eyes.2c Reviews

The New Detective  (Willie Geismeier #4) by Peter Steiner     ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Meeting Willie Geismeier as a young man pre WW1 when he has topped his exams, doing everything to be a police constable, is sobering. It goes along way to explain who he is and his actions. He’s like a dog with a bone, he comes at investigations through a unique prism, and seems to solve all his cases So when he becomes interested in the murder of a journalist he’s given the go ahead to investigate. Willi solves the murder but he thinks there’s more. That more is interrupted by WWI. Willi comes back a different person to a very different Germany. The Spanish Flu is advancing, the average soldier is worn down. Communism battles with fascism. The place is a whirlwind of double speak and lies. He becomes interested in the avoidance of his enquires by higher authorities about the death of a prisoner Ladislaw Gabek in Stadelheim Prison. He’s looking for stolen everyday drugs and medical equipment. His trac...

The Burning Time  (DS McAvoy #12)   by David Mark       ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Strap on your seatbelt and be prepared for a wild ride. Witchcraft and murder greet DS Aector McAvoy and his wife Roisin when they roll into Weardale Village, County Durham, for  an all expenses paid time for his estranged mother’s 70th birthday  McCovey is recovering from injuries dealt to him in his last case. His partner DSU Trish Pharaoh is recovering in Taormina, Sicily. They’ve been off for three months Aector’s gypsy wife Roisin is scared for him. Not on the physical level but the emotional level. Aector’s going to be going into enemy territory. His step/brother Felix bullied and abused him as a kid, boarding school with the upper eschelons finished him off. Twists, turns, and family challenges dog McAvoy’s steps. Steps that become more intuition and gut feeling than anything else. Aector is a caring, listening and compassionate soul, aptly demonstrated when he lies in the dirt w...

The Curse of Penryth Hall  by Jess Armstrong    ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ It’s 1922. Ruby Vaughn is an American employed by  an  Octogenarian eccentric Exeter bookseller, Mr. Owen. She does odd tasks for him like delivering tomes to various customers. She’s haring off to Lothlel Green near Tintagel, Cornwall (need I say more!) to deliver a trunk of books to Ruan Kivell, the Pellar (whatever that is!) Somehow the cat Mr, Owen’s cat Fiachna has managed her way into Ruby’s Crow Elkhart roadster.  Ruby is also calling in on her best friend and once lover, Lady Tamsyn Chenowyth at Penryth Hall, whom she’d fought with on the day Tamsyn had married Sir Edward Chenowyth. Tamsyn had sent a letter asking for Ruby’s help. Now, a year and a half since receiving the letter, and against her better judgement, Ruby decides to call in. After all she is passing by. Ruby’s shocked by Tamsyn’s appearance, and the fading bruise on her cheekbone. She’s stunned when later, Tamsyn...

A Friend for Christmas by Mike Martin ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Of course this lovely rabbit family would have nine kits whose names all start with the letter “R” Well actually, the parents’ names begin with the same letter so it’s obviously a Rabbity thing! Robbie the Rabbit forages for his large family every night. Crossing a road with care, dodging out of sight of the tall creatures who are climbing up poles (Huh!), it’s all quite fraught. On top of that, the last couple of nights on his way home with his produce he’s run from a natural enemy—a grey cat! It seems the cat wants to be Robbie’s friend. Really! Hmm! Should Robbie trust a cat! As he learns what Christmas is about (from that cat)—friendship and sharing, Robbie takes a chance and trusts the cat, Whisperer, with his family. A lovely time is had by all, and the spirit of trust, acceptance and friendship, of being together, is the best of gifts. A delightful story for the Christmas season, with whimsical illustrations. A sharing story that...

Anything With Nothing  (Valdemar Anthologies #17) by Mercedes Lackey, editor    ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Normally an anthology has a few stories I don’t warm to. This set of tales are all winners. An equal smattering of derring do heralds, normal folk, guards and healers stories taking place both outside and inside Haven. The clue to the tales is in the title of the anthology. Many of the characters do win through using nothing but their own potential, or what’s available where they are at that moment. Making do brilliantly. My particular favorite (although it was a hard call) was ‘Look to Your Houses’ by Fiona Pattern. Set in one of Haven’s least desirable areas. When a new lieutenant is to join the Guards down in the Iron Street district and everything including inventory reports were to be in order, well Sergeant Hektor Dann had to take action This area was running more like a family with guards allowing for an old granny who needed some milk, or the missing guard house key (gone t...

Night Train to Marrakech  (Daughters of War #3) by Dinah Jefferies     ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I tried to read this three times. I just wasn’t in the mood and wasn’t connecting to the beginnings of the story. Who was Vicky Baudin and what was the awkwardness of her relationship with her mother Élise? We do know Élise was with the French Resistance as Vicky’s father Victor, who was executed by the Nazis.   Fortunately I pushed through my lethargy, started the book again and finished it with the tang of exotic spices and redolent smells of Marrakech in my nostrils, betrayal and violence baying in the background. What a tale! From Vicky’s journey to Morocco in 1966 to meet her unknown grandmother, her ambitions to become a fashion designer, her meeting with Yves St Laurence that didn’t go according to plan, the witnessing of a murder, the disappearance of her cousin Bea, and the truth after all these years about her grandmother Clemence Petier, and all that happened to her as a chi...

Silver Lady (Dangerous Gifts #1) by Mary Jo Putney    ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ A tale that sweeps you away to Regency times. Romance  linked with treason and treachery! Rhys and Gwyn Tremayne have been rescuing children from the depths of the London stews forever. Bran Tremayne and his companion Cade were two of these. Although it seems they are somewhat different. Like Lady Tremayne they’re gifted, although many see them as from the devil. Gwyn is a finder. Cade can sense trouble. Bran has a strong intuition that senses lines connecting to the truth of a situation. Twenty-three years later Bran works for the London Home Office.  He receives unwelcome news from his mother Lady Tremayne. A solicitor from Plymouth is looking for a child from that time. A child with a dragon tattoo on his shoulder. Once an undesirable, his grandfather is reluctantly forced to seek Bran out to come under his auspices. He wants Bran to be trained as his heir. You can imagine what Bran thinks about tha...

Shards of Glass  (Elantra) by Michelle Sagara        ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Raven lived in the Warrens. She collected glass no-one could see. She had a companion Robin but he’d disappeared. He had been recruited to the Academia, a place of learning that had been asleep but now returned and is governed by the Dragon chancellor, Lord Tiamaris. Tiamaris sees Academia as his horde. Never get between a dragon and his horde! Raven couldn’t remember her past, her name, names of objects, anything, she was a blank slate. Robin had named her.  The two had survived in the Warrens, looking out for each other from an early age. Robin vaguely, fleetingly remembers another life. Robin wants Raven to come to Academia, but when she arrives those in charge are alarmed by her. Death is stalking the halls of Academia.  Who or what is Raven? Who is Robin? Who is the old woman Giselle?  This is a n independent title that has seemingly grown out of Cast in Wisdom. I love the way R...

The Mystery Guest  (Molly the Maid #2) by Nita Prose     ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Our fav maid Molly Gray once again finds herself in the middle of a murder.  Molly is the Head Maid at the Grand Regency Hotel. The victim is the famous mystery writer J.D. Grimthorpe. He was all set to make a huge announcement. Alas he dropped dead in front of his fans at a function in the recently restored Grand Tearoom. The Hotel Manager aka Mr. Snow described it as an epic catastrophe! As it turns out Molly knew J.D. from her childhood. Her Gran was a maid at his mansion. Molly went there with her Gran and cleaned silver rather than returning to school. Her autism with its quirks set her apart. Molly’s treatment by her peers was intolerable, and her teacher persecuted her because of her differences. At the mansion she was focussed and didn’t have to communicate with kids who treated her badly and teachers who couldn’t handle her disability. Molly delighted in cleaning the silver until it shone. In...

The Christmas Beaver by Mike Martin ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The spirit of Christmas comes alive through this tale of somewhat crusty beaver dad and his relationship with an annoying Blue Jay and Humans. See what happens when the beaver saves someone he can’t even begin to understand. Embedded in this heartwarming story is a message of acceptance despite differences. (Thanks to the Great Spirits, Blue Jays received the gift of language and Interpretation.)  I thought there were hints of the Good Samaritan story, helping when needed, not passing to the other side. The lively illustrations lift the story and add to its charm. They support the storyline and round out it’s creative character. Canadian author Mike Martin one again gives us a gift to engage our hearts. A special story for the whole family to enjoy at this time of the year. Many thanks to the author for this ARC

Love in the Cupboard  (Love & Mishaps Quirky Romantic Comedy #2)   by Mari Jane Law        ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ An unusual story about a Catholic priest, Father Thomas Sheridan, with a Jewish mother, who decides he wants to leave the priesthood, fall in love with a woman ,and have   a family. He doesn’t want to be alone. Of course things become super entangled and Father Tom ends up being coerced into doing wedding shots for a cop’s wedding day (strange story), counselling a gay couple, and meeting the woman of his dreams in a dark cupboard. Only that woman, Faith Goddard was having her own problems with her lying, cheating ex boyfriend, and  a sister  with ill health whom she’s supporting. Faith thought Cupboard Man and Tom the photographer were two seperate people. So what’s a girl to do when she likes them both, and doesn’t realize they’re the same person? And no, the lights haven’t been turned on in that dark cupboard, which strangely resembles m...

Dogboy v Catfish by Luke Gracias      ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Wow! Multilayered, unusual and thoroughly engaging story about a rather different man’s journey and those he pulled along with him. This Australian crime/mystery/noir novel was just so unusual. It’s a real page turner. Four people who’d been students together at Melbourne University are pulled back together again after one of them, ‘Dogboy’ Lindsay Kramer goes missing.  His wife, Katherine Kelly Fisher ‘Catfish’ walks into a family lawyer’s chambers. Freya Keogh is  known for her merciless divorce settlements. Katherine is seeking help to divorce her husband. Katherine doesn’t know that Keogh knew Lindsay when she was a student. Keogh feels right away that something is off. A month later Katherine decides not to go ahead with the separation. The catch? Lindsay has disappeared. Further reveals show that Katherine’s former husband Darren Berrington had died unexpectedly whilst on a trip to Bangkok. Two members of C...

The Butterfly Collector by Tea Cooper    ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Tea Cooper has an uncanny ability to join a story by threads of happenstance across several generations. This time in Morpeth, NSW (Australia). The story is connected by the central idea of a delicate painting of the first discovery  of the Wanderer Butterfly,  painted and researched by Theodora Breckenridge (unacknowledged of course!) Add into this the tragedy of baby farms, stolen children and a woman who orchestrated these things, and we have a stunning expose across time delving into just exactly what happened in the Morpeth community between 1868 and 1922. In 1922 Verity Binks, a struggling reporter and the daughter of the a now deceased war correspondent, is invited to write a piece about a charity, the Treadwell Foundation. The mover behind the organization is David Treadwell, husband to Theodora’s sister Florence . It’s in Treadwell’s home that Verity first sees the stunning painting of the Wanderer Butterf...