This week I read Bombay Monsoon by James W. Siskin.
I have read several of his Ellie Stone mysteries and enjoyed them greatly. I found this book puzzling. I kept expecting a murder but the mysterious death happens well into the novel. I finally decided this stand-a-lone is not a mystery per se.
Danny Jacobs is a journalist in India in 1975. He meets his enigmatic neighbor Willie Smets and promptly falls for Sushmita, Willie’s lover. His feelings are reciprocated.
Danny begins working on a story involving a bomber but is stopped cold by the Emergency, a coup by Indira Gandhi and the arrival of a censor in the newsroom who cuts all the stories to ribbons before publication. Since I knew very little about this time period, particularly in India, the setting is fascinating.
Another busy week now that tax season has begun. I only managed to read one book, Breaking the Circle by M.J. Trow.
Margaret Murray is an archaeologist who frequently consults with the Metropolitan Police on cases in Victorian England. In this outing, several mediums are found murdered with some unusual clue left behind; for example, a feather in the mouth or a tarot card crushed in one hand. Murray joins a local spiritualist group, with which the group had been affiliated, to dig up information. Few of the members are what they claim to be and someone does not like Murray poking around. One of the group’s members, who bears a close likeness to the archaeologist is found battered in the street.
Fortunately, Margaret Murray has a plan.
This is light but enjoyable. Just one note. This is the third mystery involving spiritualism I’ve read in a month. I guess it’s a thing?Breaking the Circle
The first book I read this past week was Cliffs, the Journey’s of McGill Feighen by Kevin O’Donnell.
I didn’t realize it but this is the fourth of a series. However, I’ve had no trouble learning the backstory.
McGill is a Flinger, he teleports goods and people from world to world by envisioning a location in his mind. In Cliffs, a planet inhabited by an intelligent avian species, McGill is forced to involve himself in a a deadly plague spreading across the planet. I couldn’t help but draw analogies with COVID. Despite the lethal nature of the virus, the Rahmaians refuse to accept the danger or change any of their ways. Fun but scary too.
I also read Bootleggers and Beer Barons of the Prohibition Era. Entertainingly written, it is a good overview of the Prohibition Era (1920 – 1933). All the major players in bootlegging are here. Fun and informational,
I read two books this past week (outside of the books I am using for research)
The first is Racing the Light by Robert Crais, number 19 of his long running Elvis Cole Joe Pike series.
Cole is hired by a wealthy woman to find her son, who has disappeared. He is a podcaster, investigating such topics as Area 51 and alien abduction. But when Cole begins his search, he discovers the story is not so simple. Josh has gotten involved in something serious and a gang of dangerous strangers are on his trail.
Fortunately, Cole has Joe Pike to help.
This series is neither cozy or noir. Although there are dark scenes, these are leavened with tender moments between Elvis, his lady love and her son Ben. Another winner.
I also read the eighth in the Jane Yellowrock series. This one is called Broken Soul.
Leo, the vampire master of New Orleans, has Jane checking security procedures in advance of a visit by the European vamps. He also has Gregoire teaching Jane the finer points of swordplay. During one such lesson, a creature made of light appears and attacks, not only Gregoire but Leo and Katie as well. What is this strange creature?
In the hunt for answers, Jane discovers Leo is hiding an important and dangerous secret in the lowest level of his compound.
Why do I enjoy these books so much? The closest I can come is that they hold the same appeal as Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Like Buffy, the Jane Yellowrock is part supernatural, part mystery, part romance and of course, lots of adventure.
The two books I read this past week were Serpent in Heaven, by Charlaine Harris, and The Precipice by Paul Doiron,
Serpent in Heaven is the fourth of the Ginnie Rose series.
This entry focuses on Felicia, half-sister to Lizbeth Rose. Felicia, who is a descendent of Gregor Rasputin, is one of those whose blood keeps the tsar alive. She is considered a charity case at the Rasputin school for magic users and is thought to have no magical ability. Then she is abducted and gradually, as the attempts to capture her increase, she is forced to rely on her own abilities to save herself as well as unravel the mystery of the kidnapping attempts.
The world created by Harris is amazing. I found Felicia a somewhat less interesting character than Lizbeth Rose but I expect she will grow. The ending of this fourth book felt unfinished so I suspect there will be other entries in this series.
The second book I read was The Precipice by Paul Doiron.
In this entry to the long running series, Mike Bowditch and his girlfriend Stacey search for missing hikers on the 100 mile trail in Maine. Needless to say, the search does not end well.
Bowditch is a fully fleshed out character but it is the setting that really shines. This is exactly how hiking in a Maine forest feels: the sharp climbs up steep hills, the roots that snake across a trail with the bark worn shiny from hiking boots, and always the climbing over the granite that underpins this state.
This past week, I read only one book: Overboard by Sara Paretsky.
V.I. Warshawsky in trouble again.
On a morning run with her dogs, Vic discovers a young girl sheltering in a space between the rocks on the shore. She is very thin and pale and her legs are covered with burns. She says only one word: ngayi.
Suspecting that this is some immigrant girl who speaks only Hungarian, Vic has her sent to the hospital. But while a janitor, with some Hungarian, is questioning her another man enters the room as well. Shortly after, the girl runs away, and the janitor is found murdered.
Simultaneously, Vic is trying to look after a synagogue that has been the target of hateful graffiti and dealing with a troubled teen who ends up in her office.
The story is complex and Vic puts herself in danger several times, but it all comes together in a satisfying conclusion.
It is easy to understand why Paretsky has such a stellar reputation. Highly recommended.
Since my husband and I spent a week in Paris, and with all the holidays, I have not had as much time to read.However, waiting in airports always provides some time.
I read the newest Owen Archer, The Fox in the Fold, by Candace Robb.
The death of a stone mason, found stripped naked in a field, brings Archer into contact with an old enemy bent on revenge and threatening Archer’s family. Totally immersive. Robb’s descriptions are woven into the story so adroitly that I felt as though I lived during that time. This novel also filled in some of the back story for Owen Archer at the same time it involved Archer’s children. Highly recommended.
Flavia Alba is the adopted daughter of Marcus Falco and Helen Justina. While her parents are away, Flavia is hired to investigate two strange deaths. Her investigation brings her into close contact with several acting troupes. The use of mythology (Greek to Roman) is used to good effect here, Flavia is an interesting detective, strong willed and determined. So far, this is my favorite of the series. Recommended.
I returned to one of my favorite series: Jane Yellowrock
A magic driven wind storm tears through Jane’s house, ripping off the door. One discovers Evan, Molly’s husband, outside and lobbying wind spells at her. Molly has disappeared. So, at the same time Jane is investigating a new vamp in town, she is trying to find Molly, who, they quickly discover, has been kidnapped. Jane finally comes to terms with her mission as vamp killer and she and Beast, given a chance to separate, choose to remain a hybrid. I don’t know how Hunter does it but this urban fantasy series remains fresh and captivating.
Finally, I read Pyramids of London. I picked it up as a ‘Best of” and it really is. The world building is simply amazing and besides the fantasy story, there is a murder mystery. Host is a new author for me but I will be reading others by her.
The murders of the Tenning children’s parents out them into the care of their aunt Adrienne. To investigate the murders, Adrienne sells herself to a vampire god-king. But she is inadvertently claimed by a totally different vampire and that totally changes the trajectory of her investigation..
This is a world where the Roman and Egyptian god-kings rule. Rome is beginning to take the lead because they own the energy source fulgite. Tiny Prytennia has to utilize every strategy at their command to survive. I did not see the end, or the final twist coming. Highly recommended.
I read two cozies, plus another Jane Yellowrock, this past week.
I continue with the Marcia Talley series – except I accidentally skipped number 3 and had to go back. I am glad I did.
In Occasion for Revenge, Hannah’s father begins dating a woman named Pauline, a woman who both Hannah and her sister Ruth despise. They are also dealing with their father’s alcoholism. (I know this sounds heavy but Talley has a light touch.) Then Pauline is found murdered and Hannah’s father disappears. Recommended.
Doggone Death is the second by S.A. Kazlo.
At a hooker’s workshop (that’s rug hooking), a difficult woman dies in Jamies’s arms. So, she is instantly suspected of the murder. Of course, she begins investigating. The murderer tries to warn our intrepid heroine off, including by poisoning her beloved dog Porkchop. Fun and frothy.
Finally, I read the next in the Jane Yellowrock series, Blood Trade.
Jane heads to Natchez on a job for the Master of that City. Naturaleza, vampires who treat humans like cattle and drain them, are killing humans. When Jane arrives, she finds these vampires are unlike any she’s ever seen before. Silver does not kill them and they scuttle like insects. What is going on?
Jane is also dealing with an appeal from an old friend who grew up in the children’s home with her. Misha’s daughter is desperately ill with leukemia. Misha risks meeting with vampires, some of them the Naturaleza, and now she has disappeared, leaving her daughter in Jane’s care.
The first book I read this week was Book Four of the Jane Yellowrock series, Raven Cursed.
Jane is working security in Asheville, N.C. for a vamp parley. The vamps in Asheville want to set up their own territory. Evangeline Overheat, Molly’s older sister, has agreed to facilitate the parley. But a group of campers are attacked by something supernatural, and Jane realizes the two werewolves she didn’t kill have followed her to North Carolina and are on the hunt.
Then Lincoln Shaddock does not turn up at the parley and Evangeline begins changing, growing younger and prettier. What is going on?
Action packed and fun.
The second book I read was A Truth to Lie For by Anne Perry, the fourth Elena Stands mystery.
Elena is called into service again, tasked with pulling a scientist working on German warfare out of Germany. Elena calls upon her old friend for Jacob and they successfully find the scientist. But when they try to take him out of Berlin, traffic jams and roadblocks send them south to Munich. Just in time for the Night of the Long Knives; Hitler’s strike against Rohm’s brownshirts.
At the same, a young Gestapo officer, Hans Beckendorff is trying to navigate the politics of working for the Reich, and for an increasingly unhinged Hitler. In the end, he is forced to make a life-changing decision.
I had a few criticisms. The ending seems rushed. Perry relies on a few phrases over and over (I really got tired of ‘surprisingly good coffee’.) It is not really a mystery, more a thriller.
But here’s the thing. Despite the absence of blood and gore (a constant feature of the Yellowrock novels), A Truth to Lie For is absolutely terrifying. Maybe because the reader knows what is coming in the next few years, but I felt a sense of dread throughout. I was truly scared at several points in the book.
I went back to two of my favorite series this week: the Hannah Ives series and the Jane Yellowrock series.
Through the Darkness by Marcia Talley starts out with a scary premise: Hannah’s ten month grandson is kidnapped. No ransom demand arrives and the family is left to imagine the worst.
It comes at a particularly terrible time: Hannah’s daughter Emily and her husband Dante are in the process of opening their own luxury spa. As their marriage begins to fall apart, Hannah begins to investigate on her own, despite the resistance from the cops and her own brother-in-law.
This part of the mystery was great. Very captivating. BUT, the death towards the end seems tacked on, as though Marcia was told to add 50 pages. Although this was less than perfect, I enjoy this series and will continue.
The story continues almost immediately after the previous book. Campers in North Carolina have been found slaughtered. Although it appears the murders were done by the vampires, Jane scents the werewolves. The fact that only the males have been killed, while the women have been taken convinces Jane that the weres are still trying to turn females for mates.
At the same time the grindylow is tracking the wires, Turning humans is forbidden so the grindy is tasked with killing the malefactors.
Riveting as usual. I can only wonder that Faith Hunter is able to continue this series with every book exciting and fascinating.
