Mystery Monday: Love and Death Among the Cheetahs

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Publisher's Blurb (per Amazon):

Georgie and Darcy are finally on their honeymoon in Kenya's Happy Valley, but murder crashes the party in this all-new installment in the New York Times bestselling series.

I was so excited when Darcy announced out of the blue that we were flying to Kenya for our extended honeymoon. Now that we are here, I suspect he has actually been sent to fulfill another secret mission. I am trying very hard not to pick a fight about it, because after all, we are in paradise! Darcy finally confides that there have been robberies in London and Paris. It seems the thief was a member of the aristocracy and may have fled to Kenya. Since we are staying in the Happy Valley—the center of upper-class English life—we are well positioned to hunt for clues and ferret out possible suspects.
 
Now that I am a sophisticated married woman, I am doing my best to sound like one. But crikey! These aristocrats are a thoroughly loathsome sort enjoying a completely decadent lifestyle filled with wild parties and rampant infidelity. And one of the leading lights in the community, Lord Cheriton, has the nerve to make a play for me. While I am on my honeymoon! Of course, I put an end to that right off.
 
When he is found bloodied and lifeless along a lonely stretch of road, it appears he fell victim to a lion. But it seems that the Happy Valley community wants to close the case a bit too quickly. Darcy and I soon discover that there is much more than a simple robbery and an animal attack to contend with here in Kenya. Nearly everyone has a motive to want Lord Cheriton dead and some will go to great lengths to silence anyone who asks too many questions. The hunt is on! I just hope I can survive my honeymoon long enough to catch a killer. . . . 


My Review: 
This is a series I have been enjoying from the beginning. In this book, Bowen ventures into perhaps more complex territory, as British colonial life in the 20s and 30s is fraught with racism, not to mention environmental destruction. I think the author handles this matter well, but it does (for me) detract a little from the delightful lightness of the series in general, a lightness with which the book nicely opens.

Or maybe it's the mood of the moment. For whatever reason, though I was happy to see the couple moving ahead with their life together, the mystery itself felt a bit rushed and not as satisfying as some. Not a bad yarn, but not quite what I hoped, either.

On the other hand, the look into colonial life in Kenya (which the author's note assures us is pretty accurate) is eye-opening, to say the least. And I'm grateful that she perhaps moved a little away from reality to have our heroes enjoy photographing, rather than hunting, the local fauna.

My Recommendation:
Not a bad read at all, and certainly nothing to put me off the series. I don't recommend starting here, but this is a series that I think benefits from being read in order in any case.

FTC Disclosure: I checked Love and Death Among the Cheetahs out of my library, and received nothing from the writer or publisher for my honest review. The opinions expressed are my own and those of no one else. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising." 

Review: Caravan, by Dorothy Gilman

 

Title: Caravan
Author: Dorothy Gilman
Publisher: Fawcett Crest, 1993 (original by Doubleday, 1992). 248 pages
Source: I think I found this at the library book sale. Or else on Mom's bookshelves.

Publisher's Summary:

A lushly romantic adventure story set in the North African desert in 1914, told by the impeccable Lady Teal as she reminisces in her London town house about her decidedly peccable past…

With her anthropologist husband murdered and their caravan stolen by fierce Tuareg tribesmen, Caressa’s choices are death or a life of slavery. Concealing her dangerous beauty beneath the faded robes of an Arab boy, she embarks on the adventure of her life, harassed by vicious nomads, slave traders, and the envious witch doctor, Isa. Only a handful of carnival magic tricks stand between her and oblivion. Then she discovers an inner magic so mysteriously compelling that the desert people call her a sorceress. With it she will secure her freedom and discover the love of her life…  


My Review:  I thought I had long since read all of Dorothy Gilman's books, but if I read this one, I don't remember it. So it was kind of fun to find it on my shelf and dive in. 

The blurb calls the story "lushly romantic," but frankly I put it more in the category of adventure. Caressa is a naive schoolgirl of 16 when she marries the anthropologist (more because he says to than because she has any idea what that means). They don't have much of a marriage, and soon enough he is dead in the desert--but not before she begins to see him in a more accurate light. The beauty of this story is not just the adventure, but watching Caressa grow up and seeing her draw on her carnival background for survival (and that background certainly serves her much better than the lessons in being a lady she was taking before her marriage).

I admit it was less fun (but no less a good story) to see her hiding that part of herself and using the lessons in being a lady to fit into a new situation when she comes out of the desert. I suppose in a nutshell it is a story about adapting and survival, with point illustrated in some radically different settings! In any case, an entertaining book if not exactly a work of important literature (and not quite as fun as Mrs. Pollifax, but what is?).

My Recommendation:
A good read for a weekend at the beach or a stormy winter night.

FTC Disclosure: I bought Caravan second-hand, and received nothing from the writer or publisher for my honest review.  The opinions expressed are my own and those of no one else.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."   

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Non-fiction Review: White Water Landings

 

Title:  White Water Landings

Author: Geoffrey Pett with JM Pett

Publisher: Princelings Publications, 2015. 224 pages.

Source: Purchase

Summary: 

This memoir, narrated by Geoffrey Pett and edited by his daughter, JM Pett, takes us to Africa between the wars (as in, the 1930s, between the Great War and WWII). Geoffrey worked for Imperial Airways (later British Air) establishing the routes that served Africa, primarily with the Flying Boats. His account of establishing a number of bases and then the effect of the outbreak of WWII on the system offers a unique glimpse into another world.

Review:

Full disclosure first: I have worked with JM Pett (Jemima Pett) on a couple of projects (see the Bookelves Anthology), so I was primed to like the book. But the following review is my honest opinion.

White Water Landings is not the sort of slick memoir we are seeing a lot of these days, nor is it a celebrity tell-all. It is an honest account of a time and a place that I, for one, knew little about, and it has a very authentic voice. Because the narrative was originally created orally, there remains a certain "oral history" feeling that I think serves the story very well, but Ms. Pett has provided the right amount of editing to make it read well and professionally. Geoffrey Pett wasn't anyone famous in a broad sense, but he did good and important work, and was clearly recognized and respected for it in his field--a fact that comes through in just the right way when he recounts with pride successfully meeting great challenges, or mentions that a suggestion of his was adopted by the higher-ups.

The narrative is well-structured and well-edited, with Mr. Pett's voice coming through very clearly and a meticulous attention to fact and detail. While Geoffrey Pett may have remembered some things inaccurately (he recorded the story many decades after the events in the book), Ms. Pett has done her research to attempt to correct errors or--which I think is just right--to indicate where official accounts differ from Geoffrey's memory, and let the reader decide.

One thing Geoffrey himself mentions as a bit uncomfortable: this is a story of a time when British Colonialism was thriving, and the circumstances and mindsets of the time reflect it. Some events and attitudes may grate on modern sensibilities, though this is certainly colonialism light, by comparison to many stories we all know. Those attitudes and assumptions were part of their time, and this book helps us to understand that time.

Recommendation:
I enjoyed the story very much, and can recommend it to history buffs and particularly anyone interested in the history of flight. It combines a detailed view of what was done with a certain  authenticity that, for me, made it more compelling than a plain history.

Full Disclosure: I purchased my own copy of White Water Landings, and received nothing from the writer or publisher in exchange for my honest review.  The opinions expressed are my own and those of no one else.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."