I just finished Silent on the Moor by Deanna Raybourn. This is the third in the Lady Julia Grey series. It's a historical mystery, taking place in the Victorian era of Great Britain. This particular book takes place in Yorkshire, 6 miles from where the Brontes lived. Lady Julia has decided to accompany her sister, Portia, to the home that Nicholas Brisbane has bought. Nicholas and Julia have been falling in love through out the series. Julia is going to the home uninvited to clarify their relationship.
The house is an old house on the Yorkshire moor. The home was owned by the Allenby family for centuries. When the latest heir died, the family was left bankrupt and had to sell off much of the furniture and their belongings. Lady Allenby and her two daughters, Ailith and Hilda, still live in the house, while Nicholas is having a home built for them. Nicholas grew up on the estate as a half-breed gypsy and knew the family when he was a child. There is something very mysterious about what has happened here and Julia needs to figure it out.
The book follows the Brontes in having a brooding hero, much mystery, interesting weather, etc. We see many of Julia's eccentric family again. We meet gypsies again. And the servants and town people are fun to meet. The characters, in general, are very interesting and people that you enjoy spending time with. It's a long book but reads very fast.
Once again, the question of whether a historical protagonist rings true is an issue. Julia is not conventional but we have seen her become less conventional as the books progress.
I enjoyed this book and will be looking forward to the next.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Death and the Easter Bunny
Oh wow, a new mystery series for me to devour! I just finished reading Death and the Easter Bunny, the first in the Trudy Roundtree series by Linda Berry. I have already ordered the next two so you know I liked it.
Trudy Roundtree has come back to her hometown, Ogeechee, Georgia, and fallen into the job of the first woman police officer in town. She's working for the chief of police who is her cousin Hen (Henry) Huckabee. Trudy loves her hometown. It's a small town where everyone knows everyone and all their business. In this first book, she needs to prove herself as a police officer. With the rest of the force off on a drug enforcement job, she is the only one to deal with what appeared to be a house fire and accidental death but turns out to be a murder.
Berry writes with an affectionate look at small town southern life. The book is written well. I liked the characters and the plot. She has a sense of humor. Totally enjoyable.
As I said, I've ordered the next two in the series. (And to my family: I'll bring all three to the beach with me if you want to borrow them!)
Trudy Roundtree has come back to her hometown, Ogeechee, Georgia, and fallen into the job of the first woman police officer in town. She's working for the chief of police who is her cousin Hen (Henry) Huckabee. Trudy loves her hometown. It's a small town where everyone knows everyone and all their business. In this first book, she needs to prove herself as a police officer. With the rest of the force off on a drug enforcement job, she is the only one to deal with what appeared to be a house fire and accidental death but turns out to be a murder.
Berry writes with an affectionate look at small town southern life. The book is written well. I liked the characters and the plot. She has a sense of humor. Totally enjoyable.
As I said, I've ordered the next two in the series. (And to my family: I'll bring all three to the beach with me if you want to borrow them!)
Saturday, July 18, 2009
An Accomplished Woman
Yesterday's read was An Accomplished Woman by Jude Morgan. I have enjoyed her other regency novels though technically this one isn't Regency: it takes place in 1799. It's a comedy of manners and a tribute to Jane Austen. The latter is very direct, it borrows key plot parts from Emma.
Lydia Templeton is a woman of 30, a real spinster in those times. She lives with her father in the ancestral home. Her brother and his wife live in London. Lydia is the eponymous accomplished woman; intelligent and well-read (even in Latin). She is also an accomplished musician. She turned down a marriage proposal at 20 to a local man and enjoys her single life. Since she has a relatively good income guaranteed, she does not see the need to marry. Into her happy life and quiet life, her godmother injects a ward, Phoebe. Phoebe has managed to fall in love with two men and can't decide between them. Lydia, much to her own dismay, is trapped by her sense of obligation, into taking Phoebe to Bath, the marriage-mart.
The plot is typical of the Regency romance genre. Lydia and Phoebe end up in Bath and meet all sorts of characters, not to mention marriageable men. My favorite of the comic characters is Mrs. Vawser, a woman secure in her own superiority because she is married. Mrs. Vawser manages to contradict herself in alternate sentences; she quotes what her friends say about her, and how they rely on her.
However, this book rises above the genre by being well written with characters that we enjoy. It's a well-researched book and full of humor. The characters don't fall into stereotype. Phoebe instead of being a "feather-headed" ingenue is an intelligent and pleasant companion for Lydia. And Lydia despite her accomplishments, is not as wise as she thinks herself.
One of the difficulties of writing a historical novel is to create a character we can identify with without giving her anachronistic characteristics. Morgan has successfully stayed on the right side of the border. She is not typical of the woman of the time but that stays eccentricity rather than falling into modern thought.
The ending is evident very early in the book. But it's a lot of fun getting there!
Lydia Templeton is a woman of 30, a real spinster in those times. She lives with her father in the ancestral home. Her brother and his wife live in London. Lydia is the eponymous accomplished woman; intelligent and well-read (even in Latin). She is also an accomplished musician. She turned down a marriage proposal at 20 to a local man and enjoys her single life. Since she has a relatively good income guaranteed, she does not see the need to marry. Into her happy life and quiet life, her godmother injects a ward, Phoebe. Phoebe has managed to fall in love with two men and can't decide between them. Lydia, much to her own dismay, is trapped by her sense of obligation, into taking Phoebe to Bath, the marriage-mart.
The plot is typical of the Regency romance genre. Lydia and Phoebe end up in Bath and meet all sorts of characters, not to mention marriageable men. My favorite of the comic characters is Mrs. Vawser, a woman secure in her own superiority because she is married. Mrs. Vawser manages to contradict herself in alternate sentences; she quotes what her friends say about her, and how they rely on her.
However, this book rises above the genre by being well written with characters that we enjoy. It's a well-researched book and full of humor. The characters don't fall into stereotype. Phoebe instead of being a "feather-headed" ingenue is an intelligent and pleasant companion for Lydia. And Lydia despite her accomplishments, is not as wise as she thinks herself.
One of the difficulties of writing a historical novel is to create a character we can identify with without giving her anachronistic characteristics. Morgan has successfully stayed on the right side of the border. She is not typical of the woman of the time but that stays eccentricity rather than falling into modern thought.
The ending is evident very early in the book. But it's a lot of fun getting there!
Thursday, July 16, 2009
A Kindle dilemma
Just checked Amazon for the third book in the Raichev series. It's newly out in paperback (June). I can buy it in trade paperback for $10.19 or on the Kindle for $9.99. Hmmm... this is the first time I've faced this dilemma on which to buy. Usually Kindle is significantly cheaper. Why is the Kindle price so high? My guess is that the Kindle price is still based upon the hardback price. I don't want to read it right away (that's a good way to ruin a series -- read them too close together) so I don't need to download it to the Kindle now. I guess I'll end up buying it in paperback for just a little more. I think I might want to own the paper version of these books.
The Death of Corinne
I just read The Death of Corinne by R.T. Raichev. This is the second in the series by him (after the Hunt for Sonya Dufrette.) This felt very much like a book from the Golden Age of mysteries, a book in the Agatha Christie or Dorothy L. Sayers tradition. I was jarred a few times by the realization that it was really set today. Raichev pays tribute to the Golden Age -- the chapter titles are classic Agatha Christie books and some classic mystery movies
A British stately home murder. Antonia Darcy has married Major Payne since the first book. She's also quit her librarian job and become a full time mystery writer. They're on the last leg of their honeymoon and stop at the home of his aunt, Lady Grylls. Lady Grylls is a character and very likable. She gets the word that her goddaughter, Corinne Coreille, a famous French chanteuse is going to come visit. She's had several letters threatening murder and she thinks that she'll be safer ther.
The emphasis is on the plot and not on the sleuths. It's an intriguing plot though fairly easy to guess major parts early. The book is much shorter than most modern mysteries; again, reminiscent of the Golden Age books.
Very enjoyable. I will definitely look for the third in the series.
A British stately home murder. Antonia Darcy has married Major Payne since the first book. She's also quit her librarian job and become a full time mystery writer. They're on the last leg of their honeymoon and stop at the home of his aunt, Lady Grylls. Lady Grylls is a character and very likable. She gets the word that her goddaughter, Corinne Coreille, a famous French chanteuse is going to come visit. She's had several letters threatening murder and she thinks that she'll be safer ther.
The emphasis is on the plot and not on the sleuths. It's an intriguing plot though fairly easy to guess major parts early. The book is much shorter than most modern mysteries; again, reminiscent of the Golden Age books.
Very enjoyable. I will definitely look for the third in the series.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
The Red Thumb Mark
I just read The Red Thumb Mark by R. Austin Freeman. It's hardly a new mystery (except to me): it was written in 1907! I had downloaded a couple of Dr. Thorndyke collections for my Kindle because they were free. By coincidence, DorothyL is discussing the book this month so I decided to read the book next. It was a fun book. On the Kindle, it's tough to judge how long the book is but my sense is that it's a fairly short novel. Dr. Thorndyke is a doctor and lawyer who has practically invented the field of medical jurisprudence. The character is clearly influenced by Sherlock Holmes and we do have a Watson, a Dr. Jervis who is Thorndyke's sidekick. Jervis serves as our narrator. Like Conan Doyle, much of the mystery is because we are not let in on what Thorndyke thinks. Unlike Watson, Jervis is very intelligent. That would seem to make Dr. Thorndyke's keeping him in the dark nonsensical until we see Jervis blabbing secrets even while trying not to. A major difference between Conan Doyle and Freeman is that we are let in on all the clues and can solve the mystery ourselves.
The mystery is not very mysterious. I figured it out long before Jervis did. The clues are very obvious.
Despite this, I enjoyed the book. I liked all the characters. My favorite was Mrs. Hornby who is one of the best ditherers I've read about in a while. I enjoyed the picture of the British legal system in the early 20th century. It's one of the rare mysteries without a murder which is nice.
I'd recommend this book to anyone who enjoys the very old mysteries.
The mystery is not very mysterious. I figured it out long before Jervis did. The clues are very obvious.
Despite this, I enjoyed the book. I liked all the characters. My favorite was Mrs. Hornby who is one of the best ditherers I've read about in a while. I enjoyed the picture of the British legal system in the early 20th century. It's one of the rare mysteries without a murder which is nice.
I'd recommend this book to anyone who enjoys the very old mysteries.
Monday, July 13, 2009
"New" bathroom to match the bedroom
After Katie finished painting the bedroom, she did our bathroom too. Here's before (on bottom) and after (on top). The new color is a very light blue/gray -- almost off white. It's gorgeous. And yes, she is available for hire.
Androgynous Murder House Party
I just finished Androgynous Murder House Party by Steven Rigolosi. It's a different book. We do not know the gender of the narrator and all the rest of the main characters. They have names like Robin (the narrator), Chris, Pat, Lee, etc. The party takes place at the Long Island home of the narrator and moves to Manhattan. The world is the world of the rich and their hanger-ons, full of sex and prescription drugs. The author has done well to write the book so that the fact that gender is not specified isn't obvious.
Robin is a middle-aged, wealthy, pill-popping person. He/she is a lesbian or a gay man or a bisexual. His/her tone is arch and that of a wealthy socialite lady or queen. He/she is very class conscious and has no idea what people really think of him/herself. He/she misses much of what is happening and misinterprets many actions, but finally figures out most the crimes.
At the beginning, the book seems light and funny. The gender-bending roles are fun. The arch tone is fresh and new. Robin's misinterpretations are wonderful to read about. But it all started to grate on me after a while. Robin would be unpleasant to be around in real life and eventually felt unpleasant in a book.
Rigolosi has written a unique book with a unique set of characters. He pays tribute to Agatha Christie and Sarah Caudwell both explicitly and implicitly throughout. I enjoyed the book but I wanted to like it a lot more than I did.
Robin is a middle-aged, wealthy, pill-popping person. He/she is a lesbian or a gay man or a bisexual. His/her tone is arch and that of a wealthy socialite lady or queen. He/she is very class conscious and has no idea what people really think of him/herself. He/she misses much of what is happening and misinterprets many actions, but finally figures out most the crimes.
At the beginning, the book seems light and funny. The gender-bending roles are fun. The arch tone is fresh and new. Robin's misinterpretations are wonderful to read about. But it all started to grate on me after a while. Robin would be unpleasant to be around in real life and eventually felt unpleasant in a book.
Rigolosi has written a unique book with a unique set of characters. He pays tribute to Agatha Christie and Sarah Caudwell both explicitly and implicitly throughout. I enjoyed the book but I wanted to like it a lot more than I did.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Royal Flush
Yesterday I read Royal Flush by Rhys Bowen. It's the third in the Royal Spyness series about Lady Georgiana (Georgie), the 32nd in line to the British throne. Georgie is broke and not trained to do anything in an era where women of her class were not expected to work (the 1930s). In the first books, she did a little spying for the royals. In this one, she is recruited by the Special Branch to go to Scotland where the royal family is staying (Balmoral) to find out who is causing accidents to the royal family. She stays in her ancestral home with her brother and sister-in-law (whom she dislikes.) Accidents keep happening but Georgie manages to solve the case.
The book is full of fun incidents: flying, meeting people that we recognize (e.g., Mrs. Simpson and the royal children,) and trying to get the detestable Americans out of the house. Despite that, I didn't like it quite as much as the first two in the series. There were a lot of people and I found it a bit hard to keep track of who was who. The mystery was pretty obvious and Georgie didn't have to do a lot of detective work to solve it. But you don't read this series for the mystery; you read it for the atmosphere of the 30s and the royals and the incongruity of being royal but without money.
I'd recommend it if you liked the first two.
The book is full of fun incidents: flying, meeting people that we recognize (e.g., Mrs. Simpson and the royal children,) and trying to get the detestable Americans out of the house. Despite that, I didn't like it quite as much as the first two in the series. There were a lot of people and I found it a bit hard to keep track of who was who. The mystery was pretty obvious and Georgie didn't have to do a lot of detective work to solve it. But you don't read this series for the mystery; you read it for the atmosphere of the 30s and the royals and the incongruity of being royal but without money.
I'd recommend it if you liked the first two.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Can't add an comment?
You have to accept 3rd party cookies in your browser to add a comment. I had them turned off in Firefox and when I tried to add a comment, my Google ID wouldn't show and I'd lose my comments.
Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict
Since I read the Reawakenings of a JAA book earlier this week, I decided to reread Confessions, the first book. I enjoyed reading it again but it was a bit too recent -- the suspense was gone. Still a fun read. Not as good as Reawakenings. In this one, Courtney, the modern woman, wakes up in Jane Austen's time. There are a lot of funny moments such as her reactions to the smells of the 19th century. She also meets Jane Austen and acts like a crazy fan. I also like the hidden Jane Austen quotes that appear along the way.
The modern woman reacts to the fortune teller the way I did, even saying that she can't take the "new age" stuff.
I'd recommend these books to anyone who loves Jane Austen.
It will be interesting to see what the author (Laurie Viera Rigler) does for a third book. She ends each of these books the approved Jane Austen way, with a marriage. It doesn't appear that she can write a third with these characters.
The modern woman reacts to the fortune teller the way I did, even saying that she can't take the "new age" stuff.
I'd recommend these books to anyone who loves Jane Austen.
It will be interesting to see what the author (Laurie Viera Rigler) does for a third book. She ends each of these books the approved Jane Austen way, with a marriage. It doesn't appear that she can write a third with these characters.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Kindle price dropped
The price of the Kindle 2 dropped from $369 to $299 yesterday. Cindy asked if I could get a refund but I'm not disturbed by that. Electronics prices do depend on the cost of manufacturing and those prices drop with more users, so it was to be expected. (Does that sound like I'm a business professor or something?) Amazon is giving a $60 discount to anyone who bought in the last 30 days -- I've had mine a few months now.
I've enjoyed having the Kindle so much these last few months that I'm ok that I didn't wait.
I've enjoyed having the Kindle so much these last few months that I'm ok that I didn't wait.
New box from Amazon
Today I got The Death of Corinne. This is the second book by R.T. Raichev, his/her follow-up to The Hunt for Sonya Dufrette, which I read earlier this week. The first book was very promising: an intriguingly different type of plot, attractive and intelligent protagonists, and interesting characters. The solution was excellent too. But the book ending felt rushed -- as if he/she needed to finish in a certain amount of pages. The reviews of the 2 later books in the series are very high on Amazon so I'm expecting a bit more in this second book. We'll see how it goes.
No books but a "new" bedroom
New and old.
Katie's summer job is painting around the house. Yesterday, she finished painting our bedroom. Wow. It's so wonderful to get rid of the mustard and blue... not to mention the wall designs. And now that I have a paint color to match, I can buy a bedspread.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
New arrivals
Two new books in the mail and one on the Kindle... is this overdoing it for one day?
Today, the latest Royal Spyness Mystery by Rhys Bowen arrived: Royal Flush. Can't wait to dive into it. And a used book Death and the Easter Bunny by Linda Berry. I'm not sure why I bought it but I think a later book in the series was recommended on DorothyL and I have to start with the beginning of a series.
On the Kindle, I downloaded One Bad Apple by Sheila Connolly. Again a later book was recommended on DorothyL and I wanted to start at the beginning.
One great thing about the summer -- I have time to read DorothyL!
Today, the latest Royal Spyness Mystery by Rhys Bowen arrived: Royal Flush. Can't wait to dive into it. And a used book Death and the Easter Bunny by Linda Berry. I'm not sure why I bought it but I think a later book in the series was recommended on DorothyL and I have to start with the beginning of a series.
On the Kindle, I downloaded One Bad Apple by Sheila Connolly. Again a later book was recommended on DorothyL and I wanted to start at the beginning.
One great thing about the summer -- I have time to read DorothyL!
Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict
Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler
The top line of my Amazon page said that this book was available for the Kindle. (Side note: Amazon has finally figured out that if I own a Kindle, they should set up the website so that it's not taking half the page trying to convince me to buy one.) I downloaded it yesterday and had to read it immediately.
It's about Jane Mansfield, a young woman from Jane Austen's time, who wakes up in LA in 2009 in someone else's body. It's the second one in the series -- the first Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict is a companion about the LA woman who wakes up in Jane Austen's time. This is a better book than the first. Jane has no idea about modern life and has to learn about it. The parts where she tries to figure out the class structure is funny and seemed quite real. I especially liked the day where she's so overwhelmed by modern life that she decides the only way to cope is to burrow into her apartment and read Jane Austen novels.
A fun read. Next up: a re-read of Confessions of a JAA.
The top line of my Amazon page said that this book was available for the Kindle. (Side note: Amazon has finally figured out that if I own a Kindle, they should set up the website so that it's not taking half the page trying to convince me to buy one.) I downloaded it yesterday and had to read it immediately.
It's about Jane Mansfield, a young woman from Jane Austen's time, who wakes up in LA in 2009 in someone else's body. It's the second one in the series -- the first Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict is a companion about the LA woman who wakes up in Jane Austen's time. This is a better book than the first. Jane has no idea about modern life and has to learn about it. The parts where she tries to figure out the class structure is funny and seemed quite real. I especially liked the day where she's so overwhelmed by modern life that she decides the only way to cope is to burrow into her apartment and read Jane Austen novels.
A fun read. Next up: a re-read of Confessions of a JAA.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)