strange and random happenstance

The Punishment She Deserves by Elizabeth George
Published by: Viking
Publication Date: March 20th, 2018
Format: Hardcover, 704 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers and Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley are forced to confront the past as they try to solve a crime that threatens to tear apart the very fabric of a quiet, historic medieval town in England.

The cozy, bucolic town of Ludlow is stunned when one of its most revered and respected citizens--Ian Druitt, the local deacon--is accused of a serious crime. Then, while in police custody, Ian is found dead. Did he kill himself? Or was he murdered?

When Barbara Havers is sent to Ludlow to investigate the chain of events that led to Ian's death, all the evidence points to suicide. But Barbara can't shake the feeling that she's missing something. She decides to take a closer look at the seemingly ordinary inhabitants of Ludlow--mainly elderly retirees and college students--and discovers that almost everyone in town has something to hide.

A masterful work of suspense, The Punishment She Deserves sets Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers and Inspector Thomas Lynley against one of their most intricate cases. Fans of the longtime series will love the many characters from Elizabeth George's previous novels who join Lynley and Havers, and readers new to the series will quickly see why she is one of the most popular and critically acclaimed writers of our time. Both a page-turner and a deeply complex story about the lies we tell, the lies we believe, and the redemption we need, this novel will be remembered as one of George's best."

Does anyone else view a new Elizabeth George book as Christmas come early?

The Broken Girls by Simone St. James
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: March 20th, 2018
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Vermont, 1950. There's a place for the girls whom no one wants--the troublemakers, the illegitimate, the too smart for their own good. It's called Idlewild Hall. And in the small town where it's located, there are rumors that the boarding school is haunted. Four roommates bond over their whispered fears, their budding friendship blossoming--until one of them mysteriously disappears...

Vermont, 2014. As much as she's tried, journalist Fiona Sheridan cannot stop revisiting the events surrounding her older sister's death. Twenty years ago, her body was found lying in the overgrown fields near the ruins of Idlewild Hall. And though her sister's boyfriend was tried and convicted of murder, Fiona can't shake the suspicion that something was never right about the case.

When Fiona discovers that Idlewild Hall is being restored by an anonymous benefactor, she decides to write a story about it. But a shocking discovery during the renovations will link the loss of her sister to secrets that were meant to stay hidden in the past--and a voice that won't be silenced..."

Simone St. James is an author that is always recommended to me, so maybe I should finally check her out? 

City of Sharkes by Kelli Stanley
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: March 20th, 2018
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The blonde secretary was scared when she visited Miranda Corbie’s office. A shove into a streetcar track, a box of poisoned chocolates…hateful, violent letters.

Someone was trying to kill her.

Miranda isn’t sure of anything at first except that Louise Crowley, the blonde who works as an assistant to Niles Alexander, San Francisco publisher, is in trouble. Despite her own preparations for an imminent voyage to a blitzkrieged Britain and a painful farewell to the city she loves, Miranda decides to help Louise and takes on her last case as a private detective in San Francisco…investigating her client, surveying the publishing world of 1940, and stumbling into murder with a trail that leads straight to Alcatraz…an island city of sharks.

Along the way, Miranda explores her beloved San Francisco once more, from Playland-at-the-Beach to Chinatown to Nob Hill and Treasure Island. She encounters John Steinbeck and C.S. Forester, and is aided and abetted by the charming and dapper San Francisco Chronicle columnist Herb Caen. And she also discovers personal truths she’s long denied...

With her characteristic luxurious, lyrical prose and insightful eye for character, Kelli Stanley paints a rich, authentic portrait of 1940 San Francisco in this latest installment of her award-winning series."

OK, I have no recollection of ever hearing about this series which is right up my alley! San Francisco period crime? Yes please!

The Heart Forger by Rin Chupeco
Published by: Sourcebooks Fire
Publication Date: March 20th, 2018
Format: Hardcover, 528 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In The Bone Witch, Tea mastered resurrection―now she's after revenge...

No one knows death like Tea. A bone witch who can resurrect the dead, she has the power to take life...and return it. And she is done with her self-imposed exile. Her heart is set on vengeance, and she now possesses all she needs to command the mighty daeva. With the help of these terrifying beasts, she can finally enact revenge against the royals who wronged her―and took the life of her one true love.

But there are those who plot against her, those who would use Tea's dark power for their own nefarious ends. Because you can't kill someone who can never die...

War is brewing among the kingdoms, and when dark magic is at play, no one is safe."

How do you know it's time to pick up a book? When the sequel hits the shelf and you haven't finished it yet! 

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: City of Sharks, Elizabeth George, Inspector Lynley, Kelli Stanley, Miranda Corbie, Rin Chupeco, San Francisco, Simone St. James, The Broken Girls, The Heart Forger, The Punishment She Deserves, Tuesday Tomorrow

Still Life by Louise Penny
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: July 11th, 2006
Format: Paperback, 320 Pages
Rating: ★★
To Buy

Life in Three Pines is about to change forever. Jane Neal is a doyenne of Three Pines and just one of the many eccentrics loved by the residents. But Jane Neal has a secret. She has painted her whole life but she has never let anyone see her paintings, let alone invited them into her house beyond the kitchen. Jane has decided that the time has come to show the world her art, and in particular her small group of friends. But just two days after being accepted into the area's prestigious juried art show she is found dead in the woods. Her death looks like it might be a hunting accident, it is afterall Thanksgiving Weekend and the bow hunters are out in force. But Chief Inspector Armand Gamace of the Sûreté du Québec who is called in early on that Thanksgiving morning isn't sure Miss Neal's death is an accident. The aim of the arrow is too accurate and the murder weapon is missing. Beneath the placid surface of Three Pines Jane wasn't the only one with secrets to hide. After a shocking gay bashing a few days before Jane's murder, it looks like this small town is going into some kind of revolt and it's up to Armand Gamace and his team to bring back the peace.    

I've heard about Louise Penny and Chief Inspector Gamace for a few years now. But a cozy murder mystery series tends to be a comfort read for me so this book has been on a back burner, waiting, while my bloggerly duties took over my reading. A little over two years ago when they announced that this first book was being adapted for television starring everyone's favorite brooding detective, Inspector Lynley, ahem, I mean Nathaniel Parker as Gamace, I made a note that I should definitely move Still Life up the "to be read" pile. Yet it wasn't until my mother's book club chose it as one of their monthly reads that I finally bit the bullet and devoured Still Life. This book is not a masterpiece, not by a long shot, and falls prey to many problems of the first time writer, but there is something homey about it, something about the community created with the cast of characters that makes me feel deep in my bones that this is a series that will get better as it goes on and I want to read those further stories.

The cast of characters is both the book's strength and weakness. Penny is creating a community that we will want to return to. To me it's like the Candian Sookie Stackhouse mysteries, obviously without the supernatural element. But the thing about the Sookie books is that the mysteries were secondary, it was spending time with this well-rounded cast of characters that made you keep coming back for more. The problem with the cast of characters in Three Pines is that they have potential, but are not well rounded. They are very much the stereotypical cast of characters. The gay couple who run the bistro and bed and breakfast and say "Bitch please" and "Slut" but in a "loving" manner. The large black lady who is a fount of knowledge and down home advice. The kooky artist with the flyaway hair. I could go on and on. But all I'd be doing is listing superficial two-dimensional traits. Yet that's all these characters have! Going forward Penny will have to flesh these characters out because people aren't so superficial and can't be summed up in a catchphrase. Which is why I'm more excited for the future books than I was while reading this one.

The character who harmed this book the most though is Gamace's subordinate, Agent Yvette Nichol. I hated her more than the killer. Yes, I spent an inordinate amount of time fantasizing about her death, that's how much I hated her. Even if she was the red herring baddie used to distract us while Penny waited to reveal the true villain, she was such an annoyance that I could almost not read any part of the book she was in. We've all known people in our lives whose sole outlook on the world is how everything revolves around them. They are in their own little microcosm of unreality where they are the center of the universe. Anything that doesn't matter to them or would inconvenience them is pushed aside and forgotten as being irrelevant. I have sadly even had some close friends who lived in their own little world where I felt like an intruder in their very self-centered life story. This is Agent Nichol. Any advice Gamace gives her obviously doesn't apply to her, because she knows best. Nothing sinks in, nothing latches on. The murder would have been wrapped up right away if not for her unwillingness to be a team player. She can't be on a team, because that would mean she's not the star. Plus she views her mistakes not as her fault but the cause of others, making her view herself as a victim. Could someone please make her a victim, the kind in a body bag with a toe tag? Because seriously, if she's in the next book I don't think I can read it.

Leaving Agent Nichol far far behind and going back to the other characters, an overall trait they all had which was an annoying foible in Still Life was the overuse of patois. Local sayings and even Quebecois swears were scattered throughout the book like pixy dust. Instead of adding flavor and color to the book it seemed forced into the narrative at random moments like we might be on the verge of forgetting the book is set in Quebec so here's a short sharp reminder. The patois didn't come naturally from the narrative, like it should. It felt like a gimmick. Like a mediocre substitute to actually bothering with some worldbuilding. Why would Penny bother to show us the world of Quebec when she could just tell us with a few words? This is where her greenness as an author shows. It's show not tell, not the other way around. Again, my hope is that as she grows she learns more how to develop her story and her world. Right now her world is very two dimensional when what we need and want is three.

Yet, despite all these nagging issues, they could all easily come under the heading of issues experienced by first time writers. They can be fixed in time. The core of her book, the mystery and the life of Jane, these ephemeral things that trip up even experienced writers succeeded here, making me hopeful for the future. But it's Jane's home that captured my imagination the most. I wanted into that house that even her closest friends were barred from so badly that every time there was a delay I almost audibly cried out. For us readers outside Canada we might not get the connection between Jane's house and the Canadian folk artist Maud Lewis. She is beloved in Canada and their answer to Grandma Moses, only with more cats. I was lucky enough to visit Nova Scotia over a decade ago and see her artwork that is on display at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia. More importantly I was able to see her house which is situated fully in this Gallery. While I won't spoil the reveal in Still Life, let me say that Maud Lewis and Jane Neal had very similar decorating schemes and I think they would have gotten along marvelously.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Art, Canada, Cats, Chief Inspector Armand Gamace, Grandma Moses, Inspector Lynley, Louise Penny, Maud Lewis, Nathaniel Parker, Nova Scotia, Patois, Quebec, Sookie Stackhouse, Stereotype, Still Life, Three Pines

After Alice by Gregory Maguire
Published by: William Morrow
Publication Date: October 27th, 2015
Format: Paperback, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the multi-million-copy bestselling author of Wicked comes a magical new twist on Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, published to coincide with the 150th anniversary of Lewis’s Carroll’s beloved classic.

When Alice toppled down the rabbit-hole 150 years ago, she found a Wonderland as rife with inconsistent rules and abrasive egos as the world she left behind. But what of that world? How did 1860s Oxford react to Alice’s disappearance?

In this brilliant work of fiction, Gregory Maguire turns his dazzling imagination to the question of underworlds, undergrounds, underpinnings—and understandings old and new, offering an inventive spin on Carroll’s enduring tale. Ada, a friend of Alice’s mentioned briefly in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, is off to visit her friend, but arrives a moment too late—and tumbles down the rabbit-hole herself.

Ada brings to Wonderland her own imperfect apprehension of cause and effect as she embarks on an odyssey to find Alice and see her safely home from this surreal world below the world. If Eurydice can ever be returned to the arms of Orpheus, or Lazarus can be raised from the tomb, perhaps Alice can be returned to life. Either way, everything that happens next is “After Alice.”"

While I liked Wicked, that was dealing with a source I didn't much care for... whereas Alice in Wonderland has a special place in my heart...

These Shallow Graves by Jennifer Donnelly
Published by: Delacorte Press
Publication Date: October 27th, 2015
Format: Hardcover, 496 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From Jennifer Donnelly, the critically acclaimed New York Times bestselling author of A Northern Light and Revolution, comes a mystery about dark secrets, dirty truths, and the lengths to which people will go for love and revenge. For fans of Elizabeth George and Libba Bray, These Shallow Graves is the story of how much a young woman is willing to risk and lose in order to find the truth.

Jo Montfort is beautiful and rich, and soon—like all the girls in her class—she’ll graduate from finishing school and be married off to a wealthy bachelor. Which is the last thing she wants. Jo dreams of becoming a writer—a newspaper reporter like the trailblazing Nellie Bly.

Wild aspirations aside, Jo’s life seems perfect until tragedy strikes: her father is found dead. Charles Montfort shot himself while cleaning his pistol. One of New York City’s wealthiest men, he owned a newspaper and was a partner in a massive shipping firm, and Jo knows he was far too smart to clean a loaded gun.

The more Jo hears about her father’s death, the more something feels wrong. Suicide is the only logical explanation, and of course people have started talking, but Jo’s father would never have resorted to that. And then she meets Eddie—a young, smart, infuriatingly handsome reporter at her father’s newspaper—and it becomes all too clear how much she stands to lose if she keeps searching for the truth. But now it might be too late to stop.

The past never stays buried forever. Life is dirtier than Jo Montfort could ever have imagined, and this time the truth is the dirtiest part of all."

Come on, this sounds just fascinating! 

A Song of Ice and Fire by George R R Martin
Published by: Ballantine Books
Publication Date: October 27th, 2015
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The ultimate collector’s item for fans of the epic fantasy series that inspired HBO’s Game of Thrones—a gorgeous boxed set featuring conveniently sized, hand-holdable leather-cloth-bound editions of the first five novels!

An immersive entertainment experience unlike any other, A Song of Ice and Fire has earned George R. R. Martin—dubbed “the American Tolkien” by Time magazine—international acclaim and millions of loyal readers. Now the monumental saga gets the royal treatment it deserves, with each book wrapped in bound leather-cloth covers and packaged together in an elegant display case."

Personally, I'd wait till ALL the books are out, because they're just going to rebrand them again and again.

A Banquet of Consequences by Elizabeth George
Published by: Viking
Publication Date: October 27th, 2015
Format: Hardcover, 592 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The unspoken secrets and buried lies of one family rise to the surface in Elizabeth George’s newest novel of crime, passion, and tragic history. As Inspector Thomas Lynley investigates the London angle of an ever more darkly disturbing case, his partner, Barbara Havers, is looking behind the peaceful façade of country life to discover a twisted world of desire and deceit.

The suicide of William Goldacre is devastating to those left behind who will have to deal with its unintended consequences—could there be a link between the young man’s leap from a Dorset cliff and a horrific poisoning in Cambridge?

After various issues with her department, Barbara Havers is desperate to redeem herself. So when a past encounter gives her a connection to the unsolved Cambridge murder, Barbara begs Thomas Lynley to let her pursue the crime, knowing one mistake could mean the end of her career.

Full of shocks, intensity, and suspense from the first page to the last, A Banquet of Consequences reveals both Lynley and Havers under mounting pressure to solve a case both complicated and deeply disturbing."

Yeah new Lynley!

Mrs. Roosevelt's Confidante by Susan Elia Macneal
Published by: Bantam
Publication Date: October 27th, 2015
Format: Paperback, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this latest riveting mystery from New York Times bestselling author Susan Elia MacNeal, England’s most daring spy, Maggie Hope, travels across the pond to America, where a looming scandal poses a grave threat to the White House and the Allied cause.

December 1941. Soon after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Winston Churchill arrives in Washington, D.C., along with special agent Maggie Hope. Posing as his typist, she is accompanying the prime minister as he meets with President Roosevelt to negotiate the United States’ entry into World War II. When one of the First Lady’s aides is mysteriously murdered, Maggie is quickly drawn into Mrs. Roosevelt’s inner circle—as ER herself is implicated in the crime. Maggie knows she must keep the investigation quiet, so she employs her unparalleled skills at code breaking and espionage to figure out who would target Mrs. Roosevelt, and why. What Maggie uncovers is a shocking conspiracy that could jeopardize American support for the war and leave the fate of the world hanging dangerously in the balance."

I still have to start this series... I do have the first one around here somewhere...

The Woman Who Walked in Sunshine by Alexander McCall Smith
Published by: Pantheon
Publication Date: October 27th, 2015
Format: Hardcover, 224 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this latest installment of the beloved and best-selling series, Mma Ramotswe must contend with her greatest challenge yet—a vacation!

Business is slow at the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, so slow in fact that for the first time in her estimable career Precious Ramotswe has reluctantly agreed to take a holiday. The promise of a week of uninterrupted peace is short-lived, however, when she meets a young boy named Samuel, a troublemaker who is himself in some trouble. Once she learns more about Samuel’s sad story, Mma Ramotswe feels compelled to step in and help him find his way out of a bad situation.

Despite this unexpected diversion, Mma Ramotswe still finds herself concerned about how the agency is faring in her absence. Her worries grow when she hears that Mma Makutsi is handling a new and rather complicated case. A well-respected Botswanan politician is up for a major public honor, and his reputation is now being called into question by his rivals. The man’s daughter has contacted the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency to investigate these troubling claims, but, as in so many cases, all is not as it seems. In the end, the investigation will affect everyone at the agency and will also serve as a reminder that ordinary human failings should be treated with a large helping of charity and compassion."

Because everyone needs an Alexander McCall Smith pick me up!

Shopaholic to the Rescue by Sophie Kinsella
Published by: The Dial Press
Publication Date: October 27th, 2015
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"#1 New York Times bestselling author Sophie Kinsella returns with another laugh-out-loud Becky Brandon (née Bloomwood) adventure: a hilarious road trip through the American West to Las Vegas.

Becky is on a major rescue mission! Her father has vanished from Los Angeles on a mysterious quest with her best friend’s husband. Becky’s mum is hysterical; her best friend, Suze, is desperate. Worse, Becky must tolerate an enemy along for the ride, who she’s convinced is up to no good.

Determined to get to the bottom of why her dad has disappeared, help Suze, contain Alicia, and reunite her fractured family, Becky knows she must marshal all her trademark ingenuity. The result: her most outrageous and daring plan yet!

But just when her family needs her more than ever, can Becky pull it off?"

Seriously!?! There's another one?

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alexander McCall Smith, Alice in Wonderland, Elizabeth George, Gregory Maguire, GRRM, Inspector Lynley, Jennifer Donnelly, Shopaholic, Sophie Kinsella, Susan Elia MacNeal, The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency

Mad About the Boy by Helen Fielding
Published by: Knopf
Publication Date: October 15th, 2013
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"What do you do when your girlfriend’s sixtieth birthday party is the same day as your boyfriend’s thirtieth?

Is it better to die of Botox or die of loneliness because you’re so wrinkly?

Is it wrong to lie about your age when online dating?

Is it morally wrong to have a blow-dry when one of your children has head lice?

Is it normal to be too vain to put on your reading glasses when checking your toy boy for head lice?

Does the Dalai Lama actually tweet or is it his assistant?

Is it normal to get fewer followers the more you tweet?

Is technology now the fifth element? Or is that wood?

If you put lip plumper on your hands do you get plump hands?

Is sleeping with someone after two dates and six weeks of texting the same as getting married after two meetings and six months of letter writing in Jane Austen’s day?

Pondering these and other modern dilemmas, Bridget Jones stumbles through the challenges of loss, single motherhood, tweeting, texting, technology, and rediscovering her sexuality in—Warning! Bad, outdated phrase approaching!—middle age.

In a triumphant return after fourteen years of silence, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy is timely, tender, touching, page-turning, witty, wise, outrageous, and bloody hilarious."

Um... new Bridget Jones? I'm kind of split on this. The books were never as good as the movie (first, not second, ug). Also... yeah... I'm not sure. Will I read it? Duh.

Behind the Shattered Glass by Tasha Alexander
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: October 15th, 2013
Format: Hardcover, 272 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A ruined abbey on a beautiful estate in Derbyshire, a murdered peer, and a most unlikely romance make New York Times bestseller Tasha Alexander's new novel absolutely irresistible

Anglemore Park is the ancestral home of Lady Emily Hargreave's husband Colin. But the stately calm of country life is destroyed when their neighbor, the Marquess of Montagu, bursts through the French doors from the garden and falls down dead in front of the shocked gathering. But who has a motive for murdering the young aristocrat? The lovely cousin who was threatened by his engagement, the Oxford friend he falsely accused of cheating, the scheming vicar's daughter he shamelessly seduced or the relative no one knew existed who appears to claim the Montagu title? Who is the mysterious woman seen walking with him moments before he was brutally attacked? The trail takes readers into the gilded world of a British manor house and below stairs to the servants who know all the secrets. One family's hidden past and a forbidden passion are the clues to a puzzle only Lady Emily can solve."

Oh, this sounds so fabulous as well as having yet another luscious cover! Can not wait to read!

Just One Evil Act by Elizabeth George
Published by: Dutton Adult
Publication Date: October 15th, 2013
Format: Hardcover, 736 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"#1 New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth George delivers another masterpiece of suspense in her Inspector Lynley series: a gripping child-in-danger story that tests Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers like never before.

Barbara is at a loss: The daughter of her friend Taymullah Azhar has been taken by her mother, and Barbara can’t really help—Azhar had never married Angelina, and his name isn’t on Hadiyyah’s, their daughter’s, birth certificate. He has no legal claim. Azhar and Barbara hire a private detective, but the trail goes cold.

Azhar is just beginning to accept his soul-crushing loss when Angelina reappears with shocking news: Hadiyyah is missing, kidnapped from an Italian marketplace. The Italian police are investigating, and the Yard won’t get involved, until Barbara takes matters into her own hands — at the risk of her own career.

As both Barbara and her partner, Inspector Thomas Lynley, soon discover, the case is far more complex than a typical kidnapping, revealing secrets that could have far-reaching effects outside of the investigation. With both her job and the life of a little girl on the line, Barbara must decide what matters most, and how far she’s willing to go to protect it."

New Lynley? Yes please!

Copperhead by Tina Connolly
Published by: Tor
Publication Date: October 15th, 2013
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
" Copperhead is the sequel to Tina Connolly's stunning historical fantasy debut.

Helen Huntingdon is beautiful—so beautiful she has to wear an iron mask.

Six months ago her sister Jane uncovered a fey plot to take over the city. Too late for Helen, who opted for fey beauty in her face—and now has to cover her face with iron so she won’t be taken over, her personality erased by the bodiless fey.

Not that Helen would mind that some days. Stuck in a marriage with the wealthy and controlling Alistair, she lives at the edges of her life, secretly helping Jane remove the dangerous fey beauty from the wealthy society women who paid for it. But when the chancy procedure turns deadly, Jane goes missing—and is implicated in a murder.

Meanwhile, Alistair’s influential clique Copperhead—whose emblem is the poisonous copperhead hydra—is out to restore humans to their “rightful” place, even to the point of destroying the dwarvven who have always been allies.

Helen is determined to find her missing sister, as well as continue the good fight against the fey. But when that pits her against her own husband—and when she meets an enigmatic young revolutionary—she’s pushed to discover how far she’ll bend society’s rules to do what’s right. It may be more than her beauty at stake. It may be her honor...and her heart."

100% cover lust.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 2 comments  

Labels: Behind the Shattered Glass, Bridget Jones, Copperhead, Elizabeth George, Helen Fielding, Inspector Lynley, Lady Emily, Mad About the Boy, Tasha Alexander, Tina Connolly

The Strange Fate of Kitty Easton (Laurence Bartram Book 2) by Elizabeth Speller
Published by: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Publication Date: May 1st, 2011
Format: Hardcover, 416 Pages
Rating: ★★★
To Buy

Laurence Bartram has been invited by his friends the Bolithos to come to Easton Deadall. William, despite his injuries from the war, has found a job. He is restoring the cottages in the village as well as creating a monument to the fallen. Easton Deadall lost all their men in the Great War, though the sad tragedy of the town goes back to before the war, when the five year old Kitty Easton was kidnapped out of her bedroom in the manor house and never seen again. While Laurence may question William's idea that a maze is the best tribute to the fallen, he is intrigued by the church he has been asked to look at. The carvings and the hastily tarred floor have secrets. They have pagan accents of green men and labyrinths. Yet inside the house is a world of hurt and pain. Kitty's mother still clings to the belief that her daughter is alive, while the rest of the household cannot move forward while Lydia clings to her dreams. Lydia is a sick woman, often laid up in bed, and the thought of her daughter is all that keeps her alive while it sinks the house into the quagmire of the past.

The arrival of Laurence and the Bolithos, as well as the return of the youngest Easton, Patrick, brings some much needed life and change to the house. Yet it also stirs up the past. When an excursion to London and the great 1924 British Empire Exhibition leads to the disappearance of the household's young maid, Maggie, the disappearance of Kitty, all those years ago, is brought even more into everyone's mind. The discovery of a dead female at Easton Deadall and a hidden chamber beneath the church lead to more questions and perhaps the possibility of finding out what happened to Kitty all those years ago.

I always find it interesting that my expectations versus the reality of a book can vary so much. I was not prepared to adore the first book in this series, The Return of Captain John Emmett, viewing it more as the book I had to read to be able to get to The Strange Fate of Kitty Easton, which I assumed would be my dream book. I mean a country house in Wiltshire, land of chalk and Terry Pratchett (yes, that's how I refer to it in my head), a mysterious disappearance years earlier, and mazes! I mean, that maze is what was really selling it for me, seeing as I have more then a little obsession with mazes and have built more then my fair share in cardboard, paper, and metal over the years. So yes, you might say me and mazes, and labyrinths in particular, are buddies. But when it came to the book, I just felt it didn't live up to the promise of the first book. Maybe it was my expectations, but while I enjoyed this book, it lacked the spark and originality of The Return of Captain John Emmett. It was less unique and more a mish mash of other things. The Strange Fate of Kitty Easton was a bit of the Lindbergh kidnapping, deformities included, very much a strong helping of the Inspector Lynley episode "Limbo," and then to top it of, quite a bit of Gosford Park, at least with Digby and his darkness that mirrors Michael Gambon to an extent.

Now lets get to specifics. One aspect of the book that really annoyed me was the layout of the manor house, Easton Deadall. Now, I don't know if Speller intended the layout of the house to be a bit confusing to mirror the history of the house and its connection with mazes, the name itself perhaps a bastardization of Daedalus, but it just really got under my skin. I don't really get the layout at all. Were the gardens, terraces, maze, pond, basically all in front of the house? Because that doesn't really fit with, well, any kind of English architectural style. Usually they were behind the house with terraces, gardens, then tamed wilderness, to indicate mans taming of nature in successive steps from the full control of the house environs to the return to nature the further away you got. And William Bolitho, being an architect, would have commented on this rather strange set up in my mind. I need a place that I can get my mind around, a place of respite in the land red herrings and mysterious machinations, and the competing architectural styles combined with what Laurence saw out of certain windows drove me a little round the bend. His view from his room seemed to randomly change. Also, don't get me started on that oppressive maze. I like a maze, more then the next, but the setting was too confusing, labyrinthine and oppressive and instead of adding to the feel of the book, it just set me against it.

Yet, the manor house and all it's issues was nothing to what I found as the main flaw in this book. The Strange Fate of Kitty Easton is seedy and debauched. I couldn't get around this fact. While you might take the view that exposing the aristocracy and their flaws would be historically accurate and liberating to an extent, there's handling it with kid gloves and making it fascinating, a la Gosford Park where we absorb the horrors without them being explicit, and then there's exposing us to this world and going into vibrant detail about beatings and sexually transmitted diseases, pederasts and whore houses. No thank you! This also feeds into my issue of character development. Speller is a master of unique and individualized characters, but here, in the suffocating world of Easton Deadall, they are so beaten down and depressive, that I wanted to run there and give them all happy pills. Where was Laurence's wise cracking friend Charles when he was desperately needed? Speaking of favorite characters from the previous volume... one of the characters does something that I will not forgive Speller for writing. Is it realistic, yes. But you know what, in this horrid little bleak world she has created, I needed something good, someone good to hang onto. To take that away from me... that was the last straw. The Strange Fate of Kitty Easton may have kept me absorbed, but it did not keep me happy, which is what a great book should do.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Daedalus, Easton Deadall, Elizabeth Speller, Golden Summer, Gosford Park, Inspector Lynley, Labyrinth, Laurence Bartram, Mazes, The Return of Captain John Emmett, The Strange Fate of Kitty Easton

Name: Caroline Martin

Dream Character Casting for the Lauren Willig Dream Movie Adaptation: Addie

First Impression: He Knew He Was Right. Playing the young Dorothy Stanbury she is heartbreaking when she tells her Aunt Stanbury that she will not marry Brooke Burgess because her Aunt doesn't wish it. When she confesses that she loves him so much and she never thought that she could be loved in return then was she melts that hard Aunt's heart and everyone gets a happy ending I cried and cried.

Why they'd be the perfect actor for the Lauren Willig Dream Movie Adaptation: She has the look to match Rachel Stirling, so they could be cousins. But more importantly, she has that bookish, independent nature, or at least through her acting I envision she has, that would lend itself to Addie. Also, she has an appearance that you might first overlook, but when she smiles it lights up the room.

Lasting Impression: He Knew He Was Right. She got it in one.

What else you've seen them in: She actually hasn't been in much, but what she has been in she was memorable, ie, He Knew He Was Right. But she did hit the big murder mysteries, with Inspector Lynley, Poirot and Foyle's War. She was also in Byron with Johnny Lee Miller and the much touted film, Happy-Go-Lucky.

Can't believe it's them: She was in Byron... I really need to rewatch that sometime, because I remember very little of it...

Wish they hadn't: Left Foyle's War! Ug, she was perfect for Milner and then they recast her! Now, I don't know if this was her decision or not, but the new Mrs. Milner has no chemistry with him. I mean they had a spark, you rooted for them, and then we get her recast with a milksop!

Bio: She originally was going to be an Astrophysicist, but then she became involved in the Edinburgh Footlights and was cast as Sally Bowles and that, as they say, was that.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Addie, Byron, Caroline Martin, Dorothy Stanbury, Foyle's War, He Knew He Was Right, Inspector Lynley, Poirot, The Ashford Affair

Believing the Lie by Elizabeth George
Published by: Dutton
Publication Date: January 10th, 2012
Format: Hardcover, 624 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"After writing sixteen Inspector Lynley novels, New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth George has millions of fans waiting for the next one. As USA Today put it, "It's tough to resist George's storytelling, once hooked." With Believing the Lie, she's poised to hook countless more.

Inspector Thomas Lynley is mystified when he's sent undercover to investigate the death of Ian Cresswell at the request of the man's uncle, the wealthy and influential Bernard Fairclough. The death has been ruled an accidental drowning, and nothing on the surface indicates otherwise. But when Lynley enlists the help of his friends Simon and Deborah St. James, the trio's digging soon reveals that the Fairclough clan is awash in secrets, lies, and motives.

Deborah's investigation of the prime suspect-Bernard's prodigal son Nicholas, a recovering drug addict-leads her to Nicholas's wife, a woman with whom she feels a kinship, a woman as fiercely protective as she is beautiful. Lynley and Simon delve for information from the rest of the family, including the victim's bitter ex-wife and the man he left her for, and Bernard himself. As the investigation escalates, the Fairclough family's veneer cracks, with deception and self-delusion threatening to destroy everyone from the Fairclough patriarch to Tim, the troubled son Ian left behind."

Yeah! New Inspector Lynley, life is good.

The Gathering Storm by Robin Bridges
Published by: Delacorte
Publication Date: January 10th, 2012
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"St. Petersburg, Russia, 1888. As she attends a whirl of glittering balls, royal debutante Katerina Alexandrovna, Duchess of Oldenburg, tries to hide a dark secret: she can raise the dead. No one knows. Not her family. Not the girls at her finishing school. Not the tsar or anyone in her aristocratic circle. Katerina considers her talent a curse, not a gift. But when she uses her special skill to protect a member of the Imperial Family, she finds herself caught in a web of intrigue.

An evil presence is growing within Europe's royal bloodlines—and those aligned with the darkness threaten to topple the tsar. Suddenly Katerina's strength as a necromancer attracts attention from unwelcome sources . . . including two young men—George Alexandrovich, the tsar's standoffish middle son, who needs Katerina's help to safeguard Russia, even if he's repelled by her secret, and the dashing Prince Danilo, heir to the throne of Montenegro, to whom Katerina feels inexplicably drawn.

The time has come for Katerina to embrace her power, but which side will she choose—and to whom will she give her heart?"

Oh, you can never give me enough Russia!

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Published by: Dutton
Publication Date: January 10th, 2012
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel’s story is about to be completely rewritten.

Insightful, bold, irreverent, and raw, The Fault in Our Stars is award-winning author John Green’s most ambitious and heartbreaking work yet, brilliantly exploring the funny, thrilling, and tragic business of being alive and in love."

Ok, yes, it does sound depressing, as doomed love is... but the reviews are amazing on this book! I trust John Green.

Tempting the Gods by Tanith Lee
Published by: Wildside Press
Publication Date: January 10th, 2012
Format: Paperback, 256 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Tempting the Gods collects some of Tanith Lee''s fiction from the late 80s to the present, from a variety of venues (Asimovs'', Weird Tales, and Realms of Fantasy). They range in tone from the dark ("Cain") and Arthurian Legend ("The Kingdoms of the Air"), to Arabian Nights adventure ("These Beasts") and the just plain weird ("Tiger I"). All stories feature Lee''s carefully crafted language, tight plotting, vivid imagination, and matchless evocation of atmosphere. Not all tales are dark - there''s even some humor, such as the new to this collection "God and the Pig." Like Bradbury and Vance, Lee is a unique stylist. This collection - the first part of a two part series - is a perfect introduction to her work, some of the best writing in the weird fiction category."

I love when all the stories are brought together from different sources under two nice covers! Front and back that is, with a nice spine on the side.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Believing the Lie, Elizabeth George, Inspector Lynley, John Green, Robin Bridges, Tanith Lee, Tempting the God, The Fault in Our Stars, The Gathering Storm