Echoes of Ballard House (Simone Doucet Book 3) by E. Denise Billups; Real Life Unsolved New Orleans Mystery Combines with Simone Doucet’s Dark Supernatural World

Echoes of Ballard House (Simone Doucet Book 3) by E. Denise Billups; Real Life Unsolved New Orleans Mystery Combines with Simone Doucet’s Dark Supernatural World

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews 

Spoilers: In the annals of unsolved mysteries, The Axeman of New Orleans is certainly a memorable and terrifying one. Between May 23, 1918-October 27, 1919, a serial killer stalked the streets of New Orleans brandishing their victims with an ax. There were twelve victims, most of them Italian immigrants or Italian-Americans, attributed to the Axeman. On March 13, 1919, a letter reportedly from the Axeman was published in several newspapers which promised more killings but had a unique request. Since the Axeman loved jazz music, on the following Tuesday night, they declared that they would spare any home that had jazz music playing from inside. Jazz musicians were hired and played in hundreds of homes that night. It appeared to work as there were no reported killings during that time. However, three subsequent killings later that year were attributed to the Axeman. The murders apparently stopped for unknown reasons after the final murder on October 27, 1919. The Axeman was never identified and no formal suspicions or arrests were made. To this day, the case remains unsolved. 

This eerie New Orleans legend is featured prominently in E. Denise Billups’ third Simone Doucet Supernatural Mystery, Echoes of Ballard House. It effectively combines a real life murder mystery with Simone's dark interior world of ghosts, visions, and demonic forces that trap the unwary and angry.

Simone is house sitting in a spooky manor called Ballard House, for her friends. Gisele and Theo, while researching information on her ancestors, Antoine and Bleu (introduced and featured prominently in the previous book, Wicked Bleu). While looking after the place, she experiences psychic visions of a bloody murder and an angry spirit. Simone studies the history of the house and one previous owner, Jensen who sold the house to her friends under mysterious circumstances. These circumstances are tied to disturbing family secrets and a bloody murder that took place during the Axeman’s reign of terror. 

Between the two books in the Simone Doucet Series, Wicked Bleu has the stronger sense of characterization particularly dealing with the life, death, and afterlife of Bleu, a Storyville prostitute who had been victimized by racism, misogyny, and abuse and carried those scars beyond death. Echoes of Ballard House, however, is the better of the two in terms of shocks, scares, and the overall unease that comes with reading a horror book. 

The opening reveals that ominous dark psychic energy right away. An unidentified Narrator wanders through the house while jazz is played to appease the Axeman. This figure wanders through Ballard House filled with hate and revenge against their own family members. They want  to kill them and frame the serial murderer for it. There are dueling evils within the house as the Axeman takes life for unimaginable cravings to satisfy bloodlust and sadistic pleasure. But there is something just as bad if not worse about the other character who is plotting to do away with their own family members for personal reasons. The Axeman is killing people that they don’t know but this mysterious Narrator is inflicting the same horror on people that they do know and presumably once loved. One, the Axeman is inhuman, someone that most people can’t imagine what that feels like. Another, the Narrator, is all too human, someone that some might be afraid of becoming. One argument too many, one lost temper, one careless display of weaponry, or buried resentment that boils over. That person could be just as, if not far more, dangerous than any serial killer.

Suspense carries over into the present as the first few chapters explore Jensen, the previous Ballard House owner before Gisele and Theo. He inherited the house from his late aunt, but he learns that the house was obtained under false pretenses. Even though Jensen attempts to right this previous conflict and return the house to the rightful heirs, there is a dark undercurrent that will not be silenced, at times literally. Whispers come through the house about the owners and the crimes that occurred. There is also a startling revelation that causes Jensen to withdraw his ownership of Ballard House. It is a genuinely unexpected twist that provides a disturbing mental image for the Reader to mull over for a few days. 

By the time Simone house sits, Ballard House is completely festered with spirits that affect her physical and psychological well being. She suffers from vivid nightmares, chronic fatigue, migraines, and dizzy spells. In one harrowing chapter, she passes out and has a visualization in which she witnesses the murders in the prologue first hand. The mindset of a psychic can be a troubling one and this chapter is an example of that. 

Simone is on high alert for any dark presences almost to the point of paranoia. She becomes suspicious of the people that surround the house: a pool cleaner, a neighbor and Jensen who befriends the young psychic and may have romantic feelings towards her. Simone’s heightened suspicions also transfer towards Gisele and Theo, long time friends, with whom she never had conflict before. Her visions and fears affect her perceptions so much that she can’t tell friend from enemy. 

The supernatural world is a terrifying one as dark almost demonic presences are driven by rage, desire, insanity, and sins past. But what the Simone Doucet Series excels at is showing the real terror are the human beings that we encounter every day. The racist who dehumanizes those around them so they can justify their attacks.The misogynist who longs to own and use women for his sexual pleasure. The killer who murders without conscience. The family member whose anger towards their relatives turns into homicide. Those are the true terrors. Their actions cause the supernatural disruption proving that humans are more monstrous than any ghostly apparition can ever be.

 

What Happened At The Abbey (The Straithbairn Trilogy) Book One by Isobel Blackthorn; Blackthorn Goes Gothic in Engaging Historical Murder Mystery

 

What Happened At The Abbey (The Straithbairn Trilogy) Book One by Isobel Blackthorn; Blackthorn Goes Gothic in Engaging Historical Murder Mystery 

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: Isobel Blackthorn is a favorite author of the blog. She is one of the best recent mystery/suspense authors. Her attention to setting and character brings new light to the Cozy Mystery, Locked Room Case, and other subgenres. Her books, The Cabin Sessions and Emma's Tapestry were favorites on the Best of the Best Year End Lists of 2021 and 2022 respectively. So when I say that What Happened At The Abbey, the first in Blackthorn's The Straithbairn Trilogy is the best of Blackthorn's work, I mean that it is the best of quite an impressive collection indeed.

What Happened at the Abbey is a loving tribute to the Gothic Mystery with an innocent female protagonist hired to work at a creepy wealthy estate for an eccentric family and unearths a secret that the family or their antecedents are trying to hide. It is a wonderful subgenre already and a personal favorite but Blackthorn's attention to tone and character make this a great addition to the genre and a stellar work in its own right.

Ingrid Barker is escaping an abusive marriage with her daughter, Susan. She had to leave her upper middle class lifestyle behind and travel North to Scotland to accept the position of housekeeper at Straithbairn Abbey. As she adjusts to her new surroundings and life as a single mother, Ingrid gets to know her employers, the McLeod Family particularly the argumentative daughter, Gertrude and the feckless secretive son, Miles. Miles in particular arouses suspicion with his cryptic words, his habit of sneaking around outside at night, and family's apparent dislike of him. It becomes clear that something is creepy in the estate of Straithbairn. Meanwhile, Ingrid is receiving threats of her own as she learns that her abusive ex husband is hot on her trail.

The atmosphere is one of stern judgment and deep ominous potentially demonic energy. Ingrid personifies Straithbairn as a “house that seems to frown down on all who behold it.” It's described with rugged countryside, omnipresent sharp craggy stones, a dour facade, and no softness. It is cold, imposing, and already unloving. 

The people who dwell inside Straithbairn are just as dysfunctional as the location that surrounds them. The McCleods are people who share a last name but harbor no illusions that they love each other or consider themselves family. Charles, their father, has a tight psychological grip on his children. Gertrude cares more about the estate than she does for the people who live inside it. Blake loses himself in alcohol and defeatism.

Then there's Miles whose arrival instantly brings derision and anger from the rest of his family. He is the McLeod Family Outsider. He appears at Straithbairn to collect moss for an academic study. But his first person narrative (which he alternates with Ingrid’s point of view) reveals more about him than he tells others. 

Miles is haunted by his family history and is searching for some answers to questions that have dogged him for years. His narration suggests him as someone who is teetering on the edge of sanity. He alternates between trying to retain rational thought and drifting towards paranoid delusions and fantasies. With the potentially supernatural atmosphere that charges the air, there are moments where it is uncertain if Miles is going insane or actually possessed by demons. What is apparent is that Miles is a man who is inwardly suffering and has no support from the people around him leading to further suffering.

The tension is also experienced by Ingrid. For someone who survived a physically and emotionally abusive marriage, Ingrid no doubt personifies her own experience with the setting around her. Her Anxiety and PTSD is paramount as well as her desire to get away from her previous situation. Straithbairn reminds her of her marriage: intimidating, isolated, domineering, confining, and loveless.

Ingrid is also someone whose own nerves are naturally at an all-time high. She shows a tremendous amount of strength of character by pulling herself and Susan out of a bad situation and  starting over in another country by telling people that she is a widow. However, she shows obvious signs of PTSD and Generalized Anxiety Disorder. She is suspicious of the bond that develops between Susan and Ethel, the cook. She finds a newcomer, Hamish, to be alternatively attractive and mysterious. Then there is the news of Edward's return which causes her to fear the world inside and outside the estate.

The tension in the air consumes Ingrid and it becomes clear that something terrifying is hiding in the fringes or under the surface and is about to happen. 

It breaks when Ingrid and Miles come face to face with their own fears, anxieties, insecurities, and paranoia and those that cause them. 

 

New Book Alert: The Wynters Series: Harriet Disguised by Catherine Dove; Predictable But Fun Escapist Regency Romantic Adventure

New Book Alert: The Wynters Series: Harriet Disguised by Catherine Dove; Predictable But Fun Escapist Regency Romantic Adventure 

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews 

Spoilers: "Meanwhile, back in stately Pemberley Manor…."

That's probably how most Regency Romances started, by the works of Jane Austen and her comedies of manners in which couples who swear that they are not suited for each other end up together. There usually is nothing more tense than a lover's quarrel and a frosty encounter during tea time with one's elderly, disapproving, or meddlesome relatives. All of this is resolved by the end.

Catherine Dove is no exception. Her Regency Romance, The Wynters Series: Harriet Disguised is full of typical Regency Romance tropes: brooding titled noble hero, spunky heroine who bucks traditions, conservative older relatives, usually aunts, that lecture the young ones about how things should be done, an upcoming Season, trips to inns, and misunderstandings and complications that result in the lovers quarreling. Of course, it ends with a romantic proposal and the promise of a happy marriage ever after.

However, Harriet Disguised also takes its cue from another popular genre: the adventure novel. Amidst the lighthearted romance between witty bickering lovers, Dove weaves a tale of missing inheritance, conniving ne'er do wells, treasure, disguises, and narrow escapes. Both the adventurous and romantic aspects give this book a pure escapist feel into that time period that inspired so many authors to explore it.

Sebastian and Harriet Wynters were raised by their archaeologist explorer parents. They had a unique upbringing in which they traveled the world, experienced different cultures and met many people, and were permitted to question everything and challenge standards. Unfortunately, their free spirited childhood and youth came to an end after their parents died and they ended up living in London with their staid aunt, while trying to fit into proper society.

 Sebastian learns that a stranger has a trunk of their late parents' things. Despite Harriet's objections and insistence that she go along, Sebastian goes alone. When he doesn't return, Harriet gets worried. She dons boy's clothes, takes on a male persona, and goes off to the country to look for him.

Meanwhile, a morose Lord Ashurst is out for a night on the town with his friends. He spends that night drinking, carousing, and bemoaning his arranged upcoming marriage to Miss Daphne Maitland. Wanting to get him to lighten up (and maybe sober up), Ashton's friends prank him by putting him in a stagecoach heading for the country. What an unbelievable coincidence, that coach is also carrying a boy with very feminine features and a soft voice who is looking for his missing brother! Yes siree, the other passenger is Harriet Wynters and our two potential lovers are off on a grand adventure.

Actually the high adventures are some of the best parts in the book. There are great moments of suspense such as when Sebastian executes a dangerous escape from his captors. 

Ashton and Harriet assuming disguises and identities while facing potential threats to the Wynters family seems to come out of something like the Scarlet Pimpernel. The plot of these works usually involves a disguised well connected clever hero who takes down some nasty usually titled do badders with sinister designs on some yet to be discovered wealth, maybe an inheritance or treasure. The only major difference is that the disguised hero in this book is a woman!

There are also some interesting moments of plot contrivances where characters converge into the same location such as an out of the way inn which somehow becomes a magnet for all parties involved. The protagonist and antagonist pile up is humorous but has its moments of tension as some characters just barely avoid being found by others and miss the people that they are supposed to catch up with.

The adventure is a bright spot but the Romance, while predictable, has its good points too. Yes we know Ashurst will see right through Harriet's disguise. We know that they will fight constantly and then share a kiss. We know that Ashurst will be drawn to Harriet's spiritedness because she's unlike any woman that he's ever met. We know that Harriet will find the hidden heart inside the brooding nobleman. We've seen it all before and somehow that's comforting.

This isn't the type of book that veers on surprises and it's not supposed to. There are some disappointments towards the end such as when the heroes and villains confront each other and it's hard to keep track of the various schemes and betrayals. Also a final unnecessary complication drags out a final chapter between Ashurst's proposal and Harriet's answer. But for the most part, those flaws can be forgiven in favor of the adventure and romance.

 Harriet Disguised is what it is, a sweet suspenseful romantic adventure in its purest escapist form, a reminder of days gone by of fancy dress, etiquette, swordfight, balls, witty banter, a kiss or two, and the feeling that everything will be alright in the end.

 

New Book Alert: Accidentally Engaged To The Billionaire (Accidental Engagement Series Book 1) by Bridget Taylor; Predictable But Charming Romance Between Different Social Classes

 

New Book Alert: Accidentally Engaged To The Billionaire (Accidental Engagement Series Book 1) by Bridget Taylor; Predictable But Charming Romance Between Different Social Classes

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: Bridget Taylor's Accidentally Engaged to the Billionaire is the example of Modern Romance Wish Fulfillment: The lovers of different social classes meet and arrange an alleged romance. They have to act like a happy couple in front of tongue clicking disapproving friends and relatives. After revealing their differences and arguments, usually an Act 3 Break Up, the duo decide that they love each other for real. Expect a lot of parties inside swank wealthy estates, maybe a vacation to an exotic location or a formal dance at the country club, expensive gifts, and a shopping spree.

There isn't anything in Accidentally Engaged to the Billionaire that hasn't been read or seen before and in some ways, in dark times, that's what makes it comforting.

Romances like this are the literary equivalent of a candy bar or a second can of soda. It's not healthy or stimulating but it's comforting, fun, and entertaining. It's a charming book that gives us pure wish fulfillment and makes for a good escape.

Charles Bentley, the eponymous billionaire, is in a bind. He is due to Inherit his father's money but the will stipulates that he has to be married before his 35th birthday and the big day is looming. There are some family members, such as his avaricious uncle and his much younger trophy wife, who would love to see him not get it. Rather than hit the singles bars, go on speed dates, or check out Match.com, Charles proposes to the woman who just delivered his pizza. 

Jane is confused about this odd proposal, but intrigued by his offer to pay her college tuition and to get her family out of their financial hole, so she accepts. Of course they go through the usual hurdles of faking their engagement, meeting disapproving friends and family, etc, before falling in love for real.

Charles and Jane are a study in contrasts. Charles is a smooth confident man about town, born with money. He is so insulated in his wealth that he thinks money can buy anything, even a potential fiancee. He doesn't want it to be sordid. In fact, sex and emotion aren't even factors. They are to be engaged in name only as though it were a business transaction. 

Charles lacks some of the depth of rich suitors found in books like Courage Jonathan or The Artist and His Billionaire. He is disgusted by the behavior of some of his family members and has enough awareness to be appalled by the money grubbing snobbish antics of his Uncle Jack, Aunt Rosemary, and the family lawyer, Wyatt Tucker. Unfortunately, he doesn't want to leave the family and attempt to make it on his own without his family or to do some charitable philanthropic good with his money. I suppose that he feels that paying off the tuition and debts of one college student is his good deed and teaching a person to fish blah blah blah. 

Charles shows kindness in some of the most unlikely of places. He lets Jane spend the night when a fight with her older sister causes her to get kicked out. He also begins to shed some of his earlier snobbishness and sees more than his wealthy corner of the universe.

Jane is of course the poor woman made good with this peculiar offer. In her story, we get some realism with discussions of poverty and income inequality. By contrast to Charles' world, Jane's is pretty bleak. She is working her way through college but still has student loans looming in her future. Her mother died recently so it's just Jane and her sister, Helena, who works as a bartender in a strip club. Jane appreciates the generous financial offer that Charles is offering and she can't afford to say no. However, she wonders what accepting means to her. She has visions of herself in fancy dress, sitting in a mansion, and turning her nose up at the things and people that she used to like. 

Unfortunately, the bleaker and more realistic that Taylor writes Jane's predicament, the less likely the fantastic aspects of the Romance are. Jane has to agree to Charles' proposal because she is written without any options. She has no choice but to say yes.

Like Charles, Jane also goes through a transformation. She doesn't become the snob that she fears, but she does learn to use that money to change her and Helena's lives and maybe get a better future.

Actually, Taylor writes a better potential couple that almost steals the spotlight from Charles and Jane: Helena and Charles' cousin, James.

James is Charles' closest companion. He is the only one who is in on the Proposal Scheme and speaks for a lot of Readers who probably think "Hey, isn't this idea a little weird?" 

However, he is incredibly loyal to Charles and grows to like and accept Jane. He is usually quick with a wry comment or one liner that sometimes puts him at odds with others, particularly Charles. He is also completely on Charles' side because he can't stand Jack and wants to see him go down.

Helena is also a brilliant contrast to the romance between Charles and Jane. Helena is more cynical about this proposal. She loves her sister and doesn't want to see her get hurt but she also thinks that this scheme amounts to prostitution. She is furious not only that her family has to be put into such a situation where Jane has to accept it but also has a grudge against the Bentleys in particular. It takes a while for her to reveal the reason for the grudge but it shows that sometimes when the wealthy act, the poor suffer and they may not be aware of who is suffering.

Helena and James' exchanges are minimal, but they carry a lot of wit, sarcasm, and repartee that you can see a possible couple emerging from them. Also since they are written to be more experienced than Charles and Jane, their romance won't necessarily begin with a contrived fairy tale like beginning. It would begin with the more gradual "getting to know each other" scenario that many regular couples go through. If Taylor isn't planning on it, she should write a spin off series about James and Helena.

Accidentally Engaged to the Billionaire is the kind of Romance that reality invites a scoff but the Escapist side longing for a dream will enjoy. 

New Book Alert: The Leviathan Trial by Oliver Madison; Suspenseful Clever Mind Twisting Thriller About Breakable Family Ties

 

New Book Alert: The Leviathan Trial by Oliver Madison; Suspenseful Clever Mind Twisting Thriller About Breakable Family Ties

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews 

Spoilers: Oliver Madison's The Leviathan Trial is an odd combination of The Hunger Games, Battle Royale, The Purge, and "The Most Dangerous Game," meets the Hatfields and The McCoys. It involves a sadistic game of life or death, but the participants are children in one very large, rich, multi-talented and incredibly screwed up family.

Father Benedict Lancaster is a very eccentric billionaire/recluse. At 90 years of age he lives the high life. He has homes, cars, thriving businesses, fame, infamy, and a tragic backstory to go with it. At 12 years old, he was the sole survivor of an accident that claimed the lives of his entire family leaving Benedict a very sad but wealthy young boy. (He was the sole heir to the family fortune.)

Upon adulthood, Benedict was a childless confirmed bachelor until abruptly in his 70's, he decided to adopt a child. Ultimately, he adopted 12 children from different countries.

The Lancaster children are raised in very unusual circumstances. They were left largely isolated, educated by a bevy of tutors, teachers, and coaches, until they attended the nearby Preparatory Academy where they are the subject of scrutiny, speculation, and gossip. They are ordered to socialize only with each other and to excel in one specific field.

 Benedict is hardly ever home leaving their care to an array of house servants and each other. He only returns to evaluate their performances and to reward or penalize them if they fall short of his expectations. Okay a wealthy, but distant father who expects his children to become overachievers. Nothing weird about that until they start talking about the Leviathan.

The Leviathan is a mythical creature who is their family spirit. The Lancasters pray to the Leviathan before meals and bedtime and swear total allegiance to this strange creature. Benedict often inspires and even thrives on competition between his children and allows rivalries and cliques to form because that is the way the Leviathan wants it.There are plenty of rumors that the Lancasters children are actually brainwashed members of a cult with Benedict as their leader and those rumors might be right.

The Lancaster children are a bizarre but fascinating bunch. Madison excellently personalized each character and how they interact as a family and as individuals. They are:

Pearl-The oldest at 19 and first to be adopted. She was adopted from New Zealand and is a champion skeet shooter. She is the de facto parent and mother of the group. Some believe that she is the closest thing Benedict has ever had to a wife.

Hiroshi-At 18, he was the first adopted boy. From Japan, he is a wrestling champion and the most physically athletic and strongest of the kids.

Blake-Also 18, he is from Iran and is an academic all-star. A chess champion, Blake has a sardonic attitude and often schemes against his siblings.

Cynthia-17, she is from Brazil and is an accomplished software engineer and computer programmer. She is very quiet and is known to hide her true feelings and keep to herself away from the others.

Allister-Also 17, he was adopted from Uganda. Like Pearl and Hiroshi, he is also an athlete though this time a champion fencer. He has a bad temper and somewhat inflated ego.

Zara-Also 17, she was adopted from India. She is the most star struck and is an accomplished actress, dancer, and model. She can be vain about her appearance and accomplishments describing herself as the Lancaster "family triple threat."

Troy-16, the only one adopted from the United States, he was from a Native American family. He is a culinary expert and gourmet chef. He is usually friendly and even tempered.

Levi-15, adopted from Kenya. He is very verbal as a debate champion and bookworm. He is also the book's Every Kid as he serves as the main third person narrator. Even though he is protective of some of his siblings, he isn't shy about becoming rivals with others particularly Blake and Allister.

Eden-Also 15, she is from Russia. She is a philanthropist and has organized a family foundation and charity that provides aid and assistance to underprivileged children from around the world. She has a reputation as the family do-gooder.

Mauve-13, she was adopted from Cambodia. She is a bright philosophy student but is going through a Goth stage. She is very rebellious and antagonistic towards Benedict and the other sibs.

Sion-Also 13, he was adopted from Puerto Rico. He is a founder of the chemistry club at his school and is very scientific and analytical. He is also a mischievous prankster and a bully, whose bullying sometimes extends to family members.

Helena-7, the youngest of the Lancasters and baby of the family. She was adopted from Norway and is mute. She may be autistic (though she has not been officially diagnosed, Benedict and the others just suspect that she is.) She is a complete mystery to her siblings except for Levi with whom she has developed a deep loving bond.

Yes the Lancasters are super talented, super strong, super brilliant, and super competitive. All of that plus their strange upbringing is a simmering cauldron that explodes into something super terrible.

The explosion occurs after the death of the family patriarch. Upon viewing his video will, the children learn that only one will inherit the family fortune and the title of The Great Leviathan. Who will it be? Well, it will be resolved by the children fighting each other in their locked mansion to the death. The one who is left alive will inherit the lot. Oh yeah and should they refuse, a poisonous gas will spread throughout the mansion killing everyone inside. So it's either 11 die and one lives or they all die. It's not too long before greed and survival instincts kick in and the Lancaster children become a bloodthirsty vicious bunch ready to kill the rest of their family.

The Trial itself is a truly suspenseful section as the children separate first into groups of three to outdo the others then turn on each other. There are some pretty heart stopping moments where some characters try to use physical strength to subdue each other physically while others hide in the shadows, mentally playing the different ends before they make their moves. They are also practiced at using their specific skills as means for attack and self defense.

 This is the type of book where people's real motives and ambitions come out under stress, ambition, and terror. Suddenly, that nice sweet sister of yours with whom you shared secrets will use those secrets as collateral damage before she willingly slashes your throat. Suddenly, that protective big brother who always defended you from bullies will now use that awesome strength and physical prowess to choke the life out of you. It's also the type of book where no one truly comes out clean. Even the seemingly nice characters aren't above scheming and fighting against siblings that they had long term rivalries with but are now seen as obstacles to their survival and fortune. There are even hints that the one who makes it will become as ruthless and power hungry as Dear Old Dad. 

The Leviathan Trial has some pretty clever and gut wrenching twists none of which will be revealed here but they subvert expectations and cause the Reader to rethink what had gone on before. There are some flaws notably the presence of Kitty Choi, a potential love interest for Levi that gets accidentally thrown into the Trial and does very little to advance the plot. She really only serves as the eyes and ears of the Reader to give some much needed exposition and an outsider perspective to this very odd family. If Kitty's presence was part of one of the many plot twists, it may have made sense for her to be there but she is simply a missed opportunity.

Mostly, The Leviathan Trial is a great novel that reveals that some family ties can be broken and shattered.

 

Weekly Reader: Cardinal Machines (Cardinal Machines Book One) by Tracy Eire; Engaging Science Fiction Mystery YA Romance Explores The Union Between Woman and Machine

 

Weekly Reader: Cardinal Machines (Cardinal Machines Book One) by Tracy Eire; Engaging Science Fiction Mystery YA Romance Explores The Union Between Woman and Machine

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: Tracy Eire's Science Fiction novel, Cardinal Machines,  explores the complex relationship between humanity and machinery. Nothing new in that, except that machinery is personified by an android taking the form of a handsome young man and humanity is personified by a cynical young woman working as a private investigator. Also that the relationship between the two develops into a potential romance, so Cardinal Machines explores the complex quasi romantic relationship between woman and machine. 

Katherine Zoey Cardinal Collins had a pretty rough life even though she is still in high school. Her parents died when she was very young leaving her to be raised by aunt and uncle. Her aunt was reported missing and presumed dead. Her uncle turned to alcoholism to cope with his grief and trained his niece to work in his very dangerous field of private investigation to the point that after he died, she took over his business.

Zoey has been cut off from her mother's wealthy powerful family, the Cardinals, and she has been struggling financially ever since then, though she refuses to ask for a handout. She is estranged from the Cardinals until she learns that her great aunt Katherine, for whom she was named, has died leaving her the heir to a custom ocean. Before Zoey can get out a surfboard and plunk a flag in the middle of the Pacific claiming it for the Cardinals, a handsome dark haired man arrives with a perfect mannequin like body and a stilted emotionless way of speaking. His paperwork reveals that he is C001-Oisin, pronounced "Ocean," and is fresh from the assembly line of her great aunt's robotics company. 

Ocean is an android specifically made for law enforcement, so Zoey can get some assistance in the pursuit of dangerous criminals. Katherine, the elder, apparently left Ocean to Zoey as a peace offering and to remind her that no matter how far she runs, she is still a Cardinal so she might as well suck it up and live with it.

Cardinal Machines blends the tone of Mystery, Science Fiction, YA, and even some Romance to create a work that is the best of all of these genres. The Science Fiction aspects are certainly the most prominent. The setting is in the near future in which AI is not yet a constant presence, but people are in fear of it becoming so. Many people make derogatory comments and threats toward Ocean to the point that Zoey and his former colleagues at the LAPD spend as much time protecting him from violent technophobes and other androids who are programmed to kill, as much as they protect the flesh and blood citizens around them from dangerous other humans. 

There are also real questions about how much Ocean has adapted to humanity. He has a very strict honor code which he follows the law to the letter and he doesn't always understand the shades of gray nuances that sometimes following a dangerous person can provide. In one chapter, he follows a suspect relentlessly while Zoey learns the suspect's background and why he chose to act as he did. As far as upholding the law, Ocean is a seasoned veteran but when it comes to understanding humans, he is still a rookie.

That also applies to his emotional state and his ability to reason and question his programming. As Zoey gets to know Ocean, she sees him adapt beyond his initial minor emotional responses and act out of sacrifice, self-preservation, feeling and in other ways beyond his programming. When they begin to experience a deeper connection, he moves beyond a faceless being of technology and behaves almost human. The questions of how human AI can become and how their experience with humans changes and adapts them is answered through Ocean's relationship with Zoey and others.

Cardinal Machines is not only a tribute to the future but to the past, specifically the hard boiled detective genre notably through Zoey's character arc. Zoey is sort of like what would happen if Dashiell Hammett's Sam Spade or Raymond Chandler's Phillip Marlowe adopted a daughter and exposed her to the dangerous elements that they lived with day after day. The results are a tough talking rebellious cynical teen who is much harder than the other high schoolers around her. When the other kids rebel, they might sneak out past curfew or steal the family car for a joyride. When Zoey rebels, she becomes a bounty hunter to search for dangerous criminals for money. Nancy Drew she ain't.

Sometimes Zoey's dangerous profession catches up to her as her apartment is shot at, she is drugged and kidnapped, and either she or Ocean are held up multiple times throughout the book. Her experiences with society's worst gives her a very negative perspective on humanity as well as an almost addictive thirst for danger. She lives for the danger of catching crooks, whether it's an ex husband who owes for child support and doesn't mind attacking Zoey with a gun or a robotics employee turned corporate spy who might have been a victim of an organized crime murder. It's the excitement and adventure that draws her as much as the idea of protecting innocent people from violent ones. Her experience with the dark side of human nature makes up for Ocean's innocence and confusion, making them a perfect couple that fill each other's needs.

Even though Zoey is in a hardened profession, she is still a teenager and in high school. That's where the YA aspect comes in. It would almost be a distraction from the philosophical science fiction questions and the hard edges mystery suspense, but somehow it works as almost a lighthearted contrast to the rest of the book. The school age gossip of hook ups, break ups, mean teachers, and popular kids is an almost welcome distraction to the darker stuff circling around Zoey on a regular basis. Zoey's closest friends are popular girls, Clara and Anne and Noah, who is at odds with his family because of his sexuality and who harbors a not so secret crush on Ocean. The three friends defend Zoey when townspeople attack her for the audacity of owning an android or when schoolmates spread rumors about what she and Ocean are actually doing. Because of their loyalty, Clara, Anne, and Noah form a loving and nonjudgmental family for Zoey in the absence of her biological one and accept Ocean into their circle as well. They provide an emotional center in Zoey's life, an emotional center that she will  defend.

The emotional center in Zoey's life is also provided by Ocean as he does for her. Zoey is certainly initially aroused by Ocean's attractiveness and he proves to be a good partner in crime solving.  They balance each other out with Zoey's street smarts and experience with the dangerous aspects of humanity and Ocean's more educated approach and ability to research information instantaneously. They become very protective of each other and often pull one another out of danger or draw a weapon on someone if they sense that their partner is in danger. 

Zoey addresses the physical aspects of their partnership by kissing Ocean and he responds in a very um shocking manner. What draws them is not only their physical connection, but their emotional one. Ocean is a learning android and he learns to care for and protect Zoey. He is able to question and rebel against his programming because of his feelings towards her. Through her, he understands humanity. He doesn't see Zoey as one of several who need his help. He sees her as Zoey, someone unique and individual.

In her own way as Ocean questions his initial programming, Zoey questions hers. She was afraid of getting close to anyone because she felt surrounded by death. She didn't want to lose anyone else or feel responsible when they died. Ocean breaks down that wall she put around herself as she breaks down his. She opens herself towards him. When they finally get together, it is a completion that they both evolve and adapt themselves.  Because of this, Zoey and Ocean are among my favorite romantic couples that I read this past month.

Cardinal Machines blends Science Fiction, Mystery, YA, and Romance to create a child that combines all of their aspects into one. This child, like its protagonists, questions its earlier programming influences and adapts into something different and unique.

Weekly Reader: The Earl's Sinful Quest by Lisa Campbell; Dark and Mature Regency Romance Shows Love After Death

 

Weekly Reader: The Earl's Sinful Quest by Lisa Campbell; Dark and Mature Regency Romance Shows Love After Death

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: The Earl's Sinful Quest is among the darker more mature of the Regency Romances that I read this month. The female protagonist is in a different stage in her life from the other women. She isn't a young virginal woman in her late teens or early twenties awaiting her Season so she can catch a potential husband and first love. Lady Amelia Turner has already been through that. In fact, she is a widow and currently the Dowager Countess of Wilton. 

Her husband, Arthur, died a year after their marriage leaving Amelia a widow who is at the mercy of her in laws including her domineering sister in law, Leonora and younger brother in law, Malcolm who is forced to end his medical studies and assume the title of the Earl of Wilton.

Of course in the time honored tradition of any romance, Malcolm appears and he and Amelia hit it off, developing a friendship that evolves into a romance. 

This romance does a good job of pointing out many of the social standards of the time period.

Once Amelia and Malcolm's romance develops, they face public scrutiny. This is a society in which some believe that being involved with the widow of one's brother is technically considered incest (even though they are not related by blood.) It's a Biblical concept that is still believed in some cultures. Amelia and Malcolm's romance could be cause for scorn and scandal. Not to mention, Amelia could look like a gold digger being with two brothers from the same family. At the time, their relationship could be enough to end their reputation.

Because of the situation that she is in, Amelia is not as naive as many other female protagonists in her genre. She understands the ideal of marriages of convenience and to her credit had a good one. She married Arthur to get her family out of debt and to help his reputation. He was gay and needed a wife for appearances. Despite their marriage not being consummated, Amelia and Arthur were good friends and generally happy with their marriage. In Arthur, Amelia found a close friend and loyal supporter.

In Malcolm, Amelia finds not only a good friend but a lover. Malcolm fills the emotional needs that his late brother could not. Malcolm also recognizes that emotional need with Amelia. Even though he never married and is by definition less experienced than Ame!ia, he has been committed to his studies and pursuits of women. He 

is regarded as a family outsider. 

When he is welcomed by Amelia, he finally feels a connection to his family that he previously kept at arm's length. He finally feels accepted. Their love making is established late in the book as they slow!y recognize each other as friends before they become lovers.

This book also shows what happens when most of the scrutiny comes from within one's own family. Malcolm and Arthur's sister, Leonore is unmarried but uses her dominating personality to control things from behind the scenes. She thinks that she knows best regardless of their arguments to the contrary. She tries to arrange the engagement of Amelia and Malcolm to the Duke of Derby and his sister. She disregards their feelings in the matter.

Leonore has a marginal hold in society. As a wealthy unmarried woman, no one regards her. She is completely diminished, so all that she has is her limited role that she is determined to hold onto. It is very likely that she sees Amelia as a threat so is determined to marry her off in an attempt to get rid of her. Leonore is a woman who social climbing and maintaining a good reputation are everything to her because that's all she has. She is unable to fill the one role that society placed on her, to be a loyal, loving, and wealthy wife so she expects others to do so. Her determination flies into obsession and causes her to tdo some manipulative and abusive  things to hold onto that role.

The Earl's Sinful Quest is filled with darker themes and characters than your average Regency romance but it still retains the sweetness and attention to detail that surrounds other romances. Somehow, the darkness is what actually makes Amelia and Malcolm better lovers.

Weekly Reader: The Ginger Gold Mysteries 1-3 by Lee Strauss; Brilliant Jazz Age Historical Mystery Series With Brilliant, Sharp Tongued and Stylish Lead

 Weekly Reader: The Ginger Gold Mysteries 1-3 by Lee Strauss; Brilliant Jazz Age Historical Mystery Series With Brilliant, Sharp Tongued and Stylish Lead

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: Last year, I was introduced to Mona Moon, cartographer turned businesswoman in 1930's Kentucky, and one addition to the illustrious sisterhood known as historical mystery female protagonists. Well, rewind about ten years and she would find a kindred spirit in fellow historical detective club inductee, Ginger Gold.

Lee Strauss' lead protagonist is a sharp and sassy war widow and fashionista in 1923. After the death of her father, the Boston based Ginger returns to her childhood home of England to inherit her father's vast estate, Hartigan House.

Ginger always is ready with a quick wit and an adventurous curious spirit. When murder is there, she doesn't mind defying authorities to conduct her own investigation and has something quick to say in her defense. In one instance in Murder on the SS Rosa, after the handsome and potential love interest, Chief Inspector Basil Reed warns her not to get involved with the official investigation, Ginger searches anyway and wants to speak to the deceased's widow. She reminds her bemused friend, medical student Haley Higgins that Basil said "not to officially investigate. (Ginger) only wants to offer condolences." Then wonders if she should bring a gift.

Ginger is a very stylish woman with an outfit for every occasion. In Murder on the SS Rosa, Ginger patiently demonstrates to Haley the difference between a day dress, a Jeanne Lanvin, "suitable for afternoon tea or semiformal dining," and a Coco Chanel evening gown that is "perfect for a night of dancing." Her clothes sense makes for some humorous moments such as when she holds up a murder interrogation because she doesn't have a thing to wear. However, she has an eye for style and what is suitable for women to wear on any occasion. Those attributes plus a desire to do something instead of being one of the idle rich allows Ginger to eventually open a women's clothing boutique called Feathers and Flair. 

However despite her style and penchant for barbs, there are darker aspects to Ginger's character that are gently revealed throughout the series. She is in mourning for her late husband, Daniel Lord Gold, who was killed during WWI. She, like many of her generation, is still reeling from the ramifications of a great war that sent young men from nearly every country to their deaths while she is simultaneously trying to uphold the "live life to the fullest" spirit of the 1920's. This grief makes her wary around men particularly Basil who seems to like her more than friendship and vice versa. One of the most emotional moments occurs in Murder at Bray Manor when Ginger finally visits Daniel's grave and reveals her mixed emotions towards moving on.

Ginger also has a past during the war as a spy. While as of Murder at Bray Manor, it is not fully explained, there are some implications that Ginger was pretty close to some dangerous and duplicitous characters. One was Captain Smithwick who wanted to bring her back into the Game. She also may have been betrayed and nearly died, so even before she begins her career as an amateur detective, Ginger is no stranger to murder or dangerous situations.

The book that I read contains the first three volumes of the series. Each mystery is in a different style, but all are brilliant, suspenseful, and filled with great historic detail for the time, customs, dialogue, and of course the wardrobe.

The first three books are:

Murder on the SS Rosa-Ginger and Haley travel to England so Ginger can inherit her father's estate and Haley can begin her medical studies to become a doctor. The two and Ginger's Boston terrier, Bossy, sail on board a luxury liner, the SS Rosa. Unfortunately, this is no pleasure cruise as the captain, Walsh, winds up dead.

In a seagoing version of a locked room murder mystery, the suspects are a small confined bunch. They include the captain's temperamental widow, a beautiful silent film actress and her dour minder, and a crew with secrets of their own. Because of the limited cast, the murderer and their connection to the captain are pretty easy to guess. However, this book serves as a great introduction to Ginger's character as she uses charm, urbane sophistication, and her quick wit as a means to ascertain information. She is also able to run circles around Basil's investigative methods by using clever observation, intuition, daring, and simple pluck to the point that Basil allows her to listen in on inquiries and act as an unofficial partner.

Murder at Hartigan House-Turns out Ginger's homecoming is just as eventful as the trip over. While getting reacquainted with her childhood home, the staff, and the English ways, the family butler, Pippins, directs Ginger to the attic where a skeleton has been discovered. Apparently, it has been there for over ten years since the house was shut up. This leads to some uncomfortable questions such as who was the body? How did they die? What was the reason behind their death? Above all, what did Ginger's father know and when did he know it? The questions increase as another body is added.

Of the three first books in the series,this one is probably the best. The dead body in the attic seems almost to come from Edgar Allan Poe, an urban legend, or a grim fairy tale. It is a very chilling situation and investigation as Ginger has to question many of her father's old friends and the house staff, some who knew her as a child. She also has to ask some uncomfortable questions about her late father with whom she was close. The mystery has some interesting twists. The reveal is genuinely a surprise and flip flops the notion of who is truly innocent or guilty in this world. Also, the moment when the killer is revealed is genuinely suspenseful as Ginger is put in a helpless situation and at the killer's mercy.

Murder at Bray Manor-We saw Ginger's family home, now we take a trip to her late husband's and meet her in-laws. While Ginger's grandmother-in-law Ambrosia and sister-in-law, Felicia had small roles in Murder at Hartigan House, this book solidifies them as important characters in Ginger's life. Felicia summons Ginger to investigate the appearance of a poltergeist in the Gold family home.

Bray Manor has fallen on hard times and Felicia opens the home as a meeting place for various clubs like knitters, stamp collectors, gardeners and such. It is after one of these gatherings that Felicia's friend, Angela Ashton is murdered. It is up to Ginger to investigate this death and reopen some wounds from her past.

If Murder on the SS Rosa is the wittiest, and Murder at Hartigan House is the most gruesome and suspenseful, then Murder at Bray Manor is the most emotional in the series. There is the aforementioned sadness that Ginger feels about visiting Daniel's grave. Her grief is realistic as is the post trauma that she feels over her war experiences. It's very possible that her sassy fashionable attitude are just covers for the broken soul underneath.

 Besides her problems, the Gold family is caught up in their own turmoil. This is a family that has been steadily losing money for years (in fact Daniel married Ginger for her family's money though their marriage blossomed into love). Ambrosia is an elderly woman so stuck in the past that she would rather be homeless than reshape her life to fit in the new world by letting visitors in her family home. Felicia might seem like a bubble headed flapper on the surface, but as the sole heir to Bray Manor has the foresight to save it. 

The passages between them balancing tradition vs. progress are heartfelt as the two women would otherwise be left alone by an uncaring world.

The emotions shared by Ginger, Ambrosia, and Felicia aren't the only ones that are truly moving. Without revealing too much, the murderer's motives are understandable and almost empathetic. In their confession, we don't see a remorseless cruel person, we see someone who was desperate, broken, and driven by their rage and grief to commit the ultimate crime.

The first three books in the Ginger Gold Mysteries gives us a brilliant sparkling character that is among the galaxy of great historical female detectives. Just like her name, Ginger is pure Gold.