eyes.2c Reviews

A Change of Plans (Sgt. Windflower Mystery #17) by Mike Martin       ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Once more we delve into the world of now Acting Inspector Winston Windflower of the RCMP, his family and friends, his spirit guides, his relationship with those you’ve gone before, and enter his dreams with messages. I find it all fascinating! Even the tussle he and his partner Sheila are having with their nine year old daughter over a phone.  It’s not just Winflower’s day to day life and practices I enjoy, it’s the community dangers he helps solve and the programs he initiates to try and help youngsters back on track. Then there’s the food traditions the family has, the blueberry pies, the music he shares with certain friends. The mystery of a hit and run case in Marystown, part of his area, and what it might have to do with Mike Winger, an ex-veteran in a wheel chair, who’d settled in Grand Bank becomes an event that heralds major crime activities in the area. Apart from the darker sid...

Sacrilege  (Ralph de Mandeville Mystery #2) by Keith Moray        ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Sir Ralph, Justice of the Peace, appointed by King Edward, is going about his business in the countryside of Yorkshire when news of a nun who’d committed suicide reached him. He’s duty bound to investigate. This killing is only the first of a series of hideous deaths as though brought on by some creature from the gates of Hell. Sir Ralph finds himself in conflict over who is in control with the local Lord and the Church. The plot is complex and the deaths may well go as high as Queen Phillipa and her younger son Thomas if Sir Ralph can’t solve the conundrum  A fascinating, yet diabolical medieval murder mystery from Moray set in the 1360’s. A Boldwood Books ARC via NetGalley.                                               Many thanks to the author and publisher.

Better than a Duke by Suzanne Enoch ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Two wonderful scamps belonging to a  widowed Marquis, and a widowed lady living next door, form a strong friendship. As do their parents. Both Beckett Raines, the Marquis of Hentrose and Mrs. Irish Silbern are beset by manipulating relatives trying to marry them off to highly suitable parties who are underhanded and nasty. How to get that HEA their children, young Lady Becks (nine years old) and Edmond Silbern (slightly older) want is beset with problems, riotous behavior and startling events. I laughed and gasped the whole way through!  A fabulous read with so many unusual and amusing incidents. I loved it! This is a keeper to be reread when you want a laugh. A Tor ARC via NetGalley.                                               Many thanks to the author and publisher.

Can't Get Enough of the Duke  (Thunderbolt Club #2) by Lenora Bell        ⭐️⭐️⭐️    As cavalryman Lieutenant John Crewe lay dying on the battlefields of Belgium his commander Deckard Payne, Duke of Warburton promised to become the guardian for his young daughter, Annalise. Wounded, it takes several years for Dex to find his ward. I loved to two main characters, the delightful Annalise, budding author, and the brooding battle scarred duke, her guardian. I equally enjoyed the story of the dragon written by Ana unfolding before every chapter. A cunning metaphor. In the end though the story became all too predicable. Ana’s search for her father leads her into trouble. We knew it would. The surprises weren’t as effective. The potential five star read, devolved for me into a pleasing read. A Avon and Harper Voyager ARC via NetGalley.                                   ...

The Faces of the Dead  (Cathy Marsden Thriller #2) by Chris Nickson           ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Leeds 1944. Cathy Marsden is once again faced with a dangerous task. As a Leeds’ Sergeant, Cathy’s been seconded to the Intelligence Service. Their work in Leeds is to discover traitors, deserters and others who would tarnish the war effort. This time Cathy and her male companions are on the trail of someone who’s looking to take over the Leeds balk market and crime scene, run stolen weapons and be a power broker. It starts with a car crash, a dead man and woman who Cathy’s known from her police work. It ratchets up to murder and rape. When people start turning up dead, when the main suspects are always one step ahead it seems like there’s a leak somewhere. In her squad or the police? The US Army’s Criminal Investigation Division becomes involved. Theres an unfortunate cultural clash for Cathy and Warrant Officer Frank Graves at their first meeting. Faces of the d...

The Monk  (DS Cross Mysteries #5) by Tim Sullivan         ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ DS George Cross is a strange man and we love him. Tim Sullivan gives us a detective who’s definitely an oddball, socially unaware and yet able to focus on a case like a blood hound, taking a unique perspective and always leading us to a hitherto unthought of conclusion. In this case a Dominican Monk is found brutally murdered. Cross throws himself into the investigation, partly to distance himself from the mother he never knew suddenly turning up. What to do with that? George is troubled by this. But when the murdered man comes close to home George is socially unsure whilst trying to track down any lead he can. Another great read from Sullivan. A Grove Atlantic ARC via NetGalley.                                               Many thanks to the author and publisher.

A Wager at Midnight  (Betting against the Duke #2) by Vanessa Riley       ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ There’s a certain cadence of prose running through Riley’s novels about the Duke of Torrance and his wards, the Wilcox ladies. I really enjoyed this title in the “Betting” series. Scarlett Wilcox had made a bargain with the Duke. He could choose a husband for her. Scarlett’s greatest desire is to research medical science in particular the eye, in order to understand the cataracts that beset a favorite companion. To attend medical lectures she must disguise herself as a man. She presents herself as Scotland Wilcox. This leads to some problems when taken up by a group of medical men, whisked off to White’s and thence to a brothel! Scarlett wants to know more about Dr. Carew. Is he brave enough for her? Her time with him disguised as Scotland was interesting. Carew (who’s recently been jilted) is thinking of Scarlett as wife material, but will he take her scientific desires seriously? ...

Vengeance in Venice  (Jane Wunderly Mystery #7) by Erica Ruth Neubauer             ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Another delightful mystery set in one of my favorite cities—Venice. Redvers and Jane finally slip away for their honeymoon to that charming place, when much to their surprise they are joined at their hotel by Aunt Millie and Lord Hughes. Aunt Millie invites them to a costume ball thrown by the very eccentric Clara Ann Morton, an heiress who walks a leopard on a leash, has a snake around her shoulders, and wears a gown that is entirely see through! Oh my! Risqué even for the ‘20’s. Of course there’s a murder in Clara’s Palazzo gardens that night. Of course a friend of Jane’s is blamed—a friend Jane didn’t realize would be here. Their quiet honeymoon turns into an investigation with a cast of thousands who could be the perpetrator. Colin and Jane, along with help from Aunt Millie, are determined to finding the culprit. Then begin their honeymoon. I loved Neu...

The Canal Runner's Code  (Copperwhistle Bridge Mystery #1) by Jordan Peace           ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Someone is stealing information from a Runner’s Network in Thornwick. It’s subtle and the network and retired runners are facing a catastrophic loss of face, current employment  and any future enterprises. A runner never lasts beyond  seventeen. Running from an early age plays havoc with their knees. Pim is into that time. She’s continuing, but knows her time is nearly up. Pim’s been a loner forever. She started running nine years ago. Her mantra has been to trust no-one. In that aloneness she doesn’t see the people who care. (I feel there’s a similar atmosphere in Tamora Pierce’s Beka Cooper series—although the stories are nothing like each other. Perhaps it’s the lonlieness or determination of the heroine). When Pim’s information is stolen and she’s accused of untrustworthiness, Pim is alarmed. Pim knows the runners routes backwards and frontwar...

The Keeper  (Cal Hooper #3) by Tana French             ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ In the West Irish town of Ardnakelty a young woman, Rachel Holohan goes missing. A young woman who’s been going out with the son of the town’s wealthiest family—the Moynihan’s. When found, she appears to have committed suicide by drinking antifreeze, then falling in the raging stream. Or did she? The truth will be more twisted than that. Getting to the bottom of things will embed Cal even more deeply in the Ardnakelty community and the town’s landscape. A town his partner Lena has spent a lifetime trying to isolate herself from. Now their actions will draw them both further in. When Lena, and Cal’s stepdaughter Trey, are targeted Cal can’t just lie down. He needs to get to the bottom of things. Just as Trey’s feckless father has turned up with his own grand plans. Besides now Cal’s become a part of the problem and its resolution! A gripping tale of small town relationships and their pre...