eyes.2c Reviews

A Pocketful of Diamonds  (Lucy Lawrence Mystery #4) by Pam Lecky       ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Lucy has married Phineas. They’re on their way to honeymoon in Paris when they’re urgently contacted by  Phineas’ sister Elvira. She wants them to come immediately  to Italy, to Villa Carmosino, at Bellagio on Lake Como. Elvira is frantic Her husband Luca, Conte Carmosino has disappeared.   He’d gone to Milan on business and left earlier than anticipated. Supposedly he’d caught a steamboat across the lake to Bellagio. He never made it home. The local police led by Commissario Marinelli seem to feel like there’s nothing to see here. Cosmo’s brother Matteo managed the family hotel in Milan. There had been problems. D iamonds stolen from a guest’s rooms rings alarm bells. That scoundrel and private investigator Malcolm Kincaid appears in Milan to  investigate the diamonds. This causes some concern for the Lucy and Phineas. Lucy’s life is threatened. Phineas and Lucy will prove them wrong after a few scares an

A Soldier and his Rules  (The Pemberton #2) by Olivia Elliott       ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️  Patience Pemberton was in her ninth season. She was content to hover around the edge of the ton events. Patience is a talented portrait painter and wants nothing more than to enter a painting into the Royal Academy’s Exhibition  Lord Richard Winter, newly made Viscount has returned from Spain wounded and suffering from severe injuries and the appalling memories of the aftermath of the battle at Badajoz where men had behaved like little more than ravaging animals. He is intrigued by the young woman who challenges him at a ball after he lets drop some unflattering comments. Of course that woman was Patience who had been appointed by Richard’s mother to paint her portrait. Now what? A lively telling of love found, of an injured and maligned hero, and the woman who sets out to heal him. A BooksGoSocial ARC via NetGalley.                                               Many thanks to the author and publisher.

Three Sins and a Scoundrel  (Duchess Society #6) by Tracy Sumner        Ah! My heart breaks for the young Miss Constance (Cece) Willoughby and Crispin Jasper Sinclair, “heir to a ragged barony.” So in love and separated at nineteen. Cece is forced to marry the elderly, reclusive viscount, Lord Smithton, the Earl of Edgerly. Cecelia will be the Earl’s third countess. Crispin, changing his name to Jasper Noble, becomes an Intelligence Agent for the government. Fifteen years later he is embedded in the rookeries, a Shoreditch hooligan. He’s retired (a mystery here!) He  becomes part of the Leighton Cluster. Crispin aka Jasper’s  turned legitimate and in business with the group—Xander Macaughley, Tobias Streeter et.al. (Tobias’ wife Hildy owns the Duchess Society, an Investigative Agency, who look into potential groom’s backgrounds for concerned ladies.) Cece, the widowed Countess of Edgerly, has moved from Northumberland to the Earl’s Mayfair terrace  in London, a place she rarely visite

Too Close for Comfort (Sgt. Windflower Mystery #15) by Mike Martin   ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Unexpected challenges for Windflower!  So our favourite Canadian Mountie is back again confronting danger. Fires are being lit in abandoned houses around Grand Bank, Newfoundland. A new character is introduced, Constable Samira Gupta, who’s been working on community liaison. And yes, she quotes Tagore.  The community’s anxious. Wildflower has to calm the residents whilst hunting down the arsonist. This time though a body is discovered in the wreckage. The situation ratchets up to a whole ‘nother level. Something’s off! Dr. Danette White’s  report says death was caused by a bullet, not the fire. What! Now, Windflower has an additional worry! Suddenly there’s a flurry of communication between Grand Bank, St John’s, the French island Saint Pierre and Interpol. Rumours of a gold heist in Toronto, Ontario some time back, biker gang involvement, and it seems some very dangerous people, have police worried. Windf

Before Dementia :   20 Questions You Need to Ask About  Preventing, Preparing, Coping   by Dr.   Kate Gregorevic       Charting your way through dementia is huge. Knowing what to do, what questions to ask is a minefield. Microbes in the gut, anxiety, stress, social isolation, and so much more are discussed calmly and scientifically. The effect on family, on caregivers who are often family members is sensitively approached.  Questions about diet, about driving, about powers of attorney are raised. Overall  Dr.  Kate Gregorevic gives us  a much appreciated empathetic discussion on a debilitating illness that is assaulting many. An HCI Books ARC via NetGalley.                                               Many thanks to the author and publisher.

The Cloverton Charade  (The Houses of Yorkshire #3) by Sarah E. Ladd         ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Olivia Brannon is a valuer for an antiquities house, Brannon Antiquities & Company. She’s grown up living and breathing the past. Her father trained her. Olivia is knowledgeable and skilled. When her father died her uncle took over the company. Olivia is  relegated to the background. Now Mrs. Agnes Milton, a serious chinoiserie collector wants Olivia to go to Cloverton Hall in Yorkshire to assess her personal collection with a view to selling. Olivia is to go as Mrs Milton’s guest to a house party. No one is to know her real reason for attending. Olivia is giddy with anticipation and excited to leave the back room assessments she’s been forced to do since her uncle inherited the business. Lucas Avery meanwhile has been asked by the new heir, George Wainbridge  to value his uncle’s collection quietly. Olivia and Lucas know each other. The firm, Flanner Auction House used to be owned jointly by t