photo of the day: little bee

reviews: the physick book of deliverance dane and

I finished Katherine Howe’s The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane several days ago, and I’m still not sure what I think about it.  When I read the description in the book jacket, I couldn’t resist.  It’s another one of those stories about a modern-day academic finding evidence of some historical mystery with narratives that alter between the present and the past.  I seem drawn to these, but I haven’t found many recently that are satisfying as I expect them to be.

In this case, Connie, a graduate student studying history at Harvard, is asked by her new-age mother to spend the summer living and cleaning her grandmother’s long neglected house so it can be sold.  Connie finds a Bible with a hollow key that contains a rolled up bit of parchment that says Deliverance Dane.  Her quest to discover the meaning of those words leads her into a history of witchcraft – one that connects to her own family.

As I’ve already said, Connie’s narrative in the present is interspersed with narratives from the past.  I found that it was the latter that interested me the most.  If anything, I would have preferred more glimpses into the past and less of a focus on Connie’s present.  Her journey didn’t really interest me or surprise me, and I also found the writing in those passages more jarring than the most historical tone used in the passages that narrated moments related to Deliverance Dane and her female descendants.

Next, I turned to the second novel in Andrew Pepper’s Pyke series: The Revenge of Captain Paine.  A few years have passed and former Bow Street runner Pyke has settled into his new role of banker.  A headless body is found and his assistance is requested.  That investigation leads him into the newly developing railway, the fight for workers’ rights, and to the British monarchy.

Pepper did a good job of pacing the book, though the last third had Pyke doing less and just explaining the central mysteries, and the revelation of the true evil-doers came a bit early for me.  In fact – spoiler alert – there weren’t enough characters introduced that didn’t have some role in the crimes Pyke is investigating and that would be my main problem with the narrative.

There were some twists, and I do find Pyke a really intriguing creation.  As in the first book, he is very found of taking matters into his own hands, and while it makes for a thrilling narrative, I am starting to wonder how long he can continue down this path.

photo of the day: little bee

review: the birth of venus

I decided to take a break from my recent diet of mysteries and turn to some historical fiction, but in spite of my good intentions, the opening scene of the novel introduces a mystery that isn’t resolved until the conclusion of the novel.

Durant’s The Birth of Venus is set in Florence during the Renaissance.  Alessandra Cecchi is a young girl, with a mind of her own and a yearning for freedom and a thirst for knowledge and art that conflicts with a woman’s expected role during this period.  Her father brings home a painter to work on the frescoes in her family’s chapels and Alessandra is immediately drawn to him.  Their love story takes place against the backdrop of fundamentalist monk Savonarola’s rise and fall in Florence.

The novel had a few twists and turns, but nothing that was entirely unexpected.  The sense of mystery that was built in the opening scene didn’t carry out throughout the novel, and the horrific murders that are described in the novel and which could have put the story into the thriller category didn’t seem to be as developed or as present as I expected they might be.  The characterization of Alessandra is strong and there are some interesting relationships, though the most interesting to me was the one between Alessandra and her servant, Erila.  The descriptions of religious extremism and suppression were also strong and probably the most interesting element of the novel for me.

Next up: The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane.

reviews: the fourth bear, the last days of newgate and the thief taker

Three more mysteries read this week.  First, I gave Fforde another try with The Fourth Bear, the second in the Nursery Crimes Division series.  It was a bit hit and miss for me just like the first one.  There was so humour and lots of in-jokes, but I never felt like I had a real shot at figuring out the central mystery, which is fairly key for me when reading a mystery.

The next two mysteries both have to do with a thief-taker character.  The Last Days of Newgate follows Pyke, a bow street runner as he interacts with the underbelly of London in his attempts to bring some of their number to justice.  Thief-takers like Pyke work both sides of the system: helping to punish some while also using the system to benefit their own interests.  In the course of a separate investigation, Pyke becomes involved in the murder investigation of a young couple and their newly born baby.  This investigation involves Protestant and Catholic tensions and leads Pyke into Newgate itself.  I enjoyed Pepper’s novel quite a bit.  It was a page-turner and I read about 3/4 in one sitting.  Pyke is very much an anti-hero, and that creates good tension throughout the novel, though there are some points where he shows less remorse than I really expected. This was just the first in a series, so I’ll certainly be keeping an eye out for the others.

When I went to pick my next book, The Thief-taker caught my eye.  Agnes is a cook for the Blanchard family.  She takes on the role of detective after a valuable wine cooler is stolen from the Blanchard’s showroom the night before it is to be delivered and an apprentice is murdered.  The kitchen maid has also disappeared and Agnes tries to find out where she is and if she had any role in the theft of the wine cooler.  Agnes may seem at first an unlikely detective, but Gleason makes sure to give her the mind of a sleuth and to also provide her with a backstory that makes her a sympathetic character.  There’s some romance and the thief-taker in this novel is much more on the dastardly side than Pyke.  Another interesting aspect of Gleason’s novel is the class dynamics – between the Blanchard family and the servants and the hierarchy within the servants themselves.  It was a fairly enjoyable read, though the resolution scene seemed a bit predictable.

reviews: The Big Over Easy and The Case of the Missing Servant

There’s several signs that summer is just about here.  The weather isn’t really one of them as it has still been rainy and a bit cool.  No, for me the true signs that summer is here is (multiple) weekly trips to the theatre and a craving for whodunnits.  Even with finishing up my marking, I’ve managed to finish two mysteries this week.

The first was Jasper Fforde’s The Big Over Easy.  I’ve read the first two books in Fforde’s Thursday Next series.  I struggled quite a bit with the first one (starting it three times before I finally got through the first few chapters), but I did enjoy the second a bit more.  The Artsy Mama had read The Big Over Easy and recommended it to me, and despite my sketchy history with Fforde’s work, I decided to try it.

The Big Over Easy begins with Detective Sergeant Mary Mary joining the Nursery Crimes Division run by DI Jack Spratt.  Jack’s been struggling to keep the division going and the loss of his murder case against the three pigs hasn’t helped matters.  Jack and Mary spend most of the book investigating the murder of Humpty Dumpty, while also trying to keep DCI Chymes from stealing the case from them.

There are humourous moments in the book and Fforde plays with many nursery rhyme conventions (including having Jack known as a giant killer and the inclusion of some magic beans).  I did struggle a bit with it, and I think that I have difficultly suspending my disbelief with the worlds Fforde creates, always wondering why he changes certain things, but not others.

The next mystery I picked up was the first in Tarquin Hall’s new series of detective novels featuring Vish Puri, India’s most skilled private investigator.  The story follows the owner of The Most Private Investigators agency as he tries to track down a missing maid servant and also runs a side investigation for a Brigadier who thinks his granddaughter’s financee has something to hide – not to mention having to deal with an attempt on his life.

I really enjoyed Hall’s novel.  It had good pacing throughout and the three key mysteries kept me interested.  There’s something about Poirot in Vish Puri in Hall’s physical description of him, and his mannerism, and his panache when dealing with the outcome of his cases.  There are differences though, particularly in that there is some focus on Puri’s personal life (family and friends) and also the range of employees that assist him in solving the cases.  Hall also seems very focused on capturing modern India and the struggles between progress and materialism and traditional values – the loss of which Puri laments in a few places throughout the novel.

This is definitely a series that I will keeping an eye out for.

photo of the day: new life on the avon

I would write about what I’ve been reading this week, but since it primarily involved essays and exams, I don’t think anyone would be that interested.

Here instead is one of the new baby cygnets gracing the Avon River this week.

photo of the day: withering heart

review: interred with their bones

I picked up Interred with Their Bones last weekend because I was looking for something a bit more escapist in my reading this week.  Whenever I want something escapist I turn to mysteries and I’d been wanting to read this Shakespeare-related mystery ever since I saw it in a bookstore several months ago.

The novel focuses on Kate Stanley, a former academic who is busy rehearsing a production of Hamlet at the Globe theatre.  Her former advisor, Roz, arrives, telling her she’s found something and needs Kate’s help.  Roz is found dead (in the manner of Hamlet’s father) later that evening and that sets Kate on the path of finding out exactly what Roz discovered before the killer gets to her.  Her journey focuses on a “lost” play by Shakespeare and also raises questions about the authorship of the plays.

There is certainly quite a bit of action and it did keep my interest throughout.  There’s plenty of interesting facts about Shakespeare’s life and theories about his authorship, and at certain points in the novel, there are scenes set in the 1600s that help heighten the mystery.  I found it hard to suspend my disbelief in several sections though, and I just had trouble believing that Kate would continue with her search with almost all of the innocent people she encounters in the book ending up dead.  Though I suppose there are those that take their Shakespeare very seriously…

photo of the day: little ants