The Price of Loyalty: Serving Adela of Blois by Malve Von Hassell; An Era in Anddemar by Maureen B. Roberts; The Orphans of Absolution The Hollow Dark Chronicles by Remi A. Rodriguez Brignoni

The Price of Safety: Serving Adela of Blois by Malve Von Hassell 

This review is a summary. The entire review is on LitPick 

 The Price of Loyalty: Serving Adela of Blois is a sublime look at the early Medieval Era during the time of the Norman Conquest and the First Crusades. It is rich in character particularly in its two protagonists Princess Adela of Normandy and Countess of Blois and Cerdic of Wessex, a knight sworn to serve her.

The book sees her through her brothers’ rebellion, the Crusades, her marriage to Count Stephen-Henry of Blois, motherhood, and her family's legacy. It is also told from the perspective of Cedric of Wessex, a knight and childhood friend of Adela’s but has complicated feelings for her despite their marriages to other people.

The two become friends by sharing outsider status. Cerdic is removed from his home in Wessex and Adela subverts her family's expectations. Adela and Cerdic develop a bond of friendship that lasts through constant changes particularly when Adela's brother rebels against her father and Cerdic is trained to fight him.

Adulthood transforms their friendship into a platonic romance. Their relationship never becomes physical but it's clear that they are among the most important people in one another's lives. Even though they marry two decent characters the kind Stephen-Henry and the strong willed Gisella, they still retain their closeness.

The book goes out of its way to not only make Adela and Cerdic decent characters, but also their spouses as well. Because Von Hassell portrays Adela, Cerdic, and their spouses in decent lights, the marriages and Adela and Cerdic’s bond does not resort to love triangle tropes. Adela and Cerdic stay faithful to their spouses and don't give into their passions. 

In the struggle between the political and the personal, Adela and Cerdic choose the political. That doesn't mean that they don't love each other. It just means that their bond includes their spouses, children, homes, lands, positions, values, and self-respect.

An Era in Anddemar by Maureen B. Roberts 

Coming soon here and on Reader Views 

Orphans of Absolution (The Hollow Dark Chronicles) by Remi A. Rodriguez Brignoni 

Orphans of Absolution by Remi A. Rodriguez Brignoni deftly combines Westerns and Paranormal Horror to create a chilling graphic novel of the creatures that can be found in the Old West. 

Twins Francis and Randall O’Dowell are the sole survivors when Father Mercer, a violent minister, murdered their entire family. Now they wander the Southwest, particularly the Arizona Territory hunting demons and other supernatural creatures for a bounty. However, they are on the lookout for their real target, Father Mercer.

The book is a veritable tour into Southwestern myths, legends, and ghost stories. The twins encounter a town in which children have been captured by La Llorona, the notorious ghost that lures children to drowning deaths. The results of a town filled with missing children in a time where early death was all too frequent is heart wrenching and motivates Francis and Randall on their search. 

They also encounter shapeshifters that sometimes fool the twins by looking or sounding like people that they knew. There are various moments when the twins are out in the isolated desert where suddenly they might hear their deceased mother’s voice or catch the form of a former lover out of the corner of their eye. It is terrifying to imagine a creature that not only knows their entire history but is willing to use it as a weapon against them.

Even when characters are potentially benevolent, there is a dark sinister aura that hints that they might not be trustworthy. A mysterious man known only as Crow appears and disappears to give them solid hints and advice about their missions but also maliciously puts them in dangerous situations.

What also makes this book more ominous is the setting. This is set primarily in the desert regions where the landscape is the same for miles. Where the nearest help could be in the next town or county for all anyone knows. Where the mind often plays tricks on the unwary who are lulled into a false sense of sameness and security.Where a mysterious moving shadow could be an animal, a violent person, or something else entirely. Brignoni takes full advantage of the haunted Old West.

The creatures and settings aren’t the only things that are haunted. Randall and Francis are too. They only live for the hunt and have foregone any hopes of romance, family, or settling down while there are dark supernatural spirits out there. They both have histories of relationships that ended prematurely, something that their antagonists take full advantage of. They are also haunted by their family’s graphic death and wake up with memories of blood, bodies, and the minister's sinister presence.

Because of their status as nomadic orphans, all Randall and Francis have in the world are each other. If anything challenges that union, whether it's human or supernatural, that challenge is outright rejected. They have no lives beyond the hunt and each other. It’s an unhealthy codependent relationship that is at times possessive and controlling (though the jury is out over who is controlling whom). But Randall and Francis have a shared understanding, language, and destiny that only they can understand. They have seen death as children and now have to face it every day as adults.

Orphans of Absolution is a graphic chilling Horror Western that combines the barren landscape and the lone gunslingers of one genre with the nightmares and twists of another. This combination presents strange but effective absolute results.

Rock Kills by Michael Di Lauro; Rocking Good Times With An Awesome Narrator

 

Rock Kills by Michael Di Lauro; Rocking Good Times With An Awesome Narrator 

By Julie Sara Porter 

Bookworm Reviews 

Spoilers: Michael Di Lauro’s novel Rock Kills walks the path that many accounts of rock stars take but it does it with the perfect narrative voice that lets you enjoy the familiar ride.

That voice belongs to Steven Apollo Belmondo AKA Stabb Bell, former lead guitarist for the 1970’s rock band She Kicks. The book tells his story from folk musician to rock star with the usual beats of humble beginnings, small starts, greedy music executives, musical group of misfits, damaged love lives, meteoritic rise to success, addiction, egos, bad tempers, betrayals, break ups, and so on. We've seen it before in every biopic ever but none are told by Stabb Bell.

Stabb’s narration is what makes the book. I would genuinely love to hear the audiobook version to see how the narrator would capture his voice. His elevates many of the usual beats of a star’s rise and fall to an interesting and actually compelling level.

Stabb’s sarcastic comments about his own story are self-deprecating, acknowledging the tropes while also mocking them. Instead of a faded celebrity full of ego and delusion, he looks back with honesty. He compares She Kicks to other famous groups like The Beatles and the Rolling Stones and admits that his band was famous but “never fainting famous.” (Where fans fainted in delight during their concerts). It's less a story about being lonely at the top than it is about feeling kind of crappy in the middle. 

There are times when Stabb’s burnt out narration becomes almost cluelessly adorable. For example, it takes Stabb an entire chapter to figure out an important secret about his past even though the person revealing it drops several obvious hints beforehand. 

The Reader easily guesses the secret only a few lines into the beginning of the chapter and waits, with a forehead aching from the constant face palms, for the Midnight Train to Clue Town to finally catch up to the protagonist. Stabb is highly talented and a great storyteller but he's not the sharpest note on the musical scale. 

Unfortunately there are also times when that naivete results in less humorous moments especially when Stabb finds out too late that he was being used as a front for others’ criminal activities. To his credit the middle aged man telling the story recognizes what an idiot the young budding star was to ignore it but he can't change the past. The only thing that he can do is talk about it.

Di Lauro's writing also gives Stabb interesting recall in describing the colorful characters that he encounters on his journey to and from stardom (not “fainting super stardom" of course). His former girlfriend Margot, the “one that got away” and who inspired his earliest hits appears and reappears in his life but she has her own agency. 

While she appreciates him as a musician, Margot lets Stabb know about what she thinks of him as a person and lives her own life separate from him. In fact it's less like she is pining over him and more like he is pining over her. 

The band members of She Kicks are an interesting eclectic bunch particularly Siobhan, the sharp tongued lead singer who leads the band like a cross between a larger than life prima donna and cold blooded CEO. Think of if Janis Joplin was ever crossbred with Deborah Dugan. 

She also isn't afraid to maintain dominance in a largely masculine led industry including arguing with her obstreperous and verbose lead guitarist. Siobhan and Stab often engage in one on one snark battles to disguise their own anxieties and insecurities.

Another interesting member of the band is the ebullient bassist Tanya. She is usually something of a comic relief, blurting out off color jokes and asides at even the most inopportune moments. But her story ends up being one of the most heartbreaking. 

Tanya joined She Kicks to pursue her passion for music and maintain a separate identity from her suffocating family only to find herself crushed by them anyway. Even after all of these years Stabb stills the vicarious anguish of his former colleague.

 In his recall of his and his band mate’s experiences, Stabb reveals the great cost of pursuing artistic success: the performance highs, constant pressure, and the need to be an individual that is screaming to be heard, understood, loved, and accepted while being surrounded by a crowd.

Stabb Bell, and by extension Michael Di Lauro, turns what could be a hokey cliched melodrama into a thought provoking introspective engrossing novel about fame, love, identity, artistic pursuits, and maintaining one's own individual voice in the face of change, conformity, and control. It is truly a rocking good time. 

The Arts Council by Dolly Gray Landon; The Writing Writes The Writer Taking Kev to Sizzlin' Meats and Salads by Kevin Cann

The Arts Council by Dolly Gray Landon 

 The Arts Council by Dolly Gray Landon is a bizarre book. It can't really be said to be highly recommended. It can't even be considered particularly good or well written. Instead it is a messy, loud, disturbing, darkly comic, vulgar, inappropriate, immature, witty, bizarre, trippy, unforgettable, sharp, and ruthless satire. You don't go into a book like this to like anyone or anything. You read it to cringe, laugh bitterly, compare it to real life, maybe think, and more than likely wonder “What the heck did I just read?”

The plot mainly involves Honoree Oinkbladder and Modesty Greedance, two high school artists who are constantly trying to one-up each other. It also concerns the Pimpleton Regional Arts Council who determines whose artwork is praised and promoted but are often swayed by famous family names, bribery, and other more nefarious means in selecting pieces. There are also various other subplots that involve cheating spouses, hook ups, break ups, murders, public humiliation, illicit lobotomies, and feral attack therapy dogs.

The Arts Council walks that strange line between being a very intelligent satire and an immature joke. There are savage takedowns everywhere from aggravating political figures, to pretentious artists and art experts, to judicial corruption, to inept intellectuals, to kangaroo courts, to depraved socialites, to obnoxious teenagers, and especially to a society which pays lip service to hard work and merit but lets money and names lead to success.

The attacks especially on the art industry are spot on. Landon skillfully dissects an industry which talks a big game about artistic integrity and free expression but only promotes art that is deemed acceptable when it is financially beneficial for collectors, council members, and gallery owners. 

They determine what is considered fine art and will try to assign an arbitrary meaning to make it more valuable. For example, a painting of Honoree’s that was defaced in the most horrible way during a bullying incident is considered a worthy piece. Honoree then displays it, despite its rancid odor and disgusting visuals. She periodically makes some slight additions and changes to make it look like an entirely new piece each time to the delight of her prestigious and unaware fans.

The intellectual satire is augmented by more childish humor making the book a bizarre concoction of humor. Various characters have double entendres and dad jokes for names such as Dweebaldo Van Boofus, Poppin’ Jay Godandy, and Ian Tickleman. The two protagonists named Honoree and Modesty suggest virtue but are conniving manipulative young women who have multiple sexual relationships.

There are moments that over emphasize scatological function and humor. Readers might be torn between sardonically smirking at the satire or rolling their eyes at an obvious dirty joke, sometimes doing both in the same paragraph.

There are many things that prevent this from being a highly recommended book or even a great work of satire and parody. The characters are off putting in that exaggerated way that is found often in satire where everyone is written to an obnoxious extreme and no one is particularly likeable. Some plot points go nowhere or are arbitrarily resolved. It's hard to care about anyone in a cast of shrill annoying caricatures who do stupid obnoxious things as plot devices.

That is probably the point but the incomprehensible plot and one dimensional characters also cause the book to run far too long. Readers might say, “We got the joke the first time. Can we move on please?” It's a book that is not well constructed but also revels in how ill constructed that it is. Technically that makes the book a potential work of genius.

Trigger warnings but there are also moments that are incredibly disturbing. A few characters get publicly humiliated in sexually and physically abusive ways that are treated as graphic and disturbing jokes. One could say that is the point and comedy is subjective. In a world that is becoming increasingly satiric on its own, those who point out society's flaws in arts and entertainment need to be more graphic, more satiric, and crazier to get their points across.

However, these are chapters that go to an extreme that is beyond humor. The excessive nature of these passages turn dark satire into psychological horror. The characters don't just suffer but others stand around, watch it happen, and take part in the humiliations. Once read, the reader can't unsee them and has a hard time focusing on the rest of the book. Because of them, the book could be considered recommended but with extreme reservations that it is definitely not for everyone. It is for people who like bizarre satire, dark humor, sexual innuendo, and have strong stomachs.

The Writing Writes The Writer Taking Kev to Sizzlin' Meats and Salads by Kevin Cann 

Spoilers: Some books capture large moments. Characters dealing with politics, life transitions like birth and death, trauma, and sweeping changes. Some capture little moments concerning friendships, couples, and daily life. 

That is the case with The Writing Writes The Writer: Taking Kev to Sizzlin' Meats and Salads by Kevin Cann. There isn't much in the way of plot but it's heavy in characterization.

The book mostly focuses on Kev and his best friends, married couple Jeb and Mae. Kev is legally blind and Jeb and Mae often drive him around. One of their favorite places to go is Sizzlin' Meats and Salads, the local eatery. It's just a few weeks of their lives punctuated with trips to Sizzlin.’

The three characters and setting are relatable and identifiable. Those who live in small towns will understand the comfortable routine found in a town like Peculiar, California. It presents a history of the town and how it got its, well, peculiar name. It's the type of story that townspeople know by heart and retell. Maybe celebrate it in historical reenactments and guided tours. 

There is also recognition of the important locations that give the town character. In this case Sizzlin' Meats and Salads. It's a local mom and pop place where people arrive every week, order their favorite expected meals so often that sometimes even the servers memorize it before they order, and recognize co-workers, classmates, neighbors, or just the regular gang of diners. It's so beautiful because it's so familiar and comforting.

The three protagonists are the type of characters who depend on daily lives and routines. This is especially vital to Kev. An intellectual and writer, Kev hates being dependent on his friends but still relies on them to be his contact with the world outside his house. 

He is such a devotee to this routine that he looks forward to it like a kid waiting for a trip to a theme park. When things get in the way like car trouble or a family issue, Kev makes them swear that they will go the following week and it's non-negotiable. Of course unlike most people, he doesn't have the luxury of going some other day because of his lack of transportation. It's just as aggravating for him as it is for them and the frustration is easily understood.

We also see Jeb and Mae as a couple that are comfortable with each other. They compliment each other with different personalities but a yin yang dynamic that recognizes each other's strengths and vulnerabilities. 

They have shared memories, inside jokes, unfinished sentences that they answer. They know each other so well and treat Kev like another family member that's welcome in their lives and not an unwanted third wheel. It's a power trio that relies on warmth, familiarity, and connections as their strongest assets.

The Writing Writes The Writer is a simple book. But sometimes the simple books tell the strongest truths.

Borrowed Times by John Glynn; Decent Historical Fiction Has One Glaring Flaw

 Borrowed Times by John Glynn; Decent Historical Fiction Has One Glaring Flaw

By Julie Sara Porter 

Bookworm Reviews 

Spoilers: Borrowed Times by John Glynn has a lot of promise. It's a bildungsroman about a young Englishman trying to find his path in 1940’s and 1950’s Rhodesia but could be so much better. There is a huge glaring flaw that must be addressed.

Melvyn feels rootless and out of place within the rigid expectations drilled into by his harsh boarding school upbringing and his self-involved status seeking mother and stepfather. He takes his interest in antiquities and cartography to Rhodesia to stay with his older brother Tristan. Rhodesia is still under British rule because of colonialism and there are hints of rebellion on the horizon.

There are parts of Borrowed Times that are worth reading. Melvyn’s character is particularly developed through his experiences in school. 

His encounters with a rigid class system born from aristocracy is compelling. He is someone who recognizes the privilege that is installed by others because of their birthright. They were born at the finish line and Melvyn feels insignificant because of them. 

When Melvyn travels to Rhodesia, it's to find a sense of belonging that he is denied from his indifferent family and the society in which he was raised. He gets along with his brother and sister in law rather well. There is an agonizing moment where Melvyn’s true affection for his brother/surrogate father figure is revealed.

Setting also makes the book. While in Rhodesia, Melvyn moves out of his comfort zone by doing rigorous farm work, preparing maps, and exploring the landscape around him. The book is filled with descriptions of the landscape without resorting to assumptions to depict Rhodesia as a savage backwater or an idyllic paradise. Instead it is both realistic and atmospheric. It captures the environmental and political structures which characterized the country during that point in time.

Politics are actually part of the issue. Melvyn befriends many native Rhodesians and begins to understand their concerns about the restrictive white establishment. It's a situation that we can see will create the subsequent years of segregation and racism that still mar the country years later.

However, this is at the expense of a local voice which is the book's glaring flaw. We only receive primarily Melvyn's voice, a white newcomer from an English background not from a local black character. It lacks intimacy and authenticity At the very least, a Black character could have shared narrative duty with Melvyn. 

Otherwise it's similar to a Hollywood movie that uses a white voice to tell what is primarily a story involving the Black experience. It projects the overall impression that Glynn could only tell this story at a distance from someone separated from this experience instead of from the people who actually lived it.

After The Rain: Stories by Dina Sokal ; The Narrow by Dan Cornelious; The Love That Wouldn't Die by Anthony Biren; 200 Things Women Can Do After 50 by Permission Press

 

After The Rain: Stories by Dina Sokal

This is a summary of the review. The entire review can be found on LitPick.

This poignant and meaningful anthology focuses on emotional confrontations, secrets, trauma, memories, and how sometimes it takes adulthood and maturity to understand these experiences.

The best stories are:

“Henry and Sally”- Henry learns that his ailing wife, Sally, has secrets that he never knew.

This story is about how we never know everything about the people that we are around the most, spouses, children, and close friends and family. 

Henry cares for his wife through her dementia and finds out her secret on his own. He weighs his suspicion towards her and his guilt in bringing this outcome forward. He has to address the reality of his marriage, not his romantic rose tinted view.

 “The Ritual Committee Meeting”-Christy weighs religious devotion with her uncertainty about her committee leaders Jonathan and Rivka who are becoming quite authoritarian.

This story is only a few pages long but says a great deal about Christy and the other church members. Christy sees the tight hold that the couple have on the committee and when she disagrees with them, they let her know that she has fallen in their estimation. 

She wonders if they are there to lead others to worship God or themselves.

“Mother's Day”-An accident forces Val to evaluate her marriage, motherhood, faith, and behavior.

Val once held a superficial view of her life. She thought that it was an idyllic home as long as she existed on the surface and lived in benign contentment. 

Afterwards she has to weigh her love for her husband and family. She also has to look at her own troublesome behavior and seek to change it.

“After the Rain”- A woman has a magical encounter that forces her to confront her past.

Most of the story is surreal and yet meaningful as a strange box leads her to several human figures, particularly a baby that beckons her to follow it. They have a lot of symbolic touches concerning security, suppression, and confrontation.

The story’s climax is reached when she names the trauma that was done to her. She confronts her assailant and brings her pain to the forefront. Recognizing it gives her the first step towards healing.

 Sokal’s watercolor illustrations are winsome pleasant landscapes that bring a timeless dream-like quality to the stories and provide light to even the darkest moments.

The Narrow by Dan Cornelious 

This is a suspenseful Science Fiction Thriller that combines monster disasters, alien encounters, and conspiracy theories and does some clever unique things with the concepts.

After surviving an attack by a mysterious creature Eli Merritt investigates the encounter. He sees a sealed passage which leads him to a civilization of reptilians called the Zargata. He bonds with one named Ryznk. When a greater evil approaches Eli, Ryznk, and their human and reptilian allies have to work together to fight it.

Most of the book focuses on typical military science fiction thriller tropes. There are the military figures who try to keep the weird stuff under wraps as they fight against it. The scientists and doctors with the analytical questions, devotion to science, and arguments with the military. 

The salt of the Earth protagonist who stumbles on the strange new world but still kicks ass. The religious supporting character that quotes the Bible and fears the End Times. It's all familiar but also kind of fun as a good action novel read for the summer should be. 

One of the most interesting aspects of this book are the reptilians. Most Science Fiction novels that focus on conspiracy theories treat the reptilians as some unstoppable inhuman evil bent in conquest and destruction. Dan Cornelious however took great care to make the Zargata just as important and multi-faceted as the humans.

 Ryznk is actually a well written character more so than Eli, his human counterpart who is alright but stereotypical and cliched. Ryznk however is a proud member of the Zargata community but has enough intelligent curiosity and empathy towards the humans. He draws Eli and others  into their mutual struggles by sharing thoughts and emotions. It is an interesting touch in what might have been a typical Science Fiction Thriller.

The friendship that develops between Eli and Ryznk is the emotional core of the story as they fight against their isolation, assumptions, enemies both human and reptilian, and mental and emotional blockers to work together. It's a twist that elevates this book from ordinary to potentially exceptional.

The Love That Wouldn't Die by Anthony Biren 

This is a beautiful and sinister short novel about the love between parent and child that survives beyond death.

John is devoted to his daughter, Rocky. He is so devoted to her that his final thoughts before he dies in a traffic collision were to always be with her. After death, he watches Rocky as she becomes romantically involved with Derek, a dangerous stalker.

The horror and mystery aspects are well written. John's attempts to communicate with his daughter can be creepy as he speaks to her through her phone and flickers with lights. Also John's attachment to Rocky could affect his memory of her and human emotions leaving him as an angry vengeance seeking spirit.

Besides the supernatural horror, there is also human horror. It is particularly noticeable when John and Rocky are given a chilling vision of Derek's actions and motives. The lengths that Derek went through because he felt entitled to have Rocky are incredibly disturbing.

Above all, this is a strong story about the love between a father and daughter. The opening chapter features a charming moment between John and his then-toddler aged daughter as she watches butterflies. It symbolizes their relationship as Rocky is as beautiful and fragile as those butterflies and John tries hard to hold onto her until he learns to defend when necessary but also to let her go.

200 Things Women Can Finally Do at 50 by Permission Press

If you are approaching 50, don't look at it as old age or think that it is an end to life. Think of it as a potential start to do new things. This is a funny and uplifting book that suggests that women can find fulfillment by living for themselves.

This book covers various areas like social life, beauty standards, work, family, health, tech, and a bucket list. The items suggest similar messages like “It's okay to opt out.” “It's okay to be less than perfect” “It's okay to practice self care.” “It's okay for others to take care of you.” “It's okay to be behind the times.” “It's okay to meet long term goals that were put off by life situations.” “It's okay to be yourself.”

The suggestions are humorous and heartfelt to remind readers that they should make time for themselves. For example in the social life chapter, one suggestion is “Unfriend the Energy Vampire. We all have that one friend. She only calls to complain about her ex, her boss, or the rash on her leg. You have listened to the same loop for 15 years because you are loyal. You are not a therapist, and you are not a garbage can for your emotional refuse. It is okay to outgrow people who only take. Hit ‘Block’ or ‘Mute’ to lift that weight off your shoulders immediately. Rebel Rule: Protect your peace like it is a limited-edition handbag.”

July-August Reading List

 July-August Reading List 

The Arts Council by Dolly Gray Landon 

The Price of Loyalty: Serving Adela of Blois by Malve Von Hassell*

An Era in Anddemar by Maureen B. Roberts*

Borrowed Times by John Glynn

Rock Kills by Michael DeLauro 

The Writing Writes The Writer: Taking Kev to Sizzlin’ Meats and Salads (Awareness and Aplomb Trilogy) by Kevin Cann

A Mostly Magnificent Memoir: True Stories Dramatized and Somewhat Fictionalized by Bo Bennett, PhD

The Weight of Sunshine by Robin Maguire 

The Music Box and The Missing Bride (A Salt and Cedar Antiques Mystery) by Evelyn Hartwell

 The Girl Who Never Left by Alison Stuart 

If you have a book that you would like me to review, beta read, edit, proofread, or write, please contact me at the following:

Bluesky

Facebook

Goodreads 

Instagram

LinkedIn

Literary World

LitPick

Reader Views 

Reedsy Discovery

Threads

Upwork

Email: juliesaraporter@gmail.com or julieporter217@gmail.com

Prices are as follows (subjected to change depending on size and scope of the project):

Beta Read: $50.00-75.00

Review: $50-100.00**

Copy/Content Edit: $100-300.00

Proofread: $100-300.00

Research & Citation: $100-400.00

Ghostwrite/Co-Write:$200-400.00

*These are books reviewed for LitPick or Reader's Views and will only feature a summary and a few paragraphs with links to the full reviews on their sites. Some may not be featured at all.

**Exceptions are books provided by Henry Roi PR, LitPick, Reedsy Discovery, Hidden Gems, Reader Views, and DP Books. Payments of short Nonfiction reviews are already facilitated through various reading groups such as Paid Readers Club, Read Books, Read for Pay, etc.

Payments can be made to my PayPal, Stripe, and CashApp accounts at juliesaraporter@gmail.com

Well that's it. Thanks and as always, Happy Reading.

A Maid For Murder (The Sinclair Mysteries) by Bethany Swafford; Ongoing Mystery Makes and Mars Historical Mystery

 A Maid For Murder (The Sinclair Mysteries) by Bethany Swafford; Ongoing Mystery Makes and Mars Historical Mystery 

By Julie Sara Porter 

Bookworm Reviews 

Spoilers: It's rare when a mystery series relies entirely on an ongoing mystery that travels from volume to volume. It's different but it can also cause problems while reading. That is the situation found in Bethany Swafford’s Sinclair Mysteries and its second volume, A Maid For Murder.

In the previous volume, The Secret of Burnham House, the brother of Juliet Sinclair, a former lady of standing, was found dead under mysterious circumstances. Her investigation in London offers a lead in Bath.

This volume tells of Juliet's adventures in Bath where she creates the identity of Julie Nelson, a lady's maid to the haughty Miss Dunbar. Juliet's investigation is complicated by Miss Dunbar’s unstable demeanor, her lecherous brother, a former suitor of Juliet's who is definitely in the wrong place at the wrong time, a woman with a connection to Juliet's late brother, and a blackmailer.

The ongoing mystery is both a benefit to the book by making it a unique murder mystery and a drawback to the narrative structure of this volume and the series as a whole.

The ongoing mystery provides much wider stakes than the usual crimes of passion or killing someone for an inheritance or insurance payout that are found in stand alone mystery novels. 

Once the reader becomes used to the idea that anyone could be involved, they become aware how long and how tangled this network really is. In theory, it could go as high as the governing offices. 

This overarching plot leads to genuine moments of suspense as Juliet puts herself in jeopardy while in Bath. Anyone knowing her real name could be an enemy or at the very least could blow her cover. She is held captive or put under suspicion by people who normally would just be among the Dunbar’s frequent callers but often cast wary glances at the familiar looking lady's maid who bears a striking resemblance to a certain London lady who suffered a family tragedy.

Another asset is that it makes the novel more realistic. Sometimes a mystery can't be solved in a short time frame. Sometimes it takes longer. Some may not be solved at all. If the murder occurred in higher offices, it takes a lot more than pluck and determination of one person to bring it down. Sometimes it takes another authority.

Also Swafford chose an interesting protagonist to explore this network. Juliet is the usual scrappy, feisty, opinionated, bright observant amateur detective that this type of book usually calls for. 

It's also fascinating as this volume requires Juliet to work as a lady's maid. She sees first hand the abuse, demands, and constant repetitive tasks that maids have to do, responsibilities she probably never had to think about.

 She also sees how employers treat servants like they are invisible only there to serve needs, agree with orders, and absolutely never have an opinion of their own. It's dehumanizing but at the same time it gives Juliet an advantage so she can observe and listen to leads and clues without being spotted.

Some of the best passages in the book are Juliet’s moments with the Dunbar Siblings who are to say the least pieces of work. Miss Dunbar is a spoiled shrill unstable harridan that Juliet is barely biting back insults and the urge to fight back. Her brother is a lecherous cad and potential rapist who thinks that any woman is his for the taking. 

Many of Juliet's best moments are when she outsmarts and outplays the Dunbars and especially when she is finally put in a situation where she can really let them have it.

However, there are some serious drawbacks to an ongoing murder that lasts through the series and it shows here. The mystery can never be solved in one volume so readers are left trying to figure out the details that threaten to become more convoluted as the series continues. Also, it's intensely frustrating as potential leads and clues slip out from Juliet's grasp which makes one question her detective skills if she can't solve the mystery in one volume.

Then there is a question about the series longevity. How long does Swafford intend to stretch this central mystery? It could only last for so long before the books become repetitive. It's possible that once this central mystery is solved, then another one will begin in subsequent volumes but that removes the potential uniqueness of the series.

Another issue is while earlier I praised the book for its realism in extending the main plot, is realism really what people are going for when they read historical mysteries?

From my experience, no. Mostly we want fantasy. We like empowerment. We want the plucky protagonist who is ahead of her time to face the bad guys and win, especially when it's in the name of a loved one. Is it realistic? No not always but it's comforting. That's why we return to this genre and keep coming back. We want to know that the killer is identified and justice is always met. If it's not true in real life then maybe it can be in fiction.