eyes.2c Reviews

Finlay Donovan Knocks ‘Em Dead  (Finlay Donovan #2)   by Elle Cosimano  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The opening lines of Knock ‘Em Dead had me; full bottled and instantaneously—Had Me!  Down the rabbit hole I dived, loving every heart stopping, often hilarious, moment. From the phrase, “Christopher was dead,” I was taken, not by aliens, but by the absurdity of it all. I am so captivated by this messy, very relatable, absolutely likeable, Finlay Donovan. Talk about fiction imitating life, imitating fiction. I swear Finlay Donovan rom com mysteries are like a set of Russian dolls. Always as one problem is unpacked, another kernel of the situation is revealed, only to leave you with the nagging doubt that something is missing from the equation, and is going to completely roll Finlay is up if she’s not careful. She’s so close to a train wreck! It’s just plain uncanny that there’s not more damage, although what there is, is more than adequate. I’m not sure that friend and minder Vero is a help or a hindranc

A Game of Fear (Inspector Ian Rutledge #24) by Charles Todd           ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1921, another nail biting mystery with Inspector Ian Rutledge working on a murder given to him by Chief Superintendent Markham rather as a taunt. Rutledge’s working relationship with Scotland Yard is not an envious one. His thoughts about his colleagues’ actions when told he was off to investigate the sighting of a killer ghost had him acknowledging that too often “ humor has a malicious twist to it.”  Lady Benton has seen a murder being committed by someone from her moonlit window. Come daylight no body/s we’re found. Someone with influence wants her fears laid to rest. So up to Essex Ian is sent and of course there’s so much more to this occurrence than meets the eye. Ian becomes involved in searching for a murderer who’s a phantom. As things start to become clearer the chase becomes just that more dangerous. Thrilling shifts, moves and counter moves, as Ian plays a game of deadly chess with a cold bloo

The Scandalous Vixen (Duchess Society #2) by Tracy Sumner           ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Wouldn’t you just think that a tale that puts together a leading lady with the nickname Lady Hell (Lady Helena Astley) and the savagely suave Roan Darlington, Duke of Leighton who’s admired Hell for years, to be sensational. All Helena wants to do is run her father’s shipping business. The road to that desire has boulders strewn across her path. Their confrontation is unexpected, a sham engagement is called for … and yet will this give them both the desires of their hearts? Can both their needs be met, and then some? A lively romance and quick read but nowhere near as electrifying as I’d hoped. A Wolf Pub. ARC via NetGalley 

The Red Palace   by June Hur   ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ A riveting tale based somewhat “on  the life and death of Crown Prince Jangheon (also known as Crown Prince Sado)”  of Korea, of the  Joseon Dynasty (1392–1910). Set in 1758, a young, eighteen year old Palace nurse ( Changdeok Palace, Seoul) is drawn into the hunt for a murderer. A dangerous and daunting task. There’s been a massacre of student nurses outside the palace grounds, including  Court Lady Ahnbi. B odies are piling up and all factors point to the Crown Prince. A giant cover up will be implemented and the evidence will point towards Hyeon’s beloved teacher and mentor, Nurse  Jeongsu , as the killer. I really don’t see this strictly as a coming-of-age novel. Rather, it’s an historical thriller/ mystery set in Korea, every bit as puzzling as Jack the Ripper was in Victorian England. Hyeon’s journey, as she seeks to prove the innocence of her mentor, after Jeongsu was arrested and tortured to confess responsibility for the deaths of seve

A Thousand Steps   by T. Jefferson Parker            ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The horrific death of a sixteen year old missing girl he’s seen around the traps, has Matt Anthony, also sixteen, nervous about his sister Jasmine. Jasmine is missing—only a couple of days true! Still the death of Bonnie Stratmeyer has him worried. Living in the Californian  Laguna Beach area in 1968, Matt is the product of a separated family. He and his mother and sister work as they can for food and rent. Matt supplementing their diet with his fishing offerings. Matt’s mother Julie is a product of the 60’s. Matt is surrounded by the ‘happening’ era. The free thinking, experiments with pysycholdic drugs, heroin, hash and of course weed. Timothy Leary gets more than a mention. The Vietnam War is raging, the Peace Movement is out in force, Hippies chill out and life’s cool. VW vans are part of the scene. (OK, I had one and loved it! Still miss it!) There’s your obligatory swami and the beautiful people searching for evoluti

  Where There's a Will (Rowland Sinclair #10) by Sulari Gentill      ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Rowly and the gang head off to Boston where Rowly is executor of a friend's estate, millionaire Daniel Cartwright. Turns out that Daniel, Rowly’s mate from Oxford, was murdered and of course there's another mystery for the friends to solve. This time Edna is in danger, the Irish and Italian mafias loom on the horizon, and things take a dangerous turn. The resolution is unexpected and I'm left wondering! Another brilliant read from Gentill, once again weaving so seamlessly historical personages occurrences of the day into the storyline. It’s easy to imagine the atmosphere of those times. Helped by an excerpt from various newspapers of the day as chapter introductions, centering us on the era. Cleverly executed, I do so love the Rolland Sinclair titles. A Poisoned Press ARC via NetGalley 

The Runaway Duchess (Duke Undone #2) by Joanna Lowell    ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Lavina Yardley, once the unlikeable yet reigning belle of the ballroom, has been brought low. That blow forces her to reevaluate her life. The woman they called Perfection is now: Forced by the incarceration of her rogue father currently  residing in Holloway Prison. Forced by the loss of the rake who touted marriage, evinced seduction and managed to die. Forced by the pleas and machinations of her mother to marry a pig of a man—a sexually repulsive overweight old duke Now cut off from Society, removed from her home and living in a less salubrious hotel, what were the alternatives for Lavina? Governess…Shopgirl…Parlourmaid? Lavina chooses Duchess to the gross Duke of Weston. And then, enroute to the Duke’s country home, after the wedding ceremony, Lavina walks across the rail tracks, and hidden from view, meets Neal Traymayne, an intrepid plant hunter, who mistakes her for a fellow botanist. Lo and behold, Lavina, bol

The Mitford Vanishing (Mitford Murders #5)   by Jessica Fellowes          ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Ah those Mitfords! If ever a family has had the spotlight cast upon them, this is the one. (Oops! Unless you’re a Royal!) It’s 1937 and Nancy Mitford is worried about the disappearance of her sister ‘Decca’  that is Jessica, (the Communist) in Spain. She asks Louisa Cannon, once the family maid, now a private investigator, to look into her whereabouts. Louisa and her husband, former policeman Guy Sullivan, run Detective Agency, Cannon & Sullivan. Nancy’s parents, Lord and Lady Redesdale (David and Sydney Mitford) join the request for Louisa and Guy’s aid. It appears  Louisa and Guy’s inquiry overlaps with a young woman’s body in London and the disappearance of a sailor. All roads lead to Bayonne, France on the border with Spain.   The resolution of the various inquiries keep becoming more complex and intriguing. I loved the way Fellowes has incorporated history with personalities, giving vivid portra

Hotel Portofino   by  J. P. O’Connell             ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Set in Interbellum times between World War 1 and 11, an English family has opened an hotel  in Portofino, overlooking the bay of Paraggi on the Italian Riviera —the Hotel Portofino. The better suites have been outfitted with their own bathrooms. A bold dream and grand scheme as storm clouds gather. Bella Ainsworth has had a long love affair with Italy. Her hope is that this shift will heal her war affected children and just maybe her marriage. New beginnings! Unfortunately dealing with people has its drawbacks. The group of guests and the staff all have secrets, a minefield of likes and dislikes, and so much more. Meanwhile Mussolini and fascism are on the rise. Blackshirts are committing attacks on the vulnerable and Bella is trying to fit her life around the coming storm. The local political leader Danioni is targeting her, blackmail being the least of her problems. Do I hear refrains of The Durrells? Maybe part of melody. Br

Mr Campion’s Wings ( Albert Campion Mystery #9)   by Mike Ripley          ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️    As always, a delight to read about now retired Albert Campion. An intelligent, take no prisoners mystery. Campion’s wife, an aeronautics whizz is in the thick of things. It’s 1965, and Lady Amanda is taken away rather publicly  by Special Branch  under the Official Secrets Act. Right in  the middle of a ‘do’ at Cambridge. She was receiving an honorary doctorate “ for services to aeronautical engineering.” Apparently Amanda is involved in a top secret endeavour, the Goshawk Project, “researching the possibility of producing an advance agile fighter plane and looking at structure and stress on metals.” It’s but a small step from Amanda being escorted away to an investigation of the people involved in the project. There’s a lot at stake here, as we discover. As Campion works towards resolution, Goshawk personnel are given another look. A fatal accident at the site might be more than it appears. Campion f

Twilight at Moorington Cross  by  Abigail Wilson  This story started with an intriguing proposition. The premise behind this gothic romance set in 1815 was both unusual and fascinating. Located in a sanitarium in Kent, far from London, patients attend the hospital prepared to undergo experimental and alternative methods of healing to combat their various complaints. One such client is Mrs Amelia Pembroke, the widow of a solicitor whose private face was so much darker than his public one. Mr Cluett the owner of Cluett's Mesmeric Hospital practises various aspects of mesmerism. Cluett has been attempting to cure Amelia from “sleeping” sickness. She has been in the sanitarium for two years. Mr. Cluett is very attached to her. We’re not sure why. Maybe because she’s the guinea pig for his research looking at the patient being able to self-mesmerise.  Confusingly, Amelia is made aware that she will be the sole beneficiary in Cluett's will if she marries one of two men he determines.

Garden of Sins (Victorian Mystery #6) by Laura Joh Rowland          ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ So much of peoples’ lives are laid bare, secrets revealed and foul behavior exposed in this sixth title in Rowland’s Victorian Mystery series. Oh My! What a cliffhanger! Talk about bringing me to my knees! Now if you’ve been following Sarah Bain and Thomas Barrett this episode literally implodes with action, angst, torment and dead bodies. I scarcely have time to take a breath between page turns. Sarah Bain—determined, outrageous;Thomas Barrett her detective sergeant husband, a man of integrity; her friends and chosen family/house mates—former street urchin Mick O’Reilly, Lord Hugh Stanton and his valet Fitzmorris. Their inclusion in Sarah’s life are spelt out in previous books. Sarah is a crime investigator for the Daily World newspaper, a private detective, and a talented photographer. The huge issue in her life is her father, accused of rape, and on the run for the past years. In her efforts to prove her

The Siren of Sussex (Belles of London #1)   by Mimi Matthews            ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Evelyn Maltravers must find a wealthy husband. Her sisters are depending on her. How to take what she is—unremarked and unprepossessing, and to turn those strengths she has to advantage? Remembering her dead mother’s words, “one must approach a problem from a position of strength”, Evelyn  decides to challenge the lure of The Pretty Horsebreakers, courtesans who ride in Rotten Row every day, their well made riding costumes setting their charms off to advantage. A talented equestrian, owner of a magnificent Spanish-bred Andalusian horse, Hephaestus—Evelyn has decided this would be the factor to set her apart from other debutantes entering the season’s lists. A well made marriage to someone who’ll provide for her family is her goal, and she works diligently, if not in the usual way, towards that end. Evelyn recognises the superb tailoring and magic of the Horsebreaker’s outfits. She discovers where these a

A Deadly Affair: Unexpected Love Stories from the Queen of Mystery   by Agatha Christie          ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Lively collection of short stories from the Queen of Crime centered around the theme of love—in families, between partners, lovers and spouses. Some old favourites and new faces. Favourites like Poirot and Hastings, Jane Marple, Tuppence and Tommy Beresford. New faces for me  included the two quiet amateur sleuths the social butterfly Mr. Satterthwaite, and the more effacing Mr. Quinn. “The Face of Helen” includes a beautiful young woman they spy at the opera, “ There were, [Mr Satterthwaite] knew, such faces in the world—faces that made history…[a face] of sheer beauty” For the first time Mr. Satterthwaite realizes “the meaning of the words”… “a face that launched a thousand ships.”  Tension between the young woman and two men inside the opera and a fight outside has Mr. Satterthwaite lending a hand and subsequently following a “trail of tragedy and violence Gillian West has [inno

The Maid  by Nita Prose        ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I really enjoyed this murder mystery with a difference. Molly Grey is a maid at a five star boutique hotel, The Regency Grand, in London. Unable to read social clues, Molly is somewhat of a misfit. Although I can’t fault her reading of the staff she interacts with. Committed to her work, with a fabulous work ethic, I enjoyed those moments when she chanelled her boss’s staff pep talks into her own reality, quoting him to herself. She really does define herself as part of the hive with a task that has purpose. Molly takes pride in her contribution to the smooth running of the hotel.  And the anonymity of a hotel maid is a perfect foil for the various happenings—from illegal immigration, to drug running, to murder. Not that Molly necessarily recognizes these instances, although a dead body is pretty hard to miss.  When Molly comes across the body of a guest, her world once more changes. Telling friend from foe can at times be difficult and Molly f