June reads

THE SECRET LIVES OF BOOKSELLERS & LIBRARIANS by James Patterson & Matt Eversmann (5*) NF/Audio

A fabulous ode to books and reading. I’ve got a suspicion I’ll be revisiting this book several times in the future.

THE PICTURE HOUSE MURDERS (Miss Clara Vale #1) by Fiona Veitch Smith (4*)

Went back to the start of the Clara Vale series since I enjoyed books #2 and 3 so much. Didn’t love this first instalment as much as I did the sequels, but it was still a fun introduction to a captivating character operating in a fascinating historical period (1929). I love the emphasis on female rights and other historical details such as the start of talking movies.

MONA OF THE MANOR (Tales of the City #10) by Armistead Maupin (4.5*) Audio

I can't believe I've reached the end of my Tales of the City journey. Hopefully there's more to come but I fear this may be it. But if it is the last tale of the city, what a perfect way to bow out. This is an action and emotion-packed story that had me captivated from start to finish. I'm going to miss these books and these characters.

CABARET MACABRE (Joseph Spector Locked-Room Mystery #3) by Tom Mead (5*).

A captivating historical mystery filled with impossible murders, victims, and intrigue. I’m in awe of how the author manages to explain that which appears to be impossible. Three books into this series I’m a huge fan and can’t wait for book #4.

Full review: https://helenasheat.blogspot.com/2024/06/cabaret-macabre-by-tom-mead.html

MURDER AT GREYSBRIDGE (Inishowen Mystery #4) by Andrea Carter. (4.5*)

Two suspicious deaths at a summer wedding keep solicitor Ben O'Keeffe on her toes as she tries to figure out what exactly happened and more importantly why. Throw in two potential love interests, and a somewhat gothic setting, and you end up with a fascinating page-turner in which everything is somehow connected. This well-plotted and expertly told mystery kept me intrigued from start to finish.

THE BODY IN THE LIBRARY (Miss Marple #3) by Agatha Christie (5*)

“When there’s anything fishy about, I never believe anyone at all!

What’s not to love about a Miss Marple mystery by the fabulous Agatha Christie. Even the fact that I more or less knew who dunnit and expected the major twist didn’t spoil my fun.

A MAN LAY DEAD (Roderick Alleyn #1) by Ngaio Marsh

Strictly speaking a re-read but considering that it is 40+ years since I read this book for the first time it might as well have been a new-to-me story. And now that I've reconnected with Roderick Alleyn I am pretty sure I'll revisit other books in the series even if I'm not 100% sure that Ngaio Marsh plays completely fair with the reader when it comes to clues and the resolution of the mystery.

A VERY BRITISH MURDER by Lucy Worsley (4*) NF

Blurb: In A Very British Murder, Lucy Worsley explores this phenomenon in forensic detail, revisiting notorious crimes like the Ratcliff Highway Murders, which caused a nation-wide panic in the early nineteenth century, and the case of Frederick and Maria Manning, the suburban couple who were hanged after killing Maria's lover and burying him under their kitchen floor. Fascination with crimes like these became a form of national entertainment, inspiring novels and plays, puppet shows and paintings, poetry and true-crime journalism. At a point during the birth of modern Britain, murder entered the national psyche, and it's been a part of that ever since.

Interesting and easy to read. While the book covers 200 years of crime writing and all of it was fascinating, I much preferred the section dealing with the golden age of crime. My one concern is that I f Lucy Worsley can get a fact like the number of children Agatha Christie had wrong, I can’t help wondering if there are other mistakes in this book. Thankfully Mrs Worsley didn’t repeat her mistake when she wrote Agatha Christie’s biography. A Very British Murder was based on a three-part TV documentary with the same title and in what came as a huge surprise to me, I preferred the series over the book.

The IT Girl by Ruth Ware (4*)

An intriguing mystery in which Hannah, a young, pregnant woman revisits the murder of her best friend and roommate when the man convicted for the crime dies after a decade in prison. He claimed to be innocent until the day he died. But if he didn’t do it, who did? Can Hannah uncover the truth without putting herself and her unborn child in danger? I enjoyed this story although I do feel it could probably have been about 100 pages shorter without losing any vital plot points.

GUILTY BY DEFINITION by Susie Dent (5+*)

Guilty by Definition is a fascinating, original, and well-plotted mystery as well as an ode to words set in the offices of the Clarendon English Dictionary. This title will almost certainly make it into my top 10 reads for 2024.

Full review: https://helenasheat.blogspot.com/2024/06/guilty-by-definition-by-suzie-dent.html

Guilty by Definition by Suzie Dent

400 pages

Publisher: Bonnier UK / Zaffre

Release date: August 16, 2024

 

Blurb

The debut murder mystery from the resident genius of Countdown's Dictionary Corner, Susie Dent.

An anonymous letter arrives at the offices of the Clarendon English Dictionary containing a challenge for the team of lexicographers working there. It's clear that's it's not the usual run-of-the-mill, eccentric enquiry. The letter hints at secrets, lies and a year. 2010. For Martha Thornhill, the new senior editor, that year can mean only one the summer her brilliant, beautiful older sister Charlie went missing.

After a decade living abroad, Martha has returned to her father, her family home and the city whose institutions have defined her family, but the ghosts she thought at rest were only waiting for her to return.

More letters arrive, pointing towards a secret in the heart of the dictionary itself. As Martha and her colleagues start pulling apart the clues, the questions become more insistent and troubling. Charlie's disappearance is one of a series of secret absences going back centuries, and someone wants to keep those secrets buried.

 

Review

 “Lexicographers sought out the thrill of the chase as much as detectives did.”

Ten years ago, Martha Thornhill’s sister Charlie disappeared, and Martha fled Oxford for Berlin. Now Martha has returned to Oxford where she is the senior editor of the Clarendon English Dictionary. When she and her staff start receiving cryptic postcards and letters, it soon becomes clear that the clues refer to the summer Charlie disappeared. As Martha and her team unravel the linguistic riddles they realise that while Chorus, the mysterious sender of the letters and cards, wants them to solve the mystery of Charlie’s disappearance there are other forces who will do anything to keep the secrets buried.

This book captivated me from start to finish and will almost certainly end up in my top ten for 2024. The mystery is intriguing, clever, and meticulously plotted. The characters are vivid, interesting, multi-faceted, and real. And the writing is smooth and easy flowing, pulling the reader deep into the story. The clues contained in the mail the editorial team received are all somehow related to words, reading, and writing, and invite the reader of the book to puzzle along with the characters.

It made a nice change to have a police officer, Oliver Caldwell, who does take the case seriously; more seriously in fact than Martha is initially prepared to do and it is her sister who has disappeared without a trace. But this is as much a story about Martha reluctantly coming to terms with Charlie’s role in her life and her feeling that’s she has always played second fiddle to her sister as a tale about Charlie’s unsolved disappearance.

This book is an absolute delight for anyone who enjoys words, puzzles, and a captivating mystery. Susie Dent manages to insert (obscure) words and their meaning into the mystery seamlessly and without interrupting the flow or taking the reader out of the story. In other words:

“It was excellent: scholarly and precise without overloading the reader with jargon.”

And the words that are explained both in the chapter headings and in the story itself are all appropriate to what is happening on the page.

“But she loved words as individuals. She knew their roots, their rhythms, their skeletons, shapes and stories. Fitting them together to create something meaningful took a different skill altogether.”

This book is proof that Susie Dent doesn’t share this word-related problem with her main character. Unlike Martha, she has very successfully put words together to create something not only meaningful but also smoothly flowing and captivating.

Long review short: Guilty by Definition is a fascinating, original, and well-plotted mystery as well as an ode to words. I can only hope there will be more word-related mysteries by this author in the not-too-distant future.

 

Cabaret Macabre by Tom Mead

Joseph Spector #3

320 Pages

Publisher: Head of Zeus

Release Date: August 1, 2024

Netgalley

 

Blurb

Sleuth and illusionist Joseph Spector investigates his most complex case yet in this gripping new locked-room murder mystery from Tom Mead, set in an English country house just before the Second World War.

Hampshire, 1938. Victor Silvius is confined in a private sanatorium after attacking prominent judge Sir Giles Drury. When Sir Giles starts receiving sinister threatening letters, his wife suspects Silvius. Meanwhile, Silvius’ sister Caroline is convinced her brother is about to be murdered... by none other than his old nemesis Sir Giles.

Caroline seeks the advice of Scotland Yard’s Inspector Flint, while the Drurys, eager to avoid a scandal, turn to Joseph Spector. Spector, renowned magician turned sleuth, has an uncanny knack for solving complicated crimes – but this case will test his powers of deduction to their limits.

At a snowbound English country house, a body is found is impossible circumstances, and a killer’s bullet is fired through a locked window without breaking the glass. Spector and Flint’s investigations soon collide as they find themselves trapped by the snowstorm where anyone could be the next victim – or the killer...

 

Review

Almost a decade ago a young woman died under suspicious circumstances, but the mystery of her death has never been solved. The aftermath left one man, Victor Silvius confined to a private sanatorium for attacking Sir Giles Drury, the judge he held responsible for the death of the woman he loved.

Now, in 1938 the old case is coming back to life and Scotland Yard inspector Flint and Joseph Spector, former magician and occasional sleuth, are asked to investigate. Unfortunately, their involvement doesn’t prevent further bloodshed. In fact, it isn’t long before Spector and Flint are up to their necks in murders which all appear to be impossible and require all of Spector’s skills to eventually unravel.

If the description of this book makes it sound as if there’s a lot going on in the story, you are right. In fact, the blurb barely scratches the surface when it comes to (impossible) murders, victims, and mysteries. There is so much happening in this story that it should be too much and overwhelming. And, I want to say that in the hands of a lesser author this story and the solutions to the mysteries wouldn’t have worked. Tom Mead works some kind of magic of his own in this book which allows him to tell a story at neck-breaking speed without overwhelming the reader.

Eighteen clues are masterfully hidden in this story and tagged so that the reader can check and discover, like I did, that Tom Mead plays fair with his audience. All the information the reader needs to solve the mysteries in this story is available to those who pay close attention. I for one have to admit that I missed most but, I’m proud to say, not all of them.

This is the third Joseph Spector mystery I’ve read and with every book I’m more in awe of Tom Mead’s storytelling and mystery-creating prowess. The release of the next book in this series can’t come soon enough for me.

Related reviews:

Death and the Conjuror: https://helenasheat.blogspot.com/2023/05/death-and-conjuror-by-tom-mead.html

The Murder Wheel:  https://helenasheat.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-murder-wheel-by-tom-mead.html

 

 

Hemlock Bay by Martin Edwards

 

Rachel Savernake Mysteries #5

384 pages

Publisher: Head of Zeus

Release date: September 12, 2024

 

Blurb

The first rule of murder: know your victim.

Basil Palmer has decided to murder a man called Louis Carson. There's only one problem: he doesn't know anything about his intended victim, not who he is or where he lives.

Basil learns that Carson owns Hemlock Bay, a resort for the wealthy and privileged. Knowing that his plan will only work if he covers his tracks, he invents a false identity and, posing as Dr Seamus Doyle, journeys to the coast plotting murder along the way.

Meanwhile Rachel Savernake buys an intriguing painting of a place called Hemlock Bay, one that she cannot get out of her head. Macabre and strange, the image shows a shape that seems to represent a dead body lying on the beach.

Convinced that there is something sinister lurking amongst the glamour of the bay, Rachel books a cottage there – where she meets a mysterious doctor called Seamus Doyle…

 

Review

Exactly a year ago, I read Sepulchre Street, the fourth title in the Rachel Savernake series. That book opened on the intriguing dilemma of how one solves a murder before it has happened. Intrigue (and impossible murders) appear to be a theme in this series because the hook into Hemlock Bay is how do you murder somebody if you have no idea who he is?

The year is 1931 and a seaside resort called Hemlock Bay is about to live up to its somewhat sinister name. And a series of apparently unconnected events bring Rachel Savernake and her entourage to the resort.

Through diary entries, we learn that a man named Basil Palmer plans to kill Louis Carson although the two men have never met. Meanwhile, journalist Jack Flint is intrigued when he is visited by a man claiming to be a clairvoyant who claims that he has had a vision that a murder will be committed in a place called Hemlock Bay on the summer solstice. And finally, Rachel Savernake has recently bought a disturbing surrealistic painting titled Hemlock Bay which appears to feature a body draped over a rock on the beach.

It doesn’t take much to capture Rachel’s imagination and it isn’t long before she decides that she wants to know more about what’s going on in Hemlock Bay where she meets among other people the woman who painted the picture that inspired Rachel’s trip, a reclusive doctor named Seamus Doyle, as well as a man named Louis Carson. However, when murder does happen it isn’t on the summer solstice and the victim isn’t Louis Carson. The plot just thickened and is about to get a lot thicker again before Rachel figures out exactly what has been going on.

Hemlock Bay is a fascinating and captivating mystery. I was drawn in from the very first chapter and my interest didn’t flag until I had finished the full story and all the mysteries had been solved in a satisfying and fiendishly clever way. There is a lot going on in this golden age of mystery inspired story. We’ve got a locked room mystery, a fair number of red herrings, and plenty of clues there to be found for the ‘professional’ mystery reader/solver. For those of us who read too fast or too carelessly to pick up on (all) the clues, they are spelled out after the story has ended and they make it perfectly clear that Martin Edwards plays fair with his readers. Most importantly though, the recurring characters in these books are fascinating. Especially Rachel has captured my attention, just as she has captured Jack’s in the story. And like Jack, I’d love to discover more about her background and exactly how she became the woman she is. I can’t wait to read more titles in this series.

Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books by Kirsten Miller

 

304 pages

Publisher: HQ

Release Date: June 20,2024

 

Blurb

In Troy, Georgia, Lula Dean has decided to cleanse the town’s reading habits. All banned books have been removed from public spaces, and the townspeople are only allowed to read books Lula has deemed ‘appropriate’.

But a small group refuse to be told what they can and can’t read.

The revolution is coming …

 

Review

Beverly Underwood and Lula Dean have been arch-enemies ever since their high school cheerleading days. The mostly silent rivalry between them becomes public however after Lula embarks on a book-banning mission. To ‘replace’ the books she’s removed from the local schools and library, Lula has created a little library filled with titles Lula deems appropriate reading in her front yard. Not that Lula has read the books she has banned or the titles in her garden.

Beverly’s daughter Lindsay is outraged about Lula’s actions and uses the cover of night to fill Lula’s little libraries with banned books wrapped in dust jackets that belong to books Lula approves of.

Curiosity being what it is means that inhabitants of the town of Troy pick up books from the Little Library and most of them finish reading the stories even after they discover the book in their hands isn’t what they thought it was.

Actions have consequences and it isn’t long before Lula and Beverly are running against each other in the town’s Mayoral election. And that’s when the repercussions of Lula’s library and Lindsay’s counter-action become visible. Because everybody who picked and read a book from the Little Library has been affected in one way or another.

At first glance, this book offers an easy-to-read, mostly light-hearted story. It appears to be one of those Southern novels in which even the bad people end up sounding adorable. Don’t let first impressions fool you though. Once you settle into the story you will find a darker edge to many of the chapters. What really scared me is that quite a few of the right-wing ideas shared on these pages don’t sound immediately shocking or wrong. It’s almost too easy to understand how people stumble into traps laid by people like Donald Trump and how a journey down that road comes without a return ticket for most people.

 Although it is very easy to read and get lost in, this book doesn’t try to make our current reality look any better than it is. In this book, the silent majority are people who have no interest in banning books or excluding certain people from society. They are those who can easily live their lives under the radar and prefer it that way. In this book, as in reality, they don’t speak up until they feel their way of life and/or their sense of fairness is under threat.

While the book is overall a fun read, we shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that book banning and censorship are real issues, in particular in America. Only this week I came across the following tragic news: An Idaho Public Library Will Become Adults-Only per July 1, 2024. News like that makes me want to cry. There’s a part of me that feels Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books is too easy to read to make a difference in real life. On the other hand, maybe an easy read with characters most people would recognise is exactly what is needed to get people to question what is going on around them. Sure, real life is never going to come with perfect solutions like the ones found in this book, but maybe this book can make imperfect solutions possible in real life. And if that isn’t a fabulous reason to promote Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books, I don’t know what is.

 

 

 

The Pyramid Murders by Fiona Veitch Smith

#3 Miss Clara Vale Mysteries

 Pages: 300

Publisher: Embla Books

Release Date: June 13, 2024

 

Blurb

A night at the museum, a dead body and a trail to Cairo. Sounds like a case for Miss Clara Vale!

1930: Miss Clara Vale, chemistry major turned detective, is taking a night off from sleuthing to attend the launch party of a new exhibition at the Hancock Museum in Newcastle. But when the piece de resistance, a rare ornate sarcophagus, is finally opened and it turns out the mummy inside it is a fake it looks like there is no rest for Clara after all...

Later that night, she is summoned back to the museum and asked to investigate a series of stolen Egyptian artefacts. Using her scientific and forensic prowess, Clara, with her trusted assistant Bella in tow, embarks on a trail that will lead from Newcastle to London and along the river Nile to Cairo.

But she is not the only person hunting for stolen antiquities and when she uncovers an international smuggling ring with a penchant for murder, it becomes clear that Clara's own life is in danger too.

Can Clara catch the smugglers before they get away with another murder among the pyramids?

Review

This is my second Miss Clara Vale Mystery. Last year I read and reviewed The Pantomime Murders. I ended that review with the words: ‘I’ve got a feeling I’ll be spending more time with Miss Clara Vale in the future’, and what do you know, just over six months later I find myself solving mysteries with the spunky lady investigator once again.

The year is 1930 and Clara, our heroine, has donated some of her deceased uncle’s Egyptian artifacts and papers to a local museum. But what should have been a joyous occasion soon turns sour when she discovers a mummy that is very recent as well as a selection of Egyptian jewels that shouldn’t even be in England, never mind in her local museum.

When she’s asked to investigate it isn’t long before she finds herself on a journey to Egypt where she soon encounters danger as the plot thickens.

There is so much to enjoy in this book. The mystery is intriguing, Clara Vale is a wonderful MC, as is Bessie her assistant and there isn’t a dull moment in the story. This story is properly set in 1930. For example, there is mention of Dr. Fleming and penicillin, the start of (commercial) air travel, and most delightfully, Agatha Christie makes an appearance when Clara is in Egypt. The author’s biography states that Fiona Veitch Smith is a huge fan of the Golden Age of Mystery stories, and her books show that clearly.

I love Clara Vale’s independence which was still rare and mostly unheard of in the early decades of the 20^th century.

The Pyramid Murders was well written and filled with detail without ever dragging. The characters are vivid, and the mystery is very well-plotted. Which means I’ll end this review as I did my review of The Pantomime Murders. I will be spending more time with Miss Clara Vale in the future. And while I wait for book #4 to be published, I'll go back and read The Picture House Murders, the first title in this series. 

The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley

 432 pages

Publisher: HarperCollins

Release Date: June 6, 2024

 

Blurb

It’s the opening night of The Manor, and no expense, small or large, has been spared. The infinity pool sparkles; crystal pouches for guests’ healing have been placed in the Seaside Cottages and Woodland Hutches; the “Manor Mule” cocktail (grapefruit, ginger, vodka, and a dash of CBD oil) is being poured with a heavy hand. Everyone is wearing linen.

And yet, just outside the Manor’s immaculately kept grounds, an ancient forest bristles with secrets. The local community resents what they see as the Manor’s intrusion into the local woods and attempts to privatize the beach, and small skirmishes have erupted on the edges of the property between locals and the staff. And the whispers keep coming, about an old piece of pagan folklore—it must be folklore??—the Night Birds, an avenging force that can be called upon to make right wrongs that elude the law. Though surely everything at the Manor has been done above board.

On the Sunday morning of opening weekend, the local police are called. There’s been a fire. A body’s been discovered. Something’s not right with the guests. What happened on the grounds of the Manor the past 36 hours? And who—or what—is the cause?

THE FOUNDER

THE HUSBAND

THE MYSTERY GUEST

THE KITCHEN HELP

Everyone has an agenda. Everyone has a past. But not everyone will survive…The Midnight Feast.

 

Review

I guess it is safe to say that I’m a fan of Lucy Foley’s mystery-thrillers. I thoroughly enjoyed The Hunting Party, The Guest List, and The Paris Apartment. So when I had the opportunity to request a review copy of The Midnight Feast from Netgalley it only took me half a second to click that button. I did not regret that decision.

Just like those three previous titles, The Midnight Feast is a multi-layered and well-plotted mystery in which nobody and nothing is exactly who or what they appear to be.

The story is told through four narrators: the founder of the newly opened luxury resort and organiser of the midnight feast, her husband, a mystery guest, and the kitchen help. These four characters have very distinctive voices as they share their personal perspective on The Manor, past and present.

I rated the book 4.5 rather than 5 stars because too much of the story felt a little over the top to me. From Francesca’s esoteric musings to the total destruction of the Manor I would have preferred a more nuanced approach. On the other hand, I loved the author’s use of folklore and local myths and practices. These gave the story a somewhat magical feeling which only added to the thrill of reading a fast-paced and well-executed mystery. And there’s no denying that the story pulled me in from the start and didn’t release me until I reached the end. An end that kept on surprising me. Just when I thought that surely all the questions had been answered and all the mysteries solved, Lucy Foley managed to surprise me again and again.

Long review short: With The Midnight Feast, Lucy Foley has created yet another breathtaking mystery that only reveals the truth slowly and with a few misdirections along the way.  The past and the present mirror each other as events that remained unresolved 15 years earlier finally come to a head. The use of local myth and folklore only adds to the mystery and the thrillerish vibe. This is a must read for everybody who enjoys a good and fascinating mystery.