Some Book Reviews from 2019

Yes, I am still catching up on posting my book reviews from Goodreads here on my blog. Some of these reviews go back as far as last October, but they're solid books that I think you may really enjoy reading.

NOTE: I rarely, if ever, give modern (i.e., non-classical) literature books five stars. I mean, what written now can really measure up to Jane Eyre or Much Ado About Nothing? But very occasionally I do give five stars if a modern novel (with or without a historical setting) truly thrills me to the core.

Just know that if I were not such a persnickety person about my classic lit, nearly all of these books would receive enthusiastic "5"s rather than enthusiastic "4"s. Just saying.

And now, onto my thoughts on the following books, all of which I recommend reading:


In This Grave Hour by Jacqueline Winspear
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Maisie Dobbs finds herself facing a second war with Germany, just declared by Neville Chamberlain, and returns home to find Francesca Thomas, an operative who trained Maisie for her trip to Munich and whom she first met while teaching at Oxford while trailing a murderer, sitting on her back porch. Thomas hires Maisie to find out who has murdered a man who was a Belgian refugee during the First World War and stayed in this country even after the war ended, having married a British citizen and settled down to work, have kids, and live a British life.

Maisie suspects that Francesca knows more than she is telling Maisie, but Maisie quickly puts her assistants, Billy and Sandra, on the job as London starts to evacuate their children due to the threat of Hitler bombing London. Maisie ends up sending several people to the Dower House of her in-laws' estate, some to recover from illnesses, some as refugees, including a little girl not yet five years old and completely silent. Maisie takes this little abandoned girl to her heart and strives to locate her family in the midst of more murders of former Belgian refugees and those who helped to place them in 1916.

This mystery is extremely complex, dealing with people still suffering from the previous war as a second war with Germany threatens Britain once again. As the English people pull together once more to "do their bit," Maisie must stop another murder from occurring as she tries to unearth the murderer who may be closer at hand than both she and Francesca Thomas thought.

This is yet another brilliant mystery featuring my new favorite heroine, Maisie Dobbs. It's amazing to see how a costermonger's daughter has become a Lady...although she rarely if ever uses her title or even her former last name. She takes pride in being the daughter of Frank Dobbs and rarely uses her wealth for herself--with the exception of a rather sporty car that will likely have to be garaged during the war since all of the petrol will be needed for ambulances and airplanes rather than personal vehicles. Maisie dreads another war, but the end of this book finds her volunteering once again to help her country stave off the powers of dictatorship.


Who Buries the Dead by C.S. Harris
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

As I noticed another reader remarking, these mysteries are NOT of the "cozy" variety. Regency London my have seemed sweet to those in the ton whose only thoughts were whether they could obtain vouchers to Almack's and which gentleman/lady would be most advantageous to wed.

No, this series of books deals with the seamy underside of London and the political and social problems (terrors?) of Regency London. Sebastian St. Cyr once again is requested to assist Bow Street with a most grisly murder: a decapitated man of decent wealth and social stature. Meanwhile, Hero, Sebastian's wife (and the daughter of the most powerful man in England, the cousin of the Regent who manipulates the ruler of Britannia with skill and avarice as well as Sebastian's sworn enemy) is researching and writing a scathing article on the plight of the London costermongers and how they face poverty, illness, and death on a daily basis.

While Lady Devlin would never interfere with Sebastian's passion in solving murders and bringing a little justice into an extremely unjust world, Sebastian would never interfere with his intelligent and crusading wife, no matter how much his father-in-law wants him to bring her to heel (and threatens to kill him if anything happens to his daughter and infant grandson). Despite their adversarial and awkward beginning, Lord and Lady Devlin are deeply in love, and their greatest fear is the loss of the other and/or their infant son, Simon.

Sebastian finds himself in more danger than usual as an assassin makes several attempts to kill him and is also having Hero followed as she interviews various costermongers. Who is behind the grisly murder--and the additional murders that follow? And can the missing head of Charles I be located and returned before the Prince Regent discovers its loss?

C.S. Harris has again written another nailbiter of a mystery, one which may skirt the drawing and ballrooms of London's elite but also finds itself in the very dregs of London's poorest (and most dangerous) streets...as usual. I just love Sebastian's and Hero's spirit in seeing the other side of London and doing what they can to protect the innocent and capture (or kill, if necessary) the evil.


Fine Eyes and Pert Opinions: A Pride and Prejudice Variation by Maria Grace
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A very different take on Austen's Pride and Prejudice!! Mr. Bennet is the longtime rector of the Pemberley living, and he and his five daughters are coming out of mourning for Mrs. Bennet, a very different type of woman than portrayed in Austen's original. Thus, the Bennet girls have grown up in the environs of Pemberley, and Elizabeth has become a trusted friend and confidant of Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy, especially where Georgiana is concerned. Georgiana is more spoiled and less shy in this variation, but she has learned to consult Elizabeth on all of her complaints about her controlling older brother.

When Darcy is at his wit's end in dealing with a moody and changeable 16-year-old, Elizabeth suggests having a small house party in which Georgiana can take on some responsibilities and thus feel more grown-up. Colonel Fitzwilliam obliges by bringing along some guests who seem to be more than a little questionable in more ways than one.

This Austen variation includes allusions to events in Mansfield Park and perhaps even Persuasion as well as Pride and Prejudice. It's a masterful mash-up of Austen characters and themes, and also addresses more serious social and personal issues. In other words, there are some themes to chew on here, themes that reach all the way into the 21st century.

A brilliant book, full of heart and soul, Fine Eyes and Pert Opinions is a difficult book to put down...and an even harder one to forget.


Undeceived: Pride & Prejudice in the Spy Game by Karen M. Cox
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A very different and quite modern take on Austen's beloved Pride and Prejudice. Set in the early 1980s, Darcy and Elizabeth both work for the CIA. When Darcy, the famous "London Fog," comes to "the Farm" to give a lecture to newbie agents, he offends Elizabeth by his cold demeanor and distaste for the young recruits.

Fast-forward to 1982, and Elizabeth finds herself in Eastern Europe as Darcy's language expert. He falls for her innocence and wit almost immediately while she maintains an emotional distance, given her previous dislike of the man. But soon she is playing the part of his girlfriend, a part which Darcy relishes and Elizabeth does not.

I won't give away any more (I basically summarized the first chapter or so), but this book definitely qualifies as a thriller as Darcy and Elizabeth team up (usually against Elizabeth's will) in the midst of the Cold War Eastern Europe, in a world of double agents, and one who especially has it out for Darcy....

Once I got a chapter or two in, I couldn't put it down. Brilliant book--a real ride!! :D


Gunpowder Plot by Carola Dunn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Daisy, now six months pregnant, goes to the home of a former school friend to write about the family's gorgeous estate, especially their traditional all-out celebration of Guy Fawkes' Day with a bonfire and fireworks--and an apparent murder-suicide.

What was supposed to be a relaxing weekend for Alex when he was to arrive a few days after Daisy turns into quite the case, complete with family secrets, mischievous boys underfoot, and much mayhem.

Daisy, as always, finds herself in the middle of Alex's investigation, helping however she can. Those guileless blue eyes of hers just seem to beckon confidences from the family and family friends. Alex almost can't blame her if it wasn't so maddening!

There is just nothing like a Daisy Dalrymple mystery to give one a laugh or two (and not a few quiet chuckles) while figuring out precisely whodunnit! Such a relaxing way to spend an afternoon or two!!
 

Death in Focus by Anne Perry
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book started a trifle slowly, mostly because we had to be introduced to the various characters which is quite different from reading another book in Perry's awe-inspiring Charlotte and Thomas Pitt mystery series (now with more than thirty titles). In addition, this book pivoted back and forth between the home front in Britain and Elena's adventures in Europe. By the time I reached the end of the first third of the book, I was reading with bated breath, and I compulsively raced through the second half all in one sitting...until nearly 2:00 AM despite having to get up early the next morning.

I might term this book, apparently the first in a new series, more as a thriller than a mystery although it definitely contains aspects of both genres. Although we do not see them together until the very end of the novel, the depth of the relationship between Elena and her grandfather is remarkable. Their relationship empowers the entire novel for reasons that Elena herself does not understand until the final pages of the novel.

The events of 1933, as Britain is inexorably dragged back into war with Germany despite wanting to avoid war at nearly all costs became so much clearer to me through this novel than any of my history classes were ever able to impress on me. I had never truly realized how far so many families who had lost so many loved ones were willing to appease Hitler in order to avoid a second Great War. I knew it, but in this novel, I experienced it. The deliberate blindness of the English ruling classes, as well as all classes, is breathtaking. It's so understandable and yet, on this side of history, so wrong and misguided.

In addition to enjoying a rip-roaring, edge-of-one's-seat thriller, I learned so much about the history of both Britain and Germany through this book, specifically, how the fallout of the Versailles Treaty created the perfect storm by which Hitler could gain power. Again, I knew this as fact, but now I experienced it along with Elena.

I rarely give contemporary fiction a "5" rating, but this novel truly has it all. I have been a devoted fan of Anne Perry's mysteries since my 20s, and this book may very well be her best work.


  Where the Dead Lie by C.S. Harris
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In another dark Regency mystery by the brilliant mind of C.S. Harris, Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, is enjoying marriage and his young son, but it is the deaths of many street children in London--the invisible children, many of whose mothers were transported to Botany Bay or to America for petty crimes, often the stealing of food to feed their starving offspring. When Devlin is called in to find the body of a 13-year-old boy who had been repeatedly whipped as well as tortured sexually as well, his stomach turns and his anger and sense of justice are piqued. Unfortunately, the men at the top of his suspect list are both extremely powerful men, one a cousin to the Prince Regent himself and the other a Marquess who is engaged to marry Sebastian's only niece.

Lady Devlin, meanwhile, is writing yet another exposé, this time taking the very idea of the missing children Sebastian seeks justice for and researching the plight of the children left behind homeless and ignored when their parents, especially their mothers, are transported to Australia or to the States in punishment for petty crimes.

This is another compelling mystery, overturning the seeming romance of the Regency era to show the length men (and women) will go to retain power and to prop up a dissolute monarchy and noble class who seeks pleasure in the most disgusting and inhumane of ways. The righteous indignation of Lord and Lady Devlin make them excellent partners in solving these crimes and crusade for the rights of London's helpless and downtrodden, providing a silver lining to the darkness of the human heart in this time period, reminding us also that not much has changed even now in the 21st century.

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I hope that you might pick up one or more of these books; they're all excellent reads, and I highly recommend every author on this list. Check out my Goodreads (follow the previous hyperlink or see the sidebar of this blog) for even more of my book reviews and to see what I'm reading now. 

And please post any recommendations for me! I'm always looking for new books to read...especially series! 

Have a wonderful week (of reading), everyone! 

Bookishly yours,