eyes.2c Reviews

Every Duke Has His Day  by Suzanne Enoch    ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Enoch has done it again. Written another zany romance! Perfect! Humorous, ironically witty and just plain good fun! When the eccentric Michael Bromley, the Duke of Woriton, an absent minded scientist agrees, or rather has his Aunt Mary’s poodle Lancelot foisted upon him, he little knows it will change his life. It starts with Michael ending up in a pond in Hyde Park entangled in dog leads. That of Lancelot, and heiress Miss Elizabeth Dockering, Bitsey’s identical poodle Galahad. Not only that, Woriton finds himself in the middle of a dog napping caper!  Further complications happen when the wrong dog is nabbed! Talk about chaos and missed moments. Elizabeth refers to Michael as “Lord Steely-Eyed Logic.” She has come to appreciate his scientific endeavours. So worthy! Meanwhile Michael, and even more his household, love that Elizabeth has dragged Woriton out of his study and into life! We’re introduced to the misg...

Remi Bone by William L. Myers     ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Offbeat, decidedly different tale about a middle aged man with a rough history. Remington Bohne (Remi Bone) loves his adopted daughter. His wife Beatrice, Kyla’s mother was his life. When Beatrice died Remi of course went on supporting Kyla, caring for her. Kyla’s father is not in the picture and maybe that’s a blessing. At least Remi thinks it is. Now Kyla’s been accepted into the University of Pennsylvania. Unfortunately Remi’s just been told he has a heart condition that could see the end of him at anytime. A ticking time bomb! Remi wants to raise tuition and accommodation expenses for Kyla’s education before he dies. The way he chooses to fund Kyla’s future is as a hit man. That decision presents Remi with many dilemmas, including moral. Things spiral and Remi becomes known as the ‘Tick Tick’ man. A host of brilliant characters including Catholic priest Father Kane, makes this read a cut above your normal crime fiction noir. I ...

Murder at Midnight  (Lily Adler #4) by Katharine Schellman       ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ A Christmas dinner and dance in the local neighbourhood. Not too grand but grand enough! Too bad a murder happens! Lily Adler finds herself knee deep in investigating the affair, particularly the supposed killer.  None other than Amelie, Captain John’s younger sister! What!? Added to this is that the guests haven’t been able to leave due to a snow storm.  They’re all trapped, and  Oh! Yes! Jewellery has gone missing! Adding to the drama, Matthew Spencer is a guest, but Captain Jack Hartley has news of his own. A pleasing Regency mystery with just a sprinkling of romance. A Crooked Lane ARC via NetGalley.                                               Many thanks to the author and publisher.

My Rogue to Ruin  (Wild Wynchesters #4) by Erica Ridley     ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ My second introduction to the Wynchester siblings and it continues to be a wild ride. An unusual family of mixed persons from varying backgrounds, a family made not born, who seek to right the wrongs done to ordinary folk. There’s a host of animals involved like a gorgeous homing hedgehog. I know—wonderful comic relief!  It seems there’s a counterfeiter loose in the community. Folks are being relieved of their hard won cash. Marjorie Wynchester is the artist who sees things in terms of color explosions! Lovely! She’s hard of hearing and wants to prove to her family that she can take the lead in this case searching for the swindler. Enter the gorgeous and artistic Lord Adrian. Banished seven years ago to the continent by his father the Marquess of Meadowbrook for daring to turn his energies towards a career in art. He’s the youngest son of Meadowbrook, an intolerant stickler. Adrian has been blackma...

The Spanish Diplomat's Secret  (Captain Jim and Lady Diana Mysteries #3)   by Nev March      ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Nev March is killing me with this splendid series  It’s 1894 and Lady Diana and Captain James O’Trey are bound for England on a luxury Cunard liner. They’re no sooner settled in than a murder is committed. Don Juan Nepomuceno, a Spanish diplomat, but more than that, a nobleman and a general. Jim offers his services to investigate and is given free rein. He’s become an American, and is seen as a neutral party in what could become a volatile diplomatic occurrence between Spain and Britain. The thing is Jim had had interaction with Don Juan the night before. A message from the Don was sent to Jim to attend the Don, but had arrived too late. Eight days to find the killer. Can Jim and Diana do it? There’s plots within plots, diplomatic and personal. A young woman drowns, another’s life is threatened. Then there’s the dark history of the Don Juan. Trouble ...

The Traitor Among Us  (Elena Standish #5) by Anne Perry    ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ A tramp has been found dead in a ditch. It turns out to be an MI6 agent nearing retirement who’s been watching Wyndham Hall. It seems Agent John Repton was most likely killed on or near the estates of the very well connected Sir David Wyndham. His body has possibly been moved there after death. No-one quite knows what he was doing in that area. The What’s and Why’s are definitely piling up. Lucas Standish recommends his granddaughter  Elena be part of the team that investigates, along with James Allenby whom Eleanor had last seen in Boston. And Yes, that had been an exhausting and dangerous time!  Repton had been Allenby's mentor. For James this is personal. Elena’s sister Margot looks set to become engaged to Geoffrey Baden, Sir David’s brother-in-law. A house party being thrown to bring the two together will give Elena  an  entree. Margot is rather disturbed about Elena being ther...

Secrets of an Irish House  by Ann O'Loughlin    ⭐️⭐️⭐️ I’ll be frank. Yes, I did tear up at certain parts in this tale. How could I not? Katie Williams’s partner of six years dies in a subway shooting. Katie had asked Harry to take an Uber but roadworks made the journey too time consuming. Harry had ended his life in the wrong place at the wrong time. The reading of the Will has Katie, and Harry’s ex wife and business partner Maggie, discovering that all the money has gone. Harry had secretly bought a place in Ireland that they knew nothing about.  Kilcashel House in Wicklow County. To inherit they must both go to Ireland and live at Kilcashel Housefor ten months. What they find is an empty, half renovated mansion on the sea, with a life tenant occupying the gate lodge. Anna Walker is a somewhat grumpy woman who wants them gone. Both women have been screwed over by Harry. Katie’s passion is baking. She was to have opened a Bagel Bakery in Manhattan. Maggie is an expe...

Rusted Souls  (Tom Harper Mystery #11) by Chris Nickson ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ How could I not be? This is Tom Harper. A man I’ve traveled with down through the years. It’s 1920 and Harper’s only six  weeks away from retirement. He’s been asked by his boss, Alderman Thompson  to quietly investigate a matter for him . Thompson’s being blackmailed. He’d  “ engineered Harper’s permanent appointment as Chief Constable of Leeds City Police.” Now Thompson’s calling in the debt. Three live cases are on the go, three cases to be wound up before handing over to his replacement. All have Harper puzzled and frustrated.  *There’s this blackmail case with a moneyed and cool woman seemingly at the center. *A series of jewellery shop heists by four highly disciplined robbers. *The coming onslaught of organized groups of women en mass shop lifting from bigger department stores in numbers too large to control. They have been working their way from London connecting to large centers by trai...

Mr Campion's Memory  (Albert Campion #11) by Mike Ripley    ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ A lively piece of derring-do, although according to his wife Amanda he’s supposed to be derring-done, from our aging, yet smoothly contained, boy-like, retired supposedly, sleuth,  Albert Campion.  It’s  1972 and a newspaper journalist, David Duffy, is mysteriously killed in a lay-by off the M1 near to the brutalist MacMansion of Sir Lachlan McIntyre. McIntyre is being considered for a life peerage which would have course have him entering the House of Lords. Campion’s nephew Richard asks for his help. Richard is Sir Lachlan’s Public Relations Officer. He wants Campion to look into McIntyre’s activities prior to 1932. His firm hadn’t deemed it necessary to go back that far when putting together their media “script”. (Training sessions covering questions the media might ask).  Just to clarify, McIntyre is the number 1 suspect on the police radar for Duffy’s demise. Richard wants Cam...

Lady Len and the Mysterious Mac  (Brides of Chattan #2) by Rose Prendeville    ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Petite Ellen Macintosh is to be handfasted to Silas MacKenzie. All Ellen wanted was was to enter a nunnery. Now she’s was standing outside the betrothal ceremony having fled from Silas MacKenzie’s side. Si is a veritable giant of a man, but that’s not why Ellen has run. Ellen has lost her voice for many years. She mutters under her breath but no-one pays any attention to her. Now she’s standing outside the handfasting ceremony. Marriage will follow in a few hours. The last thing Silas wants is to be married but his father’s insisting on it, and on naming him as his heir. Silas is to take the clan’s oath of allegiance a short time after. As no-one has chased after his tiny wee bride-to-be, after a long time, he does it himself. And when he gazes into her clear sapphire blue eyes, he knows he’ll protect her forever. Another charming and touching story with a number of moving parts tha...

The Raging Storm  (Matthew Venn #3) by Ann Cleeves    ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Matthew Venn is called out to a strange find in a fishing village, Greystone an hour from Barnstaple. A naked body has been found tethered in a small dinghy with  rough seas running, in a dangerous cove, off Scully Point. The fishermen don’t like this area.  The body is that of   Jem Rosco, adventurer, sailor, national treasure who’d just reappeared in the village. A woman had been seen walking towards his house late at night. What begins as a troubling investigation becomes even more so as the undercurrents of the village match or surpass the dangerous sea.  I must admit to feeling the darkness of the storm brewing outside and inside. I felt the lash of wind and rain. Turbulence of the elements seems to reflect the turmoil Jem’s return has engendered within the village. Matthew is taken back to his childhood, his parents stance on things given their religious background. The group is ac...

The Spy's Daughter  (Gentleman Spy Mysteries #4) by Bianca M. Schwarz     ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This last in the Gentleman Spy series is alive with danger, love and doing the right thing. Maximilian Warthon, Lord Didcomb, grandson of the vicious and debauched Earl of Warthhon,  has distanced himself from the wrongs of the ancient brotherhood, The Knights, but hasn’t cut the ties. Instead, he’s taken the younger Knights in a new direction of investment in the future—trade, steam engines, railways. You name it, Max is there. He’s a very wealthy man. He doesn’t much care for ton functions finding them insipid. Emily March illegitimate daughter of Sir Henry March, is making her debut. The family and friends are all in London for the beginning of the season. Emily is feisty, generous and lovely. She also rides like a demon in the early morning in Hyde Park which is where Max first spies her. Cupids arrow pieces his heart. Max attends her come-out ball, waltzes with Emily and leaves, ...