eyes.2c Reviews

The Tea Planter’s Secret  (Ceylon series #2) by Clare Flynn       ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ A young married woman leaves Ceylon to accompany her father on a trip back to Oxford. Stella Baxter has acted as a researcher for her father, Sir Michael Polegate, an esteemed Professor of Anthropology who’d been working on an ethnographic study contrasting the Tamils of northern Ceylon and India. It’s over eighteen months before Stella can return home to her beloved husband Norton. Her father has died and Stella has a baby girl born upon arrival in England, a baby she can scarcely look at. Complex in plot and relationships—the dreadful Bertie Frobisher, assistant to the Governor and bully; the Governor’s wayward daughter; Stella’s brother, who apart from being an unprincipled lothario, steals his father’s and Stella’s works. Just  a  few of the subplots moving through the story.  Interesting read although somewhat thin at times. I’m undecided about picking up the series, altho...

No Ordinary Lyon  (Lyon’s Den Connected World) by Sherry Ewing      ⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Waterloo injured hero, Captain Gideon Tyler, scarred and withdrawn, with memory loss is a common enough trope.  The woman, Miss Violet  Barnet, a practicing apothecary, is come to London at the behest of her cousin, Patience, a recently married countess. Violet has agreed to look for a possible husband at the Lyon’s Den gambling establishment. Perspective suitors  were  introduced to her by Mrs. Dove-Lyon. Patience has paid the match makers fee. Of course there’s a wretched villain who has evil on his mind, and knows our hero Gideon from time spent together in the war.  I find it hard to get over the pet names the main characters call each other, Sir Knight and Lady Angel. Very twee. A Dragonblade ARC via NetGalley.                                           ...

Behind Five Willows  by June Hur         ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ When did a novel become legend? Hur has woven Pride and Prejudice into Behind Five Willows as the basis for a legendary / historical tale of 1780’s Korea. Set at a time when an edict for spinsters to marry was dispensed, and another to restore pure writing styles was decided. These two edicts become central to this Korean Austen like tale. The scholarly father, the unable to cope gossipy mother, the perfect nobleman, the beautiful shy daughter, the wilful daughter, and the thoughtful, protective one. All mesh together into a wonderful tale of forbidden novels and forbidden love. A time of book banning, government censorship and detentions, and forced marriages. A noble son Lord Yu Seojun is secretly writing fiction. The protective daughter, Shin Haewon is a secretly transcribing works. Instead of Lady Catherine de Bourgh seeking promises it’s Yu’s father, Minister Yu. It’s not Haewon who won’t promise not to ma...

Valley Of Death  (Detective Mike Nash #20) by Bill Kitson        ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ A body is discovered at an archeological dig on farmland moors near Rowendale Village . The death occurred some twenty years ago. That’s the first body. Later another body is discovered by birdwatchers at the edge of the Ghyll Head Marshlands.  A police drone survey finds more. A convoluted story that has Detective Inspector Mike Nash and his team chasing genealogies, real estate ownership in their efforts to uncover the truth. This is just the beginning. A seperate case is being surveyed—a drug distribution system. Will the two link up? A long shot! I really liked the various characters and their interactions.  I haven’t read any of the previous titles in the series but this British police procedural/mystery encourages me to do so. A Joffe Books ARC via NetGalley.                                 ...

Falconbrow  (The Painted Blade #1) by Peter Eliott         ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Hell’s Labyrinth was once an artistic city state now it’s a ruined wasteland run by criminal overlords. A fourteen year old girl, Terza Jaidenson’s very existence is challenged by the world around her. Daughter of the Foreman, a soldier, Terza has been trained in fighting.  Her interest is in art. Both figure in her journey towards fulfilment. This is Terza’s story. Of how she “ turned into the notorious Contract Blade, Terza Falconbrow, one of the most imposing figures to ever work the criminal byways of Hell’s Labyrinth.” Dark and dangerous, yet empathetic. An absorbing read. A Victory ARC via NetGalley.                                               Many thanks to the author and publisher. Please note: Quotes taken from an advanced reading copy maybe subject to change.

A Tarnished Canvas  (LadyDarby Mystery #13) by Anna Lee Huber      ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Once again Gage and Kieraare in the middle of a murder investigation. They attend an art and collectables auction at a private residence. By the third day many have turned up. It is the amount of people and their weight that causes the floor to collapse. Kiera and Gage are luck to escape with superficial injuries. Boonie Brock Kincaid calls on Kiera and hints at deliberate tampering with the supports.  Later Sergeant Maclean reveals that a supporting joist of the floor had been sabotaged. Gage and Kiera are thrown into the search for the culprit, no easy task. Kiera is nearly killed when she’s pushed towards a galloping carriage. Kiera has been working on an exhibition but will she be brave enough to actually show her paintings? Another tremendous tale from Anna Lee Huber. A Berkley ARC via NetGalley.                         ...

The Carnival Murders  (Tate and Bell Mystery #7) by Irina Shapiro            ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I think this was one of the more wretched cases Gemma Tate and Sebastian Bell become involved in. Someone is desecrating the bodies of those who society view as different, in a thoroughly scientific manner. Gemma first becomes aware of this when a young, heavily pregnant woman, Tamzin Norris, is left near to her father’s pub. Tamzin has post mortem scars. Not only that but her unborn child has been autopsied too! As Bell investigates along with Gemma, they discover more bodies of people who have been killed and then autopsied. A gruesome tale, that strikes close to home for Sebastian and Gemma. A Storm Pub. ARC via NetGalley.                                               Many thanks to the author and publisher.

An Ordinary Sort of Evil  (Rip Through Time #5) by Kelley Armstrong         ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I adore the character Dr. Duncan Gray, a medical practitioner in 1870’s Edinburgh. I’m amused at the 21st century detective Mallory Atkinson who, after being struck on the head, inhabits the well developed body nineteen year old maid, Catroina of that era. Mallory continually has trouble behaving as a Victorian woman should. She keeps forgetting herself, how to behave, how to walk, how not to take offence at men leering at her chest. Duncan and his sister Isla know Mallory’s/ Catroina’s backstory. The case Mallory  and Duncan find themselves  investigating is at the request of Lady Adler, who is a patron of Isla’s charitable works. Mallory and Duncan find themselves involved in séances, dead young girls, Queen Victoria, and the thorny problem of being attracted to your employer. Mallory is at last finding her place in this culture, but she’s tripped up by the real dif...

A Very Vexing Murder  (Harriet Smith Investigates #1) by Lucy Andrew          ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Austen’s “Emma” is turned every which way to produce an interesting and at times confusing mystery. Harriet Smith is a con artist and solves problems for the élite. Emma Woodhouse seems like a nice person—but she’s manipulative, and Jane Fairfax is a troubled young woman.  Harriet is hired by the dreadful Mrs. Churchill to get rid of Jane whom Mrs. Churchill believes has stolen her jewels, tried to poison her, and entrapped her son Frank Churchill.  A rather complicated, mysterious read with misleading clues, and unexpected happenings strewn across Harriet’s path. Her relationship with Robert Martin, a local tenant farmer is long standing and not all what we expect. I wasn’t sure I liked the tale at first, but Harriet and her exploits drew me in. A William Morrow ARC via NetGalley.                       ...

The Last Flight from Moscow  (The Spy Next Door) by Andie Newton         ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Mae Pierce is an ex OSS agent who’d been in Vienna when the Red Army liberated the city.   At the time she was a prisoner of a German Officer, Kommandant Wolff. She’d been tortured and more when rescued.  How she remained behind in Vienna is mixed up with drinking too much vodka, gambling and a silky black Japanese dressing gown. Her old partner Sutton Maxfield talks her into going undercover on a trade exhibition in Moscow looking for  an  unknown spy  who’s to assassinate Krushchov. Unfortunately it seems Mae’s being thrust into the mix as a trade fair model at the exhibition. Mae’s not pleased as the men from the CIA feel the spy looking for  couldn’t possible be   a woman. They leave her out of the loop. They see Mae as a “has been”. Except Mae is anything but. Sure she has her demons and her loyalties. In the meantime she’s acquired  ...

A Lyon for Luck : The Lyon’s Den Connected World by Chasity Bowlin      ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Miss Daphne Aces has been hard done by that’s for sure. She’s an heiress but her parents want her inheritance to clear their debts. Parents who are willing to trade you for money to a despicable future husband. Mrs. Bessie Dove-Lyonx helps solve her problem and introduces her to the newly and unexpectedly peer, Fletcher Quill, Lord Aldwyn  who’s come into an inheritance that’s in debt to the hilt. Once before Daphne had been abducted by someone fleeing to Gretna Green with her. As a result her fiancé broke the engagement and she is shunned by society. This time Daphne flees on her own terms. A rather untaxing lovely read. A Dragonblade ARC via NetGalley.                                               Many thanks to the author and publisher.

False Relation  (Abbot Agency Mystery #19) by Veronica Heley        ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 Returning to the world of Bea Abbot and her husband Piers, Bea’s friends Sir Julian Marston-Lang and Lady Polly of Marston Hall and the connected village, brings unforeseen challenge for Bea. For starters Julian’s step-cousin Mona has been murdered and Marcus her husband accused, although the police from the neighboring town of Askin feel that really Lord Julian has done the deadly deed.  Village life is under the microscope as Heley gives us another mystery novel with characters we love, and love to hate. I particularly liked Old Jenny and her relationship to the spirits of the Spring. I did feel that this story had run its race in the previous title. This book added a further dimension which pleasantly surprised me. A Severn House ARC via NetGalley.                                     ...

Deadly Force  (Detective Inspector Slider #26) by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles        ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ If nothing else I’d give 5 stars for the wonderful banter between DCI Bill Slider and his sergeant Jim Atherton.  Their conversations around food, marriage and life are gems.  As are those between Sidler and his wife Joanna who’s an orchestral violinist. The understatements are delicious. One of their own, a cop, Constable Peter Bentley, has been found brutally bashed. The  ‘powers that be’ are pulling out all stops to find out the whys and whats.  Nothing is adding up or making sense.  It’s up to Slider and his team to do so. I’m blinking my eyes at the spoonerisms or maybe mixed metaphors of Detective Superintendent Porson. An unexpected ending reveals all. I don’t know how I’ve missed this series but I must read more. A jolly good British police procedural mystery with wit and insights. A Severn House ARC via NetGalley.       ...

  I, Spy : A Novel  by L. M. Kemp       ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Kendal Carter had been training as a spy all her life, since she was a very young child. She’d had so many aliases it was hard to remember them all. Her mother had been an operative and Kendal was a part of it. Now, herself a single mother, Kendal is living in Zurich with her daughter Rosie. She always has various plans for escape if needed.  As it was she was forced to take action.  Kendal found herself back in London living a somewhat normal life with Rosie attending school.  Except nothing was normal and she had been tasked to find a way of stopping a tech company from introducing an educational app that would illegally gather data on the children of the UK The lengths a mother will go to save her child is brought to the fore, but sometimes it messes with her honed instincts. An unusual tale of a spy, mother, killer, and protector. A St. Martin’s Press invite ARC via NetGalley.     ...