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." 

Cozy Review: Four Funerals and Maybe a Wedding

 

Title: Four Funerals and Maybe a Wedding (Royal Spyness Mystery #12)
Author: Rhys Bowen
Publisher: Berkely Books Expected publication date August 7, 2018. 304 pages in hardback.
Source: Netgalley.com

Publisher's Summary:
Georgie is finally able to plan for her wedding in the summer. It is going to be a summer of weddings: her mother is marrying Max, her German beau; Georgie's grandfather is marrying his next door neighbor, Mrs. Huggins; and Darcy's father is getting up the courage to ask the princess to marry him. Georgie is staying at the princess's London house when she receives a letter from one of her mother's former husbands, Sir Hubert Anstruther. Georgie is now his sole heir, and he's offering her the use of his lovely country house. He suggests she move in right away to keep an eye on the place because all might not be well since his butler died.

Georgie talks this through with her husband-to-be, Darcy, who is off to Europe again, this time to Berlin. They decide that she will take Sir Hubert up on his offer. However, when Georgie arrives, it becomes clear that she is definitely not wanted in the house. Strange things are happening, including a lively ghost and a less than friendly reception from the new butler. When a body shows up, Georgie realizes that Sir Hubert's invitation may not have been entirely altruistic and begins to wonder if she'll even make it to her wedding day.  


My Review:  

Another great addition to a great series! A few things I particularly liked:

*Georgie doesn't lean on Darcy in this one. She figures most of it out herself.

*Other characters who've been on the fringes get some real screen time, including Georgie's mother and her grandfather (the Cockney).

*Georgie's maid, Queenie, has finally become a human, not just a punchline. Big improvement.

So how's the mystery? That there is something pretty nasty going on at the house is obvious from the beginning. Georgie might even be a little slow to believe someone is really trying to get rid of her, but of course she's not the one reading a murder mystery. I even got a pretty good idea of what was up fairly early on, so again maybe thought Georgie could have been a little quicker on the uptake. But she is careful with her suspicions, and there are some real questions about who is involved in what ways. That's a big part of what she has to work out, and I loved that her beloved grandfather (a retired policeman) comes to help. He keeps them grounded in the right behaviors toward the police.

Since this is primarily a comedic series (aside from a tendency to strew corpses about), none of the really awful possibilities come to pass, and we have a great time watching the characters work it all out. Oh, and the setting is England between the wars, a favorite of mine, and the author does her research thoroughly, so it works well. What's not to like?

My Recommendation:
This is far and away my favorite of Rhy Bowen's series, and I think it just keeps getting better. There has been a tendency for Georgie to be sort of stupidly insecure vis-a-vis Darcy, and the author is getting that under control, which makes it all the stronger. We don't need romantic uncertainty to enjoy Georgie's trials and tribulations. This might be my favorite addition to the series, but that might just be that each on is my favorite while I'm reading it. ;)

FTC Disclosure: I received an ARC from the publisher via Net Galley, and was given nothing further 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."  

Fiction Revew: The Tuscan Child

Title: The Tuscan Child
Author: Rhys Bowen
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing, 2018. 352 pages.
Source: Library

Publisher's Summary: 
In 1944, British bomber pilot Hugo Langley parachuted from his stricken plane into the verdant fields of German-occupied Tuscany. Badly wounded, he found refuge in a ruined monastery and in the arms of Sofia Bartoli. But the love that kindled between them was shaken by an irreversible betrayal.

Nearly thirty years later, Hugo’s estranged daughter, Joanna, has returned home to the English countryside to arrange her father’s funeral. Among his personal effects is an unopened letter addressed to Sofia. In it is a startling revelation.

Still dealing with the emotional wounds of her own personal trauma, Joanna embarks on a healing journey to Tuscany to understand her father’s history—and maybe come to understand herself as well. Joanna soon discovers that some would prefer the past be left undisturbed, but she has come too far to let go of her father’s secrets now…

My Review: 
Although this is billed as "a novel," Ms. Bowen's roots in the mystery genre are showing. The difference is that no one is setting herself up as a sleuth, and the questions we want answered go beyond the solving of a single crime. Still, Joanna can't let go of her desire to know more than some people would like her to, and her part of the story could easily be framed as a mystery.

The book belongs mostly to Joanna, but the nature of the story is changed some by chapters that follow Hugo after his 1944 crash. In those chapters, the reader sees some things that Joanna will never be able to know, removing the story from the ranks of whodunnits, in my opinion. That isn't a loss--Bowen can write a decent novel beyond the genre fiction for which she is best known (I'm a big fan of her Evan Evans and Royal Spyness mysteries, though I've been unable to really engage with the Molly Murphy books).

The pace of the book, overall, is deliberate. This isn't a hold-your-breath thriller, even when Joanna stirs up the hornets nest. It's really about Joanna and her search for who she is (even when she thinks she's searching for her father's past), and the pace and tone reflects that. I don't consider that a bad thing. I had no trouble keeping on turning pages, it just wasn't a thriller. In fact, my only real complaint was that there was a bit too much internal repetition of Joanna's fears, and a romance that felt a little too symmetrical to me. Those are small complaints against the backdrop of a satisfying story.

As always, Ms. Bowen is meticulous with her historical research, and her settings (both 1944 and the 1970s) feel well-painted and real. I didn't know much about the war in Italy, and the book does a little to fill in the gaps, though it's not really a book about the war.

My Recommendation:
Fans of Bowen's work will probably like this, especially if you liked her other recent foray into general fiction, In Farleigh Field (another book I classify as at least in part a mystery). The book lacks the lightness of the Royal Spyness series, but there are moments of humor and it reads quickly and easily.

FTC Disclosure: I checked The Tuscan Child 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: In Farleigh Field, by Rhys Bowen

 

Title: In Farleigh Field
Author: Rhys Bowen
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing, 2017. 378 pages
Source: Library

Publisher's Summary:World War II comes to Farleigh Place, the ancestral home of Lord Westerham and his five daughters, when a soldier with a failed parachute falls to his death on the estate. After his uniform and possessions raise suspicions, MI5 operative and family friend Ben Cresswell is covertly tasked with determining if the man is a German spy. The assignment also offers Ben the chance to be near Lord Westerham’s middle daughter, Pamela, whom he furtively loves. But Pamela has her own secret: she has taken a job at Bletchley Park, the British code-breaking facility.

As Ben follows a trail of spies and traitors, which may include another member of Pamela’s family, he discovers that some within the realm have an appalling, history-altering agenda. Can he, with Pamela’s help, stop them before England falls?

Inspired by the events and people of World War II, writer Rhys Bowen crafts a sweeping and riveting saga of class, family, love, and betrayal.

My Review:  
I'm a big fan of Rhys Bowen, especially her light-hearted "Royal Spyness" mysteries. This book for the most part lacks the lightness of that series, but it shares with all Bowen's books meticulous research and an ability to write so that the reader feels a part of the setting. Characters are well-developed and well presented, and if the solution to the mystery seemed a little plain to me, the intricacies of how it was all worked out were well worth reading on for (and it's only fair to note that this doesn't advertise itself as a mystery, but as "a novel"). I also greatly enjoyed the close look at the conflicts that arose between the birth of the modern age and the traditions of the aristocracy during that period.

Though this book doesn't advertise itself as a mystery, it is just that, at least in part. That the main characters trying to sort out what's up with the dead parachutist can't even tell each other where they work or what they are up to does add a nice twist. As I say, the mystery wasn't terribly difficult to guess, but the progression of the story still offered a lot of suspense and interest. I read through it fast, not wanting to put it down or quit. Bowen's pretty good at doing that to me (though I'm not so keen on her Molly Murphy mysteries, her other books have all really hit the spot).

My Recommendation:
This is well-researched and well-written, and should interest any fan of WWII or of period mysteries.

FTC Disclosure: I checked In Farleigh Field 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."  

Mystery Monday: Malice at the Palace

 

Title: Malice at the Palace (A Royal Spyness Mystery)

Author: Rhys Bowen

Publisher: Berkley, 2015. 304 pages

Source: Library

Summary: 

Lady Georgiana Rannoch, 35th in line for the British throne, is back from America and as broke as ever. Fortunately the queen assigns her to be a companion to Princess Marina of Greece, about to marry Prince George. All Georgianna has to do is keep the princess from finding out about the less savory side of George's history, protect her from the ghosts at Kensington Castle...and figure out who murdered society babe Bobo Carrington, "the girl with the silver syringe," and dumped her body at the castle. Of course, no one can know about that, lest it involve the royal family. Naturally, Georgie is up to the task, with a little help from her sweetheart Darcy O'Mara,  and her decidedly non-royal maternal grandfather.

Review:

This was a delightful romp, hitting most of the high points, with just a hint of a darker side. Georgie probably spends a little too much time feeling sorry for herself as a general rule, but events in this book contrive to first give her good reason to, and then remind her things could be worse. A few loose ends from the series are wrapped up, and a couple of new ones created to keep us hoping for more about Georgie.

To be honest, this series will never qualify as great literature. Bowen isn't quite willing to make Georgie suffer as much as a good writer probably would her heroine. But it's great entertainment, and I am happy to have things turn out well. The series may well be a nearly perfect cosy-mystery balance of mystery, romance, excitement, and easy reading. Long may it last.

Summary: 

I can recommend the book and the series to all lovers of the cozy mystery, and particularly to those (like me) who are drawn to books about England between the wars. I'm obviously not the only one who thinks it's a great fun read, given the length of the waiting list at the library!

Full Disclosure: I checked Malice at the Palace out of my library, 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."

Mystery Monday: Queen of Hearts by Rhys Bowen

Title: Queen of Hearts (Royal Spyness series)
Author: Rhys Bowen
Publisher: Berkely Prime Crime, 2014 295 pages

Summary:
It is July 1934, and Lady Georgianna Rannoch, 35th in line for the British throne, is relaxing after her last adventure. But her mother puts an end to all that, and in minutes Georgie is packing to sail for America. Her mother is headed to Reno for a divorce, but she meets Hollywood movie mogul Cy Goldman on the ship, and soon Mummy and Georgie are off to Hollywood to make a movie with Cy. Georgie couldn't be happier, especially when her sweetheart, Darcy, shows up. Even murder, arson, and theft can't completely dim her pleasure in his company.

Review:
This is another fine addition to my favorite of Bowen's three series. Lady Georgianna is a lively and humorous narrator, with a keen eye and a dry sense of humor. The plot is, as usual, a bit intricate and characters are sometimes over the top, but that is not so much a flaw as a deliberate stylistic choice. I think I prefer the books set in England--maybe because England is exotic and Hollywood is just down the coast. Of course, for Georgie it's just the opposite, and American fashions and manners give her all sorts of fun troubles. I enjoyed the entire romp, and only figured out part of the mystery, and that only about half a page ahead of Georgie.

Recommendation:
The "Royal Spyness" mysteries aren't for everyone, but if you enjoy a bit of absurdity with your murder and mayhem, you are the right audience. This is a worthy addition to the series, which I recommend reading in order. Queen of Hearts may have a greater appeal to English readers than American, but I could be wrong. The author certainly captures the period well, whether in the US, aboard ship, or in Hollywood--or that wild frontier town of Reno, Nevada.


Full Disclosure: I checked Queen of Hearts  out of my library, 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."

Tucson Festival of Books!

I wore myself out today at the Tucson Festival of Books (that's Tucson, Arizona, in case there's another one somewhere out there).  I absorbed great blogging advice from Chuck Wendig, who is responsible for so many of the flash fiction challenges I write to, and heard a great talk on the effects of World War I on society, particularly British society. That one featured two of my favorite mystery writers, Jacqueline Winspeare and Rhys Bowen, both of whom have mystery series set in that period.

And I spent two hours in the Children's Author Tent selling and signing books.

 

Yeah, that young man is carrying a parasol.  I wished I'd had one!  Tucson in March is no place for a fair-skinned redhead from San Francisco.

 

 

I brought my Mom with me for moral support, and a good friend from back in our school days to help out (SHE is actually good at marketing and reaching out to people.  My sales were not brisk, but I'm pretty sure most of what I did sell was due to her!  Thanks, Laura!).

 

I'll go back tomorrow for more author talks and workshops.  Then we'll go for a hike.



Mystery Monday: Heirs and Graces

Title: Heirs and Graces  (Royal Spyness #7), by Rhys Bowen.  295 pages
Publisher: Berkeley, 2013.
Source:  Library digital editions (Overdrive)

Summary:
Lady Georgianna Rannoch is 35th in line for the English throne, and in 1930-something that's not a place that gives her a lot of options.  So she's pretty happy when the Queen sends her to Kingsdowne Place, the fabulous country seat of the Duke of Eynsford, to help the new heir overcome his Ausrtralian-Outback coarseness.  Regular meals are a bonus.  Finding the current Duke with a knife in his back rather takes the edge off, however.  And when everything starts to point to her protege as the guilty party, Georgie has to take matters into her own hands.

Review:
 I do enjoy this series!  Georgie is a good narrator with a self-deprecating sense of humor and just enough blind spots that we can feel a bit superior. But we also like her and care about her.  Other characters are also well-developed and though there is some tendency to caricature, it's all in the service of fun and even the more ridiculous characters still manage to feel like real people.

In this series the mystery is always a bit secondary to the rest of life, which for Georgie has a lot to do with finding her next meal and a place to live, and wishing she could marry her fiance, Darcy O'Mara, and get on with learning about sex (her friend Belinda gives her no end of trouble about her naivete).  But the mystery is also well-developed, plausible, and has at least two good red-herrings, though Georgie likes one a little too well for us to believe in his guilt. The final reveal is a surprise, in more ways than one.

The Royal Spyness mysteries are fun first and foremost, and this is a worthy addition to the collection.

Recommended for those who enjoy a little humor with their corpses, and maybe a side of romance.

Review: The Twelve Clues of Christmas

I started reading Rhys Bowen years ago when it was only a few books in the Evan Evans series, and I enjoyed them, though I never raved about them.  Later, she began the Molly Murphy series, and I've read most of them, but find them a great deal less engaging.  Then a few years Bowen started the Royal Spyness series, and for some reason they really hit the spot for me.  I can come up with a few reasons: light but still gripping tales, a setting I really like (England between the Wars), an extremely human protagonist (and first-person narrator), and just enough love story, without the problems I was having with Molly Murphy's love story.  This book is the 6th in the series.

Mystery Monday!

Rhys Bowen, The Twelve Clues of Christmas, a Royal Spyness mystery (311 pages).


Lady Georgiana Rannoch is 35th in line for the British throne, and as far as she (or I) can tell that's pretty much completely a negative.  She has no money (her family still had to pay ruinous death duties when her father killed himself over his financial ruin), no love-life, and, at the beginning of this book, no home save a very uncomfortable one with her brother and his wife (Binky and Fig, if you wondered.  Grand names these folks give each other for daily use; very P. G. Wodehouse). Plus if she gets too far out of line the Queen herself will send for her and give her something to do, probably involving marrying some ancient and unlovable prince.

Since spending Christmas at Castle Rannoch in Scotland could only be made worse by having to share it with even more of Fig's annoying family, when that proves to be in the offing, Georgie answers an advert and heads off to serve as a hostess for a Christmas house party in Tiddleton-Under-Lovey.  It's a great idea, made even greater when she finds that one of the guests is Darcy O'Mara, the closest thing to a lover she has (or wants).  Unfortunately, someone seems to be killing off locals, one a day, the murders cleverly disguised as accidents.

Since the local police are baffled, it's not long before Georgie has taken a hand, and the tension mounts with each new corpse.  Bowen treads a very narrow line here, with the large number of bodies threatening to overwhelm the essentially light nature of the series.  But she handles it well, and we are able to feel tension and a growing threat without forgetting to laugh at Georgie's troubles, especially the ones that come in the form of the world's worst lady's maid, Queenie.

In the end, of course, Georgiana finds her way to the solution, and (at least as importantly) she finally gets some satisfaction in some other areas of her life as well.

The mystery is well developed, with just enough clues that in retrospect I can see the solution (which in fact I saw just a few pages before Georgie did), while a number of convincing red herrings had me off in the wrong direction several times along the way.  Altogether a very satisfying mystery of the Village Cozy variety.

4.5 stars.