A Deadly Promise (A Dr. Margaret Demery Book) by Paula Harmon; Brilliant Protagonist Outshines Convoluted Plot

 

A Deadly Promise (A Dr. Margaret Demery Book) by Paula Harmon; Brilliant Protagonist Outshines Convoluted Plot

By Julie Sara Porter 

Bookworm Reviews 

Spoilers: Sometimes the plot is the best part of a mystery. Sometimes it's the murder victim, the suspect, or even the murderer. Other times, such as in the case with A Deadly Promise, a volume in Paula Harmon’s Dr. Margaret Demery series, it's the lead protagonist. In fact, the protagonist in this book is such a memorable character that she is easily the best part of an at times confusing and convoluted mystery.

In 1914, Amos Chalkley, a young man, dies shortly after pathologist Dr. Margaret Demery gives him directions to the War Office. It seems to be a robbery gone wrong, but Margaret doesn't think so especially after another man, Luther Byrd, dies close by in a similar manner. They both have similar symptoms of some unknown contagion. Margaret and her husband, intelligence operative, Inspector Fox Foxcroft investigate while there is talk of rebellion in Ireland and predictions of a great world war especially after Astro-Hungarian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie are assassinated.

Let's start with the good stuff. Dr. Margaret Demery is the type of independent strong willed female detective that occurs often in Historical Mysteries and with good reason. Not only are they often excellent detectives with adept observation skills, empathetic understanding of the people involved, and plucky persistent spirits that pursue justice to the end, but Readers get to see what life was like for women of that era.

 In many times, women were suppressed, marginalized, either treated as fragile objects or constant workhorses, and raised to be wives and mothers and that's it. These protagonists often counter these assumptions. Some have careers of their own or are independently wealthy. Even if they take traditional paths and don't earn a living as investigators, they are able to use those skills as amateurs. The approach that these authors take are often intentionally subversive, even Feminist, in how their protagonists are written.

That is especially noticeable with Dr. Margaret Demery. She is a respected pathologist in a time period when female doctors existed but were still held under intense scrutiny and suspicion. Pathology was not looked upon as a suitable field for women as it was believed that women were too fragile and vulnerable to look at and investigate a dead body but Margaret shows that she has the stomach for it. She also works with living patients as well and uses her studies in respiratory illnesses to deduce short and long term complications.

The book explores the rampant misogyny and sexism that is not only personally experienced by Margaret herself but by other women. One of the most intense chapters involves a suffrage march which quickly becomes violent. Even before the violence occurs, the marchers are insulted and mocked by men in the crowd. Some women say that they sneaked out or had to get their husband's permission to march. Even though Margaret is happily married to a man who is empathetic to their cause, her husband, Fox reads her the riot act for being involved in a potentially dangerous situation. His concern is duly noted but he can't resist infantilizing his wife and chastising her like a child incapable of her own agency.

A very important lead that occurs in the book is the institutionalization of Iris Byrd, the wife of Luther one of the murder victims. She was institutionalized by her husband before his death after a domestic dispute. It shows that many people in that time period could have someone committed to a mental hospital for the flimsiest reasons including arguing with family members. Some men, like Luther, and we later learn another character, did this to wives and female relatives as a display of dominance if they felt that they stepped out of line or defied authority. This is the kind of world which Margaret has to navigate through to learn the killer’s identity.

When the book focuses on Margaret's individual investigation in the central murders, the book succeeds. However, it falters when combining it with the larger international picture. There are various characters and situations thrown in that represent different topics of the time such as the Irish Rebellion and WWI, some of which only have a peripheral involvement in the actual murders. There is the reappearance of a former enemy of Fox’s whose involvement with this plot only makes things more confusing. Then there are the obligatory red herrings, false leads, and betrayals which only hinder the investigation and it becomes hard to remember who is who, what their motives were, and what they had to do with the central mystery. 

It seems as though Harmon had too many ideas for this volume. Instead of focusing on one specific plot angle, she threw them all in. The results are an overwhelming Mystery which contains far too many subjects to create a streamlined focused mystery. 

Sometimes that's a good approach to focus on both the political and personal struggles particularly in an important historical time period like the days before WWI, but they need to be evenly balanced instead of thrown together. It needs to deliver a case where this point and that point lead to a specific conclusion rather than create a situation where it is hard to remember who is who. 

A Deadly Promise is not a terrible historical mystery so much as one with great potential especially with its lead character. Margaret is definitely the brightest spot in this book that needs more focus.

Murder Makes Waves (Jack and Frances Mysteries) by Carmen Radtke; Charming Couple In Murder Mystery On The High Seas

 

Murder Makes Waves (Jack and Frances Mysteries) by Carmen Radtke; Charming Couple In  Murder Mystery On The High Seas

By Julie Sara Porter 

Bookworm Reviews 

Spoilers: Frances Palmer and Jack Sullivan are the current heirs to those crime solving duo of lovers of the past like Agatha Christie’s Tommy and Tuppence Beresford, The Thin Man’s Nick and Nora Charles, Moonlighting’s David Addison and Maddie Hayes, Hart to Hart’s Jonathan and Jennifer Hart, Bones’ Temperance Brennan and Seely Booth, Castle’s Richard Castle and Kate Beckett, and Miss Scarlet and The Duke’s Eliza Scarlet and William “Duke” Wellington (some have argued Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson). Jack and Frances are the stars of Carmen Radtke’s Jack and Frances Mysteries and its current volume, Murder Makes Waves. 

Jack is a nightclub owner and WWI veteran in 1931, Adelaide, Australia. Frances is the assistant to her uncle, Salvatore “Sal” Bernardo, a magician and vaudevillian. The engaged couple and Uncle Sal are invited to visit Jack's mother in England via SS Empress of the Sea. What should be a peaceful voyage becomes fatal as one of the passengers, Lawrence Vaughn is murdered during a masquerade ball and Evie, a singer and dancer that the couple befriended, is accused of the crime. 

Jack and Frances are certainly the best part of the novel. They sparkle with wit, observation, persistence, and an old world charm that can be found in Historical Cozy Mysteries. They are the types who brilliantly counter each other in personality, temperament, and sleuthing style to make a great team.

Frances is the outgoing, spirited, vivacious one. Her natural charm and empathy allows her to bond instantly with strangers as she does with Evie and various other people on the boat. As a performer, she is able to play certain roles to glean information and ferret out the criminal. 

Frances is from a working class background so many of her observations are based on common sense wisdom and street savviness. She is the kind of woman who thrives in the 1920’s and ‘30’s, a time period that allows women to be free, independent, and outspoken.

Frances is the color flying around in circles, while Jack is the steady pole that keeps them anchored. His staid but paternal demeanor reveals the trust and loyalty that someone in trouble needs, such as when Merryweather, a young steward, is wrongfully accused of theft. His dry wit and observation allows him to notice details like another person's behavior or clues that other people miss. As a nightclub owner, his organizational and leadership skills allow him to put the details together to find a conclusion. 

Jack’s experience as a war veteran acquainted him with the darker aspects of human nature and survival instincts that desperate people form. While he is Conservative in some respects such as wanting marriage and a home, he is open minded enough to accept others points of view, especially in these modern times.

The rest of the characters are a pretty colorful cast. Uncle Sal is a delightful comic relief, a charming, bombastic ham who probably is looking for stage scenery to chew. His romance with Mildred, another passenger, is both humorous and heartwarming.

 While on the ocean liner, the trio meet a stunning array of wealthy dowagers, dim upperclassmen, devious debutantes, and sassy showgirls, characters who would be just as at home in a PG Wodehouse short story as they would in an Agatha Christie novel. 

In fact, Frances herself makes the comparison when she observes Mildred with her nephew Tom. However Mildred is not the shrieking harpy that is Wodehouse's Aunt Agatha. Instead she is a warm, earthy, cool aunt more like Bertie Wooster’s Aunt Dahlia. While Tom has his naive dizzy moments worthy of Wooster, he actually is also quiet and has his own moments of intelligence.

Other characters also have interesting moments. Lawrence starts out as a popular lady's man until his darker, more nefarious deeds are uncovered revealing a narcissistic sociopathic soul underneath. Evie plays the flighty effervescent vivacious flapper but she also shows great vulnerability about her predicament. Other characters have great moments which reveal much about their public personas and inner selves.

Murder Makes Waves is a worthy volume for lovers of Historical Fiction especially set in the 1920’s and 30’s, Cozy Mysteries, and any type of novel with a charming thrill seeking witty and highly romantic duo at the forefront.

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. 

 

Journeyman: A Central City Novel (Kulpa and Bayonne Mysteries Book 2)by Indy Perro; Central City Sequel Doubles Down on Cop and Criminal Duality

 

Journeyman (A Central City Novel) by Indy Perro; Central City Sequel Doubles Down on Cop and Criminal Duality

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews 

Spoilers: When we last left Central City in Indy Perro’s book of the same name, Detective Vinnie Bayonne and ex-con, bar owner, and informant Kane Kulpa pool their resources to solve the murder of several prostitute’s clients. The murderer was identified and Tran van Kahn, the leader of a Vietnamese gang that tried to muscle in on Kane’s territory, was murdered. Unfortunately, these came at a great cost to Kane and Bayonne. Adam McKenna, Bayonne’s partner and Kane’s brother, was left institutionalized and Kane and Adam’s developmentally disabled and traumatized mother, Molly Matches died.

 In the followup novel, Journeyman, we see the cop and criminal are struggling to rebuild shaky lives. Bayonne’s commitment to justice is questioned because of his friendship with Kane and he embarks on a relationship with prostitute Cassandra. Meanwhile, Kane is beginning a tentative  leadership amidst rivalries from gangs who are out for blood and revenge. Bayonne is assigned to investigate the possible overdose death of the mayor’s son. Meanwhile gang war is declared after a shootout occurs outside Kane’s bar, the Side Saddle.

This is the type of mystery where the author is less concerned about the mystery itself than they are about the lead characters. Frankly, it’s all the better for it. The O.D. plot and the gang plot are interesting but in some ways predictable. There isn’t much in the way of a whodunnit so much as the enemies are quite visible leaving little to surprises or revelations. It’s stuff that is often found in other works that deal with gangs, drugs, sex work, political corruption, and crimes and quite frequently done better. Nothing new technically arrives or is resolved. But that is not where Journeyman’s real strength lies.

Journeyman’s real strength, in fact the strongest asset to the Central City series as a whole are its two leads: Vinnie Bayonne and Kane Kulpa. While in some works anyone can solve the central mystery, with this one only Bayonne and Kane can solve this one and leave Central City well in somewhat peace. 

We see these two at their most emotionally vulnerable as they try to maintain some semblance of order with their surroundings. They are protective of those that they are close to: Bayonne with Cassandra and Kane with his friends. We also see them facing antagonists challenging their leadership from various gangs to corrupt politicians and authority figures. Despite this, the two men have the strength and compassion to protect those around them.

One of the best chapters that show the duo’s concern for others is when Bayonne and Kane visit Adam in the hospital. As they talk to and care for Adam and confide in each other about his treatment and their concerns about his future, it is clear that both men are in mourning for the seriously ill man in front of him. Adam is not dead but is just as gone as if he had a bullet to his brain. They lost a partner and best friend with a once bright future in front of him and a brother with a broken past which deprived him of a family. We see that these men have many of the same concerns, goals, and motives even if they have different means to obtain them.

Unfortunately it is the means that cause a wedge between Bayonne and Kane. Kane desires to remain as leader and overpower his rivals. He becomes more ruthless and colder in ordering murder and extortion. 

As Kane ascends in the Underworld, Bayonne becomes more regimented in upholding the law. As the world collapses and becomes grayer, Bayonne holds onto the black and white of the legal system. 

Bayonne and Kane’s friendship is forever scarred when the two make decisions putting them in direct conflict. In the end, they face each other equal in power, are having ascended in their careers, but now no longer friends. What's worse is because of their shared history, they are not only enemies but enemies that know each other's backgrounds, secrets, and modus operandi. 

Bayonne and Kane are worthy opponents who will certainly lose their worthiness by the next book. They may lose what once made them great: their friendship.

Weekly Reader: The Fairy Tale Plague (Anne Anderson Book 2) by Cameron Jace; Prequel and Sequel of Fairy Tales Search is Exciting but Uneven

 

Weekly Reader: The Fairy Tale Plague (Anne Anderson Book 2) by Cameron Jace; Prequel and Sequel of Fairy Tales Search is Exciting but Uneven

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: It hurts me to say this because Cameron Jace's The Fairy Tale Code was one of my favorite books last year. It also hurts because I just read two other books that were the second volumes in their series, series that I also loved, but their second volumes were as good as or better than the first ones.

The Fairy Tale Plague, the second book in Jace's Anne Anderson series is good. It has some great moments of suspense and is another great hunt for historical truth that leads to bigger consequences for the entire world. However, it's an uneven volume because it combined two separate adventures, making it a prequel and a sequel. The results are two parts that are fine on their own but are needlessly crammed together.

In The Fairy Tale Code, Folklorist Professor Anne Anderson and DCI David Tale uncover a mystery of a dead woman hanging on a cross. The dead body leads the two down the Fairy Tale Road, a series of locations in Germany that were the real life locations of the sources behind fairy tales. They are followed by a creepy character called The Advocate, who would kill to keep his grip on the world, and The Ovitz Sisters, an eccentric family that are connected to the fairy tale world. 

David and Anne uncover the truth that these tales were dark brutal histories disguised as folklore that were gathered and collected by a secret group called the Sisterhood (which the Ovitzs are members of), and not the Brothers Grimm. Their discoveries open the truths about many fairy tale characters, such as Snow White and the Evil Queen who were actually Queen Mary Tudor of England and a young woman whom Mary killed after she caught the interest of her husband, Prince Phillip of Spain.

In the Fairy Tale Plague, the resolutions of the previous volume have become big news. Many now see fairy tales, the Brothers Grimm, and the British Royal Family in different lights. David and Anne have become instant celebrities. However, the Advocate has a story of his own to tell. The story leads us to the prequel portion of the novel.

Three years before Anne wandered down the Fairy Tale Road, she was hired by the wealthy Max Bauer to oversee the digital tour of the Brothers Grimm house in the town of Kassell, Germany. On her way to the Grimm House, she receives a call from a mysterious woman who informs her that she will discover a secret at the House. Her assignment coincides with the abduction of a young girl named Mary Miller. The secret has not only to do with Mary's abduction but centuries of crimes caused by the family of Wilhelm Grimm's wife, Gretchen Wild, crimes that still continue and are being covered up by the people in charge. 

Mary's abduction, the unsolved cases of the past, and the themes of powerful families controlling everything around them, including history and folklore are echoed in the sequel portion of the book which begins halfway through the novel. 

Anne is connected online to the rest of the Sisterhood, then watches in horror as they are murdered around the world one by one. She then has to save the London based Sister before she is assassinated too.

Meanwhile, David and his partner, Harriet are called to investigate the death of the Prince of Wales. No his name's not William. It's Julian. (Though he is the son of the recently crowned king so that makes things interesting). It turns out the deaths of the Prince, the Sisters, and Mary's abduction in the prequel are tied to the existence of a very powerful network of families and a fairy tale that could foretell the end of mankind, a tale called The Last Fairy Tale.

It's not that the prequel and sequel are bad. Individually, they are very good very involved stories that captivate the Reader's interest. 

The prequel has some great intense moments where the kidnapper taunts Anne and others through emails revealing that they not only know exactly where Anne is but what she is doing at any given time. 

It also becomes eerie as the kidnapper provides Anne with a series of clues and riddles to Mary's whereabouts. As Anne solves them, other clues pop up on the Grimm House virtual tour so she is definitely being monitored by a highly intelligent and ruthless individual.

Even the resolution is brilliant as it reveals another tie to the fairy tale world that Anne is so enamored with and shows that unlike fairy tales, in reality, good does not always win and evil does not always get punished.

The sequel portion is just as nail biting. David has a personal tie to what happened to Prince Julian and as Anne did in Fairy Tale Code, he is able to use own expertise on the life and works of Charles Darwin to provide answers. There also is a fascinating link between Darwin and the Brothers Grimm which may not have existed in reality but gives an intriguing backstory to the series which combines the magic of folklore with the process of scientific theory. 

Anne's part in the story involves protecting the remaining Sisterhood with some old friends. That means the Ovitz Sisters, my favorite characters from the first book, are back and are more active in helping Anne and their fellow Sisters. Now that Anne and the Ovitzs have found each other and accepted each other as family, they have no intention of letting their remaining family members go. 

Speaking of families, we once again get some hints about Anne and David's troubled backgrounds. In the prequel, Anne succumbs to blackouts when thinking of her missing sister, Rachel. One of her enemies uses that PTSD to their advantage by accusing her of killing her sister and others. While in the Fairy Tale Code, the Reader knows that isn't true, it still puts Anne in a very vulnerable position.

However, in the sequel portion, David gets more attention than Anne and we learn more about his family such as his Darwin obsessed mother and physically deformed sister, Abigail. Many of the things that were hinted at in The Fairy Tale Code about David are outright said here and they show the full picture of who this detective really is. Just like Anne was shaped by her life with Rachel to love and study fairy tales, David was shaped by his life with Abigail to protect others by bringing criminals to justice.

There are a few big reveals and twists in the Fairy Tale Plague that are at first confusing but upon rereading the first volume check, are brilliantly foreshadowed, and work seamlessly into both books. They are surprise twists that are well executed.

There is a lot to recommend in this volume of the series but its pacing is uneven because of the prequel and sequel being part of one book. The prequel doesn't get as much time to develop its story before it's resolved. The sequel ends just as the characters learn some answers as though this adventure is just getting warmed up before its final chapter. It would have been better for Jace to release the prequel in novella form and add extra chapters to the sequel, thereby making them separate volumes rather than one.

Because of this unevenness, The Fairy Tale Plague is nowhere near as good as its predecessor but as an adventurous look into the history of fairy tales, there is still plenty to recommend. 

Lit List Short Reviews; Alternative Ulster Noir: NI Crime Stories Inspired by NI Music Edited by Simon Maltman; The Official Black Book Game Guidance: How I Bedded an Extensive Number of Women and How You Can Too by A Kingzman's Depiction; The Official Black Book Black Index by A Kingzman's Depiction

 Lit List Short Reviews; Alternative Ulster Noir: NI Crime Stories Inspired by NI Music Edited by Simon Maltman; 

 The Official Black Book Game Guidance: How I Bedded an Extensive Number of Women and How You Can Too by A Kingzman's Depiction; The Official Black Book Black Index by A Kingzman's Depiction

Alternative Ulster Noir: NI Crime Stories Inspired By NI Music Edited by Simon Maltman

Alternative Ulster Noir is an all too brief anthology of crime stories set in Northern Ireland. The book is short, only 78 pages with 7 short stories. So each story has only a few pages to create a tense suspenseful dark mood. The wonder is that the authors do this so well.

The common theme is that each story is inspired by a song or a musical work by Northern Irish musicians and songwriters. The effort combines the talents of Ulster's literary and music talents.

The best stories are: 

Astral Weeks by Colin Bateman Inspired by "Astral Weeks" by Van Morrison

There's something kind of weird when a thriller uses a real life person in their story. Even weirder is when it's a modern story and said person is alive, well, and as far as we know is not affiliated with any crime whatsoever. 

The real life celebrity featured in Bateman's "Astral Weeks" is Van Morrison*. The Irish rock singer is being stalked by a painter named Cecil McCartney AKA King Om. Om claimed that he inspired Morrison's work  "Astral Weeks.". Morrison is getting tired of Om hounding him so he hires his manager/the story's narrator to "take care of the problem."

The story takes great pains to show both Morrison and Om as eccentric egocentric artists off in their own worlds where nothing exists except themselves and their art. When egos like that clash, there's bound to be more than just raised emotions. The Narrator is clearly caught in the middle wanting to please Morrison as his boss but becoming drawn to Om's version of the events.

What is particularly memorable about this story are the descriptions of astral projection. Astral projection is a process in which the spirit floats outside of the body and can go anywhere: around town, to another world, through time, outer space, anywhere.

As a longtime astral projectionist myself, the descriptions are vivid and reveal much about the soul of the person experiencing it. Om paints the astral projection visions that the traveler experiences. His painting of Morrison is dripping with irony and reveals much about what is in the souls of many artists.

How To Be Dead By James Murphy Inspired by "How to be Dead" by Snow Patrol

The longest story in this anthology is also the most complex. Dr. Carolyn Harkin, criminal psychologist and crime fiction writer, is interviewing Jade Greene, one half of a notorious criminal pair. Jade has been through a psychological and rehabilitation and rejuvenation program cheekily called "How to be Dead" (because it kills the old self to make way for the new). Carolyn is to interview Jade to determine if she is ready to be released and reenter society.

Using alternating viewpoints, Murphy gets both Carolyn and Jade's perspectives. The effect is that both women have studied each other and how they think and operate. The interview becomes almost a one on one tennis match as Carolyn and Jade ask and answer questions. They tell  each other what they want to hear and then withdraw just enough so they don't let the other in their head.

The outcome is both Carolyn and Jade know each other perfectly and recognize one another's capabilities. Carolyn sees an act that Jade is playing and Jade sees someone who recognizes her act. 

They aren't dissimilar from Hannibal Lector and Clarice Starling or Sherlock Holmes and Professor Moriarty. Each woman recognizes an enemy, their polar opposite. Maybe the woman they could have been if circumstances were different: a criminal instead of a crime writer. A doctor who heals broken minds  instead of a troubled soul who takes lives.

Black Dog Sin by Gerard Brennan Inspired by "Black Dog Sin" by James Burnside

"Astral Weeks" isn't the only story that projects into the world of the supernatural. "Black Dog Sin" seems to dip its toes right into the ghost story genre. It amplified the grief of a father mourning the death of his young daughter who haunts his presence literally and figuratively.

The Narrator's daughter Chloe drowned six months ago. An elderly psychic says that he can sense Chloe's presence behind her father. What should be comforting ends up being eerie as the psychic accurately sees the girl's tangled hair and chipped toenails and feels her embarrassment at being seen that way.

"Black Dog Sin" has a taste of the old campfire tales in which someone is haunted by a ghost in their past. In this case, as Chloe's father tries to find the answers he becomes almost driven insane by the voices of his late daughter and wife. Remember this is set in Northern Ireland where the wail of a banshee is connected with the death of someone. The dead are ever talkative here.

In true ghost story fashion, the Narrator has a final confrontation with the ghosts of his past. The twist is somewhat predictable but it shows that sometimes when one's soul and sanity are at stake sometimes it's better not to know.

Trigger Inside by Simon Maltman Inspired by "Trigger Inside" by Therapy? (sic)

What's weirder than inserting a real life still alive celebrity into your crime story? How about inserting yourself into it? That's what Simon Maltman* did in his contribution, "Trigger Inside."

Maltman is a crime writer and tour guide taking tourists to the fictional crime spots in the Belfast Noir tour. Maltman talks about local crime stories like the The Northern Bank Heist and The more recent Belfast Strangler with a theatrical way to captivate the audience but a detachment like he's told it many times before (and probably has).

The story is a very dark comic one as an actual killer makes their way into a tour describing fictional murders. As Maltman prattles on about the locations and movie ties and makes the usual lame jokes, he fails to notice that his group is getting smaller by the minute as each member is taken out in gruesome ways without him noticing.

 It is more than likely something that didn't happen in real life (at least I hope not). It's entirely possible that some sinister characters have taken advantage of these tours. Maybe even a tourist gave off an unexplainable creepy vibe but did not act upon it and inspired Maltman to write this story. Either way, his mixing of fact and fiction and breaking of the fourth wall works surprisingly well. It adds to the overall black comedy aspects to this story.

One of the funniest bits about this story is how Maltman writes himself. It would be tempting to make Maltman, a crime fiction writer, the hero by having him catch the killer. Or if Maltman the Writer was in a really dark nihilistic mood make his fictional counterpart, Maltman The Character, the murderer. But he doesn't do either of these things. 

Instead Maltman good naturedly portrays himself as a naive fool who lives in such a world of fictional crime that he doesn't see real ones happening right in front of him. It's only when murder stares him right in the face that he sees the truth.

*The views that the authors have towards Van Morrison and Simon Maltman are their own and those of their characters. I am only repeating how they are portrayed in the stories. Using real living people in a work can be distracting and difficult for this very reason.

I do not share nor condone their views. I am simply reviewing the stories on an artistic literary level.

The Black Book Game Guidance: How I Bedded an Extensive Number of Women and How You Can Too by A Kingzman's Depiction

I'm going to say this right away. This book is definitely not for me. I'm an asexual Liberal feminist in my mid-40's and I am farthest from The Official Black Book Game Guidance's target audience than could possibly be.

If you are a heterosexual male that's interested in having sex and nothing more, then this is probably the book for you. If you aren't, then read it, if you want to roll your eyes and go "whatever" or ignore it entirely.

The Game Guidance clearly has one intention in mind and on that level it works, I suppose. The author categorizes various women by age, occupation, and marital status to determine their sexual desirability. It's made for people who in the old days would have had subscriptions for Playboy and insisted that they read it for the articles.

It stops short of suggesting illegal activity to get some. There is a section on teens but thankfully it's for Teens over 18. There is also a lot of mention of BDSM but the author stresses that a willing partner is necessary and does not condone sexual assault. Sex is on the brain constantly but at least it's willing consensual sex.

There are moments that suggest that the book is more tongue in cheek than intentional. When the author boasts about all of the women he banged and has chapters like "Cougar Catching" and "Gigolo Guidance," this Reader wonders if maybe his sexual prowess is exaggerated or at the very least he is making light of those men who sincerely believe that they are the Gods' gift to women.

The Black Book Game Guidance is a definite bro/dude book made for straight guys to give each other in the locker room, frat house, or bachelor party. It's a limited appeal but for those who it is meant for, they might have a good time. 

The Official Black Book Black Index Vol. 1 by A Kingzman's Depiction

And we return to Bro/Dude Land for another look inside the mind of the sex obsessed straight male with this continuation of The Black Book Game Guidance.

This time the book goes in depth (if such a thing is possible for this sort of topic). This time the Author builds on his previous personal sexual history. He provides examples of previous experiences and rates them accordingly.

Since this is the first volume, there are only two women elaborated upon, KFC and Freaky Greek.

.

The dates could just as easily be found in Erotic fiction with plenty of dirty talk, bed jumping and little else. At the end of each chapter are charts that suggest that the Author knows more about his conquests than he is letting on like their zodiac signs and personalities.

 The tongue in cheek nature is present here as in its predecessor. As before, if you are a straight man who just wants sex, read this book. If you aren't, just roll your eyes and smirk, or ignore it entirely.

Weekly Reader: Maids of Misfortune A Victorian San Francisco Mystery by M. Louisa Locke; Ho Hum Mystery and Dull Protagonist Do Not Meld In Average Historical Mystery

 

Weekly Reader: Maids of Misfortune A Victorian San Francisco Mystery by M. Louisa Locke; Ho Hum Mystery and Dull Protagonist Do Not Meld In Average Historical Mystery 

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: Maybe I'm just grouchy recovering from Covid but it's not a good sign when of the first five books reviewed this year, I would only label one as outstanding. Two had some good points about them, like setting and world building, but suffered from average or confusing plots. One starts strong then peters out. One would normally be something I would love, but somehow never rises above average or mediocre. The good thing is some of the books that I am currently reading show promise so my mood might be uplifted soon, I hope.

It's unfortunate because I want to like Maids of Misfortune, the first book in M. Louise Locke's Victorian San Francisco Mystery Series. I keep telling myself that I should like it. It's Historical Fiction, one of my all-time favorite genres. It's a Historical Mystery with a female detective so that should make it better. But the book doesn't interest me like other recent books that I have read in the genre.  I hope this isn't an ongoing trend and that I am not getting bored with the genre. That this is just a one time thing.

But Maids of Misfortune doesn't help, because it never gets beyond mildly interesting. The protagonist is introduced pretty well but lags once the investigation starts. The mystery is dull. This book is just average and I apologize for saying this (after all maybe it is just me), but in a genre filled with great reads, that somehow makes my ambivalent feelings towards it worse.

Annie Fuller learned that her late husband has left her in debt and she will be forced to give up her boarding house to pay it off. However, she moonlights as a fraudulent clairvoyant under the name of Madam Sybil. Unfortunately, one of her closest friends and clients, Mr. Matthew Voss has died. Disagreeing with the official verdict of suicide, Annie believes that he was murdered and sets off to investigate on her own with attorney, Nate Dawson conducting his own investigation and falling in love with her.

One of the more fascinating aspects to Annie's character is her time as a fradulent clairvoyant. I actually found that to be a more intriguing plot than the actual investigation. Since it's set in the late 19th century when Spiritualism is on the rise, it would be quite a twist to see the exact procedures that Annie does to fool her gullible public, how she stays ahead of the authorities, or perhaps what happens if she gets a brush with the supernatural or cons who are better at the game than she is.

 After having experienced the normal and paranormal horrors experienced by Letitia Hawkins in Behind The Veil by E.J. Dawson, Annie's experience could be a more seriocomic look at the phenomena, perhaps bordering on Dark Humor. But her career as a medium only ends up being the message to the mystery.

The title comes from the fact that for a time, Annie poses as a maid to ascertain information in the Voss case, which brings another missed opportunity. Why isn't Annie a maid herself? Or the lead investigator a maid or in service? It would be a far more interesting back story than the one we have already been given, and would brilliantly counter the mostly middle to upper class women who fill the majority of the female historical detective roster. 

After all, house servants are used to being ignored and overlooked by their employers, giving them the ability to gather information and intelligence from just paying attention to what employers and guests are saying and doing. They are often susceptible to gossip both in the servants and upper class quarters and because they have to be very detailed, they can pay attention to things that others miss. It would also be a great twist if the servant was smarter than her employer, sort of a female Jeeves. We saw what a brilliant woman posing as a house slave could do in Kit Sergeant's Underground, even help bring down the Confederacy. What else could one do as the star of her own Cozy Mystery Historical Fiction series?

It doesn't help that once the investigation begins that Annie becomes rather boring. She lacks the sparkle and wit of Ginger Gold, the toughness and experience of Fiona Figg, the resourcefulness and independence of Mona Moon, or the spunk and bravado of Molly Murphy. Instead, Annie pales in comparison to her fellow detectives. She just fades into the background for the mystery and such a lackluster mystery at that.

The mystery has the suspense of a cat chasing after the red dot. There is a lot of meandering and talking and not a lot of detecting.

It's the typical dead rich man's friends and family are suspects including opportunistic and snooty relatives, love interests and friends who specialize in gold digging and fortune hunting, and servants who know more than they let on. It's all generic and never gets beyond that. It's so generic that the killer is all too easy to guess and isn't worth the trouble of going back through the chapters to find out how the Reader is right and the detective solved it. 

There's more heat in the romance between Annie and Nate than there is in the mystery and even that is nothing to get excited about.

Maids of Misfortune could be another bright star in the lovely galaxy of the Female Detective Historical Mystery subgenre. However, instead it just dims.

New Book Alert The Long Game: An Amy Radigan Thriller by Ian Conner; Complex and Multi Plotted Political Thriller Closes Outstanding Reading Year

 

New Book Alert: The Long Game: An Amy Radigan Thriller by Ian Conner; Complex and Multi Plotted Political Thriller Closes Outstanding Reading Year

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: There are some authors that their very name tells you what book that they are going to write. Even in my experience with my blog, I have found that authors have preferences for certain genres and tropes. I see Kathy Ann Trueman or Catherine Dove's name and I know that I will read an Epic Fantasy or Regency Romance. Tom Vater will lead us straight to a Mystery by a European detective in an Asian location. Lee Matthew Goldberg will take you through a trippy Horror or Science Fiction with lots of drug use involved. Melissa Muldoon and Kit Sergeant will take a trip through Historical Fiction with strong confident female leads that are artists and spies respectively. Rob Santana will be counted on for a novel with a modern setting, plenty of biting satire,social commentary, and desperate not always likeable characters doing desperate things. Sawney Hatton is going to take his Readers through a bloody short trip into Supernatural Horror.

Yes, some authors leave their fingerprints all over certain books so Readers can recognize those fingerprints instantly. Then there are authors who are like chameleons. Each book is different from the others and they have next to nothing in common.

Take Ian Conner for example. His novel, Dark Maiden is a Supernatural Horror set in the limited setting of Pequabuck Lake in Nollesemic Village, Maine. It is set throughout four centuries and involves a sinister lake creature that haunts the village, especially two families that it considers its enemies.

Conner's next book, The Long Game: An Amy Radigan Thriller could not be more different from Skadegamutc Ghost Witch if it tried. Instead of supernatural horror, it is a political thriller set in the real world and involves real world issues like environmentalism, censorship, sexuality, hate crimes, xenophobia, and corruption. Instead of being contained in one rural setting,The Long Game goes all over the world from California, to Washington DC, to China, to Vietnam and so on. With such a wide setting, there are many plots that involve many characters unlike Skadegamutc Ghost Witch which features a much more limited cast that take on this demonic entity. Long Game is complex and multiplotted and handles itself well with interesting characters and strong political themes.

The plot or rather plots in The Long Game are rather intricate and varied but I will do my best to summarize (or as Indigo Montoya said, "I will explain. No it's too long, I'd better sum up").

 Along the California coast, Captain James Quinn's ship was sabotaged, nearly killing him. It's followed by another explosion along the San Onofre harbor. It may have had something to do with a sample of water outside the nearby San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station or SONGS that Quinn gathered and had analyzed. This water is revealed to be contaminated and toxic. The mysterious explosions, contamination, and sabotage are being investigated by intrepid journalist, Amy Radigan.

Meanwhile, journalist Amir Husseffgi is reported missing in Saudi Arabia. Even though the Saudi Prince denies any involvement and U.S. President Colin Rockwell swears that he won't investigate it, video footage of Husseffgi's murder and beheading in the name of the prince is leaked. It is revealed Rockwell has been currying favor with the Saudis and doesn't want to break those connections.

On the South China Sea, two U.S. Naval ships are attacked leaving several sailors dead. Vice President Susan Ralston wants to confront the Chinese government but Rockwell refuses. He has been having an affair with the Chinese ambassador, Xin Zhui, and is soon to be caught literally with his pants down. All of this leads to an impeachment investigation towards Rockwell and his affiliations with the Chinese and Saudi Arabian governments.

During their separate investigations into these events, both Ralston and Radigan and their friends and family are viciously attacked. Ralston in a deliberate plane crash and Radigan by an attempted hit. Don't worry, Reader, it all makes sense and everything is revealed to be connected to everything else, eventually.

Connervbrilliantly balances all of these plots rather well. He also has a handle on using them as mirrors for real life occurrences. The most obvious is the murder of Amir Husseffgi based on the real life assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Colin Rockwell's obstreperous misogynistic racist attitude is all too similar to a certain real life ex President. A smart calm independent female Vice President is certainly based on the real life Kamala Harris. They are groundbreaking female Vice President for different reasons. (First African American and Indian American for Harris and first LGBT for Ralston.) Also, the alternate universe scenario reveals that Harris herself, after getting the top job, was fatally wounded during an assassination attempt by a Trump supporter claiming to "stop the steal." (If that doesn't recall a certain insurrection by a multitude of Trumpers egged on by their cult leader, I don't know what does.)

As with many books that I have reviewed these past couple of years have proven, what we once thought existed only in fiction is no longer out of the realm of reality. It would have been ludicrous to assume that followers of a President would believe his claims that the election process was fraudulent and even after several investigations proved that there was no corruption, they still rioted at the Capitol verbally and prepared to attack the former Vice President and several Congress members. Not to mention that even though they had literally millions of eyewitnesses watching it in real time, said former President and his supporters still had people insisting that it was a spontaneous gathering of harmless tourists (or that it was an insidious plot by Antifa or BLM to make Trump look bad, even though they did a good enough job on their own).

After that, it is definitely not impossible to believe that a future President could openly conspire to assassinate his Vice President or pull a gun on those who are charging him with crimes. The only way the Long Game could be more synced to real time is if a 24 hours news station's correspondents could insist that Rockwell's impeachment investigation was a conspiracy and that Ralston secretly worked for the Deep State.

The Long Game is only a couple of steps off from what really happened and what still could happen.

With such a twisted plot, one would suspect that Conner would have trouble juggling such a large cast of characters but he excels at that as well. Many have outstanding moments. There is Randall, a bodyguard hired to protect Radigan and her girlfriend, Lily Pham. Randall is a real softie as he reveals in his dialogues with Twizzler, a troubled teen turned sidekick and informant.  

Lily also proves her mettle when she gets the better of a hitman. He thinks it will be an easy job and she immediately proves him wrong. Both Lily and Ralston's girlfriend, Carol Lee are the definite "Ride or Die" supportive spouses, ready to stand by the women in their lives, no matter what.

Amanda Rockwell, the First Lady, holds a press conference to put her husband in his place and uses the First Couple version of "Not tonight, Couch Boy." Meanwhile, Xin Zhui could be seen as a femme fatale but also has enough insight to take part in Rockwell's downfall. Then there's the President that Readers will love to hate, or just hate, Colin Rockwell himself. He takes Donald Trump's worst qualities up to eleven (if such a thing were possible) and thankfully gets his commeuppance. 

By far the standout characters are Amy Radigan and Susan Ralston. They are similar in many ways. Both are dedicated in their fields of journalism and politics respectively and both are lesbians in loving committed relationships. They also are born survivors who are able to get through touch situations such as surviving assassination attempts and conspiracies.

Their investigative techniques are very different and are respective of their positions in life. Radigan has to contend with slamming doors, voice mails, and receptionists giving her the run around. These are hurdles that Ralston's title and influence can open. Radigan however has the passion, idealism, and integrity that Ralston lost in her years of compromise and working in business and politics. It's not a surprise that when  the two women meet, they become friends. Radigan is the woman that Ralston once was and Ralston is the woman that Radigan could become. The two women bring out the best in each other and are able to see through the many tangled strands in this intricate spider web.

The Long Game is a brilliant complex novel that proves Conner has a great handle on plots and characters. He proved that she can write Horror and now has proven that he can write Political Thriller. His book is a great final well written word on 2021.

Weekly Reader: Betrayal at Ravenswick: A Fiona Figg Mystery by Kelly Oliver; Engaging Historical Mystery Combines Murder Mystery and Espionage Thriller

 

Weekly Reader: Betrayal at Ravenswick: A Fiona Figg Mystery by Kelly Oliver; Engaging Historical Mystery Combines Murder Mystery and Espionage Thriller

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: This year, we have become acquainted with Mona Moon, 1930's cartographer turned entrepreneur and amateur detective and Ginger Gold, 1920's fashionista flapper turned amateur detective. Our latest historical mystery featuring an alliterative independent woman is The Fiona Figg Mysteries, starring a WWI era woman who gets involved murder mysteries and espionage among fighting nations.

Fiona needs something to block her hurt emotions after she caught her husband, Andrew in bed with his mistress whom he not only impregnated but wants to marry. Fiona throws herself into her job as head filing clerk at the War Office's top secret Room 40. At this job, she helps decode and send telegrams. She has career success when she decodes the Zimmermann telegram which pushes the United States into the war. 

Fiona's reputation spreads through Room 40 enough that her colleagues have faith in her when she volunteers to trail a potential German spy known as the Great White Hunter. Fiona impersonates a male doctor to enter Ravenswick Abbey, the home of Lady Mary Elliot and where the Hunter has contacts. Things take a disastrous turn when Countess Edith Elliot is murdered. Fiona finds herself in a house full of suspects, one of whom may also be an enemy spy.

Betrayal at Ravenswick cleverly combines the drawing room cozy mystery with an espionage political thriller. Fiona finds herself in the fancy home with many suspects who have reasons to do away with the deceased. There's the much younger fortune hunter whom the adult children don't like, the orphaned relative from an illegitimate background taken in by the charity of their elders, the jealous and angry staff who may have a literal axe to grind, and of course the houseguests who have a secret or two or three that they don't want people to know about. It's all obvious, almost too obvious.

What Oliver does is cleverly play and mock the drawing room mystery genre while keeping the international intrigue at the forefront. One of the smartest moves is when a pompous character does the "call everyone into the room to announce the murderer" bit. The clever subversion in this moment is that it happens off stage with another character retelling it to Fiona, both of whom realize that the so-called master detective is wrong and is simply a bombastic twit. Fiona is less impressed by this massive display of not so brilliant deduction and wants the eyewitness to get to the point over what happened.

Fiona is aware that there are bigger stakes involved than the murder of one person in a rich estate and that this isn't a personal grudge from someone in a jealous love triangle or who can't wait to get their hands on Mama's money. The conflicts involve a world at war making these classy murder mysteries tempests in sweltering teapots ready to explode.

Along with that personal troubles being cast aside for the bigger picture of international conflict, there is the slight focus on Fiona's love life. While she is naturally incensed by Andrew's cheating and inwardly hopes that he ends up with syphilis, she is able to pull herself together to get the job done. While some female detectives use their private pain to pull them into the mystery solving game, Fiona does what many male detectives do. She uses the job to disguise her pain and works to get beyond it.

 It's no coincidence that her first assignment involves her assuming a male identity. There are many who feel that Fiona doesn't fit in the woman's world of the late 19teens. She is an outspoken and independent career woman whose marriage ended. Instead Fiona has to fit in the man's world of war and espionage. Whereas Mona Moon and Ginger Gold emphasized their femininity on their cases, Fiona almost relinquishes it to become one of the boys. 

Fiona is as good a detective as her historical mystery sisters like Ginger and Mona, but what sets her apart is her professionalism. Investigation and espionage is her business. Ginger and Mona are amateurs who stumble upon mysteries. While they are observant and dedicated, their flirtatious natures,  spunky personalities, and connections to law enforcement are the only things that allow them to cross lines that they shouldn't. Fiona is already in the business and she doesn't need to cross barriers because they don't exist for her. Sometimes her gender proves to be a detriment, but her ability to disguise herself, even as a man, takes care of that. She has the training of learning codes, going undercover, and subduing enemy agents that women like Mona and Ginger have to learn while on the case. Theirs is a constantly learning experience. Fiona has already learned it. She just needs to put it into practice and she does.

Betrayal at Ravenswick is a brilliant first book that stars an excellent independent protagonist. It is a fine marriage of cozy mystery and espionage that creates a winning combination.