eyes.2c Reviews

Haro ld by Steven Wright  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Of course anything Steven Wright puts pen to will be a stream of consciousness seemingly endless. Harold is akin to  Wright’s’ inner seven year old boy with an adult understanding, despite his innocence. Dry, remorseless even, in his diatribe, Harold’s imagination is one where adults go to hide. Speaking of hidden, much of Harold’s sideways moves come through a series of rectangular windows opening up in his head. They’re a brilliant segue! Those birds who deliver his thoughts and questions are part of the wonder. And such birds! Harold’s questions are a thing of beauty. Of course they happen on the inside. Ms. Yuka just isn’t worth asking questions of on the outside! Ms.Yuka fortunately is not inside Harold’s head, except in dreams. I hear Wright’s in concert voice, in my head. This is pure Steven Wright blending with the known, yet giving new voices. Ha! Genius! Nobel stuff to me! (a reference!) Harold is like no other thirdrd grade child,...

Titanium Noir  by Nick Harkaway      ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Hard nosed detective Cal Sounder investigates the murder of a Titan, a genetically modified elite. Set in a dystopian futuristic world there’s more here than meets the eye, as Cal finds out. Cal is a Titan specialist, a consultant to the police in these types of cases. T7 injections turn ordinary humans into super beings. It’s incredibly expensive, highly desirable. It can save one from all sorts of physical challenges but your intellect doesn’t improve. Maybe that’s offset by living a few hundred years. Maybe?! Learning to live with a body that’s been extended is no joke. Some (not many) have had several T shots over time—a long time. The tone is set in the first few opening lines, in the sparse, take no prisoners, non conversation between Cal and the Captain as they head towards the crime scene. A crime that will lead Cal back through the victim’s history as it intersects with others, and ultimately his own.  The...

A Novel Disguise  ( Lady Librarian Mystery #1) by Samantha Larsen         ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ When Miss Tiffany Woodall’s  sanctimonious, penny pinching, selfish brother died overnight her second thought was what would happen to her. His position as librarian to the Duke of Beaumont gave them a house to live in and money. Where would she go? Then she hit on her desperate ingenious plan. Disguise herself as her brother and continue as normal. As Uriah’s sister she’d been the one to shop, and engage village folk. Uriah had been too high in the instep for that. What could go wrong? Everything!  Moving Uriah’s body was just Tiffany’s first difficulty.  From then on, being caught naked bathing in the lake, to the hilarious time of both Tiffany and the dead Uriah (yes, at the same time) being asked to dinner with the Duke and Duchess, and her once upon a time friend, another Duchess. Despite these setbacks Tiffany manages to win through, only to have the  ...

My Word Against His  by Lauren North  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Oh my gosh! More twists in this peppered read than a pretzel. Cohesive control, and then some, stalks the pages until you don’t know who’s what, and where you’re headed. This is a five star read but in my head I found it hard to come to grips with that  because I don’t like the subject matter. Cohesive control is real and creepy. This novel is brimming with both. If you’re looking for a psychological thriller that turns you inside out and more, this is the read for you. Who is the predator and who is the prey? Hmmm! Find out—maybe! A  Bookouture  ARC via NetGalley.                                               Many thanks to the author and publisher.

Earls Rush In  by Jennifer Haymore   ⭐️⭐️⭐️ How to stop you’re best friend’s sister from making a serious mistake in marrying the wrong man? Kidnap her of course! Not that Finneas Jones, the Earl oh Trevelyn  ( Finn) had magically divined that they’d be driving through snow,  end up in an overturned carriage, and would seek shelter an inn with only one bedroom! Far from the truth! Charlotte Chapman had only until the tenth of March before her uncle and his wife threw her and her sister Celine out. Charlotte’s uncle had been the next in line to the barony after her brother Christopher. When Chris was killed the girls were not welcome. They were given two years by their uncle and aunt to find a solution. Time was up!  Finn has become somewhat reclusive since Christopher’s death. They’d been friends since school. For all sorts of reasons Christopher’s death had hit him hard. However he’s now come out of his comfort zone to help Charlotte, even if things don’t go as...

Beauty Reborn  by Elizabeth Lowham          ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Scintillating, heartfelt retelling of Beauty and the Beast. Lowham ensorcelled my heart with a story that’s creatively original in its telling, and lyrical in its execution. Beauty has two sisters, a brother and a father whose fortunes as a merchant sank with his ship. Forced to sell everything and live in a humble cottage near the enchanted Forest, the family endures  Beauty at seventeen is a whimsical young woman who fancies herself in love with the local Baron’s son. He asks her to marry him but she refuses due to having older sisters. They must marry first. He persists. The third time he asks and she says NO, is when he confronts her alone in the house, in her bedroom. I can say no more! Beauty goes to cut down some wood in the Forest. She chops into a living tree. Alarmed by her own actions she bandages the cut near the root and covers it with dirt. This is her first momentary  glimpse of...

Playing It Safe  (Electra McDonnell #3) by Ashley Weaver          ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Whew! Well that ending has just opened the proverbial can of worms! 🪱🪱 But back to the main event! Electra McDonnell, our ex safe cracking thief, who’s had several missions now with British Intelligence, is contacted by Major Ramsey (be still mine and Ellie’s beating heart!) to go to the port of Sunderland, with a copy of Northern Birds of England under her arm, and await orders.  It’s 1940 and the game is afoot once more! Ellies’s walking towards her accommodation when she’s jostled from behind into the path of a lorry. Fortunately a man grabs her, just in time! Is this deliberate or accidental? Ellie later sees that same man lying dead on the road near the rooming house she’s staying in. He’s collapsed, frozen in the moment, with a small amount of foam bubbling around his lips! A piece of paper is clasped in his fist. Ellie surreptitiously liberates it. Now she’s in a stran...

Central Park West: A Crime Novel by James Comey           ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Intriguing criminal procedural mystery where the Governor of New York, Tony Burke, is found dead in his apartment supposedly killed by his wife. The doorman places Burke’s estranged wife Kyra at the scene shortly after his death. Assistant US Attorney for the Southern District Nora Carleton is currently prosecuting a case against Dominic  D’Amico of the Gambino Mafia Family. When D’Amico passes Nora a note about Tony Burke’s death and  mob involvement, Nora asks for protection for D’Amico. The court refuses. D’Amico meets an untimely end. Whilst the case against Kyra goes ahead, Nora and others strengthen their efforts to get to the truth.  Kyra’s guilt is seemingly assured from the courtroom antics. The  Judge is informed that “ the federal authorities are actively investigating to determine who killed Tony Burke… the feds told some or all of this to the DA’s office, which has...

The Scottish Ladies' Detective Agency  (Scottish Ladies’ DetectiveAgency #1)   by Lydia Travers     ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Edinburgh 1911! Women are demanding the vote! Two women whose sympathies lie with the suffrage movement have opened a detective agency,  Maud McIntyre and Daisy Cameron, who had been Maud’s maid for the last seven years . It’s officially their first day of business and a likely candidate turns up, Lord Hamish Urquhart, looking for help with a delicate matter. Only when he realises that a woman was in charge he decided against using their agency. Disgruntled, Maud is fuming against the dismissal from men when another client arrives, the Duchess of Duddingston, who has no objection to employing women enquiry agents. She’s having a weekend house party and as there’s been a spate of jewel thefts lately. She hires Maud and Daisy to keep watch. Oh, and guess who’s  a house guest? That’s right, Lord Urquhart. Others on the guest list include  Duches...

The Cargo From Neira  (Gabriel Tavener #5) by Alys Clare      ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 Gabriel Tavernier, ex-ship’s surgeon turned country doctor who also conducts autopsies for the local Coroner, Theo Davey is called out by Jarman Hodge. The coroner’s assistant, wants Gabe to aid him with a drowned woman, a suicide. He hasn’t notified the coroner but instead comes to Gabe. Why? A moment of compassion? The treatment of suicides and their families subsequently is barbaric at this time. For some reason, and we never quite know why, Hodge wants to avoid this. Disquieted, Gabe agrees, although against his better judgement. He’s troubled at the thought of not fully revealing the situation to the coroner. He’s uncomfortable that this might strain their  relationship.  Only as they are moving the woman she coughs up water! She’s alive! Now it’s a race to save a woman who wishes to die.  When Gabe takes the woman into his home for care, he u nknowingly brings danger and in...

Murder on the Home Front  (WPC Billie Harkness #2) by Jessica Ellicott    ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ WPC Billie Harkness is once again drawn into a murder investigation along with Constable Peter Upton.  Whilst they’re checking out a raided bomb shelter Billie discovers the body of a man strangled with some clothesline wire. Their investigations will lead them a frustrating chase over a wide ranging area. At the same time there’s been a spate of small items missing from Peter’s boarding house including his police badge. Peter’s kept quiet about that as he thought he’d been careless with it. Back in Hull a teenage boy was recently run over by a truck and killed.  A man is reported missing by his landlords. There’s been some chatter about fifth columnists and Billie feels concerned. Somethings not right, a little bit off. As Billie and Peter follow up their investigations, dots that seem random and farfetched, start to intertwine.  Billie meanwhile is having her own problem...

Two Scandals and a Scot  (Duchess Society #5)   by Tracy Sumner    ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Duke of Leighton’s sister Theodosia Astley desperately wants to fit in but underneath she’s a true radical. What she really wants is to go to University, encourage women to vote, teach, you name it. What she prefers for a present is books, not tiaras. The girl from the rookeries is now part of the Leighton Clan. She decides to marry so that she can have her independence, only her fiancés very pregnant mistress turns up at the pre-wedding ball! Unleashing a scandal! What Theo does next is run! Right into the carriage of Dashiell Campbell, rookery pickpocket and renowned card sharp, and takes off. Dash is pretty sure who’s stolen his carriage as soon as he sees its missing. He  grabs a horse and follows Theo. (Mind you his driver thinks she’s one of the legions of women who throw themselves at the sinfully handsome Dash.)  Dash, determined to rescue Theo from the ensuing scandal...

Viviana Valentine Goes Up the River  (Girl Friday #2)   by Emily J. Edwards     ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Ok I wasn’t feeling the love, I was finding it hard to identify with the characters. I knew it was supposed to be a spoof on 1950’s type mystery novels, but on first beginnings reading I found it more a B grade movie than a jewel in the crown. Anyway I gave it a second chance read and loved it! I adored the PI team of  Viviana Valentine and Tommy Fortuna. They were awesome. This is a locked room mystery and as I became more engrossed it sparked me up. At that first attempt I obviously was not in the mood, next time round was a winner. I love the cover of the book btw. Tally, Viviana and Tommy’s very rich secretary and acquaintance from a prior case, takes a phone call at home from her friend Buster Beacon needing a private eye for some rather embarrassing, ridiculous even, occurrences. As Buster puts it, “Woo-woo creaks and ghastly sounds.” Viviana and Tommy take the case ...

Liar's Beach   by Katie Cotugno   ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Michael Linden practised fitting into the preppy school he was enrolled at on a sports scholarship.  He’s as far away from this rich, entitled crowd as Earth is to Mars, and then some. An invitation to his “buddy” Jasper Kendrick’s summer place at Martha’s Vineyard might be fun. After all he’s trying to be one of the crowd. That is, until someone’s found at the bottom of the pool after a party. Someone the family had reason to dislike. Jasper’s twin sister Eliza is very attractive but somewhat unpredictable. Of course some of the guys from Bartley are on the island. It all one big elitist club. Jasper’s parents seem to spend time at the country club and out to dinner, leaving the group alone. Jasper’s father had been sued over some financial issues. He was sent to jail. The father of a family who’d been close friends and had originally hooked Mr. Kendrick up with his financial advisor had received community service in exchange ...

The Spinster and Mr. Scott  (Highland Knights #1) by Jennifer Haymore   ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Lady Grace Carrington picked her way across the battlefield looking for any survivors. Waterloo and all its imagined gory descriptions! A name to conjure nightmares! That’s where she finds Scotsman Sergeant Duncan Scott a sheep farmer from the highlands. A world away from home, and centuries away from a woman like Grace. And yet when Duncan and Grace meet there will be no going back. Soulmates! Duncan is assigned to be part of a task force to investigate anti monarch organizations back in England with Grace’s brother-in-law Major Sir Robert Campbell. They are all now officially Highland Knights. Still, how can these two come together separated as they are by class and lineage? I found the first couple of chapters piqued my interest. a(Although Heyer’s novels dealing with this time and occasion is still the pinnacle as far as I’m concerned.) The rest of the story is fine if somewhat superficial, yet...