strange and random happenstance

The Sisterhood by Tasha Alexander
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: September 23rd, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

Victoria Goldsborough is shimmering like pearls in her white satin for her engagement ball but soon her skin will be cold like marble. Her murder is garnering more press than her wedding to the Marquess of Harrington ever would have. Of course Lady Emily's mother blames Emily for the young girl's death. Because obviously if Emily had been present so would Colin and no one in their right mind would dare commit murder in the presence of Colin Hargreaves. Though offering to help solve the case just further enrages Lady Bromley who storms off in high dudgeon. Emily being Emily she's going to investigate anyway. Mainly because she can not sit idol when there's a murderer on the loose. Plus she knew Victoria growing up. Sadly Emily was too old to be a friend and too young to be a mentor. Still, it makes this case personal. Which means Colin is off to speak to the king while Emily is writing to Victoria's younger sister Portia to get the lay of the land. Portia arrives in full widows weeds, which seems a tad theatrical, but then again, one of four girls without dowries raised by their grandmother making the match of the season only to be cut down in her prime is worthy of some theatrics. Though perhaps she doth protest too much? Emily can not rule her out for sororicide, but at least the suspect spills the tea. Victoria making the match she did has to have upset someone, perhaps even created an enemy with murder in their heart. Could that murderer be Cressida Wright? Who, according to Portia, wanted Victoria's fiancé Peregrine for herself. But murder might be too much of an effort for Cressida. Though Cressida is only one possible culprit. Peregine's friend Lionel Morgan has taken several loans from his friend and was with him moments before Victoria's demise. Frances Price was Victoria's dearest friend and while being properly prudish her family residing on Radical Row are anything but. Then there's Victoria's maid Ida who had recently committed suicide due to an unwanted pregnancy, how does that tie in? And one must never overlook the fiancé. There's only one thing that Emily and Colin are certain of, they are being deliberately manipulated. All the suspects' stories have been expurgated. They are purposefully hiding things. And if that wasn't enough, Sebastian Capet, the notorious jewel thief, happened to be purloining a tiara upstairs the night of the murder at Harrington House. But it's Emily's mother who might have broken the case wide open. It's those nasty suffragettes! An underground movement threatening decent society, a cohort of young ladies calling themselves Boudica's Sisters are trying to destroy the social structure. And Victoria was recently approached about becoming a member. But Boudica's Sisters seem to stand for everything Victoria was against. Except for the fact that she had a watercolor of Boudica in her bedroom. Could Emily's mother actually be on to something? One shudders at the thought.

At her release event for The Sisterhood at The Poisoned Pen in Scottsdale, Arizona, Tasha said that her first editor told her after she finished writing her second Lady Emily book, A Poison Season, "You have to keep these books in England. You can go into the country. Preferably London, fine a country house once in awhile. But that's what you have to do. And then you can own Victorian London." But Tasha didn't want to own Victorian or, as it stands now, Edwardian London. She wanted to take Emily out of the world in which she was raised and open her eyes. I have to say that I heartily agree with this. Every time that Tasha announces a new book I can't wait to find out which far-flung destination Emily will be going to. The year previously when she was promoting Death by Misadventure she mentioned that she and her husband Andrew were off to India to research the next Lady Emily book. Sadly I learned during that talk that the India book, Murder on the Scared River, was the next but one and Emily was returning to London. Now I will follow Emily anywhere, but I am with Tasha and not her first editor, those far-flung places call to my heart. But then Tasha came in and did her magic and, well, this book wasn't just perfection, it was perfection for our times. Because this book deals with women and women's rights. The Sisterhood shows how women can build each other up and tear each other down. How we have always been treated as second class citizens and, because of this, infighting is self-defeating yet expected and accepted. There are men lined up waiting to tell us how we're not good enough and yet we fight each other. We have common goals and we should band together and yet, put two women in a room and they'll either be expected to fight or fail the Bechdel Test. This book is set in Edwardian England and yet these are the same problems, safety, healthcare, rights, voting, power, that still exist today. What's more, with the section set during the rule of Boudica in Britannia you see that the problems of being a woman are endemic. We could be kick ass warlords and yet people will question that. Here's an idea, how about we question the right of white men to rule? How about we question all their decisions that are in our "best interests" that they made without consulting us? I mean, this book brings out a rage in me, because, when will it end? But that rage, that indignation, and then the reveal of the murderer's motives, all of that hit home so hard that I think I need to go rewatch all of Britannia to recover, because I love me some Roman miniseries. And then I'll reread this book, because, damn, it got me.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Bechdel Test, Boudica, Britannia, Colin Hargreaves, Edwardian, Lady Bromley, Lady Emily, London, Marquess of Harrington, Murder, Rome, Sebastian Capet, Suffrage, Suffragette, Tasha Alexander, The Sisterhood, Top Ten, Victorian, Women

Iron and Velvet by Alexis Hall
Published by: Riptide Publishing
Publication Date: December 14th, 2013
Format: Kindle, 254 Pages
Rating: ★★
To Buy (different edition than one reviewed)

Kate Kane stays away from vampires. Sadly they don't stay away from her. After a disastrous teenage romance with the sparkly Patrick she has learned many things. One is Patrick will never understand that she's gay, and he will forever leave creepy drawings on her pillow of her sleeping. Two is that you don't work for vampires. Especially if it's a vampire prince who is sex on legs. Which Julian Saint-Germain, the Prince of Cups, definitely is. But Kate's a P.I. and a P.I. has to pay the bills, especially if your partner up and got killed on you, and the vampires are willing to pay her the "I don't work for vampires" rate. So she agrees to take a look at their problem. Their problem is a dead werewolf in the alley behind one of Julian's clubs, The Velvet. The werewolf in question is Andrew J.H. Vane-Tempest, who happened to be dating the club's drag queen. He's been drained of blood, but not in a vampiric way. Which makes Kate think that this is political. Shit, she really hates politics. But she's willing to play if they're willing to pay and off she goes to track down the local alpha werewolf, Tara Vane-Tempest, who just happens to be a lingerie model in the middle of a shoot. Now this would be one of the "perks" of the job. The downsides being; being in the middle of a war between vampires, werewolves, and mages, having to deal with so many exes it's almost ridiculous, evil ghostly spirits, oh, and the fact that her mother is the immortal embodiment of an abstract concept making Kate an honest-to-God faery princess, running out of booze, not having money to replace the booze, and inevitably dying because of some stupid job she agreed to. But she is a beloved daughter who will be sorely missed. Though as she delves deeper into the mysterious death of Andrew J.H. Vane-Tempest the inevitable happens, the bodies start to pile up. But Julian doesn't seemed concerned, Julian's only concern seems to be getting into Kate's pants. She plies her with pudding and the past. Being eight-hundred years old means that Julian has quite the history, especially as she was a demon-hunting ninja nun for the Order of St. Agrippina before she was turned. Or as Kate calls her, Sister Julian, Pudding Nun. And oddly enough, Kate's growing quite attached to her pudding nun. The problem is, that pudding nun's life is in danger and if they want a future together they are going to have to fight some serious shit. As in a sewer battle.

This is a review I've drafted over and over again in my head in the hopes of getting it right once I wrote it down. One reason is that when I'm not enjoying a book I'm reading I try to pinpoint why, and this inevitably leads to me marshaling my thoughts in a manner that might look like a loose outline for a review with specific phrases that strike me or possibly just random words that after the fact don't even make sense to me. The other reason is that my friend who recommended this series to me recommended it to me with the caveat that it's one of her favorites. And I don't know about you but when I don't like a book that someone I care about loves, it feels like I'm betraying them so I have to be very clear and concise as to why I feel how I feel. Iron and Velvet has an identity crisis. It doesn't know what it wants to be; noir, urban fantasy, romcom, parody, pastiche, mystery, vampire romance, and on and on. Now a master of the craft can weave all these disparate genres into a beautiful patchwork quilt where concepts and characters that shouldn't work together somehow magically do. Alexis Hall is no master. This is their first book and therefore we are left with scraps that switch from genre to genre like a car with a clunky transmission. And yes, I'm mixing metaphors, but if I was going to be tonally inconsistent, well, this is the book review to do it in. Because this identity crisis of what this book is bleeds into every aspect making it ill defined except for the odd specificity when he's lifting from other source material. Alexis Hall is a magpie unable to create a cohesive whole. You wouldn't be wrong to think Kate Kane is quoting Hugh Grant in Notting Hill for no reason I can figure out, and her entire backstory being the plot to Twilight? You're right there as well. And while it's funny to see that the entire plot of Twilight, all those hundreds and hundreds of pages, can be easily reduced to a couple of paragraphs, this cribbing of Kate's backstory from another source is lazy. Why not merge different vampire teen romance tropes into something unique and original? Because until the sparkling happened, the creepy drawings on the pillow could have been from any obsessed vampire. Therefore I was always kept at a distance from Bella, I mean Kate, because at no time did she attempt to become someone new and original. At least we know she was a "Beloved daughter. Sorely missed." Because she kept mentioning it over and over again. Was there no editing on this book? Because an editor would have said this book needed another pass. It needed some originality and some sense of place. It's just so much surface that after awhile you realize if you're trying to find depth, or why the apartment and the office move around in time in space, that you're never going to find it because there isn't any there there. I'm hoping this is all because it was a first book because otherwise I'm out.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 6:44 PM 0 comments  

Labels: Alexis Hall, An Urban Development, Bella Swan, Editor, Faery Princess, Hugh Grant, Identity Crisis, Iron and Velvet, Julian Saint-Germain, Kate Kane, London, Noir, Notting Hill, P.I., Pudding Nun, Tropes, Twilight, Vampires, Werewolves

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

All Stevie Bell's friends are planning their futures but after solving the case of a lifetime she is unsure what to do with her life. It's her final year of high school and she should be thinking about college applications but all she can think about is how much she misses her boyfriend. David is now studying in England. That's a whole ocean away. But he has an idea that gives Stevie life. Ellingham Academy is more than a little indebted to Stevie, what with saving it from closing and all, so he thinks the school would be willing to swing a study abroad program for her and their friends as the school has embraced remote learning in an attempt to keep their students alive. And he's right. Dr. Jenny Quinn, the new director of Ellingham, gives Stevie, Janelle, Vi, and Nate permission. With strict guidelines. This is a cultural trip that will last one week. They will be staying in London at Craven House which is where David lives. It's a hodgepodge of student housing but it fits their needs and Stevie's needs in particular. Because right now Stevie needs some alone time with David. But as soon as they land he's got a thing. You'd think coming across an ocean would be more important than a "thing" but David has always been an enigma. Maybe that's what drew Stevie to him? After a delay David plays the tour guide, culminating at the London Eye where he introduces them to his classmate and study partner, Izzy. Izzy instantly raises Stevie's hackles. She's too nice, too perfect, but then she hands Stevie the best gift, an unsolved murder. Nothing else matters now. This trip has narrowed it's focus down to two objectives, solve the cold case from the summer of 1995 involving Izzy's aunt Angela Gill and lose her virginity to David. Landmarks and tourist traps be damned. Her friends are now there to just cover her ass with Dr. Quinn as she delves into a time when everyone was listening to Blur. "The Nine" were a sketch comedy group that went to Cambridge and lived an entwined and internecine life in shitty student housing. Clothes, food, partners, everything was shared. Their graduation was the end of an era. So in grand fashion they were trooping out to Merryweather, a country manor house owned by the family of one of their cohort, Sebastian Holt-Carey. The rest of the party consisted of Theo Bailey, Noel Butler, Peter Elmore, Angela Gill, Rosie Mortimer, Julian Reynolds, Sooz Rillington, and Yash Varma. They piled into two cars and sped off for the countryside. That night during a drunken game of hide-and-seek with a storm brewing Noel and Rosie were murdered. They weren't found until morning in the woodshed, all evidence washed away. The police assumed it was a failed burglary. No one was ever caught. Which is where Stevie comes in. She's on a tight deadline, but if her friends will just cover for her she might pull off the impossible. Yet again.

As I have mentioned before this series has a split personality disorder. There's the historical crimes that I am drawn to and the YA angst I cringe from. Sadly this volume leaned hard into the cringe while giving us an historical crime I couldn't care less about. So, the historical case, what I am calling Peter's Murderous Friends. This cold case isn't so much a cold case as one left unsolved due to police disinterest. They decided, due to scant evidence and whose house it was, to just chock it up to burglars and leave it at that. As for why "The Nine" didn't want the case to be thoroughly investigated, I think they just didn't want to look too hard at themselves and opted for ignorance. Did they want to have a killer amongst them? No. And ignorance is bliss. So why should we, as readers, care for a cold case that no one else cared for? Especially as we don't have any connection to Noel and Rosie. They are just two of nine characters that were infodumped on us and unlike "good girl" Sabrina Abbot in The Box in the Woods we have no emotional investment, no tie to them. And then, when you get right down to the basic facts, so much of this plays out the same way as The Box in the Woods, with a small group connected to the crime still alive so when something happens it is obviously one of them. I understand the need for modern day stakes, and it worked in The Box in the Woods, but here it felt too contrived. And as for Peter's Murderous Friends? I would have just rather watched Peter's Friends. Because seriously, I love that movie. It is perfection. So when you take the same setup, Cambridge sketch comedy group reuniting at one of their country estates, well, just adding in murder isn't enough. You have to have the same emotional connection as you do to Peter and Rodger and Maggie and all the rest. And that did it in under two hours. Here Maureen Johnson couldn't do it in over four hundred pages! I was so excited for this volume, finally, a county house murder by Maureen Johnson. If there was anyone more excited than her it was me, because a can never get enough of English country houses. But this just didn't work. Aside from being the first author I've read to accurately and logically explain a ha-ha. I just can't get beyond my disinterest verging on hatred of "The Nine." Though in the end I hated Stevie more. I hate what she did to her friends. Constantly lying to them and getting them caught up in schemes that were dangerous all for her obsessions, both murderous and lustful. This wasn't about nine liars, Stevie made liars of them all. The only bright spot I have is that with that cliffhanger of David macking on someone new is that perhaps he can finally be written out.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Axe Murder, British Country House, Cambridge, Cold Case, Ellingham Academy, Infodump, London, London Eye, Maureen Johnson, Nine Liars, Peter's Friends, Peter's Murderous Friends, Stevie Bell, Summer School, The Box in the Woods

My Batman fatigue set in in 2008. If Christopher Nolan couldn't be bothered to take down outdoor signage for the Lyric Opera of Chicago I don't know why I should be bothered to care about The Dark Knight. Also, controversial opinion, Heath Ledger didn't deserve the Oscar that year, but he did deserve it more than Robert Downey Junior. Since then we've gone through quite a few Batmen and my top picks might be a bit controversial, but with George Clooney being back maybe not as much as they once were. And wherever there is Batman there's his trusty butler. In fact for the who's who among actors I think Alfred has drawn the bigger names; Andy Serkis, Michael Caine, Jeremy Irons, Michael Gough, Sean Pertwee, Tom Hollander, Efrem Zimbalist Junior, and on and on. But one interesting development over the years is that Alfred has slowly become less and less posh, Michael Caine and Sean Pertwee really upping the ante. Sean Pertwee's rougher Alfred created by Bruno Heller for Gotham. But I just couldn't get into Gotham despite my Pertwee love. My problem was Gotham was still too rooted in the Batman mythology, seeing all these characters as younger versions of themselves and what they were to become. Which is why I was drawn to Pennyworth. Also created by Bruno Heller he seems to have realized the limitations of his previous series and limited his characters here. Here we have Alfred, and Batman's parents, Thomas and Martha. And that's it. Set in London during the swinging sixties the world created is a fascinating mashup of Last Night in Soho and V for Vendetta with a giant helping of Michael Caine's oeuvre. Our Alfie as played by Jack Bannon couldn't exist without Caine's Alfie. He exudes that cockney coolness and surety while also bringing a bit of Fred Thursday to the role, an inevitability as he played his son Sam on Endeavour for it's entire run. But the show isn't just a standout performance by Bannon, every actor is perfectly chosen to bring to life this vibrant alternative universe that mimics our Cold War but at the same time is wholly unique. Sadly season two leaned too far into mimicking World War II saved only by Peg and Bet. But then again Peg and Bet could save anyone and anything if they had a mind to. So how did they decide to fix the season two mistakes? By making sure everyone knew this show was about Batman's Butler by adding an absurdly ludicrous subtitle. I mean, surly people aren't so dumb they didn't connect the two. Please tell me I'm right because otherwise humanity is doomed. Much like London. Because while we're moving on from diamond geezers to the swinging sixties with hippies we're getting a darker side with the CIA experimenting with "MKUltra" and Patty Hearst and the Manson Family and an artist that looks like a stretched out Brian Eno. Trust me, he's up to no good. So while the aesthetic is very reminiscent of Adam West's Batman 66; brighter colors, dafter plots, and People With Enhancements, AKA PWEs, as pro superheroes and villains, there is a distinct underlying malevolence. Perhaps because they've fully embraced V for Vendetta in what I though was a lovely meta moment but according to the creators of the show is where they were heading all along because they view Pennyworth as a prequel to V for Vendetta as well as Gotham. Say what!?! Does James Purefoy know because I think he'd have something to say. Also you're still not getting me to watch Gotham. No matter how much I want closure and answers.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alfred Pennyworth, And the Emmy Goes To, Batman, Bruno Heller, Endeavour, Gotham, Jack Bannon, James Purefoy, Last Night in Soho, London, Michael Caine, MKUltra, Pennyworth, Sean Pertwee, V for Vendetta

Fire and Water by Alexis Hall
Published by: Carina Press
Publication Date: February 24th, 2020
Format: Kindle, 278 Pages
Rating: ★
To Buy 

Artie King is nothing more than a thug backed up with a granny from hell. OK technically he's a wizard, but he's also a skinhead and a gangster so thug covers all bases. Ten years ago when Kate and Nimue were together they fought him for the soul of the city. Nim won on a technicality, Artie King went to the clink. She's been the Witch Queen of London ever since. Only now Artie King is back and he wants London. Kate owes fealty to Nim but oddly enough that oath isn't what brings her back into the orbit of Artie King. That happens because of a job. The Merchant of Dreams had their shop broken into and a bust of Napoleon was stolen. Sadly Kate has a bad history with that bust. It's the reason her partner is dead and she's running her business with a living statue named Elise. Corin Black is the worst of femme fatales, you actually fall for her routine. Each and every time. You know being around her means certain death and yet you can't help yourself. No one can. Corin was looking for the statue when she and Kate had their first run in. She finally found the bust she was looking for, there were mulitple busts, it's like a story written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, but to protect the bust she pawned it to the Merchant of Dreams. Now someone has the bust and the Merchant has hired Kate to find it because it turns out Corin's obsession with the bust was because of what was inside; The Tears of Hypnos, capable of reshaping reality in the right hands. And Kate finds out that Artie King has gotten his hands on them. Or that was the plan until Corin showed up. Now the werewolves have them and it's just a big mess. Because even though Kate has been able to track the movements of the Tears she doesn't physically have them, and that wasn't the deal she made with the Merchant. And the Merchant is someone who understands deals. Intimately. Therefore it's up to Kate to broker a deal with the werewolves to give the tears to Nim so that she can win the battle for the soul of London and defeat Artie King once and for all. Only no matter how simple that may sound, life is never simple for Kate. Because there are kidnappings and side trips to hell and bargains made and vampires. And while she's not looking, the vampires might be Kate's biggest threat and weakness. After all, she is dating the Prince of Cups.

I naively thought that the length of time between the second and third volume might have indicated that the writing would have improved. Because writers do grow and become more polished. Sadly, this was not the case. Thankfully the amount of Twilight references have gone down, but oddly this made things worse. Because I wasn't focusing my rage on Alexis Hall using another author's work as lazy exposition the one-dimensionality of all the characters was even more apparent. If it wasn't for Elise I don't think I could have even gotten through this book. All Kate does is traipse about London in varying levels of injury, not really accomplishing much, but causing havoc in her wake with minimal plot. Or as Kate herself said utilizing "a loose collection of randoms, most of whom I've slept with" for information and help. This results in a sameness to the three volumes I've read making me dread reading the forth. The books weren't well written the first or second time around and the third time isn't the charm. But there is Elise. The Pygmalion of it all. Which, because of the age of the myth, has been used time and time again. I mean, they even did a Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode that dealt exactly with the abandonment issues that Elise is processing. And Alexis Hall is no Jane Espenson. And yet Elise has a certain turn of phrase that makes her memorable. Her fascination for objects and their feelings, like how she wouldn't let Kate get rid of their destroyed car, gives her a depth. The love she has of temperature variations and textures is delightful. As is just the cadence of how she speaks. She has her own patois that it just adorable. And due to the storyline we finally get to learn more about her creation and world and how she wasn't the first or the last creation of Russel, he of "they're not comics they're graphic novels." Elise has "sisters." And they are all at different stages of her development. Beth, the eldest, is more developed and jaded, Alissa is the second youngest and still in the subservient phase, while Lisbeth is newborn. Part of me really wanted to just have them be the stars. And then Alexis Hall granted my wish and I realized I really need to be careful what I wish for because while Elise is interesting, she is more interesting seen through Kate's eyes. When she has control of the narrative somehow she loses her magic. Even her language loses it's luster. I think that was the last straw and the scales fell from my eyes. This series just isn't for me. But I'm willing to be proven wrong.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alexis Hall, Artie King, Buffy, Elise, Fire and Water, Jane Espenson, Kate Kane, London, London Calling, Nimue, Pygmalion, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Merchant of Dreams, The Tears of Hypnos, Twilight, Vampires

Murder at the Elms by Alyssa Maxwell
Published by: Kensington Publishing Corporation
Publication Date: August 22nd, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"For fans of HBO's The Gilded Age, the glorious mansions of Newport house many mysteries - murder, theft, scandal - and no one is more adept at solving them than reporter Emma Andrews...

1901: Back from their honeymoon in Italy, Emma and Derrick are adapting to married life as they return to their duties at their jointly owned newspaper, the Newport Messenger. The Elms, coal baron Edward Berwind's newly completed Bellevue Avenue estate, is newsworthy for two reasons: A modern mansion for the new century, it is one of the first homes in America to be wired for electricity with no backup power system, generated by coal from Berwind's own mines. And their servants - with a single exception - have all gone on strike to protest their working conditions. Summarily dismissing and replacing his staff with cool and callous efficiency, Berwind throws a grand party to showcase the marvels of his new "cottage."

Emma and Derrick are invited to the fete, which culminates not only in a fabulous musicale but an unforeseen tragedy--a chambermaid is found dead in the coal tunnel. In short order, it is also discovered that a guest's diamond necklace is missing and a laborer has disappeared.

Detective Jesse Whyte entreats Emma and Derrick to help with the investigation and determine whether the murdered maid and stolen necklace are connected. As the dark deeds cast a shadow over the blazing mansion, it's up to Emma to shine a light on the culprit..."

I've been dreaming of spending the waning days of summer in Newport...

The Case of the Dead Domestic by Tam May
Published by: Dreambook Press
Publication Date: August 22nd, 2023
Format: Kindle, 221 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A lady's maid is getting too big for her britches. But does that justify murder?

Everyone agreed: Arabella Parnell thought far too highly of herself. She worked her way up from scullery maid to lady's maid for one of Arrojo's finest families and personal friends of the mayor. She wrote letters to her former employer as if they were comrades. She flirted with some of the most prominent young men in the county.

So the Arrojo police were hardly surprised when they find her dead among the shrubbery in a wealthy bachelor's conservatory.

And yet, amateur sleuth and suffragist Adele Gossling can't help but wonder: Who was Arabella Parnell? Was she just a servant with arrogant manners and too much self-assurance? Or was she the victim of the pride and passions of powerful men, one of whom did her in? With only a hair comb, a broach, and a candlestick to go on, can Adele solve this case?

Read how Adele and her psychic friend Nin unravel a shocking and twisted case inspired by a real-life early 20th-century unsolved crime!

Enjoy the sixth book of this series featuring the sleuth with, as one reviewer puts it, "a wonderful mixture of sassiness and sensitivity.""

I don't know how I've missed this series until now, but thankfully I've found it and already got the first book!

Knockout by Sarah MacLean
Published by: Avon Books
Publication Date: August 22nd, 2023
Format: Paperback, 416 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"New York Times bestselling author Sarah MacLean returns with the next Hell's Belles novel about a chaotic bluestocking and the buttoned-up detective enlisted to keep her out of trouble (spoiler: She is the trouble).

With her headful of wild curls and wilder ideas and an unabashed love of experiments and explosives, society has labeled Lady Imogen Loveless peculiar...and doesn't know she's one of the Hell's Belles - a group of vigilantes operating outside the notice of most of London.

Thomas Peck is not most of London. The brilliant detective fought his way off the streets and into a promising career through sheer force of will and a keen ability to see things others miss, like the fact that Imogen isn't peculiar...she's pandemonium. If you ask him, she requires a keeper. When her powerful family discovers her late-night activities, they couldn't agree more...and they know just the man for the task.

Thomas wants nothing to do with guarding Imogen. He is a grown man with a proper job and no time for the lady's incendiary chaos, no matter how lushly it is packaged. But some assignments are too explosive to pass up, and the gruff detective is soon caught up in Imogen's world, full of her bold smiles and burning secrets...and a fiery passion that threatens to consume them both."

One day Avon will approve my ARC requests... Until that day I have to wait like everyone else for the new Sarah MacLean books....

Miss Morton and the Spirits of the Underworld by Catherine Lloyd
Published by: Kensington Publishing Corporation
Publication Date: August 22nd, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Set against the timelessly intriguing backdrop of 1830s high-society London, this delightful historical mystery series features Miss Caroline Morton, daughter of a disgraced earl, now gainfully employed as a lady's companion - along with a sideline in sleuthing...

Lady Caroline is happy to be back amid the swirl of London society, guiding her employer's daughter, Dorothy Frogerton, through her first Season. Dorothy has been declared "an original" by a patron of the exclusive social club, Almack's, and is sifting through potential suitors. Mrs. Frogerton, meanwhile, finds her own diversions, including spiritualist gatherings at the home of Madam Lavinia, and begs Caroline to come along.

Caroline is skeptical of Madam's antics and faux French accent - until she slips a note into Caroline's hand, which contains intimate family knowledge. Even as Caroline tries to discern whether the spiritualist's powers are real, a much darker mystery presents itself. Madam Lavinia is found lifeless in her chair, a half-empty glass of port at her elbow. In her desk is a note addressed to Caroline, entreating her to find her murderer.

Caroline needs no psychic abilities to determine a motive, for it seems that Madam was blackmailing some of her clients and has left a trail of aggrieved aristocrats behind. But as Caroline and Mrs. Frogerton investigate further, they find other suspects, and a litany of deceptions, some very close to home. Now Caroline will need to keep all her wits about her if she is to stop others from joining Madam Lavinia in the afterlife..."

Oh yes, a dead dubious psychic!

Strange Unearthly Things by Kelly Creagh
Published by: Viking Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: August 22nd, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A hauntingly romantic paranormal Jane Eyre reimagining, by the author of Phantom Heart!

Eighteen-year-old Jane Reye is a psychic artist. She draws what she sees, and what she sees are spirits and the supernatural. Growing up orphaned, she's now of legal age and can no longer return to the girls' school she's called home for most of her life. Lost and alone after the death of her lifelong friend, she receives an invitation to partake in a study at the English manor Fairfax Hall: an investigation of the property that requires her specific area of expertise. Upon arrival, Jane understands this will be no ordinary study when she meets Elias Thornfield, the elusive proprietor of the estate, a boy her age, roguishly handsome, who dons a mysterious eye patch. During the study it becomes clear that something is amiss - something having to do with Elias and the spiritual activity taking place around the manor. Turning to her art to unravel the mystery, Jane is shocked to find that her talents - and her growing affection for Elias - could be the key to saving him from a horrible fate."

Oh yes, not just Jane Eyre, but one with a haunted house and the more artistic version of automatic writing!

Foxglove by Adalyn Grace
Published by: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: August 22nd, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 464 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The captivating sequel to the New York Times bestselling, Gothic-infused Belladonna, in which Signa and Death face a supernatural foe determined to tear them apart.

A duke has been murdered. The lord of Thorn Grove has been framed. And Fate, the elusive brother of Death, has taken up residence in a sumptuous palace nearby. He's hell-bent on revenge after Death took the life of the woman he loved many years ago...and now he's determined to have Signa for himself, no matter the cost.

Signa and her cousin Blythe are certain that Fate can save Elijah Hawthorne from wrongful imprisonment if the girls will entertain Fate's presence. But the more time they spend with him, the more frightening their reality becomes as Signa exhibits dramatic new powers that link her to Fate's past. With mysteries and danger around every corner, the cousins must decide whom they can trust as they navigate their futures in high society, unravel the murders that haunt their family, and play Fate's unexpected games - all with their destinies hanging in the balance.

Daring, suspenseful, and seductive, this sequel to Death and Signa's story is as utterly romantic as it is perfectly deadly."

Damn, I can't wait to read this.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Adalyn Grace, Alyssa Maxwell, Belladonna, Catherine Lloyd, Foxglove, Gothic, Hell's Belles, Jane Eyre, Kelly Creagh, London, Murder at the Elms, Newport, Psychic, Reimagining, Sarah MacLean, Tam May, The Gilded Age

The Rook by Daniel O'Malley
Published by: Back Bay Books
Publication Date: January 11th, 2012
Format: Paperback, 486 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

Myfanwy Thomas is a Rook, a high-level operative in The Court of a secret organization called The Checquy. She's hardworking, discreet, reserved, and unflappable. Give her a spreadsheet and she can work wonders. But she has a looming problem. Due to the nature of her job and the type of people and creatures she meets she has learned that she will lose her memory. Permanently. She doesn't know how, she doesn't know why, she doesn't know when, but she knows that soon she will be vulnerable because someone she trusts is going to betray her. Therefore she does what she is best at; she plans. She figures out how to tell the you she will become everything she needs to know in order to survive. Therefore on a rainy night when Myfanwy Thomas is surrounded by corpses in a London park the you that she was saves the you that she is. The new Myfanwy is told by her past self that she has two options before her, disappear into the sunset or find out what happened to her. There are two lock boxes at a bank, each leads to a very different future. The new Myfanwy was going to take the money and run, but she is attacked at the bank. Obviously her body's unknown past is going to haunt her unless she is able to uncover what exactly is going on in The Checquy. Which means she has to go into work on Monday and pass herself off as the Myfanwy they all know and love. Well aside from that one person trying to kill her. At least she hopes it's only one person. What if it's a cabal? But that's just letting her thoughts get away with her, but then again her thoughts all did go away and someone at work did it to her. So she slips on one of numinous bland suits, I mean did she really have this bad of taste? And off to work she goes. She has a sense of who she was from all the letters and the invaluable purple binder left for her, but it's kind of hard to spend all your time looking at your feet and avoiding eye contact when this world is completely new to her. She can control peoples bodies! Her complementary Rook Gestalt is one person in four bodies! Everything is so wonderful and strange. This isn't just a brave new world, this is a brave new Myfanwy, and she's going to live this life she's been given no matter what weirdness stands in her way. She might just have to survive another assassination attempt is all. Or perhaps several.

What I find astounding is given just the premise of secret supernatural organization the vast array of possibilities that authors have come up with. No two are alike and yet they all hold the same DNA, a dollop of the X-Men, a helping of The Avengers, no, the British ones, then a side of The Initiative. Aside from the giant great wallop of snark found here that skeletal framework can apply to so many stories I've known and loved over the years. Yet The Rook stands out. That is because the voice or I should say voices of Myfanwy Thomas are so unique. You love the her that she was, that shy overly precise workaholic, but on her journey to self discovering after erasure you come to love the her that she is becoming. But the sardonic narration isn't the only reason that I am so in the grip of this book's tentacles, it's the deeper implications about identity and trauma. When Myfanwy's powers presented at the age of nine it was traumatic. She injured those she loved and was then taken away from them creating a wound that would never heal as she was shipped off to the Estate and became the property of The Checquy. This event in her life lead to her associating her power with pain and therefore she's never really been able to utilize it to it's full potential. Her and her power aren't one. When that Myfanwy is erased from existence so is all her baggage. All her trauma is washed away in the rain and the new Myfanwy can't believe how easy it is to access her powers. She is able to do feats that the old her could never do. Which can be a bit problematic when you're trying to pretend to be the you you no longer are and start manifesting hugely improved powers. But at least the powers mean more protection. She doesn't have to touch people to control their bodies. She can shut them down and puppet them from across a room. Her powers weren't pain they were protection but the old her could never separate that in her mind. Which makes me wonder, what could we be without our past traumas? So much of therapy is about letting go, finding a way to reach our full potential. While losing your memory is a drastic way to lose your inhibitions, there's something so empowering reading Myfanwy's story. While we might not have had to do battle with cubes of flesh or prophetic ducks, we all know what it's like to be holding yourself back. To be unable to cope with moving forward. This is a cathartic read, a call to arms to heal the trauma and embrace the Myfanwy in us all by daring to go out in that red dress.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Amnesia, Assassination, Baggage, Cathartic, Daniel O'Malley, Gestalt, Identity, London, London Calling, Memory, MyFanwy Thomas, The Avengers, The Checquy, The Checquy Files, The Initiative, The Rook, Trauma, X-Men

If there's two things that get my geeky blood pumping it's London and urban fantasy. I read a lot of books that fall into either one category or the other but rarely both. But last year when the third Checquy book by Daniel O'Malley was released and I was deep into reading the Lockwood and Co. series by Jonathan Stroud I started to think, hang on, these are both urban fantasy with a paranormal bent all set in London, there's something here, I am living my dream. And of course I take any chance I can to read more books of a similar bent once I find something I love and I picked up the Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch and the Kate Kane series by Alexis Hall on the recommendation of a friend, and I was like, this isn't just a theme month, this is an epic summer-long journey! This is going to be legendary. I hope you'll join me. Though it is mandatory to sing The Clash on a loop in your head... So get ready for London Calling! And get ready for that song to be stuck in your head for months and months..."London calling to the faraway towns. Now war is declared and battle come down. London calling to the underworld. Come out of the cupboard, you boys and girls...."

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alexis Hall, Ben Aaronovitch, Daniel O'Malley, Jonathan Stroud, Kate Kane, Lockwood & Co., London, London Calling, Paranormal, Rivers of London, Supernatural, The Checquy, The Clash, Theme Month, Urban Fantasy

Enola Holmes and the Boy in Buttons by Nancy Springer
Published by: Wednesday Books
Publication Date: June 22nd, 2021
Format: Kindle, 21 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

Joddy is the boy in buttons. The jolly little urchin dressed up at the office door. There to greet Enola and run whatever small errands she needs tending to. He's sweet and overly differential. He's a constant in Enola's changing life as she no longer has to go to work in disguise. She's taking classes and expanding her mind with education. In other words, her brothers are now on her side and not trying to hunt her down. But Enola does have a hunt on the horizon. Joddy takes ill and Enola sends him home. But his family is so desperate for money that they can't afford for Joddy to miss a day of work, so they send his younger brother Paddy in his place. The uniform is ridiculously big on him, but Enola is game. If this little one wants to work her door, more power to him. But the next day he doesn't show up and Enola is worried. She decides to go looking for Paddy. She never realized how far Joddy walked every single day for a steady paycheck. This makes Enola's heart ache and her need to find Paddy even more desperate. But when she finds just the buttons, torn off from his uniform she is very concerned. If anything happens to him this is her fault. Paddy will be found if it's the last thing she does.

This short story is a wonderful dip back into the world of Enola Holmes before the first new book in over a decade came out. It reintroduces us to favorite characters and shows us what Enola has been getting up to. But what I really loved is that this story connected back to that which really turned me into a Victorian nut, Michael Crichton's The Great Train Robbery. That book made me wild for anything Victorian. I admit now that it's not the best of Crichton's books. In fact the movie, also done by Crichton, is far better. But I loved all the weird little Victorian details I learned about, in particular the importance of a snakesman. As Urban Dictionary puts it, mentioning Clean Willy from the book I might add as the exemplifier, a snakesman is a "person of the criminal sort adept at finding his or her way into or out of a building. Usually someone of small stature able to fit through tight places." So wouldn't a small child be the best snakesman out there? Stands to reason.... So long as that child plays ball and is willing to be a criminal.... And that's why this short story was so great, it went in an entirely different direction than I thought it would but was still wonderfully Victorian to me.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Adaptation, Child, Criminal, Enola Holmes, Enola Holmes and the Boy in Buttons, Joddy, London, Michael Crichton, Movie, Paddy, Poverty, Sherlocked, Snakesman, The Great Train Robbery, Uniform, Urban Dictionary

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
Published by: Max Press
Publication Date: 1811
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy (different edition than one reviewed)

Elinor is pragmatic about the death of their father. They have lost their home and they will find a new one and carry on. Her younger sister Marianne has opted for another approach, misery exponentially increased by any dear memory of her father and the beloved house they all shared. Their mother is perfectly happy wallowing with Marianne while watching her step-son and his odious wife Fanny destroy Norland Park, that is until that odious Fanny insinuates that Elinor isn't good enough for her brother Edward Ferrars and Mrs. Dashwood can not remove them fast enough from Fanny's presence. Thanks to kind relations they are able to leave the odious Fanny behind and settle at Barton Cottage, part of Barton Park were Mrs. Dashwood's cousin, Sir John Middleton, resides. There they have a new social circle of relatives and friends, from a Colonel Brandon to a certain Lucy Steele, who might just destroy Elinor's heart unknowingly. Marianne is drawn to one person in particular, Willoughby. Willoughby is the same in all her sensibilities and they are soon as thick as thieves and their engagement is expected to be announced daily, much to Colonel Brandon's dismay. Yet the announcement never comes and Willoughby takes off to London and they hear no more from him. If only Elinor understood where Marianne and Willoughby stood she feels like she could help her sister, but she is in the dark. So when Sir John's mother-in-law, Mrs. Jennings, invites the two girls to accompany her to London Marianne jumps at the chance, while Elinor views it as an opportunity to get at the truth even if she'd rather stay at home. But London will be a proving ground for the young girls' hearts. Will either of them find a happily ever after or are their hearts destined to be forever broken by their first loves?

It seems odd to me that in a high school that actually had a good English department where I read many classics I never read any Jane Austen. By the friends I made through various bizarre and arcane clubs I was introduced to her via the Colin Firth miniseries in February of my senior year. This was on my level, being more into films than books at the tender age of seventeen. It was the perfect bridge from one art form to another. At that time I was adamant that I wasn't going to college in the fall, and I in fact didn't, but that didn't mean I was averse to learning and reading and I took it upon myself that summer to acquaint myself with the classics, many of which had been made into films starring Emma Thompson. She was a powerful bridge to Austen and also to Forster. The summer of 1996 was spent on my side porch reading classics I never thought I would ever pick up. Though it was to Austen I felt the most visceral a connection. Sense and Sensibility was the first book of hers that I read and I remember towards the end reading it in my bedroom because of the copious sobbing that accompanied my reading. When Edward arrived at Barton cottage to declare his freedom and his desire to marry Elinor, I just sat in my window crying. I never knew a book could do this to me. I was forever converted to Austen and through her I found a love of classics. Though this book now makes me feel a tad old. When I first read Sense and Sensibility I was the same age as Marianne is for most of the story but now I'm older than the flannel waistcoat wearing Colonel at 35 and Mrs. Dashwood at about 40. Which gave me an "oh dear" moment. I am OLDER than Colonel Brandon who was thought too old for love! I will just have to remember, Austen shows us that love can happen at any age, along with the copious weeping.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Age, Colin Firth, Colonel Brandon, E.M. Forster, Elinor Dashwood, Emma Thompson, High School, Jane Austen, London, Marianne Dashwood, Miniseries, Mrs. Dashwood, Regency Romp, Sense and Sensibility, Willoughby

Upon the Midnight Clear by Tasha Alexander
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: November 5th, 2019
Format: Kindle, 73 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

What could have possessed Lady Emily and her husband Colin to actually take their three precocious boys to the legendary Hamleys Toy Shop days before Christmas? Yes, perhaps it's sheer joy at having London to themselves and avoiding their neighbor's overly enthusiastic holiday celebrations at Montague Manor that Colin refers to as The Festival of Horror. But their arrival at the toy shop seems fortuitous because a kind-hearted stranger gives her three boys Christmas crackers. Emily wants to view it as the act of kindness it appears, but in her husband's line of work appearances can be deceiving, just as the crackers turned out to be with each concealing a cryptic clue. Could this be the start of a Christmas case? When a Scottish stranger arrives the next day on their stoop Emily has every reason to believe the two events are connected as this man brings them a case. Years ago he married the love of his life against her parents wishes and she died in childbirth. He had every reason to believe that his child, a daughter, had died as well. Only recently he has found out that this might not be the case. Could Emily and Colin find his deceitful in-laws who are hidden under false identities within the teeming metropolis of London before Christmas or will he forever be separated from his daughter and any chance of happiness? Also, what about those Christmas crackers?

I'm OCD about reading books in order. So while I had an ARC of Lady Emily's fourteenth adventure, In the Shadow of Vesuvius, waiting on my Kindle I couldn't bring myself to read it immediately because of the upcoming Christmas Story, Upon the Midnight Clear. Tasha's Christmas tales are all such wonderful little slices of Emily's life coupled with just the right amount of Christmas cheer and literary allusions, like the perfect Christmas cookie, and I was ravenously waiting. Therefore the day it was released I devoured it whole. Yet my enjoyment didn't end there. This past holiday season was horrible for me. Starting at Thanksgiving and going straight through until Epiphany I was caring for my dad who was in and out of the hospital while watching my mom die. I had no Christmas. There were no gifts, there was nothing. I was barely able to squeeze in my mandatory traditions of watching Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas and The Vicar of Dibley episode "The Christmas Lunch Incident" with a few cookies baked in haste. Yet I didn't feel cheated because I had the lingering memory of this story. The importance of family and the connection between fathers and daughters, important to me for what I was going through and also for what I knew Tasha had been through in the past year. Therefore in the cold days at the of the year when I was making my best of books list I knew this story had to be included, for giving me cheer and for helping me cope. There's nothing like getting lost in the pages of a book with an old friend to help you through the tough times.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Christmas, Colin Hargreaves, Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas, In the Shadows of Vesuvius, Lady Emily, London, Tasha Alexander, The Christmas Lunch Incident, Upon the Midnight Clear, Vicar of Dibley

The Rook by Daniel O'Malley
Published by: Back Bay Books
Publication Date: January 11th, 2012
Format: Paperback, 486 Pages
Rating: ★★★
To Buy

Myfanwy Thomas is a Rook, a high-level operative in a secret organization called The Checquy. She's hardworking, discrete, and unflappable, but she has a looming concern. Due to the nature of her job and the type of people and creatures she meets she has learned that she will lose her memory. Permanently. She doesn't know how, she doesn't know when, but she knows that soon she will be vulnerable. Therefore she does what she is best at; she plans. She figures out how to tell the you she will become everything she needs to know in order to survive. Therefore on a rainy night when Myfanwy Thomas is surrounded by corpses in a London park the you that she was saves her and helps her to uncover exactly what is going on in The Checquy.

I'd remembered hearing about this book years ago but didn't pick it up until I was reminded of it's existence by the looming Starz television adaptation. What astounds me is this book is exactly up my alley but no one had ever recommended it to me. My guess is that it's kind of hard to quantify. Would you say it's a supernatural version of The Avengers? Kind of, and of course I'm meaning the Steed and Peel version. Is it an otherworldly James Bond? Again, kind of... But the way I'm describing it to my friends as I hold it in front of them proselytizing is that it's as if The Initiative in season four of Buffy the Vampire Slayer wasn't lame and was British with a giant great wallop of snark. Now if I had been told that back in 2012 I would have picked up this book way sooner. So thank you to the TV show that shouldn't really be called The Rook because it keeps almost nothing from the book aside from names for getting me to read a book that I enjoyed so much.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Adaptation, Amnesia, British, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Daniel O'Malley, James Bond, London, MyFanwy Thomas, Starz, Supernatural, The Avengers, The Checquy, The Initiative, The Rook

A Crimson Warning by Tasha Alexander
Published by: Minotaur
Publication Date: October 25th, 2011
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

As Emily dances a man burns. How could she have thought the ballroom she was in was stuffy once she learns of the fate of Mr. Dillman? The heat as he was burned alive chained to his office window is horrible to contemplate, yet Emily and Colin must, as Colin has been sent in by the crown to investigate. But it's information they glean from Mr. Dillman's fiance, Cordelia Dalton, that shines a light on the investigation and shows a disturbing pattern. The day of Mr. Dillman's death the Sanders household was defiled with red paint and it was revealed at the ball that their daughter, Polly, was the illegitimate offspring of Mr. Sanders and a maid. Polly's betrothal to Thomas Lacey was ended and any chance she had of a good marriage went up in smoke. Cordelia informs Emily and Colin that Mr. Dillman's house was similarly vandalized the week before. What could Mr. Dillman's secret have been? If the revelation of Polly's parentage is anything to go by whomever is leaving these threatening and very public warnings seeks to out the deepest and darkest of secrets of the ton and Mr. Dillman's secret might just have followed him to the grave.

Soon more homes are vandalized and what seemed at first mildly titillating and a field day for gossips has the ton gripped in terror. How each family approaches their secret shame depends on how bad their crime. Some wait with baited breath, some flee England, some openly expose their own secrets, and some choose to take their secrets to the grave. Emily and Colin can see no connection between the victims aside from the fact that they had something to hide, which could apply to anyone they know, from the highest ranking individuals to their dearest friends. Soon their investigation narrows on a few individuals; Mr. Foster, a politician being groomed for Prime Minister, his best friend and policy shaper Mr. Barnes, who could never rise to power on his own being half West Indian, Mrs. Winifred Harris, an inveterate busybody, and the outlandish Lady Glover, whom the vandal appears to be in contact with when she's not taking her zebras for a stroll in the park. But if this individual wants to cause as much damage to as many individuals as possible why are they targeting Cordelia Dalton, someone peripheral to the first victim? When she goes missing it becomes clear Mr. Dillman is more important than the other victims. He might just be the key to catching this odious criminal and stopping their stranglehold on the city.

A Crimson Warning takes place about a year after Emily and Colin's last adventure in France and we get to see them settled into their new life in London. While I initially thought I was being mildly cheated by not getting to see Emily and Colin merge their households and their staff with all the ensuing chaos, I realized that I should never question Tasha because she knows what's right for her characters. The relative calm of the Hargreaves household is needed to serve as a counterpoint to the mania that is gripping the town. If they had a household in disarray while the town was balancing on a knife's edge the book would have ended up too frenetic. You need moments of calm, especially in a murder mystery, where you can gather your thoughts and let your heart stop racing with a nice cup of tea or glass of port. I think this is why I don't like action films, they don't understand the need for proper pacing. But then again, in an action film they rarely have a plot and if you were given a moments respite you might notice this. Whereas Tasha's writing is perfectly plotted, with just the right hints, red herrings, and reveals that you are enthralled until the very last page.

But what made me breathe the biggest sigh of relief? Because a year has passed since Colin was a total controlling dick in France, justifiable in his mind not mine, Emily and him have worked out their respective rolls in their marriage and in their investigations, smoothing over the bumps from his being reactionary and overprotective. Colin isn't shutting Emily out and Emily in turn isn't sneaking around behind his back trying to help while still trying to be a dutiful wife. They know where their strengths lie and know that they will ask for the others help when it is needed. When Colin flits away into the night to follow a new lead he has faith that Emily knows he doesn't need him at the moment, but the second he does he will call her into action. While Emily knows he won't interfere with her own line of inquiry and will even be there to help should she need it. They are in balance and oh how this made me happy. But not nearly as happy as when Emily stopped by Mr. Dillman's and the butler let her in to search the victim's possessions. Emily thought he let her in because she was so convincing in her justifications to him, but really it's because the butler had heard of the successful partnership of her and her husband. They have a reputation! A good one! This made Emily understandably flattered and made my heart sing that her reputation now proceeds her!

While Emily is shocked to discover that she is now known for something more than being a little eccentric, A Crimson Warning is fascinating in that it's all about discovery. What do the people you know everyday have to conceal. Because it's made quite clear that when the scarlet mark appears on their door they know exactly to what secret it pertains. And most of the secrets are quite scandalous. Therefore it is quite surprising that of all Emily's friends the one most worried about finding their doorstep covered in paint is Ivy! Ivy has a secret! This really proves that you never really know someone. Because from the outset Ivy has always been depicted as the perfect Victorian bride. A perfect wife supporting her husband and a perfect mother now that she was blessed with a daughter. Of course Emily is always trying to corrupt her with sensational literature and port, but to all outward appearances Ivy is just perfectly normal. Though in a London filled with secrets normal apparently means she must have a secret as well. The way Tasha draws out the reveal with Ivy's journal entries is deliciously suspenseful. Will we learn Ivy's secrets from her own lips or from a red slash on her door? I'm obviously not going to spoil it, other than to say it's perfect.

Now though I need to address a serious question I have to raise. Is it possible to marry a fictional character who isn't just fictional but also dead? I'm talking about my complete adoration of Mr. Dillman. That fiance of his, Cordelia Dalton, sure lucked out in locking that one down, that is until he was murdered of course. Why my love of Mr. Dillman? Well, beyond the fact he is a good, kind man who takes care of his workers and has a social conscience, he is also bookish and encourages Cordelia to read literature that even Emily thinks is a little scandalous and therefore wants to read immediately! But more than that, he creates these amazing scavenger hunts for Cordelia that has her searching all over museums to find the right object that then ties into another stage of the hunt that ends in going through Mr. Dalton's library where Mr. Dillman has secreted a surprise for his fiance. I mean, my heart literally melted. I love scavenger hunts and literature, if someone cared about me this much to stage this amazing game, not once but often? That is the man for me ladies and gentlemen! The fact that this game ties into the overall plot just shows how much I love and adore Tasha's series. She creates memorable characters we love and care for but who also serve a purpose dramatically.

One aspect of Tasha's writing that is mentioned again and again in the pull quotes used for the back of her books is that Lady Emily has a sparkling wit and that humor imbues all her adventures. I'm not going to disagree with this statement. In fact I think all books need humor in order to work. Not just because I love me a little snark, but because you get a better sense of someone's personality by laughing with them. A Crimson Warning seems to me to notch up the humor a bit than previous installments. Again I think this is a balancing act that Tasha has carefully staged. Emily's life is calm while Rome burns, and the jokes become more prevalent the bleaker the situation Emily finds herself in. This installment we see even more of the horror of the lower classes in London and the humor is a nice way to combat the stark reality of the situations that Emily finds herself in. The humor never diminishes the suffering she sees, but it's a nice counterpoint to the suffering and helps to further form her social conscience with her wanting to do more and fight for women's suffrage with the Women's Liberal Federation. But all that analysis aside, nothing has made me laugh heartier recently than Emily's observations on Lady Glover and her zebras to Ivy: "Zebras, Ivy. Zebras," I said. "Why are we not better acquainted with this woman?"

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: A Crimson Warning, Alexander Autumn, Colin Hargreaves, Dangerous to Know, Fictional Romance, Humor, Lady Emily, Literature, London, Mr. Dillman, Murder, Secrets, Social Conscience, Suffrage, Tasha Alexander, Zebras

A Crimson Warning by Tasha Alexander
Published by: Minotaur
Publication Date: October 25th, 2011
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

As Emily dances a man burns. How could she have thought the ballroom she was in was stuffy once she learns of the fate of Mr. Dillman? The heat as he was burned alive chained to his office window is horrible to contemplate, yet Emily and Colin must, as Colin has been sent in by the crown to investigate. But it's information they glean from Mr. Dillman's fiance, Cordelia Dalton, that shines a light on the investigation and shows a disturbing pattern. The day of Mr. Dillman's death the Sanders household was defiled with red paint and it was revealed at the ball that their daughter, Polly, was the illegitimate offspring of Mr. Sanders and a maid. Polly's betrothal to Thomas Lacey was ended and any chance she had of a good marriage went up in smoke. Cordelia informs Emily and Colin that Mr. Dillman's house was similarly vandalized the week before. What could Mr. Dillman's secret have been? If the revelation of Polly's parentage is anything to go by whomever is leaving these threatening and very public warnings seeks to out the deepest and darkest of secrets of the ton and Mr. Dillman's secret might just have followed him to the grave.

Soon more homes are vandalized and what seemed at first mildly titillating and a field day for gossips has the ton gripped in terror. How each family approaches their secret shame depends on how bad their crime. Some wait with baited breath, some flee England, some openly expose their own secrets, and some choose to take their secrets to the grave. Emily and Colin can see no connection between the victims aside from the fact that they had something to hide, which could apply to anyone they know, from the highest ranking individuals to their dearest friends. Soon their investigation narrows on a few individuals; Mr. Foster, a politician being groomed for Prime Minister, his best friend and policy shaper Mr. Barnes, who could never rise to power on his own being half West Indian, Mrs. Winifred Harris, an inveterate busybody, and the outlandish Lady Glover, whom the vandal appears to be in contact with when she's not taking her zebras for a stroll in the park. But if this individual wants to cause as much damage to as many individuals as possible why are they targeting Cordelia Dalton, someone peripheral to the first victim? When she goes missing it becomes clear Mr. Dillman is more important than the other victims. He might just be the key to catching this odious criminal and stopping their stranglehold on the city.

A Crimson Warning takes place about a year after Emily and Colin's last adventure in France and we get to see them settled into their new life in London. While I initially thought I was being mildly cheated by not getting to see Emily and Colin merge their households and their staff with all the ensuing chaos, I realized that I should never question Tasha because she knows what's right for her characters. The relative calm of the Hargreaves household is needed to serve as a counterpoint to the mania that is gripping the town. If they had a household in disarray while the town was balancing on a knife's edge the book would have ended up too frenetic. You need moments of calm, especially in a murder mystery, where you can gather your thoughts and let your heart stop racing with a nice cup of tea or glass of port. I think this is why I don't like action films, they don't understand the need for proper pacing. But then again, in an action film they rarely have a plot and if you were given a moments respite you might notice this. Whereas Tasha's writing is perfectly plotted, with just the right hints, red herrings, and reveals that you are enthralled until the very last page.

But what made me breathe the biggest sigh of relief? Because a year has passed since Colin was a total controlling dick in France, justifiable in his mind not mine, Emily and him have worked out their respective rolls in their marriage and in their investigations, smoothing over the bumps from his being reactionary and overprotective. Colin isn't shutting Emily out and Emily in turn isn't sneaking around behind his back trying to help while still trying to be a dutiful wife. They know where their strengths lie and know that they will ask for the others help when it is needed. When Colin flits away into the night to follow a new lead he has faith that Emily knows he doesn't need him at the moment, but the second he does he will call her into action. While Emily knows he won't interfere with her own line of inquiry and will even be there to help should she need it. They are in balance and oh how this made me happy. But not nearly as happy as when Emily stopped by Mr. Dillman's and the butler let her in to search the victim's possessions. Emily thought he let her in because she was so convincing in her justifications to him, but really it's because the butler had heard of the successful partnership of her and her husband. They have a reputation! A good one! This made Emily understandably flattered and made my heart sing that her reputation now proceeds her!

While Emily is shocked to discover that she is now known for something more than being a little eccentric, A Crimson Warning is fascinating in that it's all about discovery. What do the people you know everyday have to conceal. Because it's made quite clear that when the scarlet mark appears on their door they know exactly to what secret it pertains. And most of the secrets are quite scandalous. Therefore it is quite surprising that of all Emily's friends the one most worried about finding their doorstep covered in paint is Ivy! Ivy has a secret! This really proves that you never really know someone. Because from the outset Ivy has always been depicted as the perfect Victorian bride. A perfect wife supporting her husband and a perfect mother now that she was blessed with a daughter. Of course Emily is always trying to corrupt her with sensational literature and port, but to all outward appearances Ivy is just perfectly normal. Though in a London filled with secrets normal apparently means she must have a secret as well. The way Tasha draws out the reveal with Ivy's journal entries is deliciously suspenseful. Will we learn Ivy's secrets from her own lips or from a red slash on her door? I'm obviously not going to spoil it, other than to say it's perfect.

Now though I need to address a serious question I have to raise. Is it possible to marry a fictional character who isn't just fictional but also dead? I'm talking about my complete adoration of Mr. Dillman. That fiance of his, Cordelia Dalton, sure lucked out in locking that one down, that is until he was murdered of course. Why my love of Mr. Dillman? Well, beyond the fact he is a good, kind man who takes care of his workers and has a social conscience, he is also bookish and encourages Cordelia to read literature that even Emily thinks is a little scandalous and therefore wants to read immediately! But more than that, he creates these amazing scavenger hunts for Cordelia that has her searching all over museums to find the right object that then ties into another stage of the hunt that ends in going through Mr. Dalton's library where Mr. Dillman has secreted a surprise for his fiance. I mean, my heart literally melted. I love scavenger hunts and literature, if someone cared about me this much to stage this amazing game, not once but often? That is the man for me ladies and gentlemen! The fact that this game ties into the overall plot just shows how much I love and adore Tasha's series. She creates memorable characters we love and care for but who also serve a purpose dramatically.

One aspect of Tasha's writing that is mentioned again and again in the pull quotes used for the back of her books is that Lady Emily has a sparkling wit and that humor imbues all her adventures. I'm not going to disagree with this statement. In fact I think all books need humor in order to work. Not just because I love me a little snark, but because you get a better sense of someone's personality by laughing with them. A Crimson Warning seems to me to notch up the humor a bit than previous installments. Again I think this is a balancing act that Tasha has carefully staged. Emily's life is calm while Rome burns, and the jokes become more prevalent the bleaker the situation Emily finds herself in. This installment we see even more of the horror of the lower classes in London and the humor is a nice way to combat the stark reality of the situations that Emily finds herself in. The humor never diminishes the suffering she sees, but it's a nice counterpoint to the suffering and helps to further form her social conscience with her wanting to do more and fight for women's suffrage with the Women's Liberal Federation. But all that analysis aside, nothing has made me laugh heartier recently than Emily's observations on Lady Glover and her zebras to Ivy: "Zebras, Ivy. Zebras," I said. "Why are we not better acquainted with this woman?"

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: A Crimson Warning, Alexander Autumn, Colin Hargreaves, Dangerous to Know, Fictional Romance, Humor, Lady Emily, Literature, London, Mr. Dillman, Murder, Secrets, Social Conscience, Suffrage, Tasha Alexander, Zebras

A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E.Schwab
Published by: Tor Books
Publication Date: February 24th, 2015
Format: Paperback, 416 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy

Through a linguistic quirk no one can understand there are four parallel Londons. All in their own worlds, separated from each other like the pages of a book, but all in the same location along the curve of the same river. Though the rivers do not have the same linguistic oddity that London does, instead London is on the banks of the Thames, the Isle, and the Sijlt depending on which London. Once there were doors connecting all the Londons together and perhaps that magical transference is why they share the same name. But the doors had to be closed. One of the worlds became infected by magic and Black London fell. Or at least that's the name Kell has given that world. Kell is an Antari. His one black eye marks him out as being one of only two people in all the Londons able to travel between the worlds. Kell comes from Red London, Arnes, the only London still magically thriving. White London, being closest to the fallen city is now dying too, a vicious and dangerous place with power hungry people and maniacal leaders. Farthest from Black London is Grey London, the London of England and a mad king locked away in a palace while his son waits to rule. Grey London will soon become a refuge for Kell when his illegal habit of collecting artifacts from other Londons gets him into trouble when he is give a powerful relict from Black London. This magical artifact could destroy his world and he needs help. That help comes in the form of Delilah Bard, a Grey London thief who has been waiting her entire life for an adventure. Helping Kell save his world sounds like an adventure worthy of her. Because if you don't risk your life, did you really live?

Much like Murder, Magic and What We Wore this is another book that takes the Regency Magic building blocks and goes in an entirely unexpected direction. We start out in the London we know so well, there's a mad king on the throne and his power hungry son. But here OUR London is just a starting off point. The aptly named "Grey" London, if just for the rain and soot and not it's lack of magic, is utilized, but just to familiarize ourselves with what to expect going forward with the magical worldbuilding. Like Grey London's Lila we need to get a grasp on what we are about to delve into with Red and White London. Lila is our avatar, our touchstone in A Darker Shade of Magic. Red London is, in my mind, a more Renaissance Faire Game of Thrones world. There's more pageantry and partying, in fact the Prince Regent from Grey London would probably love to rule over Arnes! This world that Schwab has built is more in keeping with books considered traditional fantasy fare. This really intrigues me because so much of Regency Magic is about trying to infuse the fantasy into our world, shoehorn it in if you will, whereas here there are no pretensions, it's an all out fantasia and that's what makes this book so unique. As for White London? That world is like some dark Scandinavian shit y'all. The closest I can think of is Vikings meet Fortitude... and that's dark. But again, something you wouldn't expect in the dainty drawing rooms of Regency England and that's perhaps why I'm most drawn to the White city.

The fact that I can find something to love in each and every one of the different Londons just shows how Schwab 100% nailed the worldbuilding. But I don't want to talk about the worlds here as a whole I want to talk about how she was able to ground the magic in reality and describe it in a logical way that fit into the narrative so that it didn't feel like necessary but clunky exposition. Magic here is based on the elements, the building blocks of the world around us; fire, water, air, earth, metal, and bone. This is all explained to us by a magic set that Kell has brought from Red to Grey London for a collector of magical ephemera. While waiting for the buyer to appear he meets Edward Archibald Tuttle III, Ned. Ned isn't a collector, he's an enthusiast, which are people Kell tends to avoid. But on this one day he's feeling generous and shows the learning tool to Ned. This small box contains a little of the basic five elements, it's not considered good manners or good in general to talk about being able to control bone. There's water, sand for air, earth, oil for fire, and metal. This is how you learn what your elemental affinity is. Because magic is fickle. Not everyone has talent and most only have a connection to one element, sometimes two, but three is really rare. Because Kell is Antari and can use blood magic he can also control all elements. But to me I just like the simplicity of the system. Now I'm not using simplicity as an insult, because this is a complex world that Schwab has built, I'm using it as a compliment, in the it's easy to understand and grasp and therefore the magic is more real because you can understand it. See, that's a compliment.

But I wouldn't be me if I loved everything about a book now would I? I have now read A Darker Shade of Magic twice and it's not quite as good the second time around. Scwab has given us such a fast-paced read that the first time you're almost stumbling over the words just trying to get to the next page, not picking up on each and every detail in the need to know what happens to Kell and Lila. So reading it a second time I wasn't racing because I knew the outcome and therefore I started to catch little inconsistencies. This all boils down to the way Schwab writes. You'll be reading a paragraph and she'll mention someone standing and you will be convinced that they were sitting just a second ago. So you'll go back and only about 50% of the time does she say they've moved and it's usually buried deep in the text and is just brushed aside in passing. You know the saying, don't bury your lead? You should also not bury important things like a characters physical location. Because while she does say they've moved 50% of the time the other 50% of the time she doesn't. They're sitting, they're standing, they're here, they're there, it drove me slightly batty. I like to know what the characters look like and where they are, and most of the time I just didn't know where they were! I don't know if you're like me, but when I read I visually picture everything and when a new piece of information arrives I readjust the scene, like quickly panning the camera to another location. But here it was like I was playing some of my old MMORPGs where my character would jump from one location to another because of lag. I didn't like that when I played games, and I sure don't like it when reading a book.

Though this writing quirk is something that can be lovingly beaten out of Schwab given good enough editors. Come on Tor, I believe in you! What can't be fixed, at least in this installment of the trilogy, is that I just don't get the Kell/Rhy dynamic. Rhy is the royal prince whose family "adopted" Kell. So it's brotherly to an extent, but Kell willing to give up/bind his life to Rhy doesn't sit right with me. Rhy comes across as Red London's answer to Captain Jack Harkness but without the whole bothering to save the world. He's insecure and annoying. There has to be SOME reason other than this brotherly love for Kell to risk so much. Kell recounts a story of when Rhy was younger and got kidnapped and Kell saved Rhy's life almost at the cost of his own. It's a touching story, but for me I only felt Kell's need, not any justification for the act. It's more like Kell is so used to saving Rhy that he views it as his job. This has the effect of making Rhy more dependent on Kell and therefore more jealous of his "brother" which leads to the whole, oh shit I need Kell to magically save my life yet again. Rhy's rebellion at this need makes him a selfish ass. Sometimes you do need help, sometimes you aren't the best or the brightest, but doing something stupid just makes you stupid. Now you're saying I'm missing the point, that this shows that everyone is vulnerable and that love conquers all... that's not how I read it. To me it came across that a spoiled prince was an imposition to his "brother," who is treated more as a magical orphan slave than a sibling, yet again and it would have been just to have Rhy's actions have consequences that affected him and not others. Hence I don't get Kell/Rhy... just let the prince die.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: A Darker Shade of Magic, Grey London, Kell, London, MMORPGs, Murder Magic and What We Wore, Red London, Regency Magic, Rhy, Shades of Magic, V.E. Schwab, Victoria Schwab, White London, Worldbuilding

Yes, I could wax lyrical like Marianne about the beauty of Sussex where Norland Park is located, or rhapsodize about Devonshire and Barton Cottage, but I won't. Because to me the most important location in all of Sense and Sensibility is actually London. While other books by Austen mention and even visit London through the narratives of other characters, no other book uses it so successfully as a backdrop to our heroines heartaches as Sense and Sensibility. To me the heart of the book is that time in Mrs. Jennings's house on Berkeley Street in London, in the heart of Mayfair. While I most think of anything "Berkeley" in London as being associated with that lovely miniseries Berkely Square, I must now make a place for Elinor and Marianne there as well. While much of the short street is now filled with the modern, from Starbucks to a Holiday Inn, the facades of many of the shops hearken back to an older time.
 Going Northwest up Berkley Street to Berkley Square away from Piccadilly you will see some remaining Georgian architecture on the far side of the park. Yes, there's still the occasional more modern edifice, more Victorian or Art Nouveau, but what's wonderful about London is the old is there, just hiding around a corner, waiting for you to find it. In fact comparing this map from 1830 with modern day London you can see how little has changed in almost two-hundred years! If you're wanting to walk in the footsteps of Sense and Sensibility I couldn't recommend anything more fun than walking around Mayfair. From Berkley Street it's a short seven minute walk to Conduit Street and the Middletons, and two streets over are the Palmers in Hanover Square. If you decide to take a slight detour north into Marylebone beware, because Willoughby lurks near there, as do the Dashwoods! We won't even discuss where Lucy Steele lives, it's so unfashionable!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Art Nouveau, Berkeley Square, Berkeley Street, Bicentenary Ball, Georgian, Holiday Inn, Jane Austen, London, Marylebone, Mayfair, Piccadilly, Sense and Sensibility, Starbucks, Victorian, Willoughby

Penny Dreadful by Krysty Wilson-Cairns and Andrew Hindraker
Published by: Titan Comics
Publication Date: December 27th, 2016
Format: Paperback, 128 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The hit Showtime TV series is presented in comics for the first time! Featuring Vanessa Ives (Eva Green), Sir Malcolm Murray (Timothy Dalton) and Sembene (Danny Sapani) the story recounts the events that led up to the explosive first season of the show.

This prequel reveals the terrifying events that led Vanessa to try and find her missing childhood firend, Mina Harker, and exposes the true nature of the vampiric monsters infesting Victorian London. Beautifully realized by Louie De Martinis, and written by the show scriptwriters, this collected edition takes the reader on a heart-stopping journey into the supernatural realm."

Yeah, I might read this. But probably while still seething that the show is over. Seriously Vanessa Ives isn't the be all end all of this show! MORE! I WANT MORE!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Comics, Dracula, Eva Green, London, Mina Harker, Penny Dreadful, Sembene, Sir Malcolm Murray, Timothy Dalton, Tuesday Tomorrow, Vanessa Ives, Victorian

Remembrance of the Daleks by Ben Aaronovitch
Published by: BBC Books
Publication Date: 1990
Format: Paperback, 224 Pages
Rating: ★
To Buy

The Doctor and Ace have returned to the beginning, Coal Hill School, London, 1963. The Doctor in his 1st incarnation left behind The Hand of Omega, the device that supposedly gave the Time Lords their control of time. But The Doctor doesn't just leave behind anything that could be dangerous in enemy hands... and the Daleks sure think they could do some damage with this device. In fact two waring factions of Daleks have descended on this small area of London and will fight to the death for this device that could make them masters of time. So what is The Doctor's plan? Let them have it... or at least make sure that the Dalek faction he wants gets it. Therefore the question needs to be asked, what is The Doctor planning and what will happen to the Daleks when they do get The Hand of Omega?

This book is unique in that instead of being an original story it is an adaptation of the episode that launched the shows 25th anniversary. While there might be readers out there that cast a gimlet eye on fleshing out a television episode or movie as a novel I will never be one of them. In fact, I would not be the reader I am today if not for these adaptations. Back in the mists of time... aka the eighties... I was not a big reader, I liked tv, movies, and video games. Then one day I picked up the novelization of the movie Willow (no judging, Willow is freakin' awesome and I will fight anyone who says differently.) I remember one Sunday sitting in my grandparents double wide armchair in the living room, far enough away from the tv so that I could concentrate, and just falling into the book. It was the first time this had happened to me. The movie I knew and loved was fleshed out, expanded, the same, yet different. My love of reading continued from this point, first bridging out into related reading, such as Timothy Zahn's Heir to the Empire, continuing the Star Wars storyline, of which the original trilogy is my most watched films of all time, and then into literature. So why am I saying this? I'm saying this because I do not look down on this book for being what it is, I look down on it for being a bad version of what it is.

Yes, it is a bad adaptation. Now though I'm going to reveal something that will make you question how I can even make this judgement. I've never been the biggest fan of Sylvester McCoy's Doctor, even though he is the only Doctor I have actually met. So... well... here goes... I haven't actually seen the episode "Remembrance of the Daleks." Now you're up in arms saying, you can't judge something if it's based on something you've never seen... well, yes, yes I can. The reason is that this book doesn't work on it's own. A successful novelization has to work on two levels, first it has to work on it's own, then it has to work as a reflection of what it is adapting. If it fails at the first part, the second part is inconsequential. So there. Also, if this book is any reflection of the actual episode, and seeing as they were both written by Ben Aaronovitch, I assume they are, then I never ever want to watch this episode, no matter it's significance, no matter that it delves into The Doctor's past, no matter what, sign me up for a boycott. The book is a jumbled mash of action that maybe made sense on screen, but so didn't on the page that I can't forgive it.

Remembrance of the Daleks just grated on me because it felt like Aaronovitch was trying to use a new medium to jazz up what the show couldn't afford to do. Mainly cool special effects. The special effects were never what Doctor Who was about. The show hung off the acting and the storytelling, not the dubious monsters and sets. So taking a Doctor Who story and just upping the techno babble without adding any true insight just goes against, well, everything Doctor Who. In fairness I think Aaronovitch knew the failings of the book because in his intro he asks to not judge a new writer harshly. Well, I'm sorry that I do have to judge him harshly. He was unable to take a script and flesh it out. The characters are wooden with weird flashbacks to moonlight lovemaking. And that's if you know who the characters even are. He makes no effort to establish place or character and what techno babble he adds is so incomprehensible, the book feels like one giant long rant about Daleks that I found myself reading as fast as I could, when my mind didn't try to wander off to more pleasant thoughts.

Speaking of unpleasant thoughts... Daleks. I'm sick of Daleks, sick sick sick of them. You know why people love the episodes "Blink" or "Silence in the Library?" Because it was something new, something fresh. Not the same old same old again and again. How many times do we have to get ride of the Daleks till they stay dead? Seriously, I want to know so I can wait for that episode to air. Daleks are just stupid. Having them kill each other, even stupider. Yet, this was just one of the many many problems I had. The Doctor being so squeamish about killing one Dalek when, spoiler alert, his plan was to destroy their whole planet and kill them all... well, hypocrite much? I can say that this book has honestly not made me anymore interested in the Sylvester McCoy years... also, it made me realize more and more that if this is the level of storytelling in the final years before the successful reboot it's not a surprise it was cancelled.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Blink, Daleks, Doctor Who, Doctor Who 50th Anniversary, Doctor Who Book Challenge, London, Remembrance of the Daleks, Silence in the Library, Sylvester McCoy, The 7th Doctor, Timothy Zhan, Willow