eyes.2c Reviews

The Highgate Cemetery Murder  (A Tate and Bell Mystery #1) by Irina Shapiro    ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ A murder screams from the newspapers headlines. Not only because it’s bizarre, but it garners even more attention when the victim’s identity is revealed. A young society heiress, the Honorable Miss Adelaide Seaborne, daughter of the Viscount Dalton and granddaughter of the Earl of Caledon. Adelaide did not die easily. Up until Inspector Sebastian Bell is put on the case the young woman’s been dismissed as a doxy, not worth police time.  Sebastian’s superior tasks him with solving the murder yesterday. He’s beginning to suspect his days with Scotland Yard might be numbered. Sebastian has been taking opium to counter a personal sorrow. Now he’s been given an unsolvable case. He’s toying with the idea of applying to the Pinkerton Agency as an investigator. A move to America is looking more and more attractive. Gemma Tate was a nurse during Crimea. No stranger to death and more. When she receives the

A Lark's Conceit  (Verity Lark Mysteries #3)   by Lynn Messina      ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Ah Verity! A whirlwind of disguises, a master of the impossible, of quick thinking, and of supreme confidence in her own powers of deduction. No-one really sees her except Freddie and Delphine. No-one can match her except Colson  Hardwick. We hear more of her time as a child with Freddie and Delphine, matching wits with the wicked headmistress, the Wraithe. We hear of the Dowager Duchess of Kesgrave hand in Verity’s past.  Meanwhile Verity’s still musing about her half brother, the Duke of a Kesgrave. Verity is enjoying matching wits with Coulson, wondering what she’d do if he offered to make her his mistress. After all she is the  illegitimate daughter of the  great courtesan, La Reina! Meanwhile Coulson has a target painted on his back having been reavealed as a British spy who helped bring down Napoleon. The French immigrants in England are many. Anyone amongst them could be a threat.  How to flush th

The Rumor Game  by Thomas Mullen       ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Fascinating story built around the Nazi groups, fascist groups, and other anti Jewish groups in Boston during World War II, including the Christian Front organization. Told through the eyes of Jewish journalist Anne Lemire and FBI agent Devon Mulvey.  “ Anne wrote for the Rumor Clinic, the weekly Star column she’d managed to create for herself after weeks of persistent calls and a few connections. The idea behind the Rumor Clinic was to identify and disprove the many harmful rumors floating around town, some of them spread by deliberate Axis propaganda to weaken resolve and others just random bits of hearsay mixed with fear, ignorance, and bigotry.” Incidents are building, fuelled by  rumour, and subsequent resentment from blue collar workers about Jews and African Americans supposedly taking their jobs in a munitions factory (untrue.) This, together with the anti semitism of certain Catholic priests, the same sentiments amongst many of B

Murder by Lamplight  (A Dr. Julia Lewis Mystery #1) by Patrice McDonough          ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ A feisty female doctor, and an emotionally wounded Crimean soldier, now a Detective Inspector with Scotland Yard.  A serial killer stalking victims in Victorian London, seemingly centered around the Whitechapel area. Targeted, mutilated victims who all have to have some sort of link but what it is has Detective Inspector Tennant and his constables floundering, playing catch-up.  Dr. Julia Lewis and Tennant first meet over a body and an autopsy. All clues point towards a Whitechapel connection but the clues are mired in nursery rhymes.  The perpetrator taunts the Inspector with Notes written in purple ink. Along the way he targets Dr. Julia! McDonough  gives us a more than thorough background look at life for the ordinary person at this time (maybe too much) Cholera and typhus are rampant, work house conditions disgustingly rabid, and the lives of those living in these areas less than sanitary. W

Once Upon a Murder  (Lay Librarian Mystery #2) by Samantha Larsen     ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Lively, pirate playing governess, forty year old  Tiffany Woodall, who’s the librarian for the Duchess of Beaufort is in love with Indian Samir Lathrope. He’s the bookshop owner and constable in the village of Mapledown. Tiffany is also teaching the six year old Duke using unusual and quite joyful methods. I’m in love with her wonderful joie de vivre. However their relationship is strained when Tiffany becomes the suspect in the murder of ex footman and altogether womaniser Bernard Coram, and Tiffany is arrested. Not only that Tiffany discovers that Samir has been married for the last ten years. His pregnant wife Evie turns up in the village long enough to have the baby and depart, leaving Tiffany literally holding the baby. To cap it off, Samir is accused of murdering Bernard. A trial date is set and Tiffany must do all she can to have Samir acquitted. Interesting fact emerges about how the common folk wen

Village in the Dark  (Cara Kennedy #2) by Iris Yamashita     ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Cara Kennedy is a hardened detective in a remote Alaskan village. She’s grieving. Bones had been found, presumed to be her missing husband and son. She buried them. Only now that question is moot. Was it an accident or murder. Cara has their bodies resumed. That is the beginning. Three POV’s to the tale merge, Cara’s, Mia Updash from the remote village of Unity,  and Ellie Wright, owner of the Cozy Condo Inn at Point Mettier. I found the plot strung out. I lost interest but kept plodding on. The latter half picked up, chillingly so. Damage done however, and Village in the Dark just didn’t recover from my first impressions. I was left with too many uh’s!  Despite the fabulous setting and gritty overtones I just wasn’t won over. A Berkley Group ARC via NetGalley.                                               Many thanks to the author and publisher.

Lady of Disguise  (Dericott Tale #6) by Melanie Dickerson       ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Set in 1388, the Middle Ages, a tale of errant knights, an innocent maiden, with robbers, thieves, a giant and a wicked uncle, all thrown into the melting pot. Eighteen year old Louisa Lenton didn’t want to marry the rich older men her miserly uncle kept presenting her with. Now he’s turning his eyes and plans towards her twelve year old sister, Margaret! Louisa has to break free, and find the hidden Viking gold their father had always talked to save them both.  Having grown up hearing about the giant and his Viking treasure up in Scotland, Louisa disguises herself as a boy and sets off to track down the treasure, the key to their freedom. That’s when she meets a young, disillusioned knight who ignores the fact that Jack’s really a girl. He’s determined to protect her. Off they go, Sir Charles Raynsford armed with his sword and knightly integrity, Louisa with her faith in Jesus, her prayers, and her goodness. Of co

The Kamogawa Food Detectives  (Kamogawa Food Detectives #1) by Hisashi Kashiwai       ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Talk about food for the soul! An out of the way, humble diner in Kyoto that serves up the most wonderful traditional Japanese meals. The place is not easy to locate. There’s no signs or directions. You really have to want to find it. Nagare Kamogawa and his daughter Koishi run the small eating house. Nagare is the chef, Koishi waits tables. On the detecting side of the business, Koishi takes down the information for people who are searching for how a particular dish from their memory is cooked. Nagare is the detective. All the client has to go on is a one line advertisement in the Gourmet Monthly magazine. At the end of each case Koishi and Nagare ask their client to pay into an account how much their solving of the case was worth to them.  Nagare cooks the dish the client has sought. People come to find the dish their mother might have cooked, the meal they remember as a child with their

The Fox Wife : A Novel  by Yangsze Choo      ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ There’s a lot to recommend in this tale. The fascinating background of 1908 Manchuria, mythical characters such as the fox gods, in particular Ah San meaning “snow” who is seeking vengeance for the killing of her daughter, and Detective Bao Gong who can detect when someone lies. He’s seeking the identity of a courtesan who was found sitting dead in the snow and smiling. He believes a fox is involved. He has a history with the fox gods, tricksters or something more? The story of these two slowly intertwines as both travel with others to Japan.  A moving story, beautiful in its execution. Here the slowness meanders to the heart of the matter. Second chance romance is in the offing. I burned with anger over Ah San’s daughter’s cruel death. Just love the cover btw. So simple yet evocative, reflecting the tale. A Henry Holt ARC via NetGalley.                                               Many thanks to the author and publisher.

The Lost Dresses  of Italy by M. A. Mclaughlin     ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I’m conflicted about this title. I love textiles and was absolutely fascinated by Marianne Baxter’s work towards restoring the lost Victorian dresses of Christina Rossetti. I’ve always admired Rossetti’s poetry and to have her, and the pre Raphaelites, intwined in the story seems like a gift. The tension built up so slowly I found myself reading other titles in between the long pauses. In the end I was caught up in the plot, but it took so..oo..oo long to get to the point where I wanted to continue. I’m totally puzzled as to why that occurred. Was it switching between the two points of view, between post war Italy of 1947 and Christina in 1865 England and Italy. It certainly wasn’t the place, Verona, the home of Romeo and Juliet! Who could not be drawn to anything set there? Still puzzling that out. Truly this book had it all, and yet, it just didn’t grab me in that first instance. A fascinating tale of love lost and love fou

It Is Finished : A 40 Day Pilgrimage Back to the Cross   by Charles Martin   ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ A sturdy, dynamic study attuned to the days of Jesus leading up to and including the Easter moments. Times of heartbreak, of tribulation and of celebration. The redemptive power of the cross. Martin always features hope and reclamation in his fiction, no matter how dark the subject matter. With this devotional one can see the basis for that.  A gift for the season. Reflections for all. A Thomas Nelson ARC via NetGalley.                                               Many thanks to the author and publisher.

The Duchess Takes a Lover  (Ladies of Seduction #1) by Jillian Eaton  ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Have you heard the news?  The clients of a dress shop in London quieten, waiting.  “The Duchess of Southwick is coming to London . . . and she plans to take a lover.” Oh my! Scandal and gossip! Gasps of titillation all round! What t o do when a neglected wife decides to take matters into her own hands? Lady Marabelle Anne Buxton is puzzled as to why her husband Ambrose, Duke of Southwick, married her. They’d spent admittedly a rather incongruous wedding night together and then Ambrose packed her off to Southwick Castle where she’s remained for thirteen years. Ambrose has come to the castle a mere handful of times. Never to have marital affairs. Just to check the estate. Mara has decided to go to London and intends to take a lover. (Not that she quite understands what that entails. When her sister mentions nakedness Mara definitely quails.)  Well that rumor puts an end to Ambrose’s plans. No! This will not be