Lexie Conyngham

Another brilliant tale from the ever elegant pen (word processor just does't have the ring!)  of Lexie Conyngham.

An Abandoned Woman

Amazon.com  An Abandoned Woman

My review -

This is another wonderful episode in the saga of Murray of Letho, but it can perfectly well be read as a story in its own right. If you have followed the books from Murray's University days in St Andrews though, you will have fleshed out the character of the main protagonist to your benefit. There is a young, unknown woman found murdered in Letho and another, one of Murray's own kitchenmaids, is attacked. This is a murder mystery enshrouded in the social history of Scotland in the early 1800s. Lexie Conyngham is like a Scottish Jane Austen! We follow the attempts of Murray to repair the chronic dampness of his servants' quarters, the problems of damp exacerbating the asthma of the young daughter of the manse and the mystery enshrouding two new arrivals to the area. There are several strands carefully woven together to bring us to an exciting and to me, unexpected climax. In fact it's rather a double climax.

Lexie Conyngham's writing is never less than clear and elegant and contains the lovely lilt of the Scottish voices, particularly in the case of the servants, who haven't had the vernacular schooled out of them. Blair, friend of Murray's late father and frequent guest at Letho is another delightful creation who brings a great deal of wisdom and creative oddity to the book. The style of writing here is absolutely fitting to the age in which the book is set and it all reads beautifully. An excellent story and very well told.

Will Macmillan Jones

This is the first of Will's books that I've read although I know him from various forums.  I like his sense of humour and it's there in full in this book.

The Amulet of Kings - The Banned Underground

Amazon.com  The Amulet of Kings - The Banned Underground

My review -

I don’t know why I didn’t read this book ages ago – funny fantasy is so far up my street it’s practically sitting on the doorstep.  I think the blurb put me off and I expected a weak knock-off of Pratchett’s Band with Rocks In.  I’ve been wrong before.  (Often!)  The story was built from classic fantasy components; witches, mages, dwarves, dark lords, the Tuatha; and was embellished with some wonderfully witty humour and decorated with musical allusions.  A couple of teenage siblings are packed off to stay with their Auntie in the Lake District.  She has some strange powers and give the kids a couple of pendants to wear which come in very useful as they get embroiled in a battle under the Lakeland fells.

I have to say though, that I don’t like footnotes outside of a technical work.  In almost all cases the material they contain is better used in parentheses so as not to hold up the flow of the story.  There are many characters, so I didn’t feel I got to know any very well but of course this is the beginning of a series so there’s still time for that.  I don’t want to sound as if my minor quibbles coloured (colored!) my view of the book though.  Its light-hearted nature made it a joy to read.  The author expresses himself well and clearly and he evidently enjoys and delights in the word-play he uses to entertain us.

Will Macmillan Jones has a clever, jolly wit and it makes his work very enjoyable.  I shall be following this series with interest!

Karen Lowe

Karen's two previous books, which I read before I began to review, would also have received 5 stars from me.  They are gardening related murder mysteries.

Death in the Winter Garden
Amazon.com Death in the Winter Garden

Death in the Physic Garden
Amazon.com  Death in the Physic Garden

Her latest book involves both plants and quilts.  It could have been written just for me!

A Patchwork of Poison

Amazon.com A Patchwork of Poison

My review -

This is a delightful story which includes many of my favourite things - patchwork and quilting, family history, botany and a murder mystery. I've done all of them except murder! Bronwen, a quilt artist, is giving a lecture when a young girl, Cat, brings her a quilt which belonged to her great, great grandma. She wants to sell it and use the proceeds to leave home. Bron and Cat together start to research the family and to remove the hexagonal papers over which the quilt is formed. These are re-used letters and diary pages. Through these means we move back and forward in time and, like making a quilt, we piece together evidence to produce a whole fabric of history. In the meantime, a modern murder is committed and Bronwen, now settled in detective mode, has her suspicions.

Karen Lowe re-creates a past in which a young girl in a financially secure position tries to push the limits of acceptability to rid herself of an unwelcome new governess; she creates a present in which a young girl is in danger. Her writing is immediate and believable and we care about them both. I enjoyed this book very much and read it in 24 hours. I loved Karen's two earlier books so I knew I was in for a treat.

Nick Wastnage

Death in the Fishing Net

Amazon.com  Death in the Fishing Net

My review -

This is a short novel which I was able to read in an evening. Nevertheless it is packed with action and stuffed with believable characters. Monroe has a row with his wife, after which she leaves him. She is found murdered shortly afterwards. He later meets a new woman, Stevie and they marry. Stevie, through a series of discoveries, comes to believe that Monroe himself did away with his first wife. We follow her and Monroe's son Greg as they try to make sense of all this and begin to unravel the truth.

The writing is very good, crisp and immediate. I was very soon sucked in to the story and made to care about the characters. I found Stevie and Greg to be very sympathitic characters although perhaps the Police Inspector was too rude to be true! (Maybe I've only met the polite ones?) The last part of the story, as we came to realise what had happened, became very tense and exciting. A great little read, this!

Skyler West

They Won't be Missed

Amazon.com  They Won't be Missed

My review -

I enjoyed this story very much. Mark, a widower and a policeman, is trying to regain custody of his 6 year old daughter. He is a hot-headed man who sometimes makes bad decisions but when he seems to be getting close to finding out what's going on at a neighbouring housing project for the homeless, he gets in deeper trouble than he could have imagined. He is fired from his job, fitted up for a murder and goes on the run. Things go from bad to worse.

The story cranks up the excitement as we follow Mark's attempts to gain information and to save his daughter whose safety is threatened. I found this story fast and tense and really had trouble doing anything else all day. Fortunately it's a bank holiday! The writing style is easy and accessible and if you (like me!) love a high level conspiracy, you will really enjoy this book. I hope Skyler West is working on another.

Jacquelynn Luben

Tainted Tree

Amazon.com  Tainted Tree

My review -

I have previously only read a couple of Jacquie's short stories so I thought it was time I tackled something longer. This is a story of an American girl, adopted from birth after the death of her English mother. Addie finds she has inherited property and money from someone described as her mother's godfather. She comes to England to see the place, possibly to put it up for sale, and to find out more about the mystery of her family background.

Jacquelynn Luben is a classy writer. Her work is always clear, logical and uncluttered. Here she patiently displays for us the history of a family through 4 generations as discovered by Addie. Addie finds help from her benefactor's lawyer and his family. This is no dry genealogical tome, however. The author has the ability to descibe and evoke emotion so that we are drawn into the details of the story and we want, we need, to find out more. There is a sad family story which unfolds here and there's scope for the old discussion about nature or nurture as we see how the women's lives reflect one another down the years. Addie is a strong character though and her determination comes through. I enjoyed this book very much indeed.

Adam Sifre

Inside my Shorts

Amazon.com  Inside my Shorts

My review -

This is a really eclectic group of short stories which I found very accessible and easy to read. They included a couple of post apocalyptic stories and even these were very different from one another. One followed the last man alive whereas one took the stance that the Artificial Intelligences were keeping everything running. Many of the stories had a twist to them, or were from an unusual viewpoint. There's a touch of horror, a good dollop of humour, all human life is here.

There was a real `story-teller' tone to the writing. It was like having a friend tell you a tale over a glass of wine. A very enjoyable collection.