhamun. George Herbert, himself a famed amateur Egyptologist and noted antiquities collector, financed the expedition and excavation headed by lead archaeologist Howard Carter, and accompanied him inside this sacred space that had remained untouched for centuries.

Inside the tomb, the explorers found King Tut's sarcophagus and a treasure trove of astonishing artifacts: chariots and model boats, board games and paintings, a coffin made of pure gold. But these objects were more than just beautifully crafted works of art; they shed new light on Tutankhamun world and this fabled period of history, and changed our understanding of how the ancient Egyptians had lived - transforming overnight what had been formed through centuries of history and myth.

Drawing on Highclere Castle's archives, the Countess of Carnarvon pays homage to her ancestor on the 100th anniversary of this extraordinary event. In vivid and dramatic detail, she brings into focus the larger-than-life characters and lustrous settings - as well as those twists of luck and tragedies that shaped Herbert's life. Across the early 1900s, Highclere saw no less drama than the fictional Downton Abbey, with early tragedies for the Earl and love affairs, as well highs of exorbitant wealth and trials of punishing debt. But above all there was adventure. While Herbert first went to Egypt for his health, this mysterious, romantic land would become a second home; the beloved place where he funneled his attentions over a period of decades, never quite realizing how great the fruits of his labors would prove."

Two of my favorite things, Egypt and Downton Abbey!

A Dangerous Business by Jane Smiley
Published by: Knopf
Publication Date: December 6th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 224 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the beloved Pulitzer Prize-winning and best-selling author of A Thousand Acres: a rollicking murder mystery set in Gold Rush California, as two young prostitutes follow a trail of missing girls.

Monterey, 1851. Ever since her husband was killed in a bar fight, Eliza Ripple has been working in a brothel. It seems like a better life, at least at first. The madam, Mrs. Parks, is kind, the men are (relatively) well behaved, and Eliza has attained what few women have: financial security. But when the dead bodies of young women start appearing outside of town, a darkness descends that she can't resist confronting. Side by side with her friend Jean, and inspired by her reading, especially by Edgar Allan Poe's detective Dupin, Eliza pieces together an array of clues to try to catch the killer, all the while juggling clients who begin to seem more and more suspicious.

Eliza and Jean are determined not just to survive, but to find their way in a lawless town on the fringes of the Wild West - a bewitching combination of beauty and danger - as what will become the Civil War looms on the horizon. As Mrs. Parks says, "Everyone knows that this is a dangerous business, but between you and me, being a woman is a dangerous business, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise...""

This sounds just like my favorite arc on season two of Deadwood. Who doesn't want to watch prostitutes inspired by Edgar Allan Poe to solve crime?

A History of Fear by Luke Dumas
Published by: Atria Books
Publication Date: December 6th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The Devil is in Scotland.

Grayson Hale, the most infamous murderer in Scotland, is better known by a different name: the Devil's Advocate. The twenty-five-year-old American grad student rose to instant notoriety when he confessed to the slaughter of his classmate Liam Stewart, claiming the Devil made him do it.

When Hale is found hanged in his prison cell, officers uncover a handwritten manuscript that promises to answer the question that's haunted the nation for years: was Hale a lunatic, or had he been telling the truth all along?

Unnervingly, Hale doesn't fit the bill of a killer. The first-person narrative that centers this novel reveals an acerbic young atheist, newly enrolled at the University of Edinburgh to carry on the legacy of his recently deceased father. In need of cash, he takes a job ghostwriting a mysterious book for a dark stranger, but has misgivings when the project begins to reawaken his satanophobia, a rare condition that causes him to live in terror that the Devil is after him. As he struggles to disentangle fact from fear, Grayson's world is turned upside-down after events force him to confront his growing suspicion that he's working for the one he has feared all this time - and that the book is only the beginning of their partnership.

A History of Fear is a propulsive foray into the darkness of the human psyche, marrying dread-inducing atmosphere and heart-palpitating storytelling."

Read this to find out if Grayson's satanophobia was justified!

A Arranged Christmas by Mary E. Taylor
Published by: Independently Published
Publication Date: December 6th, 2022
Format: Paperback, 90 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Can Bain bring forth a Christmas miracle and prove his love to his reluctant bride-to-be?

Not if she has anything to say about it.

Her family faces financial ruin, but Lady Adalyn can't accept that the only way to save them is to marry for money, not love. When her parents arrange for her to wed a stranger despite her objections, she flees her childhood home. Just when she thinks her daring escape has been a resounding success, she finds herself in more trouble than ever.

When her knight in shining armor sweeps in like a fairytale, Adalyn can hardly believe it. He's charming and dashing, with the most beautiful green eyes she's ever seen. She's completely smitten with her handsome stranger. That is, until she realizes who he is...

Viscount Bain Cooke can't believe his luck. His future bride is witty and beautiful, with a strong mind and delightfully sharp tongue. She's less than thrilled with their engagement, but he couldn't imagine a better fit. He only has until Christmas Day to change her mind, and time is running out.

Can Adalyn open her heart to the possibility of love in her arranged marriage?

If you enjoy sweet, regency romances with strong heroines, sweet gentlemen and a touch of Christmas spirit, you'll love An Arranged Christmas."

Because I have to vary up my holiday reading. I can't read ALL murder mysteries...

The Princess Bride: The Official Cookbook by Jenn Fujikawa
Published by: Smart Pop
Publication Date: December 6th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 192 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
""As you dish!"

Few films have captured the hearts and imaginations like The Princess Bride. Based on the book by William Goldman, the 1987 film, directed by Rob Reiner and starring Cary Elwes, Robin Wright, Mandy Patinkin, Billy Crystal, Andre the Giant, Carol Kane, Chris Sarandon, Wallace Shawn, Christopher Guest, Fred Savage, and Peter Falk is as universally beloved as it is quotable.

Now, for the first time, The Princess Bride Cookbook: The Official Cookbook features more than 50 recipes for dishes seen in, and inspired by, the film, including:

Buttercup Buttermilk Scones
Hash You Wish
Farm Boy Breakfast
Six-Fingered Sandwiches
Chips of Insanity
MLT
The Grandson's Soup and Sandwich
Vizzini's Sicilian Meatballs
Fezzik's Stew
The Spaniard's Paella
Bread Pirate Roberts
Twu Wove's Kiss Cookies
Iocane Powder Punch
Inigo Montoya's Taste of Revenge

Perfect for fans, families, and Brute Squads, The Princes Bride: The Official Cookbook is the ultimate way for home cooks to plate up the adventure, comedy, and romance of everyone’s favorite film."

Because why not? Also the MLT makes total sense.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Andrew Shaffer, Anthony Berkeley, Avery Flynn, Bernie Sanders, Bryant and May, Christopher Fowler, Downton Abbey, Enola Holmes, Jane Smiley, Jen DeLuca, Luke Dumas, Mary E. Taylor, The Princess Bride

The Midnight Hour by Elly Griffiths
Published by: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Publication Date: September 30th, 2021
Format: Kindle, 352 Pages
Rating: ★★
To Buy (different edition than one reviewed)

Bert Billington has been poisoned. This isn't exactly surprising as the theatrical impresario had made a lot of enemies in his long life. He was a womanizer and a cheat and so obviously suspicion falls on his wife, Verity Malone. Verity was once a very comely young thing. Everyone had picture cards of her, Max Mephisto even had a dalliance with her, but when she married Bert she became a stalwart housewife, raising their three children in the luxury to which Bert provided. But she was the only one there when he died. So she is the only suspect. And the police don't seem to be too keen to look elsewhere. She could have finally snapped after years of infidelity after all... Which is why Verity reaches out to Emma and Sam to exonerate her. Sure, it might be a bit sticky, Emma being married to the chief of police, but they expected that once she and Sam went into business for themselves that just such an occasion could arise. It just happened a little sooner than they expected. It's their first big case and they want to do right by Verity so they start digging into Bert's Music Hall past and are even given a list of all his women. To say this man had affairs is an understatement. If Verity had wanted revenge why did she wait so long? It just doesn't add up. His eldest son now runs the family business and they actually have women coming out of the woodwork with children they claim are Bert's. More rather than less are credible. Plus there was that nasty business years ago when his affections strayed from his mistress and she went on to kill herself and their child. It shook them all but Bert didn't change his ways. Emma and Sam even reach out to Max to see what he thought about Bert. As luck would have it Max might be more well placed than they could have imagined. Not only did he work with Bert back in the day, he was canoodling with Verity, and as of this moment he's starring in a Dracula film shooting up in Whitby with Bert's son Seth Billington. Maybe Seth, the light of his mother's life, wanted to avenge her? The fact is, with the way Bert lived there were a lot of people who could enact revenge. The question is who? The answer could very well even be Verity.

On the ninth and final season of Dynasty Sable crossed over from the lamentably cancelled The Colbys and got involved in a delicious relationship with Alexis's ex, Dex Dexter. Sable found out she was pregnant and had no plans to marry Dex, even if it would have destroyed her cousin Alexis once and for all. You might be asking why am I mentioning this in a book review, well, change furs for jewels and you have one of the plot points of The Midnight Hour. Yes, Ruby, Max's daughter, is pregnant by none other than a supposedly different Dex Dexter! While I disagree with people who say that Dynasty had lost it's magic in it's final season if you were to ask me if The Brighton Mysteries have lost their magic I would say undoubtedly yes. I mean even in the literal sense because they've renamed it The Brighton Mysteries from The Magic Men Mysteries! I'm sorry, but it's just not working. This second book after the time jump felt like Elly Griffiths was desperately trying to right a sinking ship. Frantically refocusing on the dying world of variety it had eschewed in Now You See Them it felt like it was grasping at straws to regain the fans it had lost with that previous installment. And as for the refocusing on feminine crime solvers, this series has always been fiercely feminine despite the series previously being named after the Magic Men and the continual conks on the noggin to the heroines, but here it's become darker, more toxically feminine. Men are evil and to be destroyed. There was just rancor and vitriol spewing off these pages. Yes, Bert deserved to die. Yes, he was an evil man. But does this mean all men are evil? No. Flawed, yes, evil no. A sad sack neighbor brings flowers and Verity can only see the machinations of the male of the species. I just can't with this negativity. And as for our new erstwhile heroine? I want to like Meg, I long to like Meg, I just am literally indifferent to Meg. She lacks the allure of Max, and yes, I'm saying "allure" like Miranda Hart because I will never picture anyone else as Meg. Meg feels like she is, along with Sam, trying to fill the Emma void with her becoming domesticated, but it just isn't working. And as for Sam and Max, please, dear God no. Just no.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Brighton, Dex Dexter, Dracula, Dynasty, Elly Griffiths, Magic Men, Max Mephisto, Miranda Hart, Murder Most Foul, Now You See Them, Sable Colby, The Brighton Mysteries, The Colbys, The Midnight Hour, Whitby

Now You See Them by Elly Griffiths
Published by: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Publication Date: October, 3rd 2019
Format: Kindle, 352 Pages
Rating: ★
To Buy (different edition than one reviewed)

Ten years and three kids ago Edgar Stephens proposed to Emma Holmes. They were are the start of their lives together. Emma had loved Edgar so fiercely while Edgar was blinded by the dazzle that was his fiance Ruby, the daughter of his best friend, the famous magician Max Mephisto. Since their last case together in 1953 they all went in different directions; Edgar and Emma to wedded bliss, Ruby to television stardom, and Max to Hollywood where even he settled down and had a few more kids with a starlet. They are reunited in Brighton for the funeral of Diablo. Who would have thought the irascible old performer would last this long? But the funeral brings them all together to catch up. Only none of their lives are as perfect as they seem. Emma in particular is dissatisfied with her lot. Her husband is now chief of police whereas she's chief of nappies. They should never have had a third kid. Sure Edgar was happy to finally have a son, but Emma was finally thinking that she would be out from under the yoke of domesticity and could get back to work. She was once the amazing Emma Holmes, always cracking the case. Now Edgar is always talking about the young girl who has replaced her on the force, Meg. Damn Meg, damn nappies, damn them all. When a young girl goes missing from Emma's old school Roedean, she wants in on the case. She HAS to be in on the case. It's the only thing that will make her feel human again. With the help of her friend, local journalist Sam, the two of them start to uncover clues that this girl's disappearance is just one of many. Clues they decide to withhold from the police who are more concerned with a film star the missing girl was obsessed with. But Emma makes serious errors in judgement. Again and again. She has been out of the game too long and her desire to prove her worth clashes with her judgement and it places everyone in danger. But worst is that she has endangered her own daughter. Will they be able to save her daughter as the police have to deal with the violence of the Mods and the Rockers on the beaches or will it be too late?

I don't want to be all cliched and say this series has lost it's magic, because at this point I haven't read The Midnight Hour so it might redeem itself, but I have never read a series that went from sublime to shit so quickly. The time jump could be blamed, but I don't really think that's the source of the problems. It's just that everything about the book is wrong. Instead of letting the mystery be the driving force it's on the back burner until the last minute with a solution that I saw from the start and the cringeworthy cliche of child in danger and oodles of violence towards women. And as for the characters? Can we talk about a more morose and miserable lot? What happened to these people I knew and loved? Yes, ten years can change a lot, but it's more like Elly Griffiths lost her connection to the characters... Rivalry among the women? Emma who is now a stay at home mom is jealous of the new female cop Meg just because that used to be her? Emma could have welcomed Meg with open arms as the next generation, the woman to carry on her legacy, but no, that wouldn't be in fitting with this series new grim aesthetic. And as for Meg not liking Emma without even meeting her? Please. And that's not even my biggest issue! Was the point of this whole book to explode the myth of happily ever after with Emma and Edgar's marriage being so steeped in dissatisfaction? I mean, couldn't that at least have been a source of joy? A source of at least some version of contentment for at least one of them? I just wanted to yell at everyone and say that this wasn't them, following which I would channel Cher and tell them to snap out of it. What's most annoying though is if you look hard enough the elements were here, we could have had Max doing some Maxim de Winter shit at his big county house now that he's lord of the manor, we could have had Ruby doing a British Bewitched, instead, everyone is bemoaning and bitching about EVERYTHING. Which makes me bemoan and bitch about what happened to my favorite new series. Seriously, what happened? Where is the magic!?!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Bewitched, Brighton, Cher, Disappearance, Edgar Stephens, Elly Griffiths, Emma Holmes, Hollywood, Magic Men, Max Mephisto, Maxim de Winter, Moonstruck, Murder Most Foul, Now You See Them, The Midnight Hour