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1496741188
| 9781496741189
| 1496741188
| 3.65
| 725
| Mar 26, 2024
| Mar 26, 2024
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it was ok
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Jane and Redvers find themselves on assignment on the Isle of Iona in Scotland. Jane is to infiltrate an occultist society, the Order of the Golden Da
Jane and Redvers find themselves on assignment on the Isle of Iona in Scotland. Jane is to infiltrate an occultist society, the Order of the Golden Dawn, to get the intel on the leader, Robert Nightingale, to see if he would be useful to whoever it is Redvers works for. Redvers is known to Nightingale so he can not be the one to pretend to join the Order. He is, however, staying on the other side of the island to gather Jane's information and report back to his superiors. (And get in some canoodling). Jane soon discovers that the Order of the Golden Dawn isn't the only occultist society nearby and some of the members take their mysticism a little too seriously. One of the members, Netta Fortunario, is staying at the same cottage as Jane and Jane tries to get to know the other woman but Netta seems troubled. She's restless and determined to leave the island but the ferry doesn't run on Sundays so she must wait. When she disappears and no one can find her, Jane soon discovers why. She stumbles across Netta's body lying on top of an unusual star-shaped symbol (pentagram), scratched and naked as the day she was born. Another member of the order, Dion, claims she saw a disturbance in the astral plane and she and Netta had been attacked by cats; an attack perpetuated by Mina, the leader of a rival occultist society. Netta's father arrives on the scene demanding to stay in her room and gather her belongings. He claims to have discovered his daughter's will, leaving all her money to him. Then Robert Nightingale produces a second will leaving Netta's fortune to the Order of the Golden Dawn. Jane is very confused and suspicious that this man is not even Netta's father. While out walking one cold, windy day, Jane discovers a second body on the cliffs. Surely this second murder can't be related to the first? How could it when the primary suspects weren't able to be in the right place at the right time? Jane is left with more questions than answers but she won't stop until justice is done. Oh this story is ridiculous! It's complicated and all over the place. Jane and Redvers are not investigating together and when they come together she walks in the wind and cold, meets Redvers at their spot, relays information, then they make out (off page) and separate again. I'm not into the occult or whatever this is and it seemed a little obvious to me what Nightingale was all about. There were some clever plot twists. While I didn't put all the pieces together, I wasn't surprised by the reveal. The Scottish setting was atmospheric but stereotypical. Scotland - springtime- cold, windy- cliffs - sheep dotting the landscape - old stone buildings. I'm not sure there's anything specifically Isle of Ilona about the setting. It seems to be the same Irish/Scottish remote British setting I've read before. Jane has finally come into her own. She's confident and independent. Jane knows what she wants for her future too and makes some VERY modern decisions. I applaud her and I'm so grateful she did make the decisions she did. I agree with both their reasons and yet feel a little sad because they're the last of their lines. Maybe his father will remarry and produce another son. This time, it's Jane going off and sleuthing without her love and he's feeling left out. There's not much for Redvers to do. As the stakes get higher, he worries a lot about her and hovers in the background. I hate that she has to be saved by men. I think Jane could have found a way to save herself somehow. These Order of the Golden Dawn people are weird. I have heard of this organization but I didn't know the characters were real people or this story was based around a very real unsolved mystery. Robert Nightingale is a mansplainer, an egomaniac and a fool. I wouldn't trust him with government secrets or whatever it is they want him to do. He likes to brag yet right away, Jane's cover is privately blown revealing Robert is not quite as important and well-connected as he claims to be. Figures. Here, William Butler Yeats is a member of the Order of the Golden Dawn. He seems more curious than serious about it. He's kind and befriends Jane. I think he enjoys helping her sleuth at one point. It seems to put a spring in his step. If I were Jane, I would trust W.B. with my secret but no one else. The two women are out to lunch. They seem to be proto-hippies. Dion is bemused by Nightingale the blowhard and the pomp and circumstance of the order at first and seems like a snarky type Jane could be friends with - if she's not a murderer. Yet, for the rest of the book, Dion goes on about the astral plane and whatever that means. Jane is perplexed, Redvers scoffs and I just roll my eyes. I did like Netta. An Anglo-Italian woman, she seemed mentally distressed and truly scared. Whether she was having a psychotic breakdown or she truly believed something bad was going to happen because of the astral plane or whatever, I feel sad that everyone dismissed her. There wasn't anything anyone could do anyway and she didn't want Jane's friendship. Unlike Jane, I do think the man claiming to be Netta's father is actually her father and I do believe he's only after her money. Old school Italian men of that era didn't value daughters and he would see that money has his. What does she need it for? It should stay in the family and not go to this strange Order. His personality is SO stereotypical. He's loud, temperamental and sneaky. I don't think he had anything to do with his daughter's death though. Mr. Fortunario is at first friendly with and then argues with Michael McCrary, Jane's host. Michael is a cheapskate and like Netta's dad, has a temper. He's also dead set against anything having to do with the supernatural or occult or whatever you call it. I find him very suspicious and don't trust him. His wife, Fiona, is lovely. She seems a little wary of her husband at times and has to hide her tarot cards in the pantry where he never goes. THAT doesn't sound like a healthy marriage to me. Fiona is motherly and kind to Jane though and tries to protect Jane from danger the best she can. Mina Mathers heads a rival occultist society. She was once a member of the Order of the Golden Dawn and her husband was the leader. When he died, Mina was supposed to be the new leader but Robert Nightingale stole the leadership role from her. Mina is furious and believes the Order has moved away from their true purpose, how her husband wanted it to be. Mina is skilled at projecting visions into people's minds and Jane is susceptible. That makes me uneasy. Mina is engaged in a blood feud with Nightingale and anyone in the Order, apparently. She supposedly sent cats to attack Dion and Netta on the astral plane. Um okaayyy.... Yet Mina is friendly towards Jane and good to her assistant, a meek young Irish woman named Colleen. Mina spreads rumors that Nightingale was a womanizer and inappropriate with young women. Did something happen with Colleen that actually triggered Mina's feud? Or did he reject her for being too told and hell hath no fury like a woman scorned? I think, somehow, Colleen is the key here. I think perhaps Nightingale and Netta had had an affair and she broke it off and was trying to leave the Order. I think maybe Colleen got jealous and may have caused Netta's death. The romance plot concludes nicely - spoiler on the cover - and thus concludes Jane's adventures. Or does it? As far as I'm concerned, I'll probably finish here. The writing style doesn't wow me and I don't care enough about Jane to want to continue to read more about her. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Feb 2025
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Feb 03, 2025
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Feb 03, 2025
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Hardcover
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1496741412
| 9781496741417
| B0BSRJBZCC
| 4.02
| 735
| Sep 26, 2023
| Sep 26, 2023
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liked it
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Jane and Redvers travel to England to meet Redvers's family. Redvers is shocked to discover his father is recently engaged and soon to be married to a
Jane and Redvers travel to England to meet Redvers's family. Redvers is shocked to discover his father is recently engaged and soon to be married to a twice widowed newcomer to the village. Evelyn Hesse is cut from the same mold as Redvers's mother and he is not so thrilled about this new union. When they hear a rumor that Evelyn's two husbands may not have died of natural causes, it gives Redvers a reason to investigate the widow and save his father. When their best source drops dead at a Christmas party, it seems to confirm their suspicions that someone doesn't want them asking questions. Can they find proof and save Mr. Dibble? This story has a good dash of holiday charm and a lot of humor. This is a novella so the plot is a little sparse but there is a good deal of picking locks and asking questions. I wasn't entirely surprised by the reveal. I kind of figured it was something along those lines. Jane has really grown and matured since she first met Redvers. She still bears the emotional scars from her first marriage and isn't entirely sure she's ready for another marriage. Yet she loves Redvers, acknowledges this and wants to protect him from the hurt he feels at being so distant from his only living parent. He, too, has emotional scars from a traumatic childhood with unloving parents and a cruel elder brother. Understandably, he's patient with Jane and realizes she's still healing from her past. They're a lot more affectionate with each other, stealing kisses and slipping into her bed together. It's nice to see the relationship developing. I like it when they sleuth together and Jane has learned to pick locks so she can get in on the action. I do feel like if this were not a crafted mystery NOVEL but a real life situation, Redvers would be looking for reasons to hate Evelyn and prevent the marriage and there wouldn't be a good reason other than her personality. This is, however, a novel, therefore, we must be suspicious of twice-widowed Evelyn. Mr. Dibble is a stiff upper lip sort of man. He's unemotional, unaffectionate and uncommunicative. Apparently he wasn't even going to invite his only living child to his wedding! Was he at least going to write and tell Redvers? He should have given Redvers a heads-up that he was giving Evelyn the family ring from Mother's side! Redvers feels this ring belongs to Jane and therefore, he's prepared to be suspicious of Evelyn. Sure she might be a fortune hunter but can you blame her? If her previous husbands died in debt and she didn't have much to begin with or she's in debt for some other reason, she needs a husband. Or perhaps Mr. Dibble just needs a strong woman to tell him what to do. They're a strange couple. Evelyn has a forceful personality but she helps the butler pick up a mess without scolding and she's not horrible to the servants. While she's not horrible, she's not kind and caring towards Redvers and doesn't really make Jane feel welcome either. Jane's American manners are very different and relaxed compared to the stuffy formality of the English family. Evelyn's brother is in town but no one has met him, knew she had a brother and a meeting with him causes her to be upset and anxious. Ah is this another gambling brother plot? Or is it something more sinister? How could she have killed two husbands without anyone realizing? Redvers' two aunts are absolutely delightful! He's lucky he had two warm, loving, carefree women to help raise him. Aunt Carolyn is very different than her sister. Aunt Marie, Aunt Carolyn's sister-in-law is her best friend. Aunt Carolyn is a hot ticket. Aunt Marie is sweet and kind. Both women possess sharp wit and they're quick to skewer anyone they don't care for. They make it clear they don't like Evelyn and are suspicious of her because her last two husbands died. It's the aunts who start the rumor Evelyn did in her men which they really should not have mentioned. It was just gossip and hearsay at that point. I love how the women keep a little something on hand for keeping warm - and for fortification at Christmas parties, dinner, etc. Aunt Millie soon joins them and the three dowagers get along like a house on fire. Aunt Millie can be tough, demanding and snobby but she came through for Jane when it counted. I think the three old ladies should join Jane and Redvers and start a detective agency. Lord Hughes is very patient and mild-mannered to put up with Millie and her new friends. Lillian still wants nothing to do with romance - not even someone else's - or partying. She's a sporty gal who prefers golf clubs to people. Evelyn brought her chauffeur, Carlisle, with her when she moved to the village and he will continue to work for her when she marries. He's quiet and doesn't reveal a lot about himself or Evelyn. Something happens while they're in the woods searching for a Christmas tree that puts him at the center of the mystery. What does he know about Evelyn's husbands? Does someone not want that information to get out? Dr. Taylor, the village doctor, signed the death certificate of Evelyn's second husband. He makes it clear he isn't interested in gossiping or speculating with Jane and Redvers and I don't blame him because that is surely illegal or unethical at best. The official authorities could request a copy of the death certificate, it will show husband 2 died after a brief illness and that would be that. The only way to know for sure would be to dig up the body and perform an autopsy. Ew! Then Dr. Taylor dies suddenly after drinking a cup of holiday cheer. Jane thinks it smells bitter and has her suspicions. Did someone stop Dr. Taylor from speaking to Jane and Redvers? Were they afraid he was drunk and would let something slip? This story was a pleasant way to pass the time and I enjoyed it. I'm curious where Jane and Redvers are headed next so I will plow ahead with the next book in the series. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jan 31, 2025
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Feb 2025
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Feb 03, 2025
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Kindle Edition
| |||||||||||||||
1696610710
| 9781696610711
| 1696610710
| unknown
| 3.81
| 1,506
| Mar 28, 2023
| Mar 28, 2023
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really liked it
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when Jane and Redvers arrive in Boston to meet her father, he is long gone from home and has left behind a letter from the bank stating the very subst
when Jane and Redvers arrive in Boston to meet her father, he is long gone from home and has left behind a letter from the bank stating the very substantial loan he took put is due and the bank will take the house if he doesn't pay it back. Jane is gutted at the thought of losing her home where her memories of her mother are and her happy childhood with her parents. While the bank allows Jane a few weeks to find out what her father did with the money, it is not going to be an easy task because apparently he's gone to Constantinople (Istanbul) in search of the Sultan's Heart. Arriving in Istanbul, Jane and Redvers discover Aunt Millie and Lord Hughes are already there but there's no sign of Henry Wunderly! He left the hotel without luggage and simply disappeared. Jane turns to an archivist friend of her father's for answers but he doesn't know much more than Jane. The search for Henry Wunderly leads Jane and Redvers into their most dangerous adventure yet as various people follow them on their trek through Istanbul and onto the Orient Express, Budapest and elsewhere searching for Jane's missing father. This was the most thrilling adventure yet! I simply could not put this one down! I stayed up very late finishing the very end. It was great to have Jane and Redvers investigate together. It made the story flow better not to have to have them explain everything and also it shows Jane's growth and her growing confidence in her own abilities. The action starts early on and it's nearly non-stop. The plot was a little hard to follow at first and I had to go back a bit and relisten to the part about the Sultan's Heart. The body count was a little high for me and the big reveal was a little lackluster. I never guessed who the villain was but also wasn't totally surprised. The villain's motive wasn't what I was expecting. The details of traveling in Istanbul and on the Orient Express were fabulous. I think literally everyone knows Agatha Christie traveled on the Orient Express and yes Jane she WILL write a novel about it. There was no need for that little wink at the audience. I also liked how the story touches on the Armenian genocide, an event some people try to deny ever happened. Jane is growing in confidence but still not entirely certain of who she is and what she wants. She's hesitating to set a wedding date because her first marriage was abusive and a total disaster. She knows in her heart Redvers isn't like her first husband but she still has doubts in her head. She's a little more confidence in her ability to find her father but yet still naive in certain situations. Jane is squeamish about dead bodies and body parts. Redvers tells Aunt Millie he and Jane are already married, informally, it's just a matter of when and where the ceremony will take place. He is being patient with Jane, knowing her history, yet he's the one moving this relationship forward. I don't like them as a couple. They don't have much chemistry and though they are good detecting partners, I don't get a swoony romantic vibe from them. I like Redvers as a romantic hero more than Jane. Aunt Millie is less disapproving than Jane excepts. She's happy now and secure in her relationship with Lord Hughs. He never speaks but is there, a calming presence and happy to tag along with Millie. Millie is one tough lady and she can handle herself in a pinch! Jane should be more like Millie instead of fighting with her aunt. Jane's father, Henry, is absent-minded, scholarly and selfish. He's not at all practical and totally unrealistic. He leaves Jane a note in the freezer box and that's just the first step. Henry either naively entered into a shady business deal or led a friend to invest in the shady business deal gone bad- depending on who you ask. He has a lady friend in Istanbul he just leaves behind as clueless as Jane. Meral is a tough lady. She's had a rough life. Her family is Armenian by ethnicity and they were force first to give up their jobs and then their homes and exiled to a country none of them had lived in for generations. Sound familiar? Her father made some unknown back room deal to return to run his night club while Meral works as a waitress. She's handy with a knife when it counts for life and death, hinting at the troubles she's faced and the things she's seen- unlike Jane who endured an abusive husband but not ethnic cleansing, rough customers, thieves and whatever else is going on in Meral's life. I'm not sure I entirely trust her though. I hope so. Jane is astonished her father has this whole other life she knew nothing about. Jane is hurt because it feels like her father is abandoning her mother. In her head Jane knows her mother has been gone a long time and her memories are fading but her heart clings to the past and her memories of her mother. Jane clearly knows nothing about men at this point. Unless Meral is making the whole thing up or imagining more than there is to the relationship. She's hard to read and not warm at all. I was so excited there was a historical element to the story and it involved an archivist. Then I was furious when Jane and Redvers weren't sure the archivist could be trusted. I was very disappointed the plot seemed to be leaning in that direction. He knew something about Jane's father only they knew but he revealed his source which could be checked. Then (view spoiler)[he ended up murdered and I was certain he was mixed up in sordid business. (hide spoiler)] But in the end (view spoiler)[Jane's father was somewhat responsible, urging his friend to invest money he couldn't afford to repay into the shady business deal and it got him killed. Of course Mr. Bey had free will to invest or not but Jane's father SHOULD feel guilty. (hide spoiler)] His brother, Ekrem Bey, is a slimy character. Jane doesn't like him AT ALL and longs to throw her drink in his face. He thinks he's charming and only has to smile at a woman and she'll fall at his feet. Blech. He doesn't seem to mourn the loss of someone he should yet he does explain his reasons. They were somewhat estranged and argued a lot. Could it be one was the good brother and the other bad? I don't trust Ekrem at all and I think he knows more about the shadowy figures following Jane and Redvers than he lets on. He even tags along when they get on the Orient Express and things happen on the train that can't be coincidences! Redvers was in Istanbul once before, on assignment, where he met the sexy, sultry Katrina, a former Russian noblewoman turned nightclub singer. Katerina seems to want Redvers in her bed and he isn't interested. Katerina isn't the type that accepts no for an answer. I think she continues to pursue him and ignore his social cues. She could make trouble for Jane but Jane is secure enough to know Redvers isn't interested. Katerina helps in their investigation into the identity of the bad guys but no one seems to know anything and any witnesses who CAN tell them end up dead. This was a fun adventure and I can't wait to see where Jane and Redvers go next and if they ever develop chemistry before they tie the knot! ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jan 23, 2025
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Jan 27, 2025
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Jan 27, 2025
|
Audiobook
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1524423173
| 9781524423179
| B0C63HB9TP
| 4.22
| 1,442
| unknown
| Jun 20, 2023
|
liked it
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Henri Fortier has come to Cambridge to escape his horrible father and study English poetry. Yet it seems Henri left one bully behind in France only to
Henri Fortier has come to Cambridge to escape his horrible father and study English poetry. Yet it seems Henri left one bully behind in France only to encounter more in England. He is too French, too interested in poetry, too shabby and not British enough to please some fellow. Lucky for Henri, Stanley Cummings saw Henri as someone worth knowing and in Stanley and his friends, Henri has found a family for life. Now The Gents have gathered together for their annual visit and to welcome Henri's sister, without the late Stanley, at the home of the Duke of Hartley. Lord Aldric's father has sent his eldest son, Lord Mowbary, to host the house party which will now include not just Henri's sister but the woman who broke his heart three years ago! Nicolette Beaulieu is traveling to England with her brother and sister-in-law. She's eager to see her dear friend Céleste but has a more important something on her mind. Nicolette is part of a French spy ring and has been tasked by the Marquis de Lafayette (yes THAT Marquis de Lafayette, a little older and wiser) to find sympathetic French nationals in Britain to help smuggle Frenchmen and women into their homes should the need arise. A house on the coast would do nicely but there is only one French family in the area and Nicolette doesn't know them yet. She has little memory of meeting Henri and no idea of his feelings for her. When she discovers her family's matchmaking plans for her and the same plans for Céleste, Nicolette decides to pretend an attachment to Henri for the sake of thwarting her family. What Henri feels for Nicolette is very real and as she gets to know him better, she might feel the same but what can come of it? He has no money, no home and is a failure of a poet. When a nasty villain from Nicolette's past returns and threatens all Nicolette holds dear, she has to decide which is more important - her independence or wealth and society? Can true love find a way? The Gents and ladies to the rescue! Gosh I just love this world Sarah M. Eden has created. Her stories are always heartwarming and funny too. This is not a standalone novel. You need to read The Jonquils first, some of the Lancasters or at least one story with Adam, Duke of Kielder and then The Gents series in order. I was eager to read Henri's story and find out more about his future wife but this one started off really slow. There was too much inside Henri's head as he brooded. Then it picked up in the middle when the villain arrived. I kept waiting for that and it took too long. The conclusion was not satisfactory and I want to know more about what happens to the villain and the secondary characters. I did like the plot about being seen. That's a common theme in period romances and made me sad because I've never experienced that in real life. The romance ends up very sweet as usual. His father was abusive and didn't think Henri was worthwhile. As a younger son, Henri was superfluous to begin with but when Henri developed into a kind, caring individual with interest in poetry- ENGLISH poetry- his father decided Henri was not worthy of being his son. Henri's father bullied Henri so much that Henri has a lack of self-confidence and doesn't feel worthy of love. Yet he has his friends- his chosen family and they back him 1000%! They love him as he is. He's struggling to finish one last poem he needs to publish a second volume of poetry which will give him some much needed money but for some reason, he doesn't feel he can tell his friends. What? That doesn't make sense. They might tease just because that's how they express themselves but they wouldn't be mean about it. I think Stanley would come back and haunt them if they were! Heck Julia would give them all hell for it! Henri is sensitive and caring. He loves his sister Céleste more than anyone else in the world (except Nicolette) and he is excited to get to know his little niece now. He's good with children -with Lucas Jonquil as a best friend how could he not be? and grows close with the children in the nursery. Henri's nickname "The Archbishop" comes from his inability to lie and his more somber demeanor yet he is not above playing games with The Gents (and ladies) and goofing off with his pals. He's just trying to recover from his father's abuse but now his brother has arrived and that trigger's all the old trauma Henri experienced. Henri's brother is shaping up to be much like his father. Henri's inheritance is being withheld as punishment for not dancing to his elders' tune and coming home to stay. Henri is happy in England, happier than he was in France but he needs money to live on. What to do? Nicolette is a wonderful heroine. She's incredibly intelligent, observant and kind. Like Henri, she's good with the children in the nursery. Three years ago Nicolette was engaged and then her fiancé ran off and disappeared. She realizes now she would have been miserable with Pierre Léandre. He was self-serving and dismissive of her feelings and desires. He would have made her miserable. Now Nicolette doubts her judgement and can't tell if someone is of good character. She's suspicious of Henri at first and can't bring herself to admit she likes him until she can prove he's worthy of her interest. She's been hiding herself behind a mask, the mask Parisians wear in Society. Nicolette was brought up to believe money and prestige were everything and she needed to maintain an impeccable reputation to marry well and take her place in Society. As she gets to know Henri and his friends, she sees that British gentlemen and ladies can let their hair down and have fun. She learns to be less of an ice princess and let in the warmth and kindness of her new friends. Henri sees Nicolette for who she truly is and includes her in the fun because he knows deep down inside, she's just as lost and lonely as he is. Nicolette and Julia are two of a kind and of course they quickly become friends. Nicolette likes Violet as well although Violet is less easy to get to know. I really liked Nicolette and admired her very much. I liked her growing relationship with Henri but it took too long to get to the point. Nicolette's brother Sébastien is kinder than Henri's brother but seems to have the same goals as Lord Mowbary. Céleste Fortier, Nicolette's best friend and Henri's sister, is another strong female character who deserves her own story. She's very smart and sometimes sassy. She's a loving sister but wants to be treated like an adult and not a child. Céleste loves her brother but worries he doesn't love HER as much because he seldom comes to France. When she discovers the reason why, she's living. I cheered her on thinking "Go Céleste!" She's tough and will stand her ground to protect her brother and his interests. Our Julia, a lady gent, Lucas Jonquil's beloved wife, is one of a kind. It's fun to watch Mater as a young woman very much in love with her husband. They're such a cute couple, always touching, kissing and spending time together. They're very devoted parents to baby Philip as well. Flip is just like his father with a heaping dose of Digby! Julia is also insanely smart and still enjoys learning complicated things I don't understand. Um for some reason, the Marquis de Lafayette, is a minor character in this story. This guy. The foppish hero of the American Revolution! [image] Our foppish hero was actually a lot smarter and more progressive than Colonial Williamsburg portrays him. He doesn't come across as the brightest and best mind France had to offer but he truly believed in the cause of liberty and was sincere in wanting to help. Now, with our Revolution over, he's moved on to helping his fellow Frenchmen and fears a new Revolution will soon happen. While he doesn't predict the Rein of Terror, he does predict there will be a need for people to flee warfare and strife and need to do it in secret. Therefore, he's set up a spy ring that includes Nicolette, to try to stay ahead of the situation. Huh. Who knew? He didn't mention THAT when I met him over the summer during the Lafayette 200 tour and there isn't anything on the official websites but he also didn't bring up his American spy ring so maybe it was all a secret and only come out long after his death. M. and Mme Beaumont, neighbors of the Duke of Hartley's minor country seat where the story takes place, seem like a nice couple. She's Parisian and misses home. Mme. Beaumont is eager to meet Nicolette and her family to discuss life in Paris and all the hot gossip. Yet she seems devoted to her French-English husband and new home. They become good friends to the young ladies who need older, more settled female friends. The Gents are always so much fun. Yet it's sad to read Stanley living and speaking. I can't remember but this might be his first living on page appearance. Stanley was very wise and kind. I think it must run in the Cummings family. Julia as Mater did say Charlie was just like her brother. (Charlie is like Julia and Lucas.) Stanley was a very good friend and he saw Henri for who he really is and befriended Henri without looking back. Stanley kept them all going with his happy go lucky nature and words of advice. Lucas may have ADHD but he can focus when it comes to his family and friends. He's goofy, loves children and longs for a family to replace the siblings he lost in childhood. Lucas dreams of adventures with Philip, who is a baby still, around a year old. (Layton is on the way and arrives at the end of the book). I cried thinking of the adventures he never got to have with his sons, especially Charlie who is so much like Stanley. Lord Aldric is brooding too. He has an abusive father who thinks the sun rises and sets on his heir and Aldric is a lowly worm. Aldric wants to avoid an arranged marriage, one Niles is facing very soon, so he absents himself from the narrative to avoid his family. I think otherwise, he and Henri's sister would get along very well and make a nice couple. We get to know Digby a little better. He's hiding behind a mask of lightheartedness and fashion but it sounds like he, too, comes from an abusive household with a cruel father. We also get a closer look at Niles. Puppy is grown up now and facing an arranged marriage he doesn't want. He's kind of quiet and introspective at times. Roderick, the little lord who will one day be Duke of Hartley (mentioned in The Jonquils series), is a sweet, lonely little boy. He longs for attention from adults as he grows and is no longer a baby. He's learning French, the language of his grandmother, from his Uncle Aldric, the only one who pays any attention to him. I feel sorry for the lad. His father, Lord Mowbary, is arrogant and rude. He's dismissive of anyone he thinks beneath him and his son has no place in his adult world. Nor do games or anything fun his younger brother wants to do. Lord Mowbary willingly inflicts his father's cruelty onto Lord Aldric and enjoys friendships only in relation to what others can do for him. He thinks marriage between his little brother and a Frenchwoman would be just the thing to make him fashionable and popular. UGH. This wasn't my favorite of the Gents series so far but I am eager to see what happens next. Yet I also dread it because I do know what happens to Lucas and his family. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jan 13, 2025
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Jan 17, 2025
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Jan 17, 2025
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Kindle Edition
| |||||||||||||||
B0BTTTN1B8
| 3.93
| 968
| Feb 16, 2023
| Feb 16, 2023
|
liked it
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Kindle freebie at the time of download. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and not affected by the giveaway.
Lottie Spriggs is travel Kindle freebie at the time of download. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and not affected by the giveaway. Lottie Spriggs is traveling with her employer, wealthy American heiress Mrs. Moore, across Europe on a hunt for a titled husband. First stop, Venice, where Mrs. Moore promptly falls in the canal and develops a headache. While out looking for headache powders for Mrs. Moore (she demands a specific brand), Lottie discovers a little lost dog, a Corgi, who leads Lottie back to the hotel and the Corgi's owner, Amadeo Moretti. Signore Moretti is an opera singer, performing that very night and invites Lottie and Mrs. Moore to attend as a thank you for rescuing his Rosetta from the perils of the dog snatcher on the loose. Lottie enjoys visiting the singer in his dressing room, handing him the flowers Mrs. Moore received from the gondolier who accidentally tipped her in the river. A lavish dinner that evening introduces Lottie to other hotel guests and high society people. Later that night, she hears sounds of arguing coming from his room very late that night and the next day, it is revealed Sgr. Moretti has been murdered! Commissario Romeo seems to think Lottie did it because she was supposedly the last person to see Sgr. Moretti alive. Lottie has to care for poor little Rosetta and decides the dog needs justice for her owner's murder. With the help of Stefano, a friendly bellboy, Lottie sets out to find out who knew Sgr. Moretti and who may have killed him. This story is somewhat interesting. I liked the Venice setting. It's not your average travelogue and seems more like period Venice than another book I read. Yet the writing style is pretty simplistic and the constant switching points of view without warning is jarring and confusing. Also, the joke about Commissario Romeo hating his name because of Shakespeare doesn't make sense. His name would be pronounced "Ro-MAY-o" in Italian not Romeo like Shakespeare. The mystery kept me guessing but didn't interest me enough to want to read all night. I took a break and then forgot who the characters were but I did initially have my suspicions about that person. I like Lottie well enough. She seems smart and caring. Lottie was raised in an orphanage and previously worked for Mrs. Moore's sister, Lady Buckley-Phipps and family. This is Lottie's first chance to travel and go somewhere beyond England. She's excited just to go somewhere different and meet new people. Because she's a maid, Lottie is compassionate towards others in the service industry and has intense empathy for the small dog who is now orphaned like herself. I just didn't really feel a strong connection to her because of the way the story switched from her point-of-view to someone else's. Mrs. Moore is awful and I think Lottie should quit and work for someone else. All Mrs. Moore cares about is herself. She's determined to hunt down Prince Manfred of Bavaria and make him her fourth husband! She seems jealous of her sister who married a titled gentleman from England. Mrs. Moore frequently abandons Lottie in order to pursue the prince. She even ditches dinner with the opera singer. That simply isn't proper to leave a young, unmarried Englishwoman alone with a strange man. Mrs. Moore is also snobby and rude to everyone. She makes Lottie wander around a strange city on her first day for a SPECIFIC (English or American) brand of headache powders when the hotel has another brand. She's angry with the gondolier who accidentally dumped her in the water, which I don't think ever happens and in this case it was likely Mrs. Moore's own fault. Yet, she is rather more generous with Lottie than expected given her demanding nature, especially when she discovers Lottie's secret. However, she's nice when it suits herself and cavalier when it doesn't. Rosetta is very cute and seems to know her way around Venice. She doesn't have a huge role in the story yet and doesn't seem too affected by the death of her human. Amadeo Moretti made a big fuss over Rosetta and how much he loves her, yet she somehow got loose and ran off without him. He does seem to have cared for the little dog in his own way and he's generous and kind to Lottie. Amadeo had a larger than life personality and it sometimes got him into trouble. He was not above bribing and blackmailing to get what he wanted. He was a rogue and a ladies' man and it may have come back to kill him. This man did not deserve to die even if he did some bad things. Stefano, the bellboy, becomes Lottie's friend. He seems to admire her and shares her sense of adventure. Commissario Romeo is one of those cops who tries to appear like a tough guy by suspecting everyone and trying to force suspects into confessions even though he has no idea who the killer actually is. He does seem to know the backgrounds of some of the suspects but not all of them. He grills Camille Lapointe pretty hard. She's a beautiful Frenchwoman and a writer. She loans Lottie nice clothes to wear when Lottie goes out to the opera and later to a fancy dress ball. Camille seems a little on edge and brittle but she is nice to Lottie for some reason. When her background is revealed, it makes sense. She has good reason to want Amadeo out of her life but is she the murderer? I hope not because she's nice to Lottie. She made bad decisions when she was young and naive or so she says. Did she or was she smarter than that and went in with her eyes open and eager to help? Colonel Pickering is a hapless old man. He's genial but hiding something. I can guess what pretty easily, especially when Jane Harris suspects. Jane is a sharp older woman who seems to fancy herself Miss Marple or maybe she really is a private detective of some sort on the hunt for the jewel thief. She picks up on Col. Pickering's problem quickly. William Cecil-Raikes knows Mrs. Moore. He met her at her sister's house party last summer - or so he says. I think he might be a social climber more than Mrs. Moore and just used her conversation as an excuse. Maybe he's out to make her his wife to get his hands on her money? He's a simple, uncomplicated man by all appearances and befriends Lottie. He believes Lottie is smart enough to figure out the mystery but he is not as clever as Lottie. Billy enjoys dressing up in costume and invites Lottie and Mrs. Moore to a fancy dress ball they haven't been invited to and then everyone ends up at the party and no one comments. That's a little weird given the social rules of the time period. I really didn't care too much who killed Amadeo and I didn't love the story enough to want to read more right now but maybe at some point I'll come across another and read it. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jan 06, 2025
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Jan 11, 2025
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Jan 10, 2025
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Kindle Edition
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0399231161
| 9780399231162
| 0399231161
| 4.51
| 8,539
| Jan 15, 2001
| Jan 15, 2001
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really liked it
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A story about a young Black girl probably in the Jim Crow South who is told not to go over a fence. She often sees a White girl her own age sitting on
A story about a young Black girl probably in the Jim Crow South who is told not to go over a fence. She often sees a White girl her own age sitting on the fence, alone and yearns to make friends with the girl but is told "don't go over there." Until one day she takes a chance and speaks to the girl and they share the fence. Her friends are wary but eventually join the fence sitting. The prose is sparse but effective. The fence stands in for Jim Crow and the children lead the effort to unite their people. The illustrations are very nice and lifelike. Some of the clothing styles appear modern but others seem 1950s. Some girls wear smocked dresses and saddle shoes so I'm going with 1950s and the fence as a metaphor. There's nothing in this book that states a)one race is superior to the other or b)racism exists or existed and kids should feel guilty or ashamed of being White. This book NEEDS to be read, especially by children. How else will we ever overcome our divisiveness? ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Apr 11, 2024
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Apr 11, 2024
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Dec 29, 2024
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Hardcover
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0786807660
| 9780786807666
| 0786807660
| 4.01
| 97
| Nov 01, 2003
| Nov 01, 2003
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really liked it
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Rainee and her Mama go fishing in Jim Crow River, just the two of them, their special time. They wake up early and sit very still. Mama tosses handful
Rainee and her Mama go fishing in Jim Crow River, just the two of them, their special time. They wake up early and sit very still. Mama tosses handfuls of corn into the water to make the fish bite. When Pigeon, a white boy, and his daddy show up, Pigeon can't sit still and the fish don't bite for them. Mr. Troop's rod breaks and he becomes angry. When he heads out to his truck to get supplies to fix his rod, Pigeon lashes out and causes a commotion. Reenie is mad but Mama has compassion for the boy who is hurting. Reenie takes a cute from Mama and helps Pigeon out. By the time Mr. Troop returns, Pigeon is in a much better place and his father is proud of him. Even better, they have the fish they need to eat. Mentions how the river got its name. This is a "Sunday school lesson" story as my grandmother would call it but it's inspired by the author's own experiences, growing up in the still segregated north, feeling excluded, wishing she could be included and wondering if the white girls wished they could be friends with her. The illustrations are very nice and realistic. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jan 12, 2024
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Jan 12, 2024
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Dec 28, 2024
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Hardcover
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068987376X
| 9780689873768
| 068987376X
| 4.17
| 933
| Jun 01, 2013
| May 06, 2014
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it was amazing
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This one is set in 1865 and shares the story of when and how the enslaved people learned they were free. It's from the point-of-view of a young child
This one is set in 1865 and shares the story of when and how the enslaved people learned they were free. It's from the point-of-view of a young child and reflects the feeling of learning you are free. This is a truly beautiful story. The author did a great job showing the little moments that brought enslaved people joy and the mixed feelings of learning they were free. The illustrator captured emotions and movement in beautiful pictures. The author's note shares the story of how her grandmother had a photo of her parents who were born enslaved. The photo was mesmerizing and little Angela wondered about their lives. They left nothing that shares how they felt in that moment they learned they were free. The author's note briefly shares the history of Juneteenth and how it is celebrated today. There's also an illustrator's note about the process of creating the exquisite illustrations. School children and teachers, parents, family members from Spartenburg County School District Seven in South Carolina researched enslaved clothing of the 1860s and arrived at a local park in costume ready for the illustrator to take photos for inspiration! In the illustrations he tried to capture the mood of the day in shades of gray and a variety of expressions and feelings. Also includes a timeline of important dates, Juneteenth then and now, online sources, key terms ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jun 18, 2024
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Jun 18, 2024
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Dec 28, 2024
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Hardcover
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1629797189
| 9781629797182
| 1629797189
| 4.29
| 744
| Sep 11, 2018
| Sep 11, 2018
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it was amazing
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A history book from the POV of 9-year-old Lorraine who shares the story of how the unfair working conditions in Memphis in 1968 disproportionately aff
A history book from the POV of 9-year-old Lorraine who shares the story of how the unfair working conditions in Memphis in 1968 disproportionately affected her family and people like them. Her dad is a sanitation worker (garbage man), her mom is a maid. Neither had an education and Lorraine reads the newspaper to them. They dream of a better life for her and her children some day but the mayor of Memphis is dead set against changing any laws or updating trucks, any safety practices whatsoever the union asked for after two men were killed. When Mayor Loeb and the city refused to recognize the labor union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 1733 and 1,300 sanitation workers organized a labor strike. For two months the workers went on strike and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. arrived to help. On April 3rd, he gave his famous "I've Been to the Mountaintop" sermon in the Mason Temple Church to support the workers. The next day he was assassinated. Adult Lorraine's voice takes over the narrative to explain that dark day and what happened next. The story is told in poetry of all kinds and also prose. Young Lorraine even writes her own poem for Dr. King. The author doesn't hold back from explaining what happened in detail. I don't know how much of that would have been told to children but it is based on a true story. Lorraine joins the strike too and is present when Dr. King gives his speech. She's a witness to history and shares her story in an age appropriate manner for older elementary kids. She does not call out systemic racism but states that most of the sanitation workers in Memphis (in her time) are black. A note at the beginning explains the backstory of how the story was "mined from history" and the memories of a Memphis teacher who was a child at the time and marched in the strike with her parents. The author states men, women and children marched in the strike. Whole families lost their comforts. "Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. paid the highest cost." He gave his life for freedom and justice. I met someone who was involved in this strike as a young man or helped afterwards to represent the sanitation workers. I don't remember but he had some amazing stories to tell. The author relied a lot on the memories of Dr. Almella Starks-Umoja, an eyewitness to historical events. Backmatter includes strike timeline, museum to visit, sources, source notes, acknowledgments. The illustrations are wonderful too. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Feb 08, 2024
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Feb 08, 2024
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Dec 27, 2024
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Hardcover
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0803711980
| 9780803711983
| 0803711980
| 3.78
| 74
| Jun 01, 1994
| Jun 01, 1994
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really liked it
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Ernestine loves watching the trains come in. She and great-aunt Odessa often ride the trolley to the railroad station to watch the trains from North C
Ernestine loves watching the trains come in. She and great-aunt Odessa often ride the trolley to the railroad station to watch the trains from North Carolina come in. Aunt Odessa travels south to visit the family and back again and Ernestine longs to go on her own train journey. When a boy challenges her dream, Aunt Odessa helps Ernestine find a way. Ernestine's family just happens to be Black in the 1950s. The community is Back but incidental to the story. It's not about Jim Crow/racism or even poverty. Her family is middle class. They have what they need and have progressed to wants. If they sacrifice a few wants right now, they'll have money for extras, like a train trip. The illustrations are excellent and immerse the reader in the story. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Aug 17, 2024
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Aug 17, 2024
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Dec 23, 2024
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Hardcover
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1962039080
| 9781962039086
| B0CSXQQQ81
| 4.24
| 25
| unknown
| Apr 02, 2024
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liked it
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It's spring in Michaw and the May Days festival is coming up. Doro's best friend Aggie, an excellent cook and baker, has prepared delicious treats, in
It's spring in Michaw and the May Days festival is coming up. Doro's best friend Aggie, an excellent cook and baker, has prepared delicious treats, including her famous jam, for the cooking competition. Doro, not such a great cook, hesitates to include a basket for the spring basket auction but since it's for a good cause, she tries her best. Wade and Ev are both judges in the contest and while Doro knows they'll be fair and the contest is judged blind, it's enough to get tongues wagging. Some townsfolk do not approve of Wade's stepping out with Aggie. Doro defends her friends but her own relationship with Ev is growing and Doro isn't so sure what to do about that. When Aggie's jam is poisoned and Ev and Wade become extremely ill, it's up to Doro and Aggie to start investigating and asking questions in order to speed up the investigation for the men. They all know Aggie is innocent but there are any number of people who do not wish her well. There are also rumored bootleggers in town and they could have wanted the lawmakers out of action for a time. Who did this horrible deed and who was their real target? Can Doro and Aggie save the day once again? While I really enjoyed the first book in this series, the other two haven't been as good. This one had a lot of repetition and it's way too chilling for me to read about all that sexism right now. I didn't guess who the poisoner was and found the motive very disappointing. I didn't like the romantic dilemma very much and wish Doro would just talk to Ev like a mature adult. I already read the Valentine's Day short story so I know what comes next for the pair. I really relate to Doro. It's very scary that in 100 years we women face the exact same concerns and fears as Doro did in the 1920s. Doro is passionate about her career. She loves teaching and wants to take over as the chief librarian when her boss retires. It's been her dream ever since she was a girl. She's confused about her growing feelings for Ev. She feels jealous when she thinks about him stepping out with other girls but she can't bring herself to commit to anything with him because of her career. Soon, the college may allow married women to teach but it's unknown when or if that will be allowed. And of course they'd never hire mothers. (Yet they hire fathers!) I totally get Doro. I would feel the exact same way in her shoes. However, I hope I would be mature enough to talk to my guy and explain how I feel and discuss it with him. He hasn't asked her to step out with him let alone MARRY him! I think Ev knows how Doro feels about her career and her worries but she doesn't behave very maturely at the end of the novel and even Aggie calls her out on it. If Ev really cares for Doro he will respect her wishes and not push her, which I think he does and is doing. Ev is a progressive man. He supports women's rights and has learned a lot from his close relationship with his sister. Aggie has the same dilemma and yet she's managing to step out with Wade without making a decision on marriage. He hasn't asked because he knows she can't give him an answer yet. On one hand, Aggie loves teaching - aside from a few students- and wants to keep her career. On the other, she longs to be part of a family again. Aggie may lack confidence but she's more mature about her relationship dilemma than Doro is. Aggie is a wonderful cook and excellent baker. She lacks confidence in her abilities and Doro knows if Aggie won the cooking contest it would increase Aggie's confidence. Aggie is very sweet and kind. She puts up with a lot from the nasty gossips and finally, a bit of Doro rubs off on her. I would not have been so kind. Wade is a lovely man. He is good to his mother, he loves his kids and tries to be there for them as much as possible and he's crazy about Aggie but respects her enough to give her the space she needs right now while she figures out her future. Wade is a little TOO nice, however, and it's causing a lot of trouble for him and for Aggie because he doesn't realize he's being hunted or doesn't want to hurt anyone's feelings. Wade is the most eligible bachelor in town for the older women. Betty Stanley and Lila Billings have been after him since his wife died. Betty is a widow whose husband died right around the same time as Wade's wife. Betty and Lila brought Wade's family food when his wife died and he repaid the favor with helpful assistance doing chores for them and having his kids help. Unfortunately Wade's kindness only encouraged the two ladies and now he's stepping out with Aggie, they're extremely jealous. How far would they go to ruin the relationship and make Aggie look bad? I absolutely think at least one of them would. Lila has been sweet on Wade since their school days and hasn't quit. You would think if he returned her interest he would have married her long ago but Lila doesn't see it that way. Trudy Carstairs, a science professor, also doesn't approve of women professors stepping out with men. She's a stereotype of the bitter, old spinster which I absolutely HATE. Trudy fears that when Aggie marries Wade and quits her job, Aggie will be replaced by a male professor. While Trudy has tenure, she would like to see more female colleagues. As it is, there aren't that many and those who have left have been replaced by men. Mind your own business Trudy, do your job, let Aggie and Doro do theirs and live their lives. Take it up with the president and the board. She's also a big snob and doesn't approve of professors involving themselves in townie activities. It takes away from academics. I think she's wrong and having a good relationship with the town in which the college resides and showing that female professors can excel at the domestic arts can't hurt. It can only help her case if it shows women CAN do it all. Plus, Doro can't turn her back on her friends and neighbors she's known her whole life. It would make her seem like an elitist snob which she's not. Trudy's friend Gladys seems to be the one woman Greek chorus who echoes Trudy's sentiments about female professors not having relationships outside of school. My best guess for poisoner is Mr. Herbert, Lila's uncle, who was a judge in a past cooking competition until it was discovered he was cheating. He has not been allowed to judge again, which is a GOOD thing. However, he doesn't see it that way and is jealous and rude to Doro and Aggie. He is part of a whisper campaign to embarrass Angie and Wade although I'm not sure what the cooking contest has to do with their relationship. Mr. Herbert is sexist, rude, and threatens Aggie. She should have reported him to Wade. Sexism is rampant on this progressive campus. Two students, Parker Matthews and Harland Caine, are smug, sexist little twerps. Doro can handle them and Aggie is their professor. Parker doesn't like poetry or see the value in it so puts in little effort in Aggie's class. Aggie grades him accordingly and he doesn't like it. She did the right thing but did they retaliate against Aggie and poison her jam? I don't think so because Parker can just go to his uncle, a college trustee and whine about Aggie. Uncle trustee will block her from tenure and that little glassbowl will have his revenge. Putting poison in the jam sounds more juvenile and like a prank that retaliation against a professor one doesn't like. The suspects who had the opportunity to poison the jam after the judging was over are suspected rumrunners. The Fultons, a married couple who worked for Mr. Parker, a suspected bootlegger, are believed to still be involved in rum running. GASP! It's Prohibition, that colossal failure of a stupid idea for government overreach, and liquor is ILLEGAL. Doro is strictly pro-Prohibition and afraid of Ev getting involved in a dangerous situation. I don't think they'd be that obvious. They know Wade and Ev are watching them and it would just make them seem more suspicious than not if they caused harm to officers of the law. Doc and Mrs. (Magenta) Silven are good people and won't let Wade and Ev die on their watch. Doc suspects poison, either arsenic or mercury and wants to know where it came from. He stops short of investigating himself, he's too busy for that, but he is concerned. His wife also shows compassion for Wade's situation as an eligible bachelor and is capable of handling the old cats. Wade's mother is devoted to her family and her borders. She encourages Doro and Aggie's investigation, sharing gossip and repeating a manufactured story they concocted about the poisoning. She's lovely to Aggie and her kids of course love Gramma. On the not so nice list is the mayor, Mr. Ed Brinkley is an ambitious politician who doesn't believe women should be professors or anything other than wives and mothers. There's a lot of that going around and Doro doesn't like it but she better be careful and watch her mouth around him. If she speaks up and speaks out against the mayor, I don't think that would help her case for tenure or even promotion. While the college president now is quite progressive and a good friend of Doro's father, he won't be president forever and can't protect Doro if he's no longer on campus. Even though I know what happens with Doro and Ev, I will probably still read the next book in the series. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Feb 08, 2025
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Feb 09, 2025
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Dec 21, 2024
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Kindle Edition
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1962039056
| 9781962039055
| B0CM9SRM1T
| 4.40
| 15
| unknown
| Dec 02, 2023
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liked it
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It's Christmastime in Michaw and Doro is eager to do her part to help make the season festive for the college and townspeople alike. Her task isn't ea
It's Christmastime in Michaw and Doro is eager to do her part to help make the season festive for the college and townspeople alike. Her task isn't easy because Mrs. Frotis rules the committee with an iron fist. While she approves one of Doro's suggestions, Mrs. Frotis belittles, insults and overworks the rest of the committee so one by one they quit. That leaves Doro and Mrs. Frotis with some help from Ev to finish hanging the lights. When Doro arrives the next morning, she discovers the dead body of Mrs. Frotis! It seems like a tragic accident, older woman falls off ladder and breaks her neck but Doro notices some unusual clues that lead her to believe this was no accident. Ev teams up with Wade to discover who did this, while Doro longs to go from armchair detective to amateur sleuth and investigate too. She is allowed to assist with questioning and note taking because, as a local, she can put people at ease. The job of solving a murder before Christmas is no easy task. There's no shortage of suspects! Despite being set at Christmastime, there's very little holiday cheer in this story. I found the writing more bland and the general plot less interesting than the first book. There's a hint of a romantic subplot but I hope it doesn't go anywhere. The whodunit wasn't quite as obvious as in the first book but I did guess correctly. I just had a hunch but still stayed up late to finish the book. I like Doro. She's intelligent, driven and kind without being a Mary Sue. She thinks she's sophisticated because she went to graduate school in Ann Arbor and she's traveled on her own to Colorado to visit her parents. She is, in some ways, more worldly than a farm wife but also more naive because of her age and because she had a sheltered childhood. Doro reminds me a lot of myself at her age, actually. She has feelings for Ev she's trying to deny. She wants to earn Ev's respect as an officer of the law and doesn't enjoy seeing other women fawning all over him. Yet, she knows their relationship can never be more than friends. Doro has the age old problem of career vs. marriage and family. What else is new? 100 years later and women still have the same problems. We have more options than the either/or of Doro's day, or we did when I was Doro's age. She shares custody of the adorable puppy, Agatha Christie, with Ev and that should be enough for her. I appreciate her friendship with Aggie a lot. They're two, modern career women who share a love of mysteries. Aggie is a little too overly sweet and nice for my tastes. Ev is a nice guy but he can't help having a suspicious mind. As an officer of the law, it helps to think everyone is up to no good. It doesn't help his standing with the townspeople if he interrogates them like they're guilty. He doesn't but Doro helps ease his path. Ev can be a little too nice though when it comes to fending off man eaters. He needs to stand up for himself. Ev doesn't quite see Doro as an equal partner yet but he admires her intelligence. He does seem to be falling in love with her yet the romance is doomed if the college doesn't change the rules about hiring married women. I think they should just be friends. He's sweet with the puppy and is also good at sharing investigative duties with Wade. I love it every time he mentions his sister. He should invite her to visit to meet Doro! Mrs. Frotis, on the other hand, never heard the expression "You'll catch more flies with honey than vinegar." She's awful! Mrs. Frotis is a snob. She turns her nose up at townies and farmers alike and also seems to hate children. I was watching the Wizard of Oz on TV the other night and Mrs. Frotis is a cranky old lady like Miss Gulch. Less terrifying though. Mrs. Frotis manages to alienate everyone she's ever encountered, including her own little sister. The only person she ever truly cared about was her husband and he's dead. People say she was nicer back when the doctor was still alive but if she's now a lonely old lady, that's her own fault for being so nasty! Mrs. Frotis threatens dogs! GASP! She is kind enough to hire Ralphie, a young man with special needs but she treats him like a servant of the old days and isn't very kind or sympathetic. Ralphie is sweet, earnest and loves dogs. I dislike the period correct term "slow." That wasn't entirely necessary to describe Ralphie. I can tell the author was trying to be sensitive but I could have done without Ralphie. I really hope he's not the murderer, not even innocently causing an accident. That would be just awful in more ways than one. I think he saw something and ran off because he's afraid. Veronica Parson is new in town. No one knows who she is or where she came from. She's a wealthy widow and a man eater! Ev better watch out! Doro suspects that Veronica is so interested in Ev's time with the Prohibition Bureau because her late husband may have been and now Veronica herself might be rum running. Veronica doesn't seem like the type to get her hands dirty. She took no nonsense from Mrs. Frotis and seemed to think of Mrs. Frotis's belittling as sort of a joke she didn't take seriously. Veronica is more the eye-rolling type than cause an "accident" type. However, Mrs. Frotis threatened her dogs and Veronica turned mama bear and threatened Mrs. Frotis! It seems like Veronica and Mrs. Frotis were always at odds and nothing Veronica did would please the older woman. Eloise Vining, a spinster, is bitter and lonely and when she speaks, she's blunt - almost to the point of rudeness. SIGH. Again with the stereotypes! Miss Vining lives alone and doesn't have much money. She's jealous of Doro. Oh PLEASE don't let the murderer be a spinster! For some reason Veronica and Eloise are friendly. Veronica seems to be calling the shots and Eloise goes along with what Veronica says and that leads to them quitting the committee! The prime suspect is the town baker, Mr. Adler. The Christmas committee has always ordered their treats for the party from the Adlers. However, after placing their order this year, Mrs. Frotis went behind everyone else's backs and cancelled the order AFTER the Adlers had purchased a new freezer and Mrs. Adler had baked all the goodies for the party! That's incredibly rude and thoughtless. No, it wasn't thoughtless, it was calculating coldness. A delivery boy's service didn't live up to Mrs. Frotis's exacting expectations last year and the Adlers came over right away to make it right but that wasn't enough for Mrs. Frotis! She had to get revenge. Ouch! That's truly, incredibly evil, especially during the holiday season. Mr. Adler has a nasty temper and he's been complaining and yelling since Mrs. Frotis cancelled the order. Mrs. Adler seems mild mannered but she could be afraid of her husband. It seems obvious that Mr. Adler would be the prime suspect (why didn't he have a contract? A deposit? Sue her?) but what about the Mrs.? He never refers to her by her given name and she refers to him by Pa and never his name. That's weird and creepy. I think he sounds scary and controlling. Perhaps Mrs. Adler killed Mrs. Frotis to save the bakery and save her own life? Irma Green, a farm wife, has rowdy children who want to help with the decorations. They're excited and eager to please but Mrs. Frotis finds fault with them for no reason. Mrs. Green refuses to subject her children to such undeserved harsh treatment and quits the decorating committee. She's a quiet kind of strong and her love for her children may have caused her to return and argue with Mrs. Frotis, pushing the older woman off the ladder. Anita Ressinger came from the city to work for Mrs. Parsons who refuses to share details of her maid's background. Mrs. Fortis refused to allow Anita to join the committee. Who is Anita and could she have killed Mrs. Frotis? Why now and not last year though? Magenta Silven, wife of the town doctor, Another new character is Loretta "Retty" Hood, the younger sister of Mrs. Frotis! No one knew Mrs. Frotis had a sister. Mrs. Frotis was basically Retty's mother and Dr. Frotis adored having a child in the house. He loved and spoiled Retty as if she were his own child. I'm wondering if there was some jealousy there either because Dr. F loved the younger sister maybe more than his wife or because they couldn't have children of their own? Or maybe Retty grew up and had an affair with Doc? That would point to the murder happening the other way around. Mrs. Frotis is not kind to Retty or a loving sister. She's spiteful and vengeful even with her own sister! Retty is very nice and she gets along with Ralphie very well. She's good with him, friendly and outgoing with the other women. Mrs. Otten, Mrs. Frotis's longtime housekeeper, sure loves to gossip in spite of claims to the contrary. She knows everything that happened in the house and all the gossip about everyone. She seems to be the only one mourning the loss of Mrs. Frotis (Retty is away and doesn't know) but only because she's about to lose her job. Mrs. Otten was close with her brother before his marriage but she isn't sure his wife will allow Mrs. Otten to move in with them. She's sad for the loss of her close relationship with her brother and her job loss more than Mrs. Frotis's murder. I still plan to continue with this series and hope the next one is a little better. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Dec 16, 2024
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Dec 17, 2024
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Dec 18, 2024
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Kindle Edition
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1639931694
| 9781639931699
| 1639931694
| 4.17
| 1,205
| Jan 2024
| Jan 02, 2024
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really liked it
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Four years after leaving for America to attend medical school, Charlotte Duvall has finally accomplished her goal of becoming a full fledged M.D. Howe
Four years after leaving for America to attend medical school, Charlotte Duvall has finally accomplished her goal of becoming a full fledged M.D. However, her success comes as a cost. Her beloved father dies while Charlotte is returning home to see him one last time. His letters of late had been troubling, something about Charlotte's mother's death long ago when Charlotte was only four. He claims to have left her a packet of information for her to find and follow the clues, however, he may have kicked over a hornet's nest with his queries and now Charlotte might pay the price. Director John Ellis of the Metropolitan Police is thrilled his friend Charlotte has returned to London. Now the 6 friends are reunited and he won't be the gooseberry any longer. Of course Charlotte is just a friend, she has her career, he has his and enough trouble trying to avoid his family's expectations for him to marry a wealthy and well-connected bride. Yet, whenever John is with Charlotte, he can't help thinking about how beautiful she is, how intelligent she is, how he wants to help her... and hurt any man she dances with who is not him... and kiss her! Kiss her? Where did those feelings come from? Can John keep his feelings at bay while trying to protect Charlotte from the danger that threatens her life? Can he help her pick up the pieces of her shattered heart if the results of her investigation are not what she hopes? How can he do that without revealing his feelings? This story is more mystery with romance, unlike the previous book which was more romance. The romance is not quite as swoony as Nathan and Eva's but it's still very sweet and made me smile. It took two chapters longer than it should have to get to the kiss and even after that, John and Charlotte insist they're just friends! The mystery captured my attention and I had a hard time putting the book down. I did not guess who the murderer was. I was thinking something different. (view spoiler)[I thought the villain trying to stop Charlotte's investigation and the murderer were two different people. One in the present trying to stop Charlotte from ruining the family's good name and another in the past who wanted Katherine gone. (hide spoiler)] The murderer is very cold blooded and truly evil. The amount of violence in this story is a little higher than I would have expected from this type of book. Towards the end, the timeline jumps forward a month and the events of the past month are summarized. I would have liked a little more showing and less telling. I really liked Charlotte when I first met her. She seemed the most like me - practical, career oriented and not silly like Amelie. Five years later Charlotte has changed. Since earning her degree, she's even more focused but now she's grieving the loss of her parents, her childhood home, the relationship with her older brothers she never had and perhaps, a bit, the dream of romance. She's hardened by her experiences yet still compassionate. Charlotte is incredibly intelligent and it sounds like she's a better doctor than some of the men she meets. One, Mr. Stanley, is a sexist pig and is jealous because Charlotte is better educated and better at her job than he is. Charlotte doesn't let sexism bother her and tries to avoid drama. However, Charlotte does make some silly mistakes. She does ONE stupid thing she knows is stupid when she does it but thinks she's prepared. Of course she's not and she shouldn't have done it. Charlotte lets her anger get the better of her at times and makes a sarcastic comment, earning her another enemy. As her investigation progresses, Charlotte becomes more emotional and makes some decisions I wouldn't have done. She says she had a plan in mind but didn't bring it up or discuss it with anyone! Then she becomes more and more emotional the more she learns and the more she realizes her feelings for John are not platonic! Charlotte faces the loss of a dream and I can understand why she would feel emotional about that, not to mention learning details of her mother's death. I think she's still a relatable heroine. The one thing I don't like about all the heroines in this series is how beautiful they all are. Yes I appreciate the lack of plain spinster characters but can't Amelie be plain? Eva is SO beautiful, Charlotte is SO beautiful and looks EXACTLY like her mother. The resemblance is uncanny which is a little weird but not out of the realm of possibility. If you know my sister and see her kids, you know exactly whose kids they are but they're not identical to their parents. John is not as swoony as Nathan. He's not as well-rounded a character. John is an excellent policeman, a good friend and walks a delicate balance between respecting his family and going his own way. He insists he's just friends with Charlotte yet is clearly jealous when she's around other men. He insists he's just friends even though he's always thinking about her, looking at her and his two best friends and their wives can see the love in his eyes. He's nice but I could do without the family drama. His father, Lord Ashby, is a bully but he's a nobleman, a product of centuries of one way of thinking. He can't change with the times and accept a new way of thinking. That would lead to the downfall of society as he knows it and some of his power. Already new money men are in Parliament! GASP! Who next? Women? While I don't like Lord Ashby trying to control his son, I understand where he's coming from and I think John should too. I don't even know if it was socially acceptable for a second son to become a policeman so at least John was allowed to do that. John's whole family is awful and I don't have any empathy for his mother. Five years later and Amelie thinks her rose colored glasses have slipped a little. They may have slipped but she's still very naive. It's not Charlotte's fault about what happens to the ferryboat owner, it's Amelie's. She didn't think things all the way through. Maybe if Charlotte had known in advance what Amelie's plan was, she would have been more cautious. Amelie is CRAZY if she thinks two women going alone to the docks would be unnoticed. Two women going alone to the docks is not safe but oh wait they have a bodyguard. Right and he's not conspicuous? Even I could have guessed what would happen. It still came as a shock though and was very upsetting. Amelie is determined and forthright though. I like her because she's efficient but she's still silly in the romance department. She's too nice and needs a tough nanny. Her eldest daughter, Sophia, age 4, is a little hellion already! Eva has settled into motherhood and mostly does portrait sittings these days. She worries about young Sammy away at school. Well, of course she should worry! Why do these people always think they can send an urchin to school with the middle class and/or gentry and he'll fit in? Maybe by the time he's old enough for university... Aunt Sally isn't around much but she lends Charlotte the assurance she needs. Michael and Nathan have turned into gossips and are as romantic as their wives. It's disappointing they don't do much police work here. Nathan's mother and sisters pop up in one scene. Only Alice has a speaking part. The girls seem to be unmarried still. Alice is as indefatigable and incorrigible as ever. Charlotte's father was a loving, doting father to her but he was distant and withdrawn from the world after her mother's death. I really did not like that drama. (view spoiler)[Why couldn't her mother have fallen in love with the father before she married him and told James so? Why couldn't Katherine have told James to stop following her? Then James would have lied to his wife and the plot continues along the same lines? (hide spoiler)] It was too sad and made my heart hurt because it hurt Charlotte. Her mother was vivacious, lovely, kind and probably also bold and daring. She was the ringleader of her friend group and naturally all the men were in love with her. Dirk, an associate of John's, is assigned to guard Charlotte with his life. He's a man of few words but he seems to like Charlotte a lot and enjoys guarding her. Charlotte enjoys his company as well. For the most part, Charlotte's colleagues at the hospital are great. Matron Halcomb appreciates Charlotte and seems proud of all Charlotte has accomplished. Mr. Corbin is technically Charlotte's new boss and he appreciates her hard work and dedication. He doesn't have a problem with her gender at all. The hospital can use all the help it can get and Charlotte is qualified so why not? Charlotte's mother's old friends are awful. The Puddlestons don't have personalities much at all. The Carters seem nice enough. James Carter is very affable and clueless or so he seems. His wife reacts badly upon seeing Charlotte. There are moments when I don't trust her and moments when she seems kind. Is she afraid of her husband? Someone else? She wasn't married yet at the time of Katherine's death, the party was to celebrate her engagement! Yikes! I do feel bad for her that her engagement party is tainted with terrible memories. The Fineboroughs and Worthingstones are the most unlikable. The wives are spiteful, catty and the Victorian version of mean girls. Anastacia Worthingstone is a formidable adversary. I think she knows full well what she's saying and says it on purpose to "put the cat among the pigeons." She's jealous because everyone loved Katherine and now Charlotte is back, grown and looking like her mother and Anastacia Worthingtone is older and has her best years behind her. (Mrs. Carter mentions a grandson! She can't be any older than mid-40s yikes!) Anastacia and her sister Gwendolyn seem to be the leaders of this group and London Society. Watch out Charlotte and watch your back! Mr. Worthingstone is a conservative MP, i.e. a sexist pig. I wouldn't put it past him to have killed Katherine because she wasn't behaving properly according to his standards. Charlotte's sister-in-law, Joan, is awful. I understand why she might be jealous of Charlotte. She doesn't understand why Charlotte went to America or the rigors of medical school. Joan seems to think Charlotte was living it up in New York. Joan believes it was Charlotte's DUTY to come home and nurse her father while he was dying. Her father didn't want that or expect it. I'm sure he paid good money for medical school and wanted Charlotte to succeed. He hoped there would be more time. Joan was stuck caring for her father-in-law and she resents that and resents Charlotte. She's mean, greedy and cares only about her husband and the family name. Charlotte's brother, Thomas, has different memories of his father and Katherine, being older and Katherine's stepson. He doesn't want to know what happened the night Katherine drowned. He doesn't seem to care much. Lovely. I think Joan might be the villain trying to stop Charlotte from investigating! How dare Charlotte bring up old traumas and sully the family name? "She's more Hampton than Duvall!" (*sniff* and turn up snooty nose.) ESPECIALLY if Thomas thinks his father killed Katherine! I can see them trying to stop that information from becoming public. I'm sad to see this series come to an end. I hope for a spinoff about Nathan's sisters. I loved his family the most and with 4 sisters, there's plenty more stories to be told. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Dec 09, 2024
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Dec 10, 2024
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Dec 10, 2024
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Paperback
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B0DQ211MFW
| 4.13
| 1,681
| Dec 03, 2024
| Dec 10, 2024
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Cleo, Flossy and Aunt Lillian are enjoying a seaside vacation in Brighton. They go seabathing, Flossy has her fortune told and makes a new friend. It'
Cleo, Flossy and Aunt Lillian are enjoying a seaside vacation in Brighton. They go seabathing, Flossy has her fortune told and makes a new friend. It's quite enjoyable, up until they're ready to return home and Flossy's new friend's family won't patronize the Mayfair Hotel and Cleo receives a blackmail note! When she meets with her blackmailer, she discovers a young woman who threatens to expose Cleo's private investigator status to the whole world which would earn the disapproval of her family. Cleo calls the woman's bluff and isn't too concerned but when the young woman doesn't get OFF the train, Cleo becomes worried but no one in authority believes there is a problem. When she and Victor discover the dead body of the young woman, the police rule suicide but Cleo is certain it was murder. Harry Armitage is welcome back at the Mayfair, temporarily, to discover the identity of the gossip columnist fishing for details of the upcoming Liddicot-Hessing wedding. Cleo soon learns her case intersects with Harry's, as her blackmailer was the gossip columnist who worked for the woman seeking information. They team up to interrogate their suspects who range from a theatrical impresario, his leading lady, his wife, the gossip columnist, the victim's brother, an automobile inventor, Flossy's new friend Odette and her family and her fiancé! Can they discover the identity of the murderer before the news interrupts the wedding? Harmony is hard at work trying to make sure the wedding of the year goes off without a hitch. Floyd is unconcerned thinking it will all come together in the end but Cleo knows better. Can she help convince Mrs. Hessing NOT to find fault and thereby putting the hotel on the hook for the bills? This mystery was slow to start. I had to go back several times before I caught on to what was happening. There were too many suspects and too many red herrings. I never guessed who the real murderer was or why. Cleo didn't really guess either until nearly the last minute. I like watching her work with Harry and appreciate that she keeps the police involved with her investigation every step of the way. She doesn't try to apprehend the killer herself. The historical details are much better than when the series first started but I still don't really get Victorian England. It could be set in New York but for the lack of gangs and politics! London had those too but they're absent from this series. The class structure and attitudes towards educated women point more at England than America though. There are lots of details about trains and automobiles, the theater and newspapers all woven into the narrative. Cleo doesn't want a fuss or glory or even really money, although she could use it. She just wants answers. Cleo would love to see justice done for a young career woman not too dissimilar from herself. Unlike other readers, I enjoy the slow burn romance. Cleo is smart and independent. She claims she's never going to marry and Is ay good for her! There's nothing that could induce me to marry at that time- not even love. I don't think readers quite understand the consequences of marriage. Cleo is independent now but the second she is legally bound to a man, she becomes his to obey. She will shortly become the mother of his children. While divorce was legal, it was costly and embarrassing. There was no way to prevent children from coming and how could Cleo continue investigating if she can't afford a nanny? She doesn't have a mother and she can't very well leave a baby at the Mayfair with Aunt Lillian now can she, even if Uncle Ronald approved of Cleo and Harry. Better to remain unwed than shackled and imprisoned. No thank you! At least wait until you're too old to have children, Cleo! Harry isn't really taking no for an answer. He knows Cleo is attracted to him and has feelings for him and takes advantage of that. They share some swoony moments but I have mixed feelings about that. He KNOWS full well they can't marry and he seems to be Ok with waiting but yet he can't stop flirting with Cleo. Cleo can't marry Harry or even be her own independent private investigator officially until Flossy marries. Cleo might not want to accept it but in the back of her mind, she knows her behavior reflects on Flossy and Flossy's prospects are not too great at the moment. Flossy is sweet and fluffy like her name. She thinks a fortune teller's prediction means a random stranger is her future husband! She seems to be getting desperate but is yet still romantic enough to want true love. Floyd is kind of a jerk. He's lazy and doesn't understand Mrs. Hessing at all. While he's polite to Harmony, the man can't hold a conversation, let alone with a well-read woman. Harmony would like to discuss books and current events but Floyd only talks about racing and automobiles and boring stuff like that. Unlike Cleo, Harmony does have the luxury- if you can call it that- of NOT being connected to Society people. She CAN hold a job as an event planner and do it well without scandal. I'm very proud and happy for her moving up in the world. Victor wants to take their relationship to the next level but Harmony is reluctant to talk about it. Well, yeah! She JUST got this promotion and she's busy planning the wedding of the year for their most difficult and fussy patron! As tough as that is, she wouldn't want to give it all up, not now, not when she's finally overcome race, class and sex prejudices to move up in the world. Cleo understands and explains it to Victor. She needs to explain it to Harry too! Aunt Lillian has become addicted to her tonic which contains cocaine, which was legal in 1900 Britain to treat melancholia. She's become irritable and mean as she withdraws from the drug and that leads to taking more tonic and a vicious cycle she can't break. She says some mean things about Cleo revealing she seems to harbor some resentment towards Cleo's mother and Cleo too. Aunt Lillian is protective of her son which is understandable but the dude isn't as clever as Cleo so if Ronald praises Cleo over Floyd, heck ANYONE over Floyd, it's understandable. Floyd still has a lot of growing up to do. If he fails at this wedding, it's over for him and Harmony will be the one to take it in the neck. She'll be the one to lose her job. He doesn't see it and is too lazy to do much of anything. He's an idea man but not an action man. He's still going out at night and probably has a new mistress. He drinks too much and places a burden on Cleo to keep his secrets. She plays hardball and gets Floyd to keep her secrets in exchange. R.P. (Ruth Pritchard) Cleo's blackmailer is just a young woman trying to get ahead and live life on her own terms. I feel so sad for her she was killed. Her brother is a religious zealot who thinks his sister is as devout as he is. I think she's probably NOT and I wonder if he found out something about her that would ruin his reputation and had her killed? She seemed on edge and worried about something when she met with Cleo. She asked Cleo for help and Cleo assumed it was for gossip about her family and the hotel, which Cleo refused to provide. However, I think the young woman turned to Cleo for help, recognizing a kindred spirit in the other young career woman. Although Ruth worked for a gossip columnist, not an occupation that is ideal, she seemed to want to be a real journalist. All women were allowed to do was write for the Society pages so she does and waits and hopes for a big story to get a real byline. What did she discover that got her killed? Flossy's new friend Odette is the daughter of Lord and Lady Pridhurst. Like Flossy, she's a spoiled young lady dreaming of true love. Odette thinks her father's associate, Mr. Holland, is surely in love with her and they plan to marry. Cleo isn't so certain Mr. Holland feels the same way as Odette, especially after discovering Lord Pridhurst has a big secret. The Pridhurts are kind of snobby and rude. Odette is thoughtless and a little cruel at times. Lord P is openly rude and snubs the Mayfair even though the location is better than his first choice. I know from experience that location is everything. No view = less expensive, not in the best part of town = less expensive. Could the Pridhurts be having financial problems? Do the women know about this? Will Odette's beau come through for her even if she has no fortune? Did one of them kill to protect this secret? Clement Beecroft, theater impresario, is a well-known ladies' man. He is known for his affairs with his leading ladies and possibly there are others too. He's married and his wife is either naive or doesn't care. Geraldine, his current leading lady (and bed partner) is flirtatious and lively until she fears she's being accused of murder. She was nowhere near the train. No... but she IS involved with Clement Beecroft who WAS on the train. What does she know? I get the impression she's a good enough actress to lie, lie, lie and get away with it. She has to know SOMETHING about her lover that makes him a suspect? Other suspects include the man with the flat nose, who turns out to have a surprising motive NOT to want R.P. dead! Or so he claims but Cleo isn't fully convinced he's not lying. Who is the woman with the very large hat who brushed past Cleo? What about the gossip columnist Ruth worked for? What did Ruth tell her and why is she refusing to report on Clement Beecroft being a suspect in a murder investigation? The conductor saw nothing, heard nothing, knows nothing. This was another great mystery and I can't wait for the next one this summer! ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jan 16, 2025
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Jan 23, 2025
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Oct 26, 2024
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Audible Audio
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9798986731896
| B0C6N76F1Y
| 4.11
| 186
| unknown
| Aug 21, 2023
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really liked it
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E-book freebie at the time of download. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and not affected by the giveaway.
1920s Ohio Dorothy Banyon E-book freebie at the time of download. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and not affected by the giveaway. 1920s Ohio Dorothy Banyon has lived at or near the college campus all her life. She's proud to be on the faculty as a librarian and professor of literature teaching the mystery novel but lately her job hasn't been as easy. A new president has come to the school with his cronies and have instituted budget cuts and are determined to make the school an elite institution of higher learning. This means no women (including faculty), no sports, no townies, no scholarships for farmers or other "riff raff" who should stay in their place. Obviously Doro can't stand these changes and has numerous clashes with Professor Hemet Corlon but that doesn't mean she wants him dead. When Doro discovers Professor Corlon's body in the library, she assumes he hit his head on the card catalog accidentally. Being an avid reader of mysteries, Doro then starts to think perhaps Professor Corlon was murdered! A new security officer arrives on campus to solve the crime and doesn't want to work with the local constable. Not only that, Doro seems to be a suspect! Doro and her best friend Aggie take it upon themselves to find out who the real killer is. I really enjoyed this story. It's different and a nice change from the usual society ladies. Plus how could I resist reading a story about a librarian? The small town and college campus setting was vivid and realistic. I did figure out whodunit based on the whereabouts of everyone and their alibis. I wasn't sure until the motive was revealed. The ending was a little rushed though and then the last chapter wrapped up the cozy subplot in a random way. There's not much cozy in this story. It's woven into the story in the details of life on campus and in Michaw and in the motive. A few specific details about the time period are dropped in like Prohibition and women having the right to vote and the new method of fingerprinting but otherwise the story could almost be set now. The story is ripped from today's headlines. I kept thinking about a certain college in Florida that has gone from a progressive institution where all kinds of people were welcome to something entirely different where certain books end up in dumpsters. (I know Doro would be furious!) The only thing I questioned was President Winwood's lack of interest in sports. What the heck? Everyone knows Harvard, Yale and Brown thrive on their football rivalries. Is President Winwood over 70 because those football teams date back to the last third of the 19th-century roughly 50 years earlier. I would think that he would want to model his elite institute of higher learning on the Ivies. If he's over 70 he has no cause to suggest certain people retire when they're younger than him. I really like Doro. She's a great heroine and highly intelligent. I just love that she's a professional librarian with a degree that her boss doesn't have! Doro doesn't do anything dumb in her investigation and she learns and grows during the investigation. She's very kind and family oriented. Doro has stayed behind to be near her grandmother (who is quite elderly - in her 70s!) when her parents have moved to Colorado. She misses chatting with her mom every day and misses her professor dad but they write frequently. Her mom was ill and the dry air in Colorado suits mother so Doro's parents won't be back to Ohio but Doro can visit them. Doro has a big heart. I'm assuming she'll fall in love with her new friend. She seems to be heading there. I'm super surprised no one has killed President Winwood. He's an egomaniac and a snob who hates anyone not like him. He knows he can't be overtly sexist but he's doing everything he can to force the women out including insinuating Doro or one her friends was the murderer. He belittles scholarship students and acts like he's living in feudal Europe or pre-WWII England where everyone knew their place and didn't step out of it. President Winwood thinks he's the lord of the manor and everyone must dance to his tune. Only three others do. They all came to the school together and are hoping to influence the board of trustees to see things their way. Professor Hemet Corlon was one of President Winwood's cronies. He despised women and went out of his way to be rude to Doro. Yet, there are always two sides to every story and maybe he didn't deserve to be murdered. Maybe he was growing and learning to accept the 20th century social norms are here to stay. Women do have the vote now after all! Provost Pottinger, another crony of President Winwood, is even more nasty. He smells like Limburger cheese, onions and makes people want to gag when he gets up close and threatening. He seems like the stooge of the group. Professor Jerritt, the final of the Fearsome Foursome, is away for the week and not involved in the mystery. On the other side of the coin is Stanley Gibling. He supports women in higher ed but dumped Doro's best friend Aggie when Aggie thought they were getting serious. Stanley has a temper and has been known to engage in threatening behavior. He had a strong motive but did he get violent? That seems at odds with his demeanor as a sympathetic professor trying to help his students. The basketball coach, Coach Ayers, seems more like the violent type. He's had it with his star players being cut from the team due to failing grades. Those grades were on essays, graded arbitrarily and not tests which the students perform just fine on. The coach is furious and when questioned, he gets belligerent. His wife is his only alibi. Would she lie for him? The Young Women Voters student group meets in the library. Professor Corlon disliked them and their aims. The student leader of the group, Kitty Tenseng, has gone missing and can't be traced. Could she be the murderer? Not only did Professor Corlon dislike the YWV, he deliberately failed Kitty's beau, Pierce, because the young man is an athlete attending university on scholarship. Professor Corlon belittled Pierce, claiming Pierce should stay on the farm where he belongs instead of trying to become a lawyer. Both students have strong motives and are missing. Are they together? Where are they? What are they hiding? I think they eloped and that's where they went. I don't know why they'd do it now with no money and Pierce may be forced to drop out of college but maybe she's um in the family way? Something happened and it's up to Doro to find out. Everett Mallow is young for a campus security officer and seems uptight at first. Like Doro, I made assumptions about him based on who hired him and how he acted at first. Then it becomes clear that Doro's first impression was not correct. Mallow was only doing his job, for which he apologizes and explains! A man? yeah right... He has an older sister he adores who is like a mother to him and she's influenced his way of thinking. His sister is important to him and he tries to make her happy and proud with his conduct which is why he left the police force and is leaving his job as a Prohibition officer. His current occupation is dangerous and his sister worries. Mallow is on his own for the first time and trying to figure out how to prove himself to the older men who look down on him because of his lack of education and experience. A man who adores his sister can't be so bad. He's kind to animals too. I like the growing relationship between Doro and Mallow. They work well together. She brings out his more playful side sometimes and he makes sure she understands this investigation is dangerous and when he offers to escort her home it's not because he doesn't think she can't take care of herself but because he's concerned because the killer is someone known to her on campus and could be hiding in plain sight. The minor secondary characters are so well developed they feel real. Doro's best friend Aggie is sweet and kind. She's a good listener and sharp enough to understand the significance of what people innocently tell her or don't tell her. She's a poet with her feet on the ground when needs be. Wade Lammers, the local constable, is older but not as old as Doro's dad. He's kindly and knows how to treat the locals if he wants their cooperation with an investigation. Wade also is not so arrogant that he can't accept working as a subordinate for a younger man. He's willing to help with the investigation in any capacity. He's a wonderful father, a single dad to some energetic young children, one of whom gets into a schoolyard accident typical of hyperactive boys. Wade is also a doting son and when his mother is in the hospital, he drops everything to be with her even though they haven't solved the mystery. Too bad President Winwood is such a snob he can't see all of Wade's amazing qualities. He only sees townie and turns up his super snobby nose. Mrs. Jones, is a lovely woman, a motherly sort but also one who needs to keep active and use her brain. Mrs. Islington is very nice. She is eager to fatten up Mallow. She'll only spill the tea to Doro and Aggie, women she knows well and not the police until she sees Doro trusts Mallow and he's so young and thin, she needs to fatten him up. She reminds me of my Nonnie who always fed her family and anyone else who stopped by with massive quantities of food. So who killed Professor Corlon? Was it one of the students or faculty members? I see Hoopla has this series. I can't wait to read the rest. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Oct 20, 2024
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Oct 21, 2024
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Oct 21, 2024
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Kindle Edition
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B0D5MW31PL
| 4.05
| 2,480
| Jun 04, 2024
| May 30, 2024
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really liked it
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Cleo has her own case to solve when Mrs. Short, the hotel housekeeper, tells Cleo her sister wants someone to investigate the death of the butler in t
Cleo has her own case to solve when Mrs. Short, the hotel housekeeper, tells Cleo her sister wants someone to investigate the death of the butler in the household where she works. The death was ruled natural causes but the housekeeper is not convinced. Meanwhile, Mr. Hobart is taking days off and disappearing! Sir Ronald wants Cleo to investigate. As usual, her investigation intersects with one of Harry's and they team up to solve the murder together. Miss Hessing's wedding plans are moving forward but instead of Harmony planning the event, Mr. Chapman, the hotel steward, plans the engagement dinner and it is not quite what Mrs. Hessing planned. Nevertheless, Floyd is put in charge of the wedding planning and he doesn't have a clue. This series has gotten so much better since the first few books. The mystery in this one is twisty. I never guessed who! I thought Cleo and Harry had it figured out halfway through and just had to find a way to prove it and get their murderer but then there were other developments and more twists I didn't expect. I really like Cleo. She's highly intelligent and unlike many other cozy sleuths, she actually figures out the clues and suspects. Sometimes her methods of getting information are unethical and downright illegal and that I don't approve of. Even her uncle admits he would have helped her and she didn't have to do that. Cleo is good with her cousins. She shows Flossy there's more to life than beaux and shopping but knows how to comfort Flossy when Flossy's suitors reject her. Cleo doesn't push her own beliefs about marriage on Flossy and even Floyd helps to improve Flossy's sense of self worth. Floyd is clueless about women and especially Cleo. He'll settle down with some young lady like Miss Hessing and run the hotel while she runs the household and charity events. Boring. Cleo is showing him that not all women are like Flossy. The romance is going nowhere because it can't. Harry knows what he wants and is prepared to wait. He's treating Cleo differently now. Instead of keeping her at arm's length and scowling at her, her teases her and hints at a future together. She just can't see what he's thinking just yet. It won't work. Though Harry thinks Cleo can sweet talk her uncle Ronald into anything, I think if she announced she wanted to marry Harry, Uncle Ronald would blow his top and she'd have to make a choice. As it is, he puts Cleo in a difficult spot. She stands up to him, finally, and tells it like it is but she has to show appreciation for all he's done for her already and love for her cousins. Cleo is determined to be independent and never to marry. She'll be a lady private detective and have her work to keep her mind occupied. She won't have to give her money to a husband or be subjected to his whims and demands. Go Cleo! Yet ... Harry isn't like that. Mrs. Short is a mean person. She's hard on the staff and hates Cleo for no good reason. She assumes Cleo is an heiress and therefore a toff and toffs are not to be trusted or liked. Mrs. Short adheres to the strict social class structure and doesn't want her maids fraternizing with the family. They may get IDEAS above their station! Pass the smelling salts! Wake up Mrs. Short. The 20th century is upon you and for girls like Harmony, the new century and new technology will bring more opportunities. (See Downtown Abbey, Season 1, Gwen the housemaid). Harmony is too smart to waste on the duties of a housemaid. If the best she can hope for is housekeeper, she better hope to manage a large, busy, important household - the Mayfair Hotel! Cleo knows Harmony is destined for better things and even Floyd begrudgingly admits he needs her help. Yet Harmony is too proud to accept favors from Cleo and wants to succeed on her own. Sir Ian and Lady Campbell's butler has dropped dead. Cleo walks into a den of iniquity there. The Campbells have secrets and don't want to give up those secrets. They don't believe a crime as been committed. They seem cheap. I wonder if they're having money troubles? They no longer have a country estate and they employ a small staff of inexpensive servants. Their butler, Mr. Hardy, started acting differently after old friends of the Campbells came to dinner. He seemed to recognize them and they him! Housekeeper Mrs. Turner is a kind lady. She gives people second chances and takes the time to judge a person by the content of their character and not by their intellectual abilities or morals. Mr. Hardy hadn't worked there long and no one knows his background. Who was he really? Cleo has an idea but she needs to prove it! The theory has merit and I think she may be right. The Campbells don't want Cleo to investigate or dig up old secrets. Lady Campbell is snobby and rude to Cleo and this is not going to be an easy investigation. Birdy, the cook's assistant, is a girl they refer to as "simple." She's childlike and teases she knows a secret. Does she know Hardy's truth? Does she know who killed him? Cleo dismisses Birdy's mutterings at first and that could cost her the investigation. Birdy is a sweet girl and I'm betting she holds the key to the mystery because everyone has overlooked her and dismissed her. Davey, a footman, is charming and easy to talk to. He's quick to answer Cleo's questions and seems to want to please. Everyone likes him, at least Cleo does. Mr. Hardy didn't seem to like Davey. They were overheard arguing just before Mr. Hardy died. Betty, the housemaid, is sensitive and doesn't like talking about Mr. Hardy's death. She's anxious too. Her mother, a retired housekeeper, is a tartar with strong opinions on morals - her own and everyone else's! She's one of THOSE types who imposes their own personal moral code on others. Yet she got Betty the job through her connections and didn't have problems doing that. I think she's the murderer. Lord and Lady Whitchurch's visit for dinner precipitated Hardy's death. Young Lady Whitchurch is a kind young woman but anxious because her mother-in-law is a dragon and hates her. Lord Whitechurch seems nice and loves his wife but unable to stand up to his mother. His family has a lot of skeletons in their closet, almost literally. 25 years ago, a maid in their household was found stabbed through the heart in the kitchen. She was deemed a girl of loose morals and her death hushed up. No one knows who killed her or specifically why. Cleo has a good theory. Not only does this family have the scandal of the dead made but Lord Whitchurch's older brother disappeared around the same time the maid was killed. He was a rake and troublemaker. The family was about to marry him off to the present Lady Whitchurch! The young lovers married shortly after the heir went missing and it appears they may have been in love even before his disappearance. Did they conspire to remove the older brother who stood in their way of happiness? Did Hardy know about it? Is Hardy connected to the Whitchurch family in some way? I was listening to the audio book at work so I didn't catch every word or have a good grasp on the entire plot but I enjoyed it and can't wait for the next! I like this narrator a lot too and I can hear her voice in my head now should I choose to read the next book instead of listen to the audio. This review by Elizabeth is excellent and expresses my sentiments almost exactly https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Oct 09, 2024
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Oct 16, 2024
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Oct 16, 2024
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Audible Audio
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0593661265
| 9780593661260
| B0CD71MCMM
| 4.22
| 98
| 2024
| Apr 30, 2024
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liked it
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Penelope is a pampered Pug living in London with her Lady. After a pleasant day of playing in Puggleton Park, Penelope is ready to go home but then sh
Penelope is a pampered Pug living in London with her Lady. After a pleasant day of playing in Puggleton Park, Penelope is ready to go home but then she spies a most dreadful squirrel stealing a tart from her Lady's picnic. Well, Penelope can't let that squirrel go unpunished now can she? She chases that dreadful squirrel all through Puggleton Park until she's completely lost! As night descends, Penelope is a little afraid but surely her Lady will come find her tomorrow. Tomorrow passes and then another until Penelope find a new Lady, Lady Diggleston, to bring her home. However, Penelope makes mistakes and Lady Diggleston's dearest friend, Lady Picklebottom, believes dogs belong on farms. Penelope barely remembers her original Lady and is growing fond of Lady Diggleston but the young widow is confused and doesn't know what to do. Will Penelope ever find a new furever home? In spite of the parody of the opening line of Pride and Prejudice, this world is more Bridgerton than Austen. It appears to be set in a faux Regency/Victorian era. (Historical errors abound if this is supposed to be Regency). The entire story is told from Penelope's point-of-view, endearing her to the reader and getting the message of rescue across. I like the rescue story a lot. It's different from the usual abused and neglected rescue animal story and shows kids how easily our beloved companions can get lost and how they need loving homes. The illustrations are humorous and each woman's gown shows off her character traits so pay attention to words and pictures. Penelope is a dear little Pug. Like all Pugs, she just wants to be loved and be a loving companion. She was protecting her Lady's food by chasing that dreadful squirrel! Sometimes she forgets her manners and undergoes a silly training regime. It works - to a certain extent. Her trainer is a pompous fool but he does have a point. In this world, dogs can be invited to tea and to balls so they certainly need some manners but we shouldn't forget they're animals and will act like animals and should act like animals. They just need to know when/where to exhibit appropriate behavior. In the park Penelope can run free, chase balls and squirrels and at home she can jump on her Lady's lap and give kisses. With strangers, in public, she needs to mind her manners. I think even though the trainer is silly, this plot is a good way of reminding the reader in a non-didactic way not to let your dog jump and slobber all over everyone. Lady Diggleston is a sweetheart. A young window mourning her husband, she's confused and doesn't know what to do. Does she need peace and solitude to mourn or does she need a loving, loyal companion? She seeks answers from every source she can get but ultimately makes the decision herself. Her best friend, Lady Picklebottom, is aptly named. If we're going with Pride and Prejudice as the model, Lady Picklebottom is Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Lady Picklebottom (don't you just love that name?) is not a good friend. She doesn't consider what Lady Diggleston wants and needs. Lady Picklebottom knows best and is determined to make sure Lady Diggleston listens to her. Lady Picklebottom truly believes she's right and her heart is in the right place but she's not very observant or she would see Penelope and Lady Diggleston need each other. This cute little book is perfect for young dog lovers and adults who enjoy Bridgerton or the faux Jane Austen trash they put on TV/Netflix these days. When my nieces were little they may have enjoyed the plot of this tale. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Oct 15, 2024
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Oct 15, 2024
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Oct 15, 2024
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Kindle Edition
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B0CP6D3KQC
| 4.14
| 3,103
| Dec 05, 2023
| Dec 03, 2023
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liked it
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Cleo and her cousins are busy with the social season. A new hotel guest has brought along his motorcar, causing much ado in the stables! The Fox-Bainb
Cleo and her cousins are busy with the social season. A new hotel guest has brought along his motorcar, causing much ado in the stables! The Fox-Bainbridge cousins are lucky enough to get a ride in the car to the polo grounds where Flossie is hoping to be seen. A surprise awaits as the star of the winning team announces he is NOT actually retiring right now as planned. A shocking announcement that may have led to his murder! Cleo's friend, Miss Hessing's suitor, has a cousin on the opposing team. He was seen arguing in public with and discovered the body. Cleo worries Mrs. Hessing won't allow her daughter to marry someone tainted by murder (even if it is a cousin) and because she wants to see justice done, she sets out to solve this one. Her case aligns with Harry's. He's investigating Clare Hessing's suitor for her mother. Can they figure this one out and help Miss Hessing get her happy ever after? This plot was a little darker than I've come to expect from this series. It started off pretty routine with the sporting event and murder but as motives come to light for the suspects, it gets darker. I didn't guess who the murderer was or why. The killer was very clever and almost got away with it. I really thought it was someone else for entirely different reasons! The history is woven into the story as part of the plot but it still sounds more like New York than London. Cleo is becoming more intelligent and brave every book. She's smarter and better educated than most of the young men of her family's social circle. That makes her the target of the nasty gossips who fear their lack of education and surplus of ridiculous ladylike attributes won't find them a husband. They have to take Cleo down to make themselves feel better. She really doesn't care and doesn't let it bother her. I admire her for that. She's young to be so confident. She is, however, remarkably clueless when it comes to her own feelings for Harry and his for her. Harry is sweet and crusty at the same time. He's trying hard to deny his feelings for Cleo but it's hard. He knows they can't be together as long as she's under her uncle's roof. He cares about her but makes a big mistake and tries to interfere. Can she forgive him? Is he her friend, boyfriend or brother? His actions are excusable if he's her brother but he's not so they're not. His motivation wasn't noble or selfless. He was complete self-motivated and that's rather unlike him. They make a good team and he's learning to let Cleo take the lead when necessary. He's around to charm the ladies and bully the sexist men who won't let Cleo in their sacred male domain. She doesn't take no for an answer but there are some places she just can't go. Flossie is as ditzy as ever but she's sweet and I like her. I want her to be happy and free from her father. It's unfortunate Aunt Lillian is taking too much tonic. I feel like Flossie and Cleo have to take care of her and can't leave until she's either weaned off the tonic or dead. We get an idea of what is in the tonic this time. I kind of already figured that out on my own. I'm not sure Cleo's assessment of Aunt Lillian is correct. I think her bully of a husband is to blame for her mental health issues. It sounds like she married a man like her father. Uncle Ronald is completely ridiculous and unreasonable. He always thinks he's right even when he's wrong and knows he's wrong. He'll never admit it and he'll never value his wife's happiness over money. He's using Cleo to further his own aims too. While Floyd is no longer friends with Jonathon, he's still snobby and pushy. Does he not want Cleo to be happy? Cleo has a new suitor, an American, Marshall Miller. He's friendly and kind, works for a living (GASP) but is a typical man of his time. I'm wondering if he's trying to send Cleo a hint with his book of poetry. Walt Whitman is his favorite poet so is he saying he's interested in Cleo's friendship but not marriage? She could do worse but he won't make her happy. Poor Harmony is bored now she's back to the menial servant role. She's eager for another murder mystery or something that uses her brain. She's in the same boat as Cleo but without the resources. I hope Cleo runs off with Harry and they can hire Harmony to work for them. Frank is a cranky curmudgeon. He can't accept change and thinks he holds power over Mr. Bainbridge who will accept Frank's conditions for work. It doesn't work that way and Frank is being unreasonable. If a hotel guest brings their vehicle, whatever type it is, the hotel is obliged to please the guest and make accommodations. It's nearly the 20th century and times they are a-changing and there are more cars on the road now. Frank has to change with the times or retire. Frank stirs up trouble with Cobbit, the coachman. They're convinced cars are evil and a menace to society. Their fears about losing their jobs are understandable but I'm sure Sir Ronald can be convinced to give them a generous retirement package. He's super cheap so it would take a lot of convincing to make him think it was his idea but I bet Mr. Hobart and Cleo could manage it. Miss Hessing's suitor, Mr. Liddicoat, seems a little suspicious. I think he thinks his cousin may be guilty and is trying to take suspicion off his cousin. He's an ideal suitor for Miss Hessing though. He's very kind and sweet. His impassioned speech to Cleo is what any woman would want to hear from the man she loves. Harry should take notes. At the opposite end of the spectrum are the two polo players. Mr. Liddicoat's cousin is Rufus Broadman, captain of The Elms club. Mr. Broadman is seen standing over his frenemy's body holding the murder weapon. Mr. Broadman is confident and brash. He's a man's man whatever that means. Yuck. Mr. Rigg-Lyon had it coming. This man was NASTY! He was one of those egomaniac celebrities who thought they could do whatever they wanted, when and with whom and get away with it. He apparently did if rumors are true. He was supposed to retire in a blaze of glory before his body gave out but he changed the plan at the last minute, basking in the adulation of the crowd and his team after a win. Cleo thinks Mr. Broadman is innocent because of the timing of his discovery of the body. The two men were so much alike but they didn't get along. Each one wanted to be the best and most important. Barnaby Hardwick, vice captain, is close to his friend and captain. The two friends were supposed to retire together. They had a plan. When Rigg-Lyon changed the plan at the last minute, surely Mr. Hardwick was upset. Was he upset enough to kill? He seems innocent at first. I even kind of liked him but the more Cleo investigates and the more Cleo and Harry push, the less nice he gets. He's nearly as bad as his friend. He has a strong motive for murder, more than one. Bert, the groom, loves animals more than people. He'd do anything to protect the animals in his care. Did he kill his boss because Mr. Rigg-Lyon was a cad who didn't care for anyone and was bad to his horse? Bert has secrets he could have killed to keep anyone from discovering. Perhaps Mr. Rigg-Lyon was blackmailing the groom and pushed too far? At first I had sympathy for Bert. I got the impression he may have special needs or something. He's certainly not well educated. The more clues Cleo uncovers, the less sympathy I had for Bert. Yet I hoped he wasn't the murderer. Mrs. Rigg-Lyon is a tough lady. She's brittle and not warm or friendly. Of course Cleo comes nosing around asking questions as if Mrs. Rigg-Lyon killed her husband. She could have a murder but she points out why she doesn't. It's quite a shock if she's telling the truth. Rigg-Lyon had a mistress and supposedly his rival made a play for her too. Rosa Rivera, an actress, is sharp. She knows the rules of the game and isn't interesting in love or marriage. Or so she says. Maybe she wanted more than Rigg-Lyon was willing to give or maybe she teamed up with his rival to get Rigg-Lyon out of the way. He doesn't seem like the type of man who would accept being dumped by a woman, let alone accept she preferred his rival. Or perhaps Rosa found out about her man's other seductions and killed him in a fit of rage? Major Leavey, the club manager, is a blustering, sexist man who doesn't appreciate Cleo's investigation. How much does he know about what goes on at his club? Is he turning a blind eye in order to have the glory of being the championship club? He can be charming and kind when he wants to be but he's certainly hiding things. If he is the murderer, he has the best motive out of all the suspects and I wouldn't blame him. I'm not sure if I would tell anyone if I were Cleo. I might be inclined to let it go. I listened to half the book and really like this narrator. She has a lovely voice but when she pitches her voice low for men sometimes they sound alike and I can't tell who is speaking. I was working and found it hard to follow the story. I had to finish it as an e-book at home. I can't wait to listen to/read the next one this week. Content/Trigger warnings: (view spoiler)[ Homosexuality-- Peeping Tom, mention of illicit gay sex; Victorian pr0n (naughty photos of naked men) A nasty scoundrel seduced young girls and tossed them away when he was through. He may have impregnated some of them, refusing to take responsibility; mention of suicide by one of the conquests. Unplanned pregnancy; abortion tonic (hide spoiler)] Cocaine - perfectly legal medicine in 1900 ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Oct 02, 2024
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Oct 07, 2024
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Oct 06, 2024
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Audible Audio
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1459237951
| 9781459237957
| B008X4BIII
| 3.82
| 4,356
| Nov 01, 2012
| Nov 01, 2012
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it was amazing
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Lady Julia Grey and her husband, Nicholas Brisbane, are spending the Christmas season with her family. She's hoping for a cheerful, joyous celebration
Lady Julia Grey and her husband, Nicholas Brisbane, are spending the Christmas season with her family. She's hoping for a cheerful, joyous celebration like the ones she remembers from her childhood. Instead, she arrives to discover doom and gloom: her father is morose, the house is not decorated and they can't seem to keep staff on hand because one of the maids claims to have seen a ghost! When some jewels go missing, Julia is determined to get to the bottom of the mystery - with or without Brisbane's help! I wasn't sure what to expect from this story. I was a bit worried about Julia after the end of the last novel and wondered how her relationship with Brisbane was going to be. I needn't have worried about anything. Julia is back in all her glory and Brisbane is still sexy as h-e-double-hockey-sticks. They have some very interesting interludes when she's not busy trying to make Christmas or solve crimes. She's still the same as always, and I'm glad, yet I think she should have matured a bit after her ordeal. The mystery is so simple. I figured out whodunnit right away. For once, it's not gothic or dark. The whole story is so lighthearted, it made me grin the whole way through. I especially like the menagerie of pets that accompany the Marches wherever they go. The story hints at past events but doesn't really spoil too much so it can be read as a stand alone, though is best appreciated by those who have read the entire series. I want more! Merged review: Lady Julia Grey and her husband, Nicholas Brisbane, are spending the Christmas season with her family. She's hoping for a cheerful, joyous celebration like the ones she remembers from her childhood. Instead, she arrives to discover doom and gloom: her father is morose, the house is not decorated and they can't seem to keep staff on hand because one of the maids claims to have seen a ghost! When some jewels go missing, Julia is determined to get to the bottom of the mystery - with or without Brisbane's help! I wasn't sure what to expect from this story. I was a bit worried about Julia after the end of the last novel and wondered how her relationship with Brisbane was going to be. I needn't have worried about anything. Julia is back in all her glory and Brisbane is still sexy as h-e-double-hockey-sticks. They have some very interesting interludes when she's not busy trying to make Christmas or solve crimes. She's still the same as always, and I'm glad, yet I think she should have matured a bit after her ordeal. The mystery is so simple. I figured out whodunnit right away. For once, it's not gothic or dark. The whole story is so lighthearted, it made me grin the whole way through. I especially like the menagerie of pets that accompany the Marches wherever they go. The story hints at past events but doesn't really spoil too much so it can be read as a stand alone, though is best appreciated by those who have read the entire series. I want more! ...more |
Notes are private!
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2
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not set
not set
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Jul 30, 2014
not set
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Sep 28, 2024
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Kindle Edition
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1803143231
| 9781803143231
| B09SZSXT2L
| 4.32
| 2,268
| May 30, 2022
| May 30, 2022
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really liked it
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Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the advanced review copy. All opinions expressed in my review are all my own and not affected by the give
Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the advanced review copy. All opinions expressed in my review are all my own and not affected by the giveaway.
Lady Eleanor Swift, her faithful butler friend Clifford and "the ladies" (housekeeper, cook, two maids) plus Gladstone the bulldog are in the south of France for some nice off-season R&R to get away from murders and murderers. Unfortunately before they even have a chance to unpack, Clifford discovers a dead body in the wine cellar while doing an inventory. When the police arrive, they recognize the victim and are quick to suspect Clifford! While the Inspector doesn't REALLY believe Clifford is the murderer, he's under pressure from the mayor to lock up someone who is NOT American. The victim was a famous American film star currently in France to shoot a new epic film about Napoleon. The mayor wants the Americans to keep coming with their dollars to help the economy bounce back after the war. If the murderer happens to be an American, it will raise a hue and cry and the Hollywood people will think the police are biased and never return. The Inspector offers Ellie once chance to find one clue and he will let Clifford go-for now. When Gladstone unexpectedly sniffs out a clue, Ellie finds herself plunged into the world of hard-partying Hollywood actors, artists and other bohemian types. The more Ellie learns, the more it seems almost everyone had a reason to hate the leading man but which one wanted him dead the most? Will Ellie survive a vacation with the Hollywood set or will this be her final adventure. Even if she survives, what will Hugh say? What he doesn't know can't hurt him... This is a fun adventure. It starts with the dead body in the very first line! That caught my attention. While the story flagged a bit here and there, especially in the third act, I still stayed up late to finish it. I had a brief suspicion about whodunit but not much motive. I hoped it wasn't that person. By the time of the reveal, I was so confused that I am certain the author wrote this book without a murderer in mind in advance. It reads that way anyway. Even so, I liked this one a lot. The historical details about the arts and entertainment industry are really good and the reader gets to read about the birth of a place like Cannes and about all the new household inventions of the 1920s. My only major complaint is the hard-partying Hollywood set is too similar to the Bright Young People set Ellie already investigated. I caught two spelling errors. Alright should be two words. two words people - All right. Not "Are you alright?" Alright is OK in speech when it means OK but not when it means well as in "Are you all right? Are you well?" Location 4035 American's should not have an apostrophe. As always, Ellie is lovely but when she sees injustice, her temper flares. She loves Clifford as a dear friend, though he would be horrified to hear her say it. She knows he's not a murderer and wants him free NOW! I'm tired of the drawn out romance. Hugh is not here and Ellie isn't sure where they stand. He works too much and is still kind of enigmatic. What about that bombshell he dropped a few books ago that (view spoiler)[he had a wife who died! (hide spoiler)] What was that all about? Clifford is as impeccable and upright as ever. He is honorable, honest and very proper. He adores Ellie like she's his own niece and does not look after her out of loyalty to her uncle. We learn more about his backstory which is surprising. Clifford is no match for the Americans who underestimate him because he's a stiff, upright Englishman. The ladies are fun as always. Their amazement at household items we take for granted, like the refrigerator, was fun to see. I love how they have to name everything. Little Polly is still skittish and clumsy but with Lizzie by her side, she's not as fearful. Gladstone is as adorable and drooly as ever. This time he gets to uncover evidence- or rather chew evidence! He also has his fill of slippers in a scene in which hilarity ensues. It's too bad that scene was told after the fact. It would have been fun to see it. It is interesting to see Ellie basically starting over, having to deal with a new detective. Inspector Damboise comes across as your stereotypical arrogant, lazy Frenchman. He dresses like a dandy and jumps to conclusions about Ellie and Clifford. I thought he was going to suspect BOTH of them from the way he acted. At first he keeps her in the dark and she doesn't know what's happening. Monsieur le maire, Mayor Lessard is more what I expected. He wants to protect his own interests at all costs and doesn't care about the cost of innocent life. They still use the guillotine in France which means Clifford's life is at stake! I can see the mayor's point but really? Are those the people you WANT to come to your town? It felt rather like The Jersey Shore : the murder mystery. Perhaps if the mayor doesn't railroad Clifford, Ellie will tell her friends and neighbors to come to Garbonne Sur Mer and spend their money. It won't be as much as American dollars because apparently the English are rude and cheap but it's better than letting a murderer go free. After Ellie meets the mayor, Inspector Lessard becomes more of a complex and sympathetic character. He's a loving husband and father and the scene at his home is delightful! Ellie understands he's just doing his job and orders come from above, the same as it is for Hugh back home. First things first. Ellie wants to know who owns the cottage she's renting. The murder may be connected to the owner. Monsieur Thibaud, the rental agent, is nowhere to be found and doesn't want to be found. No one will talk about him or the villa! That does NOT sound like good news. Something shady is going on for sure. The victim, Chester Armstrong, a famous Hollywood actor, disappeared from the set after storming off in a temper a few days earlier. Mayor Lessard has Inspector Damboise put it out that the actor died from a heart attack. No one seems to be truly mourning Mr. Armstrong. The man was hot tempered, paranoid, bossy and rude. He routinely stormed off set and behaved unprofessionally. Who DIDN'T want him dead? Ellie must go undercover and infiltrate the Hollywood set. Lucky for her, she's already met Floyd and Kitty Fitzwilliam, a wealthy American ex-stock broker and his wife. He was rumored to have been ruthless but is lively and friendly enough. He's wealthy enough to offer to pay for repairs to Ellie's car and to host parties for film crews night after night. Kitty comes across as a silly flibbertigibbet, probably high or drunk. They both appear to be "well lit" every night and even the morning Ellie meets them yet the morning after their parties, they appear fresh and fine. I suspect these two are up to shady business. I am certain the murder involves them somehow. They're too much like the Bright Young People for my tastes. I think they're going to run in the night leaving behind numerous unpaid bills. Kitty claims to be a patron of the arts but that only seems to mean inviting bohemian artists to party with them. The couple came from Paris before this. Why leave Paris where the hard partying is had? It's off season in Nice and Monte Carlo is barely hopping. It's also JUUUSSSTT before the whole resort culture thing took off. Before Coco Chanel, before being tan meant idle rich. (The author's note is great). A new epic movie about the love story of Napoleon and Josephine, with little regard to history, is filming at the elegant Chateau Beautour. Ellie must secure an invitation to visit the set. She lets everyone believe she wants to be in the movie even though that's the farthest thing from the truth. She's in luck when she overhears director Herman Truss on the phone. He sure sounds suspicious and there was no love lost between him and Mr. Armstrong. I agree with Ellie that the clues do point to Herman Truss. He has something to hide and I think he knows more about what happened than he shares. He owes it to the backers to pull off this film WITH their choice of leading man though. Why would he kill his meal ticket? It doesn't make sense. Napoleon's Josephine is played by Clara Spark, a Hollywood "it girl". She is one nasty witch. She seems jealous of other women, basks in the adoration of all the men and makes nasty comments about the other actors behind their backs, including Mr. Armstrong. It seems he was a womanizer who made Miss Spark miserable. Is that a strong enough motive for murder? Walter Tuttle has played second fiddle to Mr. Armstrong for ages. Always the supporting actor and never the lead, he's hoping he'll step into Mr. Armstrong's shoes- and perhaps Clara Spark's bed. He seems sweet and honestly naïve though. I like him and don't want him to be a murderer. I know though that you have to watch out for the quiet ones for we bottle up our emotions and tend to explode. Could he have killed Armstrong in a fit of temper for having everything and not appreciating it? For being horrible to Clara? For being everything Tuttle wants to be? Daniel Brockman, the assistant director seems very nice. He stays calm throughout everything. Yet he also had a good motive for murder. The movie was on the verge of derailing thanks to the lead actor's diva behavior. Daniel Brockman understands the cost of the film and how much the histrionics are going to delay the filming and cost the backers. Rudolph Perry, the new leading man, arrives on the scene rather quickly. This is suspicious. He seems nice enough and more low key than Armstrong, more unsure of himself. He claims he was on a break but jumped at the chance to come and fill Armstrong's role. Another source says Perry was on an enforced break because he had a breakdown and took too many studio provided stimulants. Yikes! Which one is telling the truth? If Perry needs to get his career back on track then this role could be the perfect opportunity. Did he come to France early and kill his rival? Kitty's pet project is Augustine, a passionate French painter who dreams of fame and fortune. Augustine is a little whiny and selfish. I'm not sure why he's partying with the Hollywoods and other bohemians. I feel bad for him. I understand how it feels to work so hard for something with little reward. He seems to be a valuable source of information for the investigation since he's right in the thick of things. It is going to take all of Ellie's investigative and acting skills to figure this one out. Merged review: Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the advanced review copy. All opinions expressed in my review are all my own and not affected by the giveaway. Lady Eleanor Swift, her faithful butler friend Clifford and "the ladies" (housekeeper, cook, two maids) plus Gladstone the bulldog are in the south of France for some nice off-season R&R to get away from murders and murderers. Unfortunately before they even have a chance to unpack, Clifford discovers a dead body in the wine cellar while doing an inventory. When the police arrive, they recognize the victim and are quick to suspect Clifford! While the Inspector doesn't REALLY believe Clifford is the murderer, he's under pressure from the mayor to lock up someone who is NOT American. The victim was a famous American film star currently in France to shoot a new epic film about Napoleon. The mayor wants the Americans to keep coming with their dollars to help the economy bounce back after the war. If the murderer happens to be an American, it will raise a hue and cry and the Hollywood people will think the police are biased and never return. The Inspector offers Ellie once chance to find one clue and he will let Clifford go-for now. When Gladstone unexpectedly sniffs out a clue, Ellie finds herself plunged into the world of hard-partying Hollywood actors, artists and other bohemian types. The more Ellie learns, the more it seems almost everyone had a reason to hate the leading man but which one wanted him dead the most? Will Ellie survive a vacation with the Hollywood set or will this be her final adventure. Even if she survives, what will Hugh say? What he doesn't know can't hurt him... This is a fun adventure. It starts with the dead body in the very first line! That caught my attention. While the story flagged a bit here and there, especially in the third act, I still stayed up late to finish it. I had a brief suspicion about whodunit but not much motive. I hoped it wasn't that person. By the time of the reveal, I was so confused that I am certain the author wrote this book without a murderer in mind in advance. It reads that way anyway. Even so, I liked this one a lot. The historical details about the arts and entertainment industry are really good and the reader gets to read about the birth of a place like Cannes and about all the new household inventions of the 1920s. My only major complaint is the hard-partying Hollywood set is too similar to the Bright Young People set Ellie already investigated. I caught two spelling errors. Alright should be two words. two words people - All right. Not "Are you alright?" Alright is OK in speech when it means OK but not when it means well as in "Are you all right? Are you well?" Location 4035 American's should not have an apostrophe. As always, Ellie is lovely but when she sees injustice, her temper flares. She loves Clifford as a dear friend, though he would be horrified to hear her say it. She knows he's not a murderer and wants him free NOW! I'm tired of the drawn out romance. Hugh is not here and Ellie isn't sure where they stand. He works too much and is still kind of enigmatic. What about that bombshell he dropped a few books ago that (view spoiler)[he had a wife who died! (hide spoiler)] What was that all about? Clifford is as impeccable and upright as ever. He is honorable, honest and very proper. He adores Ellie like she's his own niece and does not look after her out of loyalty to her uncle. We learn more about his backstory which is surprising. Clifford is no match for the Americans who underestimate him because he's a stiff, upright Englishman. The ladies are fun as always. Their amazement at household items we take for granted, like the refrigerator, was fun to see. I love how they have to name everything. Little Polly is still skittish and clumsy but with Lizzie by her side, she's not as fearful. Gladstone is as adorable and drooly as ever. This time he gets to uncover evidence- or rather chew evidence! He also has his fill of slippers in a scene in which hilarity ensues. It's too bad that scene was told after the fact. It would have been fun to see it. It is interesting to see Ellie basically starting over, having to deal with a new detective. Inspector Damboise comes across as your stereotypical arrogant, lazy Frenchman. He dresses like a dandy and jumps to conclusions about Ellie and Clifford. I thought he was going to suspect BOTH of them from the way he acted. At first he keeps her in the dark and she doesn't know what's happening. Monsieur le maire, Mayor Lessard is more what I expected. He wants to protect his own interests at all costs and doesn't care about the cost of innocent life. They still use the guillotine in France which means Clifford's life is at stake! I can see the mayor's point but really? Are those the people you WANT to come to your town? It felt rather like The Jersey Shore : the murder mystery. Perhaps if the mayor doesn't railroad Clifford, Ellie will tell her friends and neighbors to come to Garbonne Sur Mer and spend their money. It won't be as much as American dollars because apparently the English are rude and cheap but it's better than letting a murderer go free. After Ellie meets the mayor, Inspector Lessard becomes more of a complex and sympathetic character. He's a loving husband and father and the scene at his home is delightful! Ellie understands he's just doing his job and orders come from above, the same as it is for Hugh back home. First things first. Ellie wants to know who owns the cottage she's renting. The murder may be connected to the owner. Monsieur Thibaud, the rental agent, is nowhere to be found and doesn't want to be found. No one will talk about him or the villa! That does NOT sound like good news. Something shady is going on for sure. The victim, Chester Armstrong, a famous Hollywood actor, disappeared from the set after storming off in a temper a few days earlier. Mayor Lessard has Inspector Damboise put it out that the actor died from a heart attack. No one seems to be truly mourning Mr. Armstrong. The man was hot tempered, paranoid, bossy and rude. He routinely stormed off set and behaved unprofessionally. Who DIDN'T want him dead? Ellie must go undercover and infiltrate the Hollywood set. Lucky for her, she's already met Floyd and Kitty Fitzwilliam, a wealthy American ex-stock broker and his wife. He was rumored to have been ruthless but is lively and friendly enough. He's wealthy enough to offer to pay for repairs to Ellie's car and to host parties for film crews night after night. Kitty comes across as a silly flibbertigibbet, probably high or drunk. They both appear to be "well lit" every night and even the morning Ellie meets them yet the morning after their parties, they appear fresh and fine. I suspect these two are up to shady business. I am certain the murder involves them somehow. They're too much like the Bright Young People for my tastes. I think they're going to run in the night leaving behind numerous unpaid bills. Kitty claims to be a patron of the arts but that only seems to mean inviting bohemian artists to party with them. The couple came from Paris before this. Why leave Paris where the hard partying is had? It's off season in Nice and Monte Carlo is barely hopping. It's also JUUUSSSTT before the whole resort culture thing took off. Before Coco Chanel, before being tan meant idle rich. (The author's note is great). A new epic movie about the love story of Napoleon and Josephine, with little regard to history, is filming at the elegant Chateau Beautour. Ellie must secure an invitation to visit the set. She lets everyone believe she wants to be in the movie even though that's the farthest thing from the truth. She's in luck when she overhears director Herman Truss on the phone. He sure sounds suspicious and there was no love lost between him and Mr. Armstrong. I agree with Ellie that the clues do point to Herman Truss. He has something to hide and I think he knows more about what happened than he shares. He owes it to the backers to pull off this film WITH their choice of leading man though. Why would he kill his meal ticket? It doesn't make sense. Napoleon's Josephine is played by Clara Spark, a Hollywood "it girl". She is one nasty witch. She seems jealous of other women, basks in the adoration of all the men and makes nasty comments about the other actors behind their backs, including Mr. Armstrong. It seems he was a womanizer who made Miss Spark miserable. Is that a strong enough motive for murder? Walter Tuttle has played second fiddle to Mr. Armstrong for ages. Always the supporting actor and never the lead, he's hoping he'll step into Mr. Armstrong's shoes- and perhaps Clara Spark's bed. He seems sweet and honestly naïve though. I like him and don't want him to be a murderer. I know though that you have to watch out for the quiet ones for we bottle up our emotions and tend to explode. Could he have killed Armstrong in a fit of temper for having everything and not appreciating it? For being horrible to Clara? For being everything Tuttle wants to be? Daniel Brockman, the assistant director seems very nice. He stays calm throughout everything. Yet he also had a good motive for murder. The movie was on the verge of derailing thanks to the lead actor's diva behavior. Daniel Brockman understan ...more |
Notes are private!
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2
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May 07, 2022
not set
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May 08, 2022
not set
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Sep 27, 2024
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Kindle Edition
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QNPoohBear
>
Books:
historical-fiction
(753)
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my rating |
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3.65
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it was ok
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Feb 03, 2025
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Feb 03, 2025
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4.02
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liked it
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Feb 2025
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Feb 03, 2025
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3.81
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really liked it
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Jan 27, 2025
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Jan 27, 2025
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4.22
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liked it
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Jan 17, 2025
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Jan 17, 2025
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3.93
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liked it
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Jan 11, 2025
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Jan 10, 2025
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4.51
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really liked it
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Apr 11, 2024
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Dec 29, 2024
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4.01
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really liked it
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Jan 12, 2024
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Dec 28, 2024
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4.17
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it was amazing
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Jun 18, 2024
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Dec 28, 2024
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4.29
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it was amazing
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Feb 08, 2024
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Dec 27, 2024
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3.78
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really liked it
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Aug 17, 2024
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Dec 23, 2024
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4.24
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liked it
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Feb 09, 2025
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Dec 21, 2024
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4.40
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liked it
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Dec 17, 2024
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Dec 18, 2024
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4.17
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really liked it
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Dec 10, 2024
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Dec 10, 2024
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4.13
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Jan 23, 2025
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Oct 26, 2024
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4.11
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really liked it
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Oct 21, 2024
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Oct 21, 2024
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4.05
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really liked it
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Oct 16, 2024
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Oct 16, 2024
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4.22
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liked it
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Oct 15, 2024
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Oct 15, 2024
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4.14
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liked it
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Oct 07, 2024
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Oct 06, 2024
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3.82
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it was amazing
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Jul 30, 2014
not set
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Sep 28, 2024
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4.32
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really liked it
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May 08, 2022
not set
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Sep 27, 2024
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