What Angels Fear

What Angels Fear
by C.S. Harris
Rating: ★★★½
isbn: 9781741753653
Series: Sebastian St. Cyr #1
Publication Date: January 1, 1970
Pages: 421
Genre: Fiction, Historical, Mystery
Publisher: Allen & Unwin

It’s 1811, and the threat of revolution haunts the upper classes of King George III’s England. Then the body of a beautiful young woman is found savagely murdered on the altar steps of an ancient church near Westminster Abbey. A dueling pistol discovered at the scene and the damning testimony of a witness both point to one man: Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, a brilliant young nobleman shattered by his experiences in the Napoleonic Wars.

Now a fugitive running for his life, Sebastian calls upon his skill as an officer during the war to catch the killer and prove his own innocence. In the process, he accumulates a band of unlikely allies, including the enigmatic beauty Kat Boleyn, who broke Sebastian’s heart years ago. In Sebastian’s world of intrigue and espionage, nothing is as it seems, yet the truth may hold the key to the future of the British monarchy, as well as to Sebastian’s own salvation….

This series has been popping up on my radar for years and years, and I always thought I need to try those, and then something shiny would distract me. When Jennifer’s books posted about one of the more recent books in the series, it was the motivation I needed to check out the first one from my library.

At 400+ pages, I was wary of what I was getting into, but the pace is fast enough to make the pages fly by. They flew even faster when I started skimming some of the more descriptively verbose sections, the kind you’re either in the mood for, or you aren’t. I really liked Sebastian and was disappointed that his friend (Sir Christopher?) wasn’t around more – I liked the dynamic between them best for its light-hearted banter. I’m reserving judgement about Kat and the rest of the cast as there was an element of … not melodrama, but Very Serious, to the tone of this book that I’m hoping is a natural result of the plot, rather than the series’ permanent tone.

The one thing I categorically did not like was the graphicness. Harris seemed to take particular delight in trying to sicken the reader with the perverseness of the crime, bring it up again, and again, and dwelling on details View Spoiler ». I have speculations about what drove her to write like this, but I’ll keep them to myself, as they aren’t very generous, but suffice it to say I didn’t care for the heavy handedness.

I did like everything else though; the multi-threaded approach to the investigation, with multiple POVs handled gracefully, the intricateness of the plotting and the confidence of the characters. I am definitely interested in reading the next book in what is a very long series. If the heavy handed graphicness continues, well, they’re library loans. God bless libraries!

Disaster at the Vendome Theater (Provençal Mystery, #10)

Disaster at the Vendome Theater
by M.L. Longworth
Rating: ★★★★
isbn: 9780143135302
Series: Verlaque and Bonnet Provencal Mystery #10
Publication Date: October 4, 2022
Pages: 293
Genre: Fiction, Mystery
Publisher: Penguin Books

When Jean-Marc Sauvet, successful lawyer and the best friend of Aix-en-Provence’s examining magistrate Antoine Verlaque, accepted a small role in a local theater’s summer production of Marcel Pagnol’s Cigalon, he had no idea that the lead actress would be played by the great Liliane Poncet. But Jean-Marc’s excitement about rubbing elbows with one of France’s legendary film stars is quickly extinguished. The lead actor, Gauthier Lesage, is rude and unenthusiastic, and nobody understands how he got the part. Chaos reigns backstage thanks to the absentminded theater director. And everyone seems to be harboring a secret. When one of the actors goes missing for good, it’s up to the soon-to-be-a-father Verlaque and his police commissioner, Bruno Paulik, to untangle the threads of a mystery that seems to get more complicated every day…

This is one of those series best read for the atmosphere, the setting, and the characters, rather than for the mystery. The mysteries are good and well plotted, but slow paced; not quite back-burnered, but not front and center either. As the latest entry, this one may be the most leisurely one yet, with plotting that, to me, relies on a far-fetched hunch on the part of the police commissionaire. It works, for reasons that are logical in the end, but that first assumption – the bit that causes the cascade towards denouement, felt like too big a stretch. Verlaque, the titular MC, is a bit of a damp twit in this book, which feels contrary to all previous books, and is an obvious sop to the conceit that (impending) parenthood softens even the most hardened heart.

Otherwise, the book was as enjoyable to read as all the rest – a nice mini-break to France from the comfort of my couch. Now that Verlaque and Marine have reproduced, my anticipation of future books is somewhat dampened, as I don’t think parenting and solving crimes a sensible mix, but I will happily read the next one and hope to be proved wrong.

Apparently the BBC has made a TV show of this series, called Murder in Provence, available on BritBox. I watched the trailer the other day and … everyone is British. I mean, I realise the BBC is a British production company, but the setting is in France, and all the characters are French, at least they are in the books. Listening to Verlaque and Marine speak in very British accents was unnerving. But the show did appear to be humorous, and I admit to being intrigued – possibly enough to sign up for the free month trial.

Spells for Forgetting

Spells for Forgetting
by Adrienne Young
Rating: ★★★★
isbn: 9781529425314
Publication Date: September 27, 2022
Pages: 349
Genre: Magical Realism
Publisher: Quercus

'There were tales that only the island knew. Ones that had never been told. I knew, because I was one of them.'

Emery Blackwood's life was forever changed on the eve of her high school graduation, when the love of her life, August Salt, was accused of murdering her best friend, Lily. She'd once dreamt of running away with August, eager to escape the misty, remote shores of Saoirse Island and chase new dreams together. Now, she is doing what her teenage self swore she never would: living a quiet existence among this tight-knit community steeped in folklore and tradition, ruled by the seasons and ancient superstitions.

But when August returns after fourteen years to bury his mother's ashes, Emery must confront her first love and the reason he left so abruptly. But the town wants August gone again. And as the island begins to show signs of strange happenings, the emergence of deep betrayals and hidden promises threatens to reveal the truth behind Lily's death once and for all.

I don’t know what the heck to say about this book. The writing is excellent, and I keep thinking about this book days after I’ve read it, so while I sort of want to give this a lower rating because I found the story a little unsatisfying, the writing and its lingering effects will keep it a 4.

This is definitely a magical realism story, and there’s a mystery too. I loved the magical realism, but the mystery is what left me unsatisfied. Specifically, the ending. I can’t say anything else without potentially spoiling it; it was well-crafted, but unsatisfying.

The author brought life to the island, whose name I cannot pronounce, and to the characters. It’s multiple POV, and one of the better done one’s that I’ve read, with Young managing to jump timelines and POVs without making the flow bouncy or jarring.

That’s all I’ve got; I’ve been sitting on this one for a few days, trying to figure out what I think about it. It’s good, but I’m going to have to re-read it to dig a bit deeper.

Belladonna

Belladonna
by Adalyn Grace
Rating: ★★★
isbn: 9781529367225
Publication Date: August 30, 2022
Pages: 408
Genre: Fiction, Young Adult
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

Orphaned as a baby, nineteen-year-old Signa has been raised by a string of guardians, each more interested in her wealth than her wellbeing – and each has met an untimely end. Her remaining relatives are the elusive Hawthornes, an eccentric family living at Thorn Grove, an estate both glittering and gloomy.

Its patriarch mourns his late wife through wild parties, while his son grapples for control of the family’s waning reputation and his daughter suffers from a mysterious illness. But when their mother’s restless spirit appears claiming she was poisoned, Signa realizes that the family she depends on could be in grave danger, and enlists the help of a surly stable boy to hunt down the killer.

Signa’s best chance of uncovering the murderer, though, is an alliance with Death himself, a fascinating, dangerous shadow who has never been far from her side. Though he’s made her life a living hell, Death shows Signa that their growing connection may be more powerful – and more irresistible – than she ever dared imagine.

A reluctant 3 stars. I bought this because I got sucked in by a pretty cover, and all the elements were there to make an interesting story: murders, poison, Death as a character, ghosts, and while it was technically written well enough to merit three stars, I didn’t find much to like about it. Some YA is written so well that it’s ageless, but this isn’t one of those YA’s. There’s a complete lack of sophistication to the writing, and the story should have been edited into a much tighter structure. The mystery was good though – the author totally plotted murder and attempted murder without me having a clue.

The reason I wouldn’t recommend this book though, is I personally found the MC ridiculous. Yes, she had a very difficult life, being shuffled from one guardian to another, all of whom were only interested in her money and treated her terribly. Yes, she’s lonely. Neither is an excuse for her childish behaviour or her lack of self. 75% of the book is all about her wanting to look pretty and act pretty and attract a husband so that she can join society – because then they’ll have to like her. She’s 19, she has the powers of Death himself, and she’s an idiot. She has her great awakening in the last 25% of the book, where she suddenly decides to hell with conventions and to just be herself, which was both entirely too late coming, and entirely too unbelievable.

A very average book with a weak MC. All in all, a waste of a gorgeous cover.

A Death in Door County (Monster Hunter Mystery, #1)

A Death in Door County
by Annelise Ryan
Rating: ★★★½
isbn: 9780593441572
Series: Monster Hunter Mystery #1
Publication Date: September 13, 2022
Pages: 336
Genre: Fiction, Mystery
Publisher: Berkley

Morgan Carter, owner of the Odds and Ends bookstore in Door County, Wisconsin, has a hobby. When she’s not tending the store, she’s hunting cryptids—creatures whose existence is rumored, but never proven to be real. It’s a hobby that cost her parents their lives, but one she’ll never give up on.

So when a number of bodies turn up on the shores of Lake Michigan with injuries that look like bites from a giant unknown animal, police chief Jon Flanders turns to Morgan for help. A skeptic at heart, Morgan can’t turn down the opportunity to find proof of an entity whose existence she can’t definitively rule out. She and her beloved rescue dog, Newt, journey to the Death’s Door strait to hunt for a homicidal monster in the lake—but if they’re not careful, they just might be its next victims.

This arrived just as I was finishing my last Halloween Bingo read, and it felt like just the thing to start next. I’ve read most of Ryan’s previous work, and I’m a huge fan of her Mattie Winston series, but I’m not quite sure how I feel about this one. It’s fun, and it has a lot to like, but it might be a case of too much of a good thing.

First the device I didn’t care for at all: Morgan, the MC, has a tragic past – seriously brutal. It isn’t the tragedy or the retelling of it that I didn’t care for, but the lack of resolution. It’s clear that this is going to be a background ‘thing’ that lurks in future books in the series. I’m sort of over multi-book story arcs and this one, because of its nature, interests me even less than most.

Morgan as a character, though, is kind of refreshing. She’s very pragmatic, so there’s no cutesy giddiness that has invaded cozies in the last decade. She runs a mystery bookshop, but it’s also a shop that sells macabre and weird items, which I love, but there were a few times it felt like the author was trying to make the reader uncomfortable. As if she’s single handedly trying to over-correct the current course of the cozy sub-genre. This is a tactic I appreciate, but might have been done a bit more subtly.

She is also a cryptozoology consultant, and she comes at it from the perspective of a sceptic: think Mulder’s desire to believe and Scully’s need for scientific explanation rolled into one personality. She has degrees in biology and zoology and really is a highly rational MC. I liked her, but I feel like Ryan’s still trying to find her footing with her. Ryan has an easier time of it with the supporting cast, who are all quirky, but also instantly likeable. Newt the dog was awesome. Seriously, I think he’s every animal lover’s dream dog, and Morgan every dog’s dream owner.

The plot was … interesting but not well constructed. There wasn’t a shred of doubt in my mind what they were ultimately looking for – it was obvious from their very first boat trip. There were moments where the author stumbled a bit, trying to meld a cryptozoological investigation with investigations into the deaths of the victims; ungraceful moments when it was clear the MC was overstepping but the story couldn’t really move forward if she didn’t. Still, there were a few unique bits and pieces along the way, and the solution was satisfying. I’ll definitely and happily read the next book and look forward to a fun new series (fingers crossed).

The Bat

The Bat
by Mary Roberts Rinehart
Rating: ★★★
isbn: Dell #0465
Publication Date: August 23, 1969
Pages: 224
Genre: Fiction, Mystery
Publisher: Dell

For months, the city has lived in fear of the Bat. A master criminal hindered by neither scruple nor fear, he has stolen over one million dollars and left at least six men dead. The police are helpless, the newspapers know nothing—even the key figures of the city's underworld have no clue as to the identity of the Bat. He is a living embodiment of death itself, and he is coming to the countryside. There, he will encounter the only person who can stop him: adventurous sixty-five-year-old spinster Cornelia Van Gorder. Last in a long line of New York society royalty, Cornelia has found old age to be a bore, and is hungry for a bit of adventure. She's going to find it—in a lonely old country house where every shadow could be the Bat.

Way back when I read The Circular Staircase, people told me about The Bat; that it was a re-novelisation of a play based on The Circular Staircase and widely considered to be an improvement on the original. So, I bought a copy of The Bat when I found one.

Alas, this was not, in my opinion, an improvement on the original. It was definitely funny – it seemed to go for the outright humor, playing to the audience for laughs. The blatant switch of targets for the racism was incredibly disappointing, although the dichotomy of respect and thoughtless remarks remains the same as the original. There was an added bonus of outright misogyny here too that irritated me to no end; and I really wanted to drown Dale for being so weak and vapid.

I don’t know if it’s because I read TCS, or because The Bat was simplified for stage production, but the plot failed to please me as much as the original – it’s a bare bones version of the one that gave me such welcome surprises in TCS.

All in all in was a fun read but not at all as good as the original in my opinion.

I read this for the Gothic square on my Halloween Bingo 2022 card and as a buddy read with Moonlight Reader, Peregrinations, and BrokenTune.

The Kennel Murder Case

The Kennel Murder Case
by S. S. Van Dine
Rating: ★★★½
Publication Date: December 1, 1946
Pages: 243
Genre: Fiction, Mystery
Publisher: Bantam Press

Archer Coe, a collector of Chinese ceramics, is found dead in his bedroom, the only door to which is securely bolted on the inside. District Attorney John F.-X. Markham and Sergeant Heath of the Homicide Bureau--and even the Medical Examiner--regard Coe's death as suicide. But Philo Vance soon proves that it is a sinister and subtly concocted murder. The circumstances surrounding it are so mysterious and contradictory that, for a while, no solution seems possible. But in the end Philo Vance, through his knowledge of Chinese ceramics and Scottish terriers, brings the case to a conclusion as satisfactory as it is startling.

The story moves swiftly, one mystery crowding another. For sheer action and suspense, and for interesting
characterization, it is one of the very best of Van Dine's incomparable Philo Vance novels.

A well-written, fast paced locked room mystery that tried entirely too hard to be too clever. Van Dine seemed determined to write a mystery that the reader couldn’t solve, and in the process went entirely over the top.

Originally written in 1933, the writing suffers from the casual racism of the age (specifically against Chinese), with the sergeant assigned to the case coming across as the most ignorant – even interrogating all the suspects like he was in a bad noir detective novel. Vance was entirely too suave and expert at positively everything; the author’s attempt to have him appear at times humble and stumped a complete failure, as he refuses to speculate wit the detectives or share the ‘clues’ he’s ferreted out.

Still and all, it was entertaining to read and it didn’t drag. I could have done without the animal cruelty and death, but both instances happened so fast and were over, but still, had I known about them, I’d have likely skipped reading this altogether, even if the rest of it entertained.

I read this for the Vintage Mystery square in Halloween Bingo 2022.

The Honjin Murders

The Honjin Murders
by Louise Heal Kawai (Translator), Seishi Yokimizo
Rating: ★★★★
isbn: 9781782277316
Publication Date: November 12, 2020
Pages: 189
Genre: Fiction, Mystery
Publisher: Pushkin Press

In the winter of 1937, the village of Okamura is abuzz with excitement over the forthcoming wedding of a son of the grand Ichiyanagi family. But amid the gossip over the approaching festivities, there is also a worrying rumour – it seems a sinister masked man has been asking questions about the Ichiyanagis around the village.

Then, on the night of the wedding, the Ichiyanagi family are woken by a terrible scream, followed by the sound of eerie music – death has come to Okamura, leaving no trace but a bloody samurai sword, thrust into the pristine snow outside the house. The murder seems impossible, but amateur detective Kosuke Kindaichi is determined to get to the bottom of it.

I wavered between 3.5 and 4 stars; ultimately, I’m going with 4. This is a really well-written, cleverly plotted ode to the Golden Age of mystery, specifically, the golden age of locked room mysteries (I loved all the name dropping!). Even though it’s written much later, everything about it harkens back to those magic days when mystery writing was new and full of unexplored nooks and crannies. The device that the plot turned on was fiendish, but part of me wants to quibble about the mechanics – specifically the speed which everything happened, but that’s just pickiness – the buildings could have been further apart, the people slower, or the water faster than I’m imagining them.

None of that matters anyway, it didn’t detract a bit from my enjoyment of the book. The only thing that ticked me off is the same thing that’s been ticking me off about historic literature since Bronte and Austen: the affectation of using O– instead of just putting the damn village/town/city name in. Just seeing “the –shire” makes me itch in irritation, and the liberal use of it in this book had the same effect. I don’t care why they did it, it’s irritating.

I borrowed this from the library, and I have to say, I enjoyed it enough that I’ll be looking for my own copy to add to my personal collection. I’m sort of curious, too, to read the next one, which my library happens to have as well.

I needed a Locked Room Mystery for my Halloween Bingo 2022 card and this is the perfect fit. It also works for Death in Translation, Home is Where the Hurt is, and Country House Mystery.

The Fleur de Sel Murders (Brittany Mystery, #3)

The Fleur de Sel Murders
by Jean-Luc Bannalec
Rating: ★★★½
isbn: 9781250308375
Series: Brittany Mystery #3
Publication Date: March 26, 2019
Pages: 321
Genre: Fiction, Mystery
Publisher: Minotaur Books

The old salt farmers have always said that the violet scent of the Fleur de Sel at harvest time on the salt marshes of the Guérande Peninsula has been known to cause hallucinations. Commissaire Dupin also starts to believe this when he’s attacked out of the blue in the salt works.

He had actually been looking forward to escaping his endless paperwork and taking a trip to the “white country” between the raging Atlantic Ocean and idyllic rivers. But when he starts snooping around mysterious barrels on behalf of Lilou Breval, a journalist friend, he finds himself unexpectedly under attack. The offender remains a mystery, and a short time later, Breval disappears without a trace. It is thanks to his secretary Nolwenn and the ambition of the prefect that Dupin is assigned to the case. But he won’t be working alone because Sylvaine Rose is the investigator responsible for the department—and she lives up to her name….

What’s going on in the salt works? Dupin and Rose search feverishly for clues and stumble upon false alibis, massive conflicts of interest, personal feuds—and ancient Breton legends.

If Bannalec hadn’t been able to hack it as a mystery author, he’d have had a great career in tourism; he sells me on Brittany every time I read one of his books. Brittany springs to life off the page.

This can also be a hinderance; too much of it bogs the story down and there are spots of too much in this book. The start, where he’s setting the scene in the salt gardens, almost killed the story’s momentum before it could ever get started. I mean, yeah, it was beautiful and descriptive, but it dragged. I deducted 1/2 star for the moments like this that happened throughout the book.

Once the story got going though, and the bodies started dropping, the pace picked up dramatically, so that by the end it was as edge-of-your-seat as traditional mysteries get. I like Dupin, too, although he comes across a bit off-foot in this one, as I think he’s meant to, as he has to work with a female detective that’s as take charge as he is.

There are at least 5 more books in this series to look forward to, and it’s a series I think I’d eventually like to own. They’re not the binging kind, but quite enjoyable once or twice a year – especially if you’re in the mood for a mental holiday-on-the-page.

I read this for Halloween Bingo 2022’s Death in Translation square. Originally written in German and translated into English. It could also work for Terror in a Small Town, and, of course, Genre: Mystery.

In the Middle of Hickory Lane

In the Middle of Hickory Lane
by Heather Webber
Rating: ★★★½
isbn: 9781250774651
Publication Date: July 26, 2022
Pages: 308
Genre: Fiction, Magical Realism
Publisher: Forge

Emme Wynn has wanted nothing more her whole life than to feel like part of a family. Having grown up on the run with her con artist mother, she’s been shuffled from town to town, drawn into bad situations, and has learned some unsavory habits that she’s tried hard to overcome. When her estranged grandmother tracks her down out of the blue and extends a job offer—helping to run her booth at an open-air marketplace in small-town Sweetgrass, Alabama—Emme is hopeful that she’ll finally be able to plant the roots she’s always dreamed of. But some habits are hard to break, and she risks her newfound happiness by keeping one big truth to herself.

Cora Bee Hazelton has her hands full with volunteering, gardening, her job as a color consultant and designer, and just about anything she can do to keep her mind off her painful past, a past that has resulted in her holding most everyone at arm’s length. The last thing she wants is to form close relationships only to have her heart broken yet again. But when she’s injured, she has no choice other than to let people into her life and soon realizes it’s going to be impossible to keep her heart safe—or her secrets hidden.

In the magical neighborhood garden in the middle of Hickory Lane, Emme and Cora Bee learn some hard truths about the past and themselves, the value of friends, family, and community, and most importantly, that true growth starts from within.

This one was not my favourite Heather Webber magical realism story, but that’s purely a matter of subjective taste for the theme. I’m not interested in reading about con men (women), even unwilling ones seeking redemption. But it had a garden with a dead body in it, and magical realism, so I was willing.

Putting aside the bits about living the life of a con, and keeping secrets, etc. there was a lot to like in this story. Once I wrapped my head around just how huge the cul-de-sac had to have been to accommodate the garden described, it sounded magical, and all the characters, as usual with Webber’s writing, come to life on the page. There is, as usual, the theme of ‘love conquers most everything’ but until the end it wasn’t dominant.

The dead body is discovered on page 1, but then just sort of lurks there in the background, while the police work at identifying the remains (they’re old). But things come together at the end and I have to say I wasn’t really expecting them to come together in quite that shape. I love when an author is able to surprise and blindside me. It bumped the story up .5 a star.

I didn’t read this for Halloween Bingo, but looking at my card, I have Country House Mystery unread, and curiously, no desire to read anything for it, and my Lottery wild card still un-used, so I think I’ll use it and swap out Country House Mystery for the Home is Where the Hurt Is square, since this story definitely involves crimes that occur in nice, normal families.