strange and random happenstance

The Great Mogul Diamond by G.P. Taylor
Published by: Tyndale Momentum
Publication Date: May 1st, 2011
Format: Hardcover, 293 Pages
Rating: ★★
To Buy

Muzz Elliott is being blackmailed. She has been told she must be in Cannes at a specific time and at a specific place. Sadie, Saskia, and Erik know all of this because, well, they can't let someone's privacy stand in their way. Conversations can be overheard and letters can be read and secrets can be revealed. So when Muzz Elliott tells the twins that they are all immediately leaving on a vacation to the south of France, the girls know that the vacation is just a cover. They are going to confront the blackmailer. The girls think that they might need the help of Erik and Dorcas Potts, so they contact Erik from the train station and tell them to follow in the Bugatti. Aboard the train odd things start to happen. Saskia is reading one of Muzz Elliott's books, Murder Train, and she notices that events that happened in the book are happening to them. Right now! Someone is using Muzz Elliott's own writing against her! Therefore they should be able to head the villains off at the pass, but the evil doers are too quick off the mark and Muzz Elliott is blaming herself for putting the girls in danger. Meanwhile Erik and Dorcas are encountering problems of their own. They are being followed through the Alps. Dorcas is convinced it's the mafia, who would use such tactics, and she's not unknown to them. But it is clear that whomever they are their goal is to keep Erik and Dorcas from reaching Muzz and her compatriots in Cannes. Things get even more out of control when Sadie is kidnapped and the blackmailer reveals their intentions. Muzz Elliott must recreate the plot of her book Another Day, Another Diamond, and steal the Great Mogul Diamond that is about to be auctioned off in Cannes. If she doesn't Sadie dies. Given the extent of their planning and the elaborate scheme to lure Muzz Elliott to Cannes, she has no doubt that they mean what they say. Only she isn't one to go down without a fight. Perhaps she and her gang can turn the tables on their enemies. Even if it should turn out their enemies were once their friends.

So despite all the supposed praise this "illustra-novella" series had larded on it The Great Mogul Diamond was the end of the line. Whether through lack of a cohesive style in the illustrations or lack of interest in readers to be converted to God this series ended on what I feel is the most disjointed of the chronicles. Because I loved half the story and hated the other half. Let me break it down. So we're finally done with the orphanage and all the ancillary characters. We're focusing on Sadie and Saskia living with Muzz Elliott and Erik living with Lord Gervaz and working with Gervaz's niece Dorcas Potts. We are stripping off the excess and moving on, even if due to lack of artistic ability I totally thought two of the bad guys were Potemkin and his henchman, this turned out to be an erroneous conclusion. So a smaller cast of characters involved in a story that is literally Agatha Christie meets Alfred Hitchcock. I loved this. I loved them being on a train that Muzz Elliott happened to set one of her novels on and then the events from the book started to come true as they headed towards the French Riviera, were the events of another one of her plots was being set in motion. I adored this gaslighting of an author with her own canon. It was perfection. So right now you're like, but wouldn't that make you love this book? Yes, I loved that part of the book, the problem is that wasn't all the book was. We have gone off the deep end with religiosity in this volume. I'm all for religious freedom as long as you're not trying to convert me. G.P. Taylor seemed to be doing a really hard sell with Erik and The Man of Good-Bye Friday. I'm sorry, but Jesus showing up in a pinstripe suit and going by that LUDICROUS name as some reference to his death on Good Friday, hell no. Then signalling that one of the villains wasn't bad because he was on a first name basis with Jesus and the angels!?! Ugh. And I'm not even going to touch the whole Erik's father is dead and The Man of Good-Bye Friday brought Erik peace. This just didn't work with the story being told. It was intrusive and manipulative. In other words, I'm very glad the series ended because The Man of Good-Bye Friday and Madame Raphael had overstayed their welcome.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Agatha Christie, Cannes, G.P. Taylor, Gaslighting, God, Going Gothic, Graphic Novel, Hitchcock, Jewel Heist, Mafia, Religion, The Dopple Ganger Chronicles, The Great Mogul Diamond, The Man of Good-Bye Friday

The Betrayal of the Blood Lily was the very first ARC I was approved for once I started my blog, back in the days before NetGalley it wasn't as easy as hitting a button on your computer screen "requesting" a title. My dream of Lauren Willig ARCs had come to fruition. Interestingly, me and The Betrayal of the Blood Lily had a little bit of a history, mainly I entered the competition on Lauren's website to name the book with ferocious zeal. While I will discuss my titular dreams at another time, I stumbled upon my list of title suggestions recently, and well, they are too hilarious not to share, and so not Penelope it's shame-making. I remember I actually researched plants native to India and harassed my friend Matt who knows a lot about flowers, and well, I have to say it, I'm glad none of my titles were ever considered and that book six will forever be The Betrayal of the Blood Lily, and not, say, The Shame of Sweet Orange.

And now I present my titles, with a precise of what this version of Pen's tale might have been:

The Proud Mantle of a Crown of Thorns: Wherein the culture clash of moving to India and a Hindu country leads Penelope to become a religious zealot and convert to Catholicism, martyring herself for her sins and letting Freddy do as he pleases while castigating herself for her feelings for Alex. There is a dramatic scene wherein Penelope applies a cilice to her body for the first time and she cries out in pain and religious ecstasy. She will eventually retire to a nunnery once Freddy dies.

The Sweat-Damped Indian Caper: A jewel heist involving the Jewels of Berar reminiscent of the "Pink Panther" movies, though far more moist as it's during the rainy season. It's zany, it's fun, and Peter Sellers plays the role of Penelope. This is not to be missed.

The Heralding of the Trumpet Vine: Penelope goes on raucous hunts and is the "easy" wife everyone assumes her to be, sinking further into degradation and depravity, but with a rictus grin playing on her lips. The title refers to the fact that she rides astride elephants while blowing a trumpet to announce her arrival, which makes her flamboyant personality well known to all in India, and the center of all gossip in the English set.

The Shame of Sweet Orange: Penelope is so chastened by her hasty marriage to Freddy and the sad divide between her and her dearest friends, Charlotte and Henrietta, that Penelope slowly becomes more and more demure, eventually disappearing to nothing more then a ghost in the house. She dies within the year, just wasting away to nothing. Charlotte and her Duke arrive to find a drunk and debauched Freddy laughing over the whole affair while Alex leads them to Penelope's final resting place, where sweet orange proliferates.

The Brazening Bindweed or the Bindweed Brazens it Out: Penelope realizes that what's good for the goose is good for the gander. She is brazen in a string of love affairs taking most of her husband's friends and colleagues to her bed, sometimes even their wives. She longs for a simpler life and she falls for Alex, but she will never stoop to being the chattel of one man ever again and continues her licentious life, leaving Alex as a sweet memory she could never have had.

The Ruin of Cupid’s Bower: Disillusioned by her marriage to Freddy, Penelope starts to become the sort of romantic that her friend Charlotte is, reading tomes of doomed love. When she discovers that Freddy is cheating on her she kills herself knowing that she was never worthy of love, especially that budding in the heart of Alex. In fact, her death might just have been a courageous act to save Alex.

The Forbearance of the English Daisy: Penelope arrives off the boat in India determined to make the best of a bad situation. She will put up with anything just to keep up appearances, even brushing Freddy's affairs under the rug. She's the perfect wife, throwing the best parties, having the strongest tea, and always having a shoulder to cry on for anyone in need of helpful advice. She eventually has a psychotic break in later years from all the strain of carrying on and not shattering the fragile illusion she has created of her life.

The Atonement of the Adder Mouthed Orchid: Penelope knows that she has to make up for the shame and disgrace that she has brought to her and Freddy's reputations. She tries her best to be the perfect wife but when a snake is found in her room she allows the snake to strike and the venom to work it's way into her body, knowing that this is the only true way she can atone for her sins.

As you can see, a different title totally conjures up a different story in my mind. Also, what was with all the religious imagery with thorns and atonement and shame? Seriously!?! I swear that this has nothing to do with those eight years of a Catholic education. I hope that this has at least entertained you as much as it did me writing it.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alex Reid, An August Adieu, ARCs, Catholic, India, Jewel Heist, Lauren Willig, Penelope, The Betrayal of the Blood Lily

Death at Wentwater Court (Daisy Dalrymple Book 1) by Carola Dunn
Published by: Kensington
Publication Date: 1994
Format: Paperback, 252 Pages
Rating: ★★★
To Buy
Daisy Dalrymple, despite being an "honourable" has decided to ditch the title and make a name for herself as a writer (and photographer, cause she really needs the money). She's on her way to Wentwater Court, where her title did happen to wrangle her an invite, to feature the house for Town and Country. On a crisp January day she arrives to see Lord James Beddowe, the Earl of Wentwater's eldest son ice skating with his sister Majorie, his fiance Fenella and Fenella's brother Phillip. Poor Phillip, still perpetually in love with Daisy. Once Daisy arrives in the house she is introduced to an even greater assortment of characters. There's the Earl himself, his gorgeous but extremely young new bride, Annabel, and his other children, the gambling Wilfred and the sporty Geoffry. Not to mention his sister and her husband, Lady Josephone and Sir Hugh. But the odd one out is really Lord Stephen Astwick, who is neither a relative or apparently a friend of anyone there. In fact he seems to be a bit predatory towards Annabel, which is not going down well with the others. After a tour and some ancestral gossip from Lady Josephine, the family convene for a family portrait then dinner. It is a rather awkward and dour affair and eventually, after a rubber or two, they all troop off to bed, Lord Stephen proudly proclaiming that he will be up at dawn to ice skate as part of his exercise regime. But come morning, when the others go to skate, it's Lord Stephen's body that is discovered half submerged in the icy lake. Daisy, head firmly planted on shoulders, decides she should take pictures of the accident scene, for the police, should they need them. After many protests as to whether the police should be called or not, a detective Alec Fletcher arrives direct from the jewel heist he is investigating at nearby Flatford. It transpires that Daisy was very forward thinking in taking those pictures, because they show not a man who accidentally fell through the ice, but a man who fell through a whole that had been cropped in the ice with an axe. Daisy then helps the dishy Alec get to the bottom of who killed Lord Stephen, when apparently everyone had a motive! Annabel was being blackmailed, Wilfred owed him money, Majorie was jealous of his attentions to Annabel, and the Earl watched it all.

In the classic style of Agatha Christie we have a country house murder where everyone's a suspect and one of them has to be the murderer. Set at a languid pace, once you get a hold of the unwieldy number of characters and their basic relationship to each other and the victim the story really gripes you. At times I think even the author realizes her unwieldy cast, due to the repetition of their motives and where they were when the crime happened. Set between the wars we have a heroine who lost her love on the front lines, a trope used in many of these types of story, look at Maisie Dobbs. We also have the dashing detective who, for some reason, trusts and is drawn to the heroine and views her as a confidant and confederate. Besides this love interest the story moves apace with enough red herrings and new evidence to keep you guessing. But it's the ending that takes the cake. I did not see it coming, and not that it's shocking, but the way it is handled and what happens to the guilty party I think are what make this book stand out from the pack and made it a truly memorable read for me. Even if I have now developed a bizarre desire to speak only in colloquialisms from the 20s and 30s I heartily recommend it. So, read this jolly good book if you're a fan of English cozies because you shan't be disappointed. It's a spiffing good time. Toodle Pip!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Agatha Christie, Beddowe, Carola Dunn, Daisy Dalrymple, Death at Wentwater Court, Detective Alec Fletcher, English Cozy, Jewel Heist, Maisie Dobbs, Murder, Town and Country

Death at Wentwater Court (Daisy Dalrymple Book 1) by Carola Dunn
Published by: Kensington
Publication Date: 1994
Format: Paperback, 252 Pages
Challenge: Typically British, Thriller and Suspense, 1st in Series
Rating: ★★★
To Buy
Daisy Dalrymple, despite being an "honourable" has decided to ditch the title and make a name for herself as a writer (and photographer, cause she really needs the money). She's on her way to Wentwater Court, where her title did happen to wrangle her an invite, to feature the house for Town and Country. On a crisp January day she arrives to see Lord James Beddowe, the Earl of Wentwater's eldest son ice skating with his sister Majorie, his fiance Fenella and Fenella's brother Phillip. Poor Phillip, still perpetually in love with Daisy. Once Daisy arrives in the house she is introduced to an even greater assortment of characters. There's the Earl himself, his gorgeous but extremely young new bride, Annabel, and his other children, the gambling Wilfred and the sporty Geoffry. Not to mention his sister and her husband, Lady Josephone and Sir Hugh. But the odd one out is really Lord Stephen Astwick, who is neither a relative or apparently a friend of anyone there. In fact he seems to be a bit predatory towards Annabel, which is not going down well with the others. After a tour and some ancestral gossip from Lady Josephine, the family convene for a family portrait then dinner. It is a rather awkward and dour affair and eventually, after a rubber or two, they all troop off to bed, Lord Stephen proudly proclaiming that he will be up at dawn to ice skate as part of his exercise regime. But come morning, when the others go to skate, it's Lord Stephen's body that is discovered half submerged in the icy lake. Daisy, head firmly planted on shoulders, decides she should take pictures of the accident scene, for the police, should they need them. After many protests as to whether the police should be called or not, a detective Alec Fletcher arrives direct from the jewel heist he is investigating at nearby Flatford. It transpires that Daisy was very forward thinking in taking those pictures, because they show not a man who accidentally fell through the ice, but a man who fell through a whole that had been cropped in the ice with an axe. Daisy then helps the dishy Alec get to the bottom of who killed Lord Stephen, when apparently everyone had a motive! Annabel was being blackmailed, Wilfred owed him money, Majorie was jealous of his attentions to Annabel, and the Earl watched it all.

In the classic style of Agatha Christie we have a country house murder where everyone's a suspect and one of them has to be the murderer. Set at a languid pace, once you get a hold of the unwieldy number of characters and their basic relationship to each other and the victim the story really gripes you. At times I think even the author realizes her unwieldy cast, due to the repetition of their motives and where they were when the crime happened. Set between the wars we have a heroine who lost her love on the front lines, a trope used in many of these types of story, look at Maisie Dobbs. We also have the dashing detective who, for some reason, trusts and is drawn to the heroine and views her as a confidant and confederate. Besides this love interest the story moves apace with enough red herrings and new evidence to keep you guessing. But it's the ending that takes the cake. I did not see it coming, and not that it's shocking, but the way it is handled and what happens to the guilty party I think are what make this book stand out from the pack and made it a truly memorable read for me. Even if I have now developed a bizarre desire to speak only in colloquialisms from the 20s and 30s I heartily recommend it. So, read this jolly good book if you're a fan of English cozies because you shan't be disappointed. It's a spiffing good time. Toodle Pip!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Agatha Christie, Beddowe, Carola Dunn, Daisy Dalrymple, Death at Wentwater Court, Detective Alec Fletcher, English Cozy, Jewel Heist, Maisie Dobbs, Murder, Reading Challenge, Town and Country