A Sprig of Sea Lavender

A Sprig of Sea Lavender
by J.R.L. Anderson
Rating: ★★★
isbn: 312753772
Publication Date: January 1, 1978
Pages: 176
Genre: Mystery
Publisher: St. Martin's Press

I bought this a few years ago, when Otto Penzler was selling his collection through his bookshop, Mysterious Books. It’s a review copy of an author I’d never heard of, but the short catalog blurb made it sound interesting: mysterious death on a train, unknown works by Gainsborough, Turner and Constable found with the body, along with a sprig of – you guessed it – sea lavender.

This is a mid-century mystery, and it suffered from the usual quirks of that age: instant, yet chaste, romance, and a complete disregard of the fair-play rules of mystery plotting. As such, the reader, by the end, is presented with a fait accompli in both the romance and the mystery’s resolution, without having any idea whatsoever how the main character got there, although he does explain it all at the very end.

By today’s standards, it’s all a bit thin, naive and 2 dimensional, but I had fun with it nevertheless. It wasn’t trying to be anything other than an entertaining mystery and, while I’ve read others that are greater successes, it generally achieved its goal.

What Lola Wants (Lola Cruz, #4)

What Lola Wants
by Melissa Bourbon
Rating: ★★★
Series: Lola Cruz #
Publication Date: July 30, 2019
Pages: 244
Genre: Mystery
Publisher: Henery Press

The first three books in this series were published years ago, and, I’m guessing, got dropped from the publisher. I was disappointed at the time because I enjoyed the series, and I generally enjoyed the author’s mystery writing. Fast forward several years later, and Henery Press published this fourth instalment.

Meh. Either my tastes changed, or the author lost her groove during the hiatus. It was still an interesting plot, and I still enjoyed the characters, but a lot of her romance writing history bled through into the story and the chapters’ angst. And seriously, the editor or author need to repeat things over and over is grating on my nerves. Lola’s always wanted to be a detective; she knows jujitsu; I get it and I got it the first time it was mentioned. I’m smart that way.

Not sure this series is for me anymore.

Stick Together (Awkward Squad, #2)

Stick Together
by Sam Gordon, Sophie Hénaff
Rating: ★★★★
isbn: 9781635060157
Series: Awkward Squad #2
Publication Date: April 2, 2019
Pages: 299
Genre: Mystery
Publisher: MacLehose Press

I can’t remember how I discovered the first book in this series, The Awkward Squad, but I thoroughly enjoyed it; it felt fresh and it amused me, and I chalked up any small irritations to the translation from the French.

This second book was much the same, although there were more straight-up translation issues this time; errors that should have been caught in editing – like saying the ‘France people’ instead of the ‘French People’ in one spot. And a few things were just cultural references I didn’t understand, not being French myself. Glossing over them didn’t affect my understanding of the plot or the mystery, though undoubtedly I missed a layer of enjoyment.

The series focuses on a department of the police judiciaire, which was occasionally referred to as PJs, which made me giggle more than it should have. This department was created as a repository for all the misfits that couldn’t be fired; they were established in an old office building offsite with all the cold case files that have never been solved, and then left to fend for themselves.

I didn’t expect this to work as well as it does, but I enjoy reading about the individual misfits and how their odd contributions further the pursuit of criminals and solve cases. It’s far-fetched, sure, but it never feels silly or slapstick, somehow.

It’s not perfect, but it’s highly enjoyable, and I sincerely hope the author continues to write more in the series, and that they continue to be translated into English.

The Glass Thief (Jaya Jones Treasure Mystery, #6)

The Glass Thief
by Gigi Pandian
Rating: ★★★½
isbn: 9781635115550
Series: Jaya Jones Mystery #
Publication Date: November 1, 2019
Pages: 256
Genre: Mystery
Publisher: Henery Press

I never know what to say about these books. They’re cozy, but with an Indiana Jones/Where in the World is Carmen Santiago mash up vibe. All the mysteries in this series are rooted in off the beaten path historical fact, usually, but not always, India’s past, and always center on some type of treasure that’s been looted, or being searched for in order to be looted. It’s this that keeps me coming back to these books if I’m honest. I like the characters well enough, but I’m not as invested in them as I could be.

The Glass Thief is supposed to be an homage to Elizabeth Peters’ character Vicky Bliss, but – and admittedly it’s been over a decade since I’ve read them – I didn’t see it. The romantic relationship here is similar, but otherwise I’d have to re-read the Vicky Bliss books to see more. The plot twist was obvious from the beginning, so the ‘gasp!’ moment mid-way was less gasp! and more eye-roll. But overall it was a good story that kept me entertained, which is something of an accomplishment lately, so it deserves merit for that.

Lowcountry Boomerang (Liz Talbot Mystery, #8)

Lowcountry Boomerang
by Susan M. Boyer
Rating: ★★★★
isbn: 1635115434
Series: Liz Talbot Mystery #8
Publication Date: September 1, 2019
Pages: 256
Genre: Mystery
Publisher: Henery Press

I continue to really enjoy this series; Boyer doesn’t overplay the ghost, and keeps the mysteries solvable by strictly corporeal measures.

The plots are always well done, though this one’s solution sort of felt like it came out of left field. Looking back at the end, I can see where the author placed the ‘clues’ (though they wren’t really clues) but I’m not sure really works, and it left questions for me. Still, I really enjoyed watching Liz and Nate go about solving the crime, absolving their client of a false accusation. And the Talbot family had a few moments in the spotlight to let their crazy flag fly, which I always enjoy.

The inside flap of my book says there’s already a ninth book out, so maybe I won’t have to wait longer than the slower than usual post before I can jump back in.

Penny for Your Secrets (Verity Kent, #3)

Penny for Your Secrets
by Anna Lee Huber
Rating: ★★★½
isbn: 1496713192
Series: Verity Kent #3
Publication Date: October 29, 2019
Pages: 326
Genre: Mystery
Publisher: Kensington

Each time after reading the first two books, I told myself I wasn’t going to read the next one, because I really dislike the way she setup the characters. To explain more would be a plot spoiler for book 1, sorry. But yet, I keep on picking up the next book and reading it.

Characters’ lives aside, Anna Lee Huber writes a good mystery. The plots are generally intricate and mostly avoid the trite or well-worn paths of the genre. This one was no different, except that it’s setting up a multi book arc with a nemesis, and I’m pretty wishy-washy about nemeses. I also got a little bit tired of the constant references to Verity’s spy career during the war. I suspect this is a Kensington editorial thing as it’s the type of over-reference I find a lot in their books, making me wonder if they underestimate their readers’ abilities to reading comprehension.

Generally an enjoyable read, but once again, I find myself thinking I might not buy the next one, though of course, I probably will anyway.

The Man that Got Away (Constable Twitten Mystery, #2)

The Man That Got Away
by Lynne Truss
Rating: ★★★★
isbn: 1408890534
Series: Constable Twitten Mystery #2
Publication Date: September 17, 2019
Pages: 304
Genre: Mystery
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

I’m not an expert, but to me this book and its predecessor is just quintessentially English. I’ve been a fan of Truss’ non-fiction for years, and always found her writing and wit excellent, and I genuinely enjoyed her first Constable Twitten book A Shot in the Dark. So I snapped up this sequel as soon as I heard about it.

If you’ve ever watched Yes, Minster, or Black Adder, or even Benny Hill, and laughed, you may enjoy this mystery series. But you absolutely have to suspend disbelief because there’s a lot of silliness and dry mockery; the reward is not only the chance to be amused in a time of little amusement, but an impressive, intricately plotted mystery. There were so many balls in the air, and Truss kept them all up there without any apparent effort or stumbling. It started slow for me, but it gained momentum as this complexity revealed itself.

A lot of fun and I remain a big fan of Truss.

The Bookshop of Yesterdays

The Bookshop of Yesterdays
by Amy Meyerson
Rating: ★★★
isbn: 0778369080
Publication Date: May 21, 2018
Pages: 384
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Park Row

I didn’t much like this book, although the story itself isn’t bad. I’m assuming the author was going for a massive plot reveal, built up from the scavenger hunt the main character is sent on after the death of her uncle. But that plot twist was obvious to me from the very first part of the book, which made the rest rather anti-climatic, although I still enjoyed the scavenger hunt aspect.

The characters themselves didn’t much work for me either; Meyerson’s attempt to build complicated, layered characters just resulted in an attitude of indifference; the main character’s waffling over the confrontation with her mother; her mother’s complete indifference to her daughter’s obvious distress; the father’s complete check-out of the whole thing; the romantic interest … totally uninterested in romance.

It just didn’t work for me.

The Ten Thousand Doors of January

The Ten Thousand Doors of January
by Alix E. Harrow
ISBN: 9780356512440
Published by Orbit on September 10, 2019
Genres: Fiction, Magical Realism, Fantasy, Historical
Pages: 384
Format: Hardcover
four-half-stars

In the early 1900s, a young woman embarks on a fantastical journey of self-discovery after finding a mysterious book in this captivating and lyrical debut. In a sprawling mansion filled with peculiar treasures, January Scaller is a curiosity herself. As the ward of the wealthy Mr. Locke, she feels little different from the artifacts that decorate the halls: carefully maintained, largely ignored, and utterly out of place. Then she finds a strange book. A book that carries the scent of other worlds, and tells a tale of secret doors, of love, adventure and danger. Each page turn reveals impossible truths about the world and January discovers a story increasingly entwined with her own.

Things that attracted me to this book: the title (I first saw it in January, around my birthday); the cover; and the blurb mentioning a book. I picked it up because the only books appealing to me right now are fluffy, preferably magical realism plots.

This book was both and neither. I have no idea how to describe it. A grown-up fairy tale sounds too trite and too superficial, though its roots are firmly in myth and legend. The writing is lyrical, the tense is fourth-wall-breaking second person. It’s a happy story, a heart-wrenching one, and a magical one all at once. It’s both predictable and surprising; cynical and fantastically idealistic. It genuinely shocked the hell out of me because it wasn’t at all what I expected.

As the ward of the wealthy Mr Locke, January Scaller feels little different from the artefacts that decorate the halls: carefully maintained, largely ignored and utterly out of place.

But her quiet existence is shattered when she stumbles across a strange book. A book that carries the scent of other worlds and tells a tale of secret doors, of love, adventure and danger. Each page reveals more impossible truths about the world…

It’s both a perfect and perfectly inadequate description. The closest I can come is a story with very faint shades of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, only for grown-ups.

The Bookshop on the Shore

The Bookshop on the Shore
by Jenny Colgan
Rating: ★★★★
isbn: 0062850180
Publication Date: June 11, 2019
Pages: 416
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks

This one was an average chick-lit/romance that was only marginally about books, though they sounded like heavenly books in a library out of my dreams. The setting was the same as The Bookshop on the Corner, and a couple of characters from the first book play minor roles in this one, but otherwise the story is completely stand alone.

And it’s ok. It’s saved from complete mediocrity by a plot twist that was unexpected – at least by me; with my limited backlist of books in this genre, it’s probably not hard to surprise me.

It was a diverting read, though not as good as The Book Charmer, whose strong sense of place kept interfering in my mind with the weaker one here; Perhaps I might have enjoyed this one more if it hadn’t come on the tails of that more vividly written and charming book.