Grave Expectations by Alice Bell

 

 331 pages

Publisher: Corvus

Release Date: May 4, 2023

Blurb

How do you solve a murder when the ghost of a 17-year-old keeps telling you you’re doing it wrong?

Claire Hendricks is a hapless 30-something true crime fan treading water in the gig economy working as a medium. When she is invited to an old university friend’s country pile to provide entertainment for a family party, her best friend Sophie tags along. In fact, Sophie rarely leaves Claire’s side, because she’s been haunting her ever since she was murdered at the age of 17.

When the pair arrive at The Cloisters, they find themselves drawn to a tragic and unrecognizable ghost, clearly an unquiet spirit who met an untimely end. Teaming up with the least unbearable members of the Wellington-Forge family – depressive ex-cop Basher and teenage reactionary Alex – Claire and Sophie determine to figure out not just whodunnit, but who they killed, why and when.

Together they must race against incompetence to find the murderer before the murderer finds them, in this funny, modern, media-literate debut mystery for the My Favourite Murder generation.

 

Review

And now for something a little different. 😊

Yes, this is a mystery, but a rather unconventional one.

For starters, most detectives don’t come with a sidekick in the form of a teenage female ghost named Sophie, but Claire does.

What’s more, for most of the book, to quote Basher, one of the characters: “This isn’t a whodunnit, it’s a whodeadit. And a howdeadit. And a whendeadit.”

Before I confuse you completely, a quick recap of the story. Claire’s life has been strange, to put it mildly, ever since her best friend Sophie disappeared when they were both seventeen. Fifteen-odd years later, the rest of the world still considers Sophie a missing person. Claire knows better. Claire knows Sophie is dead because Sophie’s ghost has attached herself to Claire. Claire can see and communicate with Sophie, but the rest of the world can’t which makes life awkward at times. Turning her misfortune into an advantage, Claire has taken up doing seances for a living and when a former college friend invites her to a family gathering to perform her ‘act’, Claire, always in dire need of money, agrees.

The séance should have been the highlight of a weekend celebrating the matriarch of the family’s birthday but gets overshadowed by the death of the woman, followed by the appearance of a clearly very distraught ghost. When the ghost of her hostess asks Claire to look into the desperate ghost and its reasons for being there, Claire can’t make herself refuse. And thus commences a rather unorthodox investigation.

Obviously, none of the other people present actually believe Claire can see and talk to ghosts. Nobody has any idea who the desperate ghost might be, why they might be there, and what caused their demise. Or so they say.

I won’t go into the investigation and how Claire eventually gets to the solution; you’ll have far more fun reading that for yourself. I will say however that this is a solid mystery, with proper clues, and plausible explanations. What’s more, this story also did a good job illustrating how isolating Claire’s supernatural ability is. As a result, this book was as much about Claire finding courage, determination, and ultimately friends, as it was about solving the mystery/mysteries this story contained.

I can’t help wondering if naming one of the characters Tuppence, is a small nod to Agatha Christie and I find myself hoping it is, although, at first glance, this Tuppence is rather meek and therefore the exact opposite of Christie’s creation. Then again, still waters run deep, and Tuppence may yet surprise us.

All in all, this was an original and wonderful story filled with surprises, vivid characters (both alive and dead), and, most importantly, a well-plotted murder mystery. I hope this is a first in series. I wouldn’t mind spending more time with Claire and Sophie (and maybe one or two other characters) while they solve crimes.

Death in the Dark by Kitty Murphy

Dublin Drag Mysteries #2

297 pages

Publisher: Thomas & Mercer

Release Date: 11 April 2023

 

Blurb

Abduction. Accusations. And murder on the dance floor. Sparkle McCavity, young drag queen and employee of Miss Merkin, is missing, presumed kidnapped or even worse. Naturally, Merkin turns to reluctant sleuth and friend to the community Fi for help, but clues and suspects are worryingly thin on the ground—and the drag king Stan the Man is proving somewhat distracting. When Merkin’s niece is then found murdered, spiked on a light pole in nightclub TRASH, it becomes clear that Fi’s friends are in danger. Again. With the ever-inept Detective O’Hara becoming convinced that the most likely suspect is Miss Merkin herself, tensions begin to build among the friends. Could one of them really be responsible? After a strangely spooky séance, Fi’s best friend Robyn disappears. Guilt-ridden and distraught, Fi and her friends must double their efforts to save Robyn and Sparkle before it’s too late. Just as long as her increasingly complicated and distracting love life doesn’t get in the way!

 

Review

Before I say anything else, I have a confession to make: I have not (yet) read the first Dublin Drag Mystery. I’ll let you know at the end of this review whether or not I think that affected my enjoyment of this book.

As enticing as the blurb for this book is, I think I prefer the description of Death in the Dark the author used Twitter:

Intriguing or what?

And WOW, does Death in the Dark live up to that promise! There’s a lot to like in this book. Fi is a great and very likeable, yet realistically present, main protagonist. The cast of characters is nothing short of fabulous (as if I could use any other word when talking about drag queens and kings 😊). The interactions between them sound real and are entertaining. In fact, all of them grew so real while I was reading that I want to go out and watch their show…meet them. I loved the friendship they shared, the loyalty between them, and the love they so obviously felt for each other.

The set-up of this story was rather wonderful too. It wasn’t instantly clear whether or not crimes had actually been committed, and Fi, our reluctant hero, was anything but eager to start an investigation. For a long time, nobody is sure what if anything, is going on. But the more time goes by, the clearer it becomes that something is very wrong.

Fi’s investigation is anything but straightforward. She really doesn’t have any idea where to begin or what might be going on. She puts herself in dodgy situations and even goes as far as attending a seance. And when she eventually does stumble across answers the situation only becomes more horrific.

I’m not sure I’m doing a very good job indicating how much I enjoyed this book. It seemed to get everything right. The balance between serious and fun, between dark and light, and between mystery and personal story was just about perfect. I wanted to know about the characters as much as I wanted to know what was going on and whodunnit. Which is why I can say, without a shadow of a doubt, that I will be reading future titles in the Dublin Drag Mysteries.

And on that note…

I’m afraid I can’t give you a clear-cut answer to the question if I should have read Death in Heels first. In general, it is always a good idea to read a series in order, of course. And I probably would have understood who-was-who in Death in the Dark a little quicker if I had read the prequel. But at no point, while reading this book, did I find myself lost, or scratching my head, or even wanting to kick myself for not taking the time to read the previous installment. One thing I do have to say is that if you think you might want to read both books, you must read them in order. Death in the Dark holds all the spoilers for Death in Heels.

Arthur and Teddy are Coming Out by Ryan Love

336 pages

Publisher: HQ Publishing

Release Date: April 13, 2023

Netgalley

Blurb

When 79-year-old Arthur Edwards gathers his family together to share some important news, no one is prepared for the bombshell he drops: he's gay, and after a lifetime in the closet, he's finally ready to come out.

Arthur's 21-year-old grandson, Teddy, has a secret of his own: he's also gay, and developing serious feelings for his colleague Ben. But Teddy doesn't feel ready to come out yet – especially when Arthur’s announcement causes shockwaves in the family.

Arthur and Teddy have always been close, and now they must navigate first loves, heartbreak, and finding their place in their community. But can they – and their family – learn to accept who they truly are?

 

Review

There is much to love about this story. For starters, there’s the setup. Imagine being a 21-year-old trying to work up the courage to come out to your family, only to have your thunder stolen by your 79-year-old grandfather. And, to make matters worse, your mother doesn’t take her father’s revelation well at all. For Teddy, it’s enough to decide he’s better off in the closet for at least a while longer. Arthur, while relieved to at last be able to live his life without hiding who he is, is worried about his relationship with Teddy’s mother. To complicate matters, Teddy finds himself falling for a young man he’s competing with for a job with the newspaper.

What follows is a romantic tale filled with wonderful tropes. We have a little angst, some jealousy, characters being oblivious about what’s obvious to those around them, first-time experiences, and a long-lost love, to name but a few. In fact, there’s so much going on in this story that keeping up with developments kept me on my toes. Since it also kept me fully engrossed in this tale, I can’t and won’t complain.

I absolutely adored Arthur. His patience and ability to forgive and forget was truly heart-warming yet never too good to be true. Teddy exasperated me as much as he endeared himself to me. Then again, he’s only 21 so his actions and reactions are only to be expected and, while it may take him a while, he does learn as he goes along and eventually makes all the right decisions.

The cast of secondary characters, while large, was varied and kept the story lively. And the same can be said for the story itself. There was quite a lot going on, apart from the (expected) romantic development and it kept the story moving along at a fast pace.

Overall, this was an adorable story as well as an easy and comfortable read. Should Ryan Love decide to write more books like this one, I will definitely read them.

And finally, in case you’re curious, here is a link to a post by Ryan Love on the Dubray Books Blog about what inspired him to write this story: https://blog.dubraybooks.ie/2023/04/11/arthur-and-teddy-are-coming-out/

 

Three Sisters by Heather Morris

414 pages

Publisher: Bonnier Books

Publishing date: October 2021

Own Copy

Book Club Read

 

Blurb

A promise to stay together.

An unbreakable bond.

A fierce will to survive.

From international bestselling author Heather Morris comes the breathtaking conclusion to The Tattooist of Auschwitz trilogy.

When they are girls, Cibi, Magda and Livia make a promise to their father - that they will stay together, no matter what.

Years later, at just 15 years old, Livia is ordered to Auschwitz by the Nazis. Cibi, only 19 herself, remembers their promise and follows Livia, determined to protect her sister, or die with her.

In their hometown in Slovakia, 17-year-old Magda hides, desperate to evade the barbaric Nazi forces. But it is not long before she is captured and condemned to Auschwitz.

In the horror of the death camp, these three beautiful sisters are reunited. Though traumatised by their experiences, they are together.

They make another promise: that they will live. Their fight for survival takes them from the hell of Auschwitz, to a death march across war-torn Europe and eventually home to Slovakia, now under iron Communist rule. Determined to begin again, they embark on a voyage of renewal, to the new Jewish homeland, Israel.

Rich in vivid detail, and beautifully told, Three Sisters will break your heart, but leave you amazed and uplifted by the courage and fierce love of three sisters, whose promise to each other kept them alive. Two of the sisters are in Israel today, surrounded by family and friends. They have chosen Heather Morris to reimagine their story in her astonishing new novel, Three Sisters.

 

Review

It’s not very often that I read a story that is as horrific as it is uplifting and inspiring, but that’s what happened here. I’m sure I do not have to go into detailed descriptions of the nightmare Cibi, Livia, and later Magda were forced to live through while in German concentration camps. Suffice it to say that it is nothing short of a miracle that anybody would survive such ordeals with their humanity intact, yet all three of them did. And that’s only one of several miracles. The odds against Magda and her two sisters finding each other and being reunited once the middle sister is also captured by the Nazi machine are staggering but it happened. That all three of them managed to survive both the camps and the death march is nothing short of mind-blowing, as is the fact that all three found their way to the emerging state of Israel and a new life.

It was somewhat surprising that while the horrors I read only pushed me from word to word, it was the happier moments, like when Cibi gave birth to her son, that brought tears to my eyes. Or maybe it is not that surprising since my reactions mostly mirrored those of the three sisters. They pushed their emotions away during the nightmares they endured, only to let them flow once they’d found (relative) safety.

I haven’t read either of the prequels to this book and I don’t think I ever will. Born in the early 1960 in the Netherlands, I was raised on WW II stories. In fact, the vast majority of books published at the time in the Netherlands was in one way or another related to the war and/or its aftermath. Stories about the five years during which the Netherlands was occupied were required reading in school. History lessons were dominated by those recent events at the cost of everything that happened in previous centuries. I imagine there isn’t a horrific event or heroic action I haven’t read about over the years, and I’m not convinced exposing myself to more of it will benefit me in any way, no matter how uplifting the ending of such a story might be.

Three Sisters is a very well-written book and portrays the lives of these three girls/women in graphic and often horrific detail. I have no doubt both The Tattooist of Auschwitz and Cilka’s Journey are equally good and worthy books. I just don’t think that reading them will bring me anything other than more confirmation of man’s ability to inflict terrifying horrors on his fellow man.

Which is why, when I remember this book, I will focus on the promise the three young girls made to their father. They said they would always stick together, and they did. Keeping their promise goes a long way to explaining how they managed to survive their ordeal although it’s hard to deny that an enormous amount of ‘luck’—a bad word to use given the circumstances, but non the less true—played a big role too.

I guess that’s the message I take away from this book. If the whole world turns against you, trust and hang on to those who only have your best interest at heart, even if it means ignoring everybody else.

At Bertram’s Hotel by Agatha Christie

Miss Marple #11

272 pages

Publisher: Harper Collins

Publishing Date: January 1, 1965

Kindle edition

 

Blurb

A grand old London hotel

A series of alarming coincidences

Danger lurking down every corridor

Impeccable service. Luxurious rooms. Eccentric guests. There are worse places for Canon Pennyfather to find himself stranded than Bertram’s Hotel.

But when he gets his dates in a muddle and attempts to travel to Lucerne a day too late, he unwittingly sets off a violent chain of events.

And Miss Marple is convinced there is more going on than meets the eye.

Never underestimate Miss Marple

 

Review

This was a weird one. For starters, there isn’t all that much Miss Marple in this story. Almost all investigating is done by Scotland Yard, by Chief Detective- Inspector ‘Father’ Davy to be precise. What’s more, until the very end of the story, there is no murder. On the surface, there doesn’t appear to be any sign of crime being committed at all. If it wasn’t for a perspective shift to Scotland Yard, some way into the story, I would have been willing to believe that this was a story about Miss Marple enjoying a well-deserved holiday in London while staying in what appears to be a perfect hotel.

Since I mentioned Scotland Yard, this is what I wrote when they were first introduced: ‘Going out on a limb here (at 14%) but if Miss Marple is staying in Bertram’s Hotel and the police are looking for a criminal operational headquarters somewhere, the odds are, it’s right where good old Jane is.’

Back to the story. We’re introduced to a large cast of characters all staying in the hotel or connected to people staying there. The list is too long to mention everybody and for a very long time, it is unclear how everybody and everything ties together, if at all. In fact, for the longest time, this story appears to be not a whodunnit but instead a ‘whatonearthisgoingonit’. How do a train robbery, Bertram’s Hotel, Canon Pennyfather, a racing driver named Ladislaus Malinowski, Mr. Justice Ludgrove, Bess Sedgwick, and her estranged daughter Elvira tie together?

Fun fact while I’m mentioning the train robbery. It is interesting to note that this book was published about 16 months after the (in)famous great train robbery in the UK happened (August 1963).

I’m not going to try and relate everything that happened in the story. There is simply too much going on and if there is a way of summarizing it all without confusing others, it is beyond what I’m capable of. To be honest, I’m not convinced I totally got everything that was going on here, which is another reason this is a less satisfying Marple story.

That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy this read. What we did get from Marple’s point of view was as delightful as always. I thoroughly enjoyed her trips into London and the accompanying descriptions of shows and parks. She is also still as sharp as she’s always been. Even as she recognises how ‘perfect’ Bertram’s Hotel is—shortly after arriving courtesy of Raymond West and his wife Joan—and how well it matches memories from her childhood, she picks up on an unmistakable atmosphere of danger.

While I was disappointed Miss Marple was more or less on the sidelines of this investigation, Chief Detective-Inspector ‘Father’ Davy almost made up for that deficiency. If anything, he reminded me a little of Columbo from the TV series and was a very refreshing break away from Christie’s usual bumbling Scotland Yard characters.

This was by no means a bad book. I’m not sure Agatha Christie was capable of writing a bad or boring story. It simply wasn’t quite what I hope to find in a Miss Marple book.

Finally, because I apparently can’t write these Agatha Christie reviews without mentioning the All About Agatha podcast, I couldn’t help thinking about their ‘stuck in its time’ feature when the hotel was described. Not because there was anything offensive about it, but because the appeal of the hotel is very much that it is stuck in a time otherwise long past.

 

 

 

 

A Caribbean Mystery by Agatha Christie

Miss Marple #10

188 pages

Publisher: Agatha Christie Ltd / Planet Three Publishing

First Published: November 16, 1964

Library

 

Blurb

A Caribbean resort

Strangers thrown together

Is there evil in paradise?

Major Palgrave enjoys an audience, and, in Miss Marple, he discovers a captive audience too polite to walk away. But midway through recounting the tale of a multiple murder, he stops suddenly when something, or someone, catches his eye.

Then, when he’s found dead the following day, Miss Marple suspects that someone wanted to silence the talkative major. Permanently.

Never underestimate Miss Marple

 

Review

Miss Marple is on holiday in the Caribbean, organised and financed by her nephew Raymond West. While her stay certainly works wonders for her rheumatism, Miss Marple is bored…nothing ever happens. Things get a little more interesting when Major Palgrave digs out his wallet to show her the picture of a murderer, only to abort this action when he looks at something behind Miss Marple and appears to panic.

The next day, Major Palgrave is discovered dead and since he was old and was supposed to suffer from high blood pressure, his death is accepted as natural without question from anybody. Except for Miss Marple that is. When not long after a servant at the resort also dies, investigations into both deaths commence.

It’s fair to say that there’s no shortage of suspects in this book. There are many complicated and somewhat dodgy (love) entanglements among the guests, and gossip is rife. Miss Marple is struggling without one of her usual buddies to discuss the circumstances and suspects with. That is until she gets closer to Mr. Rafiel, a very old and filthy rich fellow guest on the island.

I rather liked Mr. Rafiel. He has a very low opinion of people in general and doesn’t care what others think about him. Why should he, given that he is indeed ‘filthy rich’? This quality makes him very open and honest. It also means that he is a good sounding board for Marple as soon as he realises that she isn’t the doddering old lady he first took her for.

It takes a third death for Miss Marple to fully understand what has been going on, and she’s only just in time to prevent a further murder.

I have no doubt that when I listen to the All About Agatha podcast later today, Kemper and Catherine will have criticism about all sorts of developments in this story. And that’s fair enough. How could they possibly rate all of Agatha Christie’s stories if they accepted each of them as absolutely wonderful? I, on the other hand, am on no such mission, which means that I can read these books for enjoyment only, without looking for faults or inconsistencies. As with the previous Christie titles I’ve revisited, I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

I’m having so much fun re-reading these stories. What makes it even better is that even when I do, vaguely, remember whodunnit, I most of the time have no idea how or why that could be possible. Which goes a long way towards explaining why I, who normally doesn’t enjoy re-reads because I already know the story, get so much pleasure from revisiting these mysteries.

The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side by Agatha Christie

 

#9 Miss Marple

Publisher: Harper Collins

First Published: January 1, 1962

291 Pages

Own

Kindle

 

Blurb

A movie star

A deadly cocktail

A murder

When glamorous Marina Gregg came to live in St Mary Mead, tongues were sure to wag.

But, with a local gossip’s sudden death, has one tongue wagged a bit too much?

As the police chase false leads, and two more victims meet untimely ends, Miss Marple starts to ask her own questions.

What secrets might link a peaceful English village and a star of the silver screen?

Never underestimate Miss Marple

 

Review

 

“The mirror crack’d from side to side: “The Doom has come upon me,” cried the Lady of Shalott.”

Alternative blurb:

One minute, silly Heather Badcock had been gabbling on at her movie idol, the glamorous Marina Gregg. The next, Heather suffered a massive seizure. But for whom was the deadly poison really intended?

Marina’s frozen expression suggested she had witnessed something horrific. But, while others searched for material evidence, Jane Marple conducted a very different investigation – into human nature.

 

I’m not sure if/when I read this story before. I do however remember watching an adaptation on TV and as soon as I started the book, the guilty party as well as the reason for the (first) murder came back to me. To be honest, it is quite possible I would have guessed what was going on without that prior knowledge. Christie is rarely as ‘obvious’ about what’s going on in her mysteries as she is here. Whatever the case may be, I can’t say this spoiled the book for me. Quite the opposite, in fact. I greatly enjoyed myself as I recognised the further clues as they were presented. It made a wonderful change from the normal process where I only recognise by the end of the story all the pointers I had missed along the way.

The story starts with Miss Marple reflecting on life, getting older, modernisation, and change. St. Mary Mead isn’t what it used to be and mostly she blames the Development.

 “The new world was the same as the old. The houses were different, the streets were called Closes, the clothes were different, the voices were different, but the human beings were the same as they always had been. And though using slightly different phraseology, the subjects of conversation were the same.”

Miss Marple meets Heather Badcock and tells her she reminds Marple of Alison Wilde. When Heather asks what happened to Alison, Miss Marple replies ‘Oh—she died’. Foreshadowing much?

When Heather Badcock meets Marina Gregg, movie star, during the fete at Gossington Hall, Marina’s gaze fixes on something and her expression becomes ghastly. Shortly afterwards, Heather Badcock becomes unwell and dies. Since her death occurs after she drinks what had been Marina Gregg’s (untouched) cocktail, the big question is who the intended victim actually was.

In the subsequent investigation, led by recurring character Dermot Craddock, the focus is firmly on Marina Gregg and her past. The private reception in Gossington Hall, as it turns out, was frequented by quite a few guests who might have reasons to hold grudges against Marina and the investigation goes in various directions before Miss Marple provides the solution.

As always, I loved this story. Between the mystery, the characters, and Christie’s storytelling prowess, I lost myself in the book and the unravelling of what was going on. One or two things pulled me up short too and one story thread in particular brought home to me how we read books through the prism of our own experiences in the world. While I can’t go into particulars for fear of spoiling the story, it is safe to say that I had a few thoughts about what is going on in this story that didn’t occur to me in the past.

As I said, I love Christie’s writing voice. The following two quotes are good examples of why that is the case. This one for example, is Miss Marple to a T. She may not like everything that’s happening to the world she used to know, but she is honest enough to acknowledge that her dislike doesn’t mean that anything is wrong.

It’s human nature I’m interested in, you know, and human nature is much the same whether it’s film stars or hospital nurses of people in St Mary Mead or,’ she added thoughtfully, ‘people who live in the Development.’

 And this quote is a clear indication that not so much has changed in our world between the 1960s and now. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

‘It’s news,’ said Dermot Craddock, ‘and some pretty nasty things can be said in the way of fair comment.’

Suffice it to say that I’m delighted I discovered the All About Agatha podcast and even happier that it has made me revisit her books. I foresee a lot more Christie reviews in my immediate future.