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The Tutor's Daughter. Julie Klassen. 2013. Bethany House. 412 pages.

It wasn't quite love at first sight--or love at first sentence, I suppose. But within a few chapters, I knew it was LOVE, LOVE, LOVE. The more I read, the more I loved. This was one of those oh-so-magical, giddy-making historical romances for me. The Tutor's Daughter is a regency romance. (I would DEFINITELY recommend it for fans of Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer.) The heroine is a young woman, Emma Smallwood. She has for the last few years greatly helped her father in his teaching or tutoring. In the past, they've taught from their own home or school. But business has been poorly lately, and when he is offered a tutoring position at the home of his would-be-pupil, and that offer extends to his daughter, he accepts. The Smallwoods will be leaving their own home to live with the Weston family. They know the two oldest Weston sons--they are former students now grown to adulthood. But they don't know their new pupils, Rowan and Julian. And nothing prepares them for the reality of living in such a strange and sometimes unwelcoming home. (It feels more like Northanger Abbey than Jane Eyre, perhaps, but there are some secrets, some clues, some mysteries.) The Weston household can be oh-so-strange and not at all what it appears.

When she was younger, Emma was perhaps drawn to the second son, Phillip. But now that she's become reacquainted with both Phillip and Henry, well, she's surprised by how much she does admire and respect Henry! This is SHOCKING to her at first because she perhaps didn't realize that he would grow out of his childishness, his obnoxiousness, his pranks. But he is all grown up now, and he's oh-so-responsible.

I absolutely loved this one so much. It was so compelling, so dramatic, so perfectly perfect!!!

© 2013 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Speaking from Among the Bones. Alan Bradley. 2013. Random House. 400 pages.

I've enjoyed each of the Flavia de Luce mysteries written by Alan Bradley. This young detective is quite original, though her mystery novels have, in a way, become more predictable. I mean that readers know almost exactly what to expect of the series, of the main characters, of the writing. (Not the details of the actual mysteries, the murder mysteries.) If you love the character of Flavia de Luce, it can be a good thing--comforting, satisfying--to know that nothing ever changes. Still, a little character growth wouldn't be a horrible thing in any of the main characters. (There are two significant things readers learn by the conclusion of this book. These potentially could change things up a bit.) It probably won't surprise anyone that Flavia discovers a dead body in this newest mystery. She found it in an ancient tomb they (the church) were getting ready to excavate. There were plenty of peculiar details about it, plenty of clues for a young girl detective to follow. These clues lead her into great danger, perhaps the greatest danger she's known thus far in the series.

If you have enjoyed the series in the past, this one is worth reading. Others include: The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag, A Red Herring Without Mustard, and I Am Half-Sick of Shadows.

© 2013 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Les Miserables. Victor Hugo. Translated and Introduced by Norman Denny. 1862/1976/2012. Penguin. 1232 pages.

Reading Les Miserables was an experience! For six or seven days, I kept good company with the novel. I definitely was not expecting to finish this chunkster in one week! But I found the story so compelling. Political, philosophical, spiritual, dramatic, and romantic. Each word describes the novel, in part. While there are many characters in this novel, I loved the narrator the best of all. Who are some of the characters? Bishop Myriel, Jean Valjean, Fantine, Inspector Javert, Cosette, Marius, Eponine, Enjolras, and Gavroche--just to name a few.

Jean Valjean is an ex-convict who seeks shelter from Bishop Myriel one night. Though he's been treated only with kindness, Valjean in his bitterness (he was sent to prison for stealing a loaf of bread), he steals the bishop's silver. When the theft is discovered, the bishop is all compassion telling the officials that there has been a misunderstanding. Valjean did not steal the silver; it was given as a gift. In fact, he's happy to give Valjean his silver candlesticks as well. Valjean is shocked and overwhelmed. The meeting turns out to be quite life-changing.

When readers next meet Valjean, he has a new name and life. Monsieur Madeleine is a successful business man. He has a BIG heart. He's always giving. He's always thinking of others. He's always doing what he can, when he can to make a difference when and where it matters most. One woman he is determined to help is a young, single mother, Fantine. Circumstances have separated Fantine from her child, Cosette, but, Valjean is determined to correct as many wrongs as he can in this situation. He will see to it personally.

Unfortunately, his past catches up with him. He learns that a man has been arrested; "Jean Valjean" has been caught. Of course, Madeleine knows this is nonsense. Can he let another take his place in prison? If he tells the truth then he can no longer help the poor, but if he doesn't tell the truth, how could he live with himself? He does the honorable thing--though it is one of the greatest challenges he's faced so far.

But that means, for the moment, that Cosette is left in unpleasant circumstances...

There comes a time, an opportunity for Valjean to escape. What he does with his freedom--this time he's assumed drowned, I believe--is go and find Cosette. The two become everything to one another. Cosette is the family he's never had, never even knew he needed or wanted... the two end up in Paris.

Almost half of the novel follows the love story between Marius and Cosette. But it isn't only a love story. Marius is a poor man in conflict with his rich grandfather. The two disagree about many things. But their main source of disagreement is politics. At first, Marius is swept up in his father's politics, with a new awareness of who his father was as a soldier, as a man, as a possible hero. But later, Marius begins to think for himself, to contemplate political and philosophical things for himself. He becomes friendly with a political group at this time. But his love of politics dims when he falls in love with Cosette...and she becomes his whole reason for being. For the longest time these two don't even know each other's names! This romance isn't without challenges...

This novel has so much drama! I found it beautifully written. So many amazing passages! Such interesting characters! I'm not sure I loved the ending. And I was frustrated with Marius at times. But. I definitely loved this book!

Favorite quotes:

What is reported of men, whether it be true or false, may play as large a part in their lives, and above all in their destiny, as the things they do. (19)

We do not claim that the portrait we are making is the whole truth, only that it is a resemblance. (25)

The flesh is at once man's burden and his temptation. He bears it and yields to it. He must keep watch over it and restrain it, and obey it only in the last resort. Such obedience may be a fault, but it is a venial fault. It is a fall, but a fall on to the knees which may end in prayer. To be a saint is to be an exception; to be a true man is the rule. Err, fail, sin if you must, but be upright. To sin as little as possible is the law for men; to sin not at all is a dream for angels. All earthly things are subject to sin; it is like the force of gravity. (29-30)

'The beautiful is as useful as the useful.' Then, after a pause, he added: "More so, perhaps.' (38)

I was not put into this world to preserve my life but to protect souls. (40)

Conscience is the amount of inner knowledge that we possess. (52)

The brutalities of progress are called revolutions. When they are over we realize this: that the human race has been roughly handled, but that it has advanced. (56)

He pondered on the greatness and the living presence of God, on the mystery of eternity in the future and, even more strange, eternity in the past, on all the infinity manifest to his eyes and to his senses; and without seeking to comprehend the incomprehensible he contemplated these things. He did not scrutinize God but let his eyes be dazzled. (67)

There are no bounds to human thought. At its own risk and peril it analyzes and explores its own bewilderment. (68)

We can no more pray too much than we can love too much. (69)

There are men who dig for gold; he dug for compassion. Poverty was his goldmine; and the universality of suffering a reason for the universality of charity. 'Love one another.' To him everything was contained in those words, his whole doctrine, and he asked no more. (69)

The bishop, seated at his side, laid a hand gently on his arm.
'You need have told me nothing. This house is not mine but Christ's. It does not ask a man his  name but whether he is in need. You are in trouble, you are hungry and thirsty, and so you are welcome. You need not thank me for receiving you in my house. No one is at home here except those seeking shelter. Let me assure you, passer-by though you are, that this is more your home than mine. Everything in it is yours. Why should I ask your name? In any case I knew it before you told me.'
The man looked up with startled eyes. 'You know my name?'
'Of course,' said the bishop. 'Your name is brother.' (87)

Is there not true evangelism in the delicacy which refrains from preaching and moralizing? To avoid probing an open wound, is not that the truest sympathy? (90)

'Do not forget, do not ever forget, that you have promised me to use the money to make yourself an honest man.'
Valjean, who did not recall having made any promise, was silent. The bishop had spoken the words slowly and deliberately. He concluded with a solemn emphasis: 'Jean Valjean, my brother, you no longer belong to what is evil but to what is good. I have bought your soul to save it from black thoughts and the spirit of perdition, and I give it to God.' ( 111)

Gold and pearls were her dowry, but the gold was on her head and the pearls were in her mouth. She worked in order to live, and presently fell in love, also in order to live, for the heart, too, has its hunger. (125)

Animals are nothing but the portrayal of our virtues and vices made manifest to our eyes, the visible reflections of our souls. (164)

What is the riddle of these countless scattered destinies, whither are they bound, why are they as they are? He who knows the answer to this knows all things. He is alone. His name is God. (180)

There is a prospect greater than the sea, and it is the sky; there is a prospect greater than the sky, and it is the human soul. (208)

To make a poem of the human conscience, even in terms of a single man and the least of men, would be to merge all epics in a single epic transcending all. (208)

We can no more prevent a thought from returning to the mind than we can prevent the sea from rising on the foreshore. To the sailor it is the tide, to the uneasy conscience it is remorse. God moves the soul as He moves the oceans. (213)

The sisters, then, had this in common when they were girls, that each had her dream, each had wings, those of an angel in the one case and those of a goose in the other. (519)

He never left home without a book under his arm, and often came back with two. (593)

Our imaginings are what most resemble us. Each of us dreams of the unknown and the impossible in his own way. (597)

There comes a moment when the bud bursts overnight into flower and yesterday's little girl becomes a woman to entrap our hearts. This one had not merely grown but was transformed. Just as three April days may suffice for some trees to cover themselves with blossom, so six months had sufficed to clothe her with beauty. Her April had come. (606)

Of all things God has created it is the human heart that sheds the brightest light, and alas, the blackest despair. (844)

'After all, what is a cat?' he demanded. 'It's a correction. Having created the mouse God said to himself, "That was silly of me!" and so he created the cat. The cat is the erratum of the mouse. Mouse and cat together represent the revised proofs of Creation.' (995) 

© 2013 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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The Apothecary. Maile Meloy. 2011. Penguin. 356 pages.

I enjoyed Maile Meloy's delightfully odd historical fantasy novel, The Apothecary. The year is 1952, the Scott family is moving to London, England. Our heroine, Janie, is fourteen and not so happy about the move. At least not at first. But after a few weeks, Janie finds herself in the middle of an almost unbelievable adventure, an adventure that will lead her straight into danger, but also leading to her very first kiss.

I would have loved The Apothecary just as much if it had not turned magical or supernatural. The first half of the novel focuses on Janie's new life: her new school, her new classes and new subjects (Latin!), her friend possibilities. There are some delightfully descriptive passages that are just fun! The second half of the novel focuses on her friendship with Benjamin Burrows (the local apothecary's son). He likes to play chess in the park and "spy" on a Russian man. What he spies one Saturday, changes everything...for it leads them a little too close home!

When Benjamin discovers his father's big-big secret, a secret that Janie gets drawn into as well, the novel becomes quirky and fantastical. Danger, action, drama, mystery and a hint of first love...

Favorite quotes:

It's safe to say I was not graceful about the move to London. I was no witty, patient, adaptable Jane Austen. And if I was anything like Katherine Hepburn, it was in the scenes where she's being a giant pest. (12)

"We're looking for three hot water bottles," my father told him.
"Of course."
"And how about some chocolate bars?"
The apothecary shook his head. "We have them sometimes. Not often, since the war."
"Since the war?" my father said, and I could see him calculating: twelve years without a steady supply of chocolate. He looked a little faint. I wondered if he could get a prescription for chocolate from a doctor. Then I could have some, too. (16)

The school was in a stone building with arches and turrets that seemed very old to me but wasn't old at all, in English terms. It was built in 1880, so it was practically brand-new. (19)

Two teachers walking down the hall wore black academic gowns, and they looked ominous and forbidding, like giant bats. (19)

The school secretary, whose tight gray curls reminded me of a sheep, gave me my class schedule. (19)

"My mother said moving here would be like living in a Jane Austen novel, but it isn't really."
"But your story couldn't be Austen, with an American heroine," he said.
I couldn't help smiling at him. "That's what I said!"
"More of a Henry James novel," he said. "The American girl abroad. Are you an Isabel Archer or a Daisy Miller?"
I blushed, but told the truth. "I don't know. I haven't read any Henry James novels."
"You will soon enough," he said. "But you wouldn't want to be Isabel or Daisy. They come to bad ends, those girls. Confide tibia, Miss Scott. Far better to be who you are." (24)

The apothecary looked out at the drizzle. "It would be strange not to think about orange trees and blue sky on a day like today," he said. "No matter what powder you took."
"And my new school is pretty awful," I said.
The apothecary laughed. "The man who develops a tincture against the awful new school will win the Nobel Prize. It would be far more useful than the cure for the common cold." (30)

Read The Apothecary

• IF you enjoy historical fiction OR historical fantasy
• If you enjoy books about magical books
• If you enjoy spy-adventure, action-adventure books

© 2013 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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The Grimm Legacy. Polly Shulman. 2010. Penguin. 325 pages.

 The Grimm Legacy has an intriguing premise. Wouldn't it be fun if fairy tales were true and there were magical artifacts gathered together in a library collection in New York? Wouldn't it be fun to work in such a library, such a collection? To be able to 'try' some of these artifacts yourself. But it isn't all fun as our heroine, Elizabeth Rew, and her fellow pages (Marc Merrit, Anjali Rao, Aaron Rosendom) learn. For someone is attempting to steal the real magical objects and replace them with fakes. And the attempt is succeeding. These four teens (Elizabeth, Marc, Anjali, and Aaron) must learn to work together--despite great personality conflict--to solve the mystery of WHO is stealing from the Grimm Collection. This fantasy novel has mystery and drama for it's a dangerous task before them.

While I liked the book well enough to keep reading, I didn't love it. I just didn't make a good connection with the characters. Some of the characters were interesting; for example, Anjali has a very spirited sister that plays an important role in the novel. But I wasn't satisfied with their development; the characters just didn't feel believable enough.

Read The Grimm Legacy

• If you enjoy YA fantasy
• If you enjoy fantasy 
• If you are interested in the second novel in the series which involves time travel! It's called The Wells Bequest!

© 2013 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Chronicles of Egg #1: Deadweather and Sunrise. Geoff Rodkey. 2012. Penguin. 288 pages.

What I enjoyed most in Geoff Rodkey's novel, Deadweather and Sunrise, (the first in the Chronicles of Egg series) was the writing or storytelling. For example, I loved how this pirate-adventure (set in an alternate--though at times familiar--world) began:

 "Nobody lived on Deadweather but us and the pirates. It wasn't hard to understand why. For one thing, the weather was atrocious. Eleven months out of twelve, it was brutally hot and humid, with no wind at all, so on a bad day the air felt like a hot, soggy blanket smothering you from all sides. And the other month was September, which meant hurricanes. Then there was the volcano. It hadn't actually blown in ages, but it belched smoke and shook the earth enough to scare away anybody who might've overlooked the pirates and the weather." 

There are plenty of descriptive details in this coming-of-age adventure quest.

Egbert (Egg) is often mistreated by his immediate family (his father and older brothers). Kindness and compassion being foreign concepts to him. He's only known one way of being treated, only one way of "being" or "belonging" in a family. So when life as he knows it changes dramatically, he's at a loss. His ENTIRE family went up in a hot-air balloon, never to return. They are presumed dead after several weeks of presumed searching. The man who takes Egg into his own home and introduces him to his own family has layers of secrets as Egg discovers. There is one person that Egg comes to love dearly during his stay. The daughter, Millicent. She's an interesting character, in a way. And I appreciated her perhaps a little more than the other sidekick, Guts.

If you enjoy action-adventure stories with secrets, mysteries, pirates, and an ultimate hunt for treasure, then this may be a good match.

© 2013 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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The Case of the Late Pig. Margery Allingham. 1948. 144 pages.

I absolutely LOVED, LOVED, LOVED Margery Allingham's The Case of the Late Pig. This was my first introduction to Albert Campion, and I just have to say that I love him! I do! I love him. This mystery had me hooked from the very beginning. The first sentence reads, "The main thing to remember in autobiography, I have always thought, is not to let any damned modesty creep in to spoil the story. This adventure is mine, Albert Campion's, and I am fairly certain that I was pretty nearly brilliant in it in spite of the fact that I so nearly got myself and old Lugg killed that I hear a harp quintet whenever I consider it. It begins with me eating in bed." Isn't that a WONDERFUL way to start a book, a mystery?! Old Lugg, by the way, is his valet.

The book begins with Lugg reading aloud the deaths in the Times to his master as he's eating in bed. Albert isn't exactly thrilled at this 'new' behavior of his valet which he picked up from keeping company with another valet. Albert is glancing through his own letters as well. Suddenly he makes a connection: one of his old school mates has died. A man with the nickname of Pig Peters. (R.I. Peters is his real name.) Pig Peters was a bit of a bully--almost always a bully. But. Campion did promise himself (and Peters, I believe) that he would attend his funeral. So off to the funeral they go. It's a very strange funeral--little attended. And all would be well, except that Pig Peter's funeral was in January...and his body turns up again in June! And it's obvious to Campion that the death is only a few hours old...

This mystery delights cover to cover. I absolutely LOVED the writing, the dialogue, the characterization. IT was just a joy to read this one!!!

Read The Case of the Late Pig

• If you want to read a really GREAT mystery
• If you enjoy British mysteries
• If you enjoy vintage mysteries
• If you enjoy Margery Allingham
• If you enjoy cozy mysteries

© 2013 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Lord Edgware Dies (OR Thirteen at Dinner). Agatha Christie. 1933. 260 pages.

I absolutely LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this Agatha Christie mystery. It stars both Hercule Poirot and Captain Hastings, a combination I find very hard to resist. The mystery begins with an American celebrity--an actress, Jane Wilkinson--asking Poirot for help. She's not asking him to solve a crime, exactly. She's asking him to go to her husband--whom she hates--and ask him if he'll grant her a divorce. After this consultation, she "carelessly" mentions how she wants her husband to die; at one point she even shares just how she would kill her husband. A few take her seriously pointing out to Poirot that Wilkinson is the type of woman who would kill without thinking it wrong. But Poirot likes to make up his own mind, come to his own conclusions about people's characters and motives.
So when a little time later, Lord Edgware is killed, Poirot becomes interested in the case...

This one was a delightful mystery! I just love Agatha Christie! This may be among my favorite Poirot mysteries!!!

Favorite quotes:

"I always find alibis very enjoyable," he remarked. "Whenever I happen to be reading a detective story I sit up and take notice when the alibi comes along." (122)

"Between the deliberate falsehood and the disinterested inaccuracy it is very hard to distinguish sometimes.."
"What do you mean?"
"To deceive deliberately--that is one thing. But to be so sure of your facts, of your ideas and of their essential truth that the details do not matter--that, my friend, is a special characteristic of particularly honest persons." (128)

"The positive witness should always be treated with suspicion, my friend. The uncertain witness who doesn't remember, isn't sure, will think a minute--ah! yes, that's how it was--is infinitely more to be depended upon!"
"Dear me, Poirot," I said. "You upset all my preconceived ideas about witnesses." (129)

"My good friend," he said. "I depend upon you more than you know."
I was confused and delighted by these unexpected words. He had never said anything of the kind to me before. Sometimes, secretly, I had felt slightly hurt. He seemed almost to go out of his way to disparage my mental powers.
Although I did not think his own powers were flagging, I did realize suddenly that perhaps he had come to depend on my aid more than he knew.
"Yes," he said dreamily. "You may not always comprehend just how it is so--but you do often, and often point the way."
I could hardly believe my ears.
"Really, Poirot," I stammered. "I'm awfully glad, I suppose I've learnt a good deal from you one way or another--"
He shook his head.
"Mais non, ce n'est pas ca. You have learnt nothing."
"Oh!" I said, rather taken aback.
"That is as it should be. No human being should learn from another. Each individual should develop his own powers to the uttermost, not try to imitate those of someone else. I do not wish you to be a second and inferior Poirot. I wish you to be the supreme Hastings. In you, Hastings, I find the normal mind almost perfectly illustrated." (133)

"You are like someone who reads the detective story and who starts guessing each of the characters in turn without rhyme or reason." (135)

Read Lord Edgware Dies

• If you enjoy murder mysteries with more than one murder
• If you enjoy Agatha Christie
• If you love Hercule Poirot and Captain Hastings
• If you enjoy vintage, British mysteries

© 2013 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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The Corinthian. Georgette Heyer. 1940/2009. Sourcebooks. 261 pages.

 In The Corinthian, we've got a bachelor, Sir Richard Wyndham, who happens to rescue a damsel in distress, Penelope Creed. Penelope set on running away from her aunt--who is encouraging her into a loveless marriage with her cousin Fred--is disguised as a boy. Richard, while on his way home and a bit drunk at that, sees Pen climbing out her window--by way of her bed sheets of course. He "catches" her just in time. Granted, this "she" is dressed as a he. But there's no fooling Richard. A bit amused at the situation, and wanting to run away himself to avoid an unpleasant appointment the next day, he decides to help out. She wants to escape London--and her aunt--and travel to Bristol (or near Bristol anyway). She's got a childhood friend, Piers, who she fancies herself madly in love with. Five (or so) years ago, these two promised themselves to each other. Hearing this tale, Richard decides to join in the journey and ensure her safety. The two will go together. He will act as her tutor-uncle-cousin and 'protect' her along the way. (Each identity is used on their journey at various stages.) Their journey is rarely boring--they get in and out of trouble along the way.

This one is a delightful romantic comedy. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this one! I love Pen Creed. I love Sir Richard. The dialogue is just too much fun in this Regency romance!

A scene between Pen and Richard:

"Were you locked in your room?" enquired Sir Richard.
"Oh no! I daresay I should have been if Aunt had guessed what I meant to do, but she would never think of such a thing."
"Then--forgive my curiosity!--why did you climb out of the window?" asked Sir Richard.
"Oh, that was on account of Pug!" replied Pen sunnily.
"Pug?"
"Yes, a horrid little creature! He sleeps in a basket in the hall, and he always yaps if he thinks one is going out. That would have awakened Aunt Almeria. There was nothing else I could do."
Sir Richard regarded her with a lurking smile. "Naturally not. Do you know, Pen, I owe you a debt of gratitude?"
"Oh!" she said again. "Do you mean that I don't behave as a delicately bred female should?"
"That is one way of putting it, certainly."
"It is the way Aunt Almeria puts it."
"She would, of course."
"I am afraid," confessed Pen, "that I am not very well-behaved. Aunt says that I had a lamentable upbringing, because my father treated me as though I had been a boy. I ought to have been, you understand."
"I cannot agree with you," said Sir Richard. "As a boy you would have been in no way remarkable; as a female, believe me, you are unique."
She flushed to the roots of her hair. "I think that is a compliment."
"It is," Sir Richard said, amused.
"Well, I wasn't sure, because I am not out yet, and I do not know any men except my uncle and Fred, and they don't pay compliments. That is to say, not like that." (68-69)

Fred Griffin in conversation with Sir Richard:

"What, sir, would you think of a member of the Weaker Sex who assumed the guise of a man, and left the home of her natural protector by way of the window?"
"I should assume," replied Sir Richard, "that she had strong reasons for acting with such resolution."
"She did not wish to marry me," said Mr. Griffin gloomily.
"Oh!" said Sir Richard.
"Well, I'm sure I can't see why she should be so set against me, but that's not it, sir. The thing is that here's my mother determined to find her, and to make her marry me, and so hush up the scandal. But I don't like it above half. If she dislikes the notion so much, I don't think I ought to marry her, do you?"
"Emphatically not!"
"I must say I am very glad to hear you say that, Sir Richard!" said Mr. Griffin, much cheered. "For you must know that my mother has been telling me ever since yesterday that I must marry her now, to save her name. But I think she would very likely make me uncomfortable, and nothing could make up for that, in my opinion."
"A lady capable of escaping out of a window in the guise of a a man would quite certainly make you more than uncomfortable," said Sir Richard.
"Yes, though she's only a chit of a girl, you know. In fact, she is not yet out. I am very happy to have had the benefit of the opinion of a Man of the World. I feel that I can rely on your judgment."
"On my judgment, you might, but in nothing else, I assure you," said Sir Richard. "You know nothing of me, after all. How do you know that I am not now concealing your cousin from you?"
"Ha-ha! Very good, upon my word! Very good, indeed!" said Mr. Griffin, saluting a jest of the first water. (124)

Read The Corinthian

• If you enjoy Regency romances
• If you enjoy historical romance
• If you enjoy historical romance with a touch of drama, mystery, and murder...
• If you enjoy Georgette Heyer

© 2013 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Faro's Daughter. Georgette Heyer. 1941. 288 pages.

I absolutely loved Georgette Heyer's Faro's Daughter. In the first chapter, readers meet Mr. Ravenscar (Max) as he visits with his sister, Lady Mablethorpe. She wants him to to prevent an imprudent match of his nephew with an unsuitable young woman, Deborah Grantham. This "vulgar" woman lives in a gaming house with her aunt! He goes to visit the young lady in the gaming house, even gambles with her for a while. His conclusion: she's not a good match for a gentleman, certainly, but she might be easily bought off. Instead of talking with his nephew, he'll talk to her instead and offer her money if she promises to never marry the boy.

Readers just don't see this from his point of view, however, readers also get to meet Deborah for themselves. And Deborah finds Ravenscar's offer insulting and infuriating. How dare he assume she could be bought off! Though she hadn't any plans on marrying Adrian, she know plans to do just that. Well. If she has to. She's hoping that that won't be necessary after all. If only she could get Adrian to fall in love with someone else...

Ravenscar and Deborah hate each other so much, their interactions are so intense. They bring out the worst in each other...

I loved this one so much! It's a great read cover to cover. So many interesting characters and stories.

Read Faro's Daughter

• If you love Pride and Prejudice, North and South, Much Ado About Nothing, etc. Romance stories where the hero and heroine HATE each other before they fall in love...
• If you enjoy Georgette Heyer
• If you enjoy Regency romances, historical romances

© 2013 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Clementine and the Spring Trip. Sara Pennypacker. 2013. Hyperion. 160 pages.

 Clementine has to be one of my favorite heroines. I just LOVE spending time with her. I love reading about her family life AND I love reading about her school days too. She always has an opinion, and she's always got something on her mind! In this book, Clementine is excited but nervous about an upcoming field trip to Plimoth Plantation. At first she felt comfortable about going because she was going to partner with fourth grader, Margaret. (Clementine is in third grade.) Clementine was going to help Margaret by doing all the "dirty" work, and Margaret was going to help Clementine by teaching her to eat quietly. The "rule" of the fourth graders being that no noisy foods are ever allowed. But when a new student arrives, a girl named Olive, well, plans change. The teacher assigns Olive to Clementine, and with the teacher and the principal telling Clementine that this will be a GOOD thing, she has to accept her disappointment. But noisy eating isn't the only thing worrying Clementine and her classmates, no, there is the dreaded bus number seven with "the cloud." This is the SMELLIEST bus ever, a thing of nightmares. And oh how the kids like to make comparisons as to what it smells like and why!!!

The novel is great fun focusing on Clementine at school and home. I would definitely recommend this series.

Read Clementine and the Spring Trip

• If you love children's books
• If you're looking for a heroine to love and adore (like Ramona, Moxy Maxwell, or Ida May, etc.)
• If you've enjoyed Clementine, The Talented Clementine, Clementine's Letter, Clementine, Friend of the Week, Clementine and the Family Meeting.

© 2013 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Bliss. Kathryn Littlewood. 2012. HarperCollins. 374 pages.

I enjoyed reading Kathryn Littlewood's Bliss. This middle grade fantasy was quite fun. Bliss is set in a small town where the Bliss family has a bakery. The parents have named their children: Thyme (Ty), Rosemary (our heroine), Sage, and Parsley (Leigh). The Bliss family has a secret, a secret that Rosemary hasn't always known. The family is magical, their is a bit of magic in each recipe. These magical spells help the town run smoothly. Soon after the novel begins, the parents are called away to another town to handle an emergency. The parents leave their children and Chip in charge of the bakery. Though Rosemary has recently been trusted with a key, she's also warned by her parents NOT to look into the family's secret cookbook. "Aunt" Lily has been waiting for such an opportunity. Rose's parents haven't been gone very long at all when this new relative appears ready to help them all. Is she trustworthy? Well, Rosemary doesn't really think so. But. She sure does know how to flatter every single member of the family. NO one has ever made Rose feel so special...

Most of the book is the misadventures resulting when the children are disobedient and try to do magic on their own. Things get quite messy!

Read Bliss

• If you enjoy children's books with a cooking theme
• If you enjoy children's fantasy novels 

© 2013 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Sever. Lauren DeStefano. 2013. Simon & Schuster. 371 pages.

Sever was certainly an intense read. If I had to describe it in just one word, I'd say it was bittersweet. This is the final book in the trilogy which perhaps explains why to a certain degree.

The novel opens with Rhine recovering, Linden and Cecily are determined to care for her. Linden may not believe the "outrageous" claims about his own father that Rhine is sharing with him and his oh-so-young wife. But. He still cares what happens to her. And since Rhine is so unwilling to go back to the mansion, and since she isn't strong enough to leave on her own, he comes up with an alternative arrangement. He has a mysterious uncle, an uncle that his first love, Rose, adored; Rhine can go to stay with him until she's ready to leave. Rhine is still determined to find her twin brother.

This allows Rhine time to contemplate how she feels about Linden, to decide if she really wants to annul her marriage with him, to make plans on how to find her brother and possibly stop him from traveling down a dark and dangerous path. While there she begins to learn more about who she is, who her brother is, who her parents were. Her parents apparently have a reputation in the scientific world--a legacy. And some of what she learns changes her...

The world Rhine has lived in has always been ugly...and Sever is a balance between hope and despair.

Read Sever

• If you have read the first two in the series (Wither; Fever)
• If you enjoy dystopian thrillers
• If romance isn't the most important element in your science fiction!

© 2013 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Invention of Hugo Cabret. Brian Selznick. 2007. Scholastic. 525 pages.

I hadn't really planned on rereading Brian Selznick's Invention of Hugo Cabret, but this year I joined the book to movie challenge. I'd been curious about the film, Hugo. This "review" will share what I thought about both the book and the movie.

I found the movie wonderful. I found it very compelling. I was drawn into the story--the time and place. This is a movie (and a book) where setting is just as important if not MORE important than the characters. Because it is set in a train station in Paris, France, in the early 1930s, because it focuses on such an intriguing orphan who is desperate to make sense of the world and fix what needs fixing, because it was a story with such a strong emphasis on friendship and making your own family, it worked for me. The book and the movie are different from one another. The movie adds characters and even gives them story-lines. The movie changes some of the relationships as well. But I thought some of the changes--at least--worked better. I liked the Hugo of the movie better than the Hugo of the book! While the novel's focus on old cinema was interesting, on film it meant SO MUCH MORE. This book was meant to be filmed.

I originally read the book in 2007. I watched the movie a few weeks ago and then decided to reread the book. I definitely preferred the movie to the book. But the book is a very quick read! It takes longer to watch the movie than it does to read the book!

© 2013 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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The Real Mother Goose. Blanche Fisher Wright. 1916. Scholastic. 128 pages.

I enjoyed reading The Real Mother Goose. While I was familiar with some of the Mother Goose rhymes, there were so many that were new to me. The rhymes do vary in quality and relevance. (I'm not sure little ones need to be familiar with each and every poem in this collection in order to "know" their Mother Goose properly). Here are a few of my favorites:

The Tarts
The Queen of Hearts,
She made some tarts,
All on a summer's day;
The Knave of Hearts,
He stole the tarts,
And took them clean away.
The King of Hearts
Called for the tarts,
And beat the Knave full sore;
The Knave of Hearts
Brought back the tarts,
And vowed he'd steal no more. (107)

Sing a Song of Sixpence
Sing a song of sixpence,
a pocket full of rye;
Four-and-twenty blackbirds
Baked in a pie!
When the pie was opened
The birds began to sing;
Was not that a dainty dish
To set before the king?
The king was in his counting-house
Counting out his money;
The queen was in the parlor,
Eating bread and honey.
The maid was in the garden,
Hanging out the clothes;
When down came a blackbird
And snapped off her nose. (62)

The Bunch of Blue Ribbons
Oh, dear what can the matter be?
Oh, dear what can the matter be?
Oh, dear what can the matter be?
Johnny's so long at the fair.
He promised to buy me a bunch of blue ribbons,
He promised to buy me a bunch of blue ribbons,
He promised to buy me a bunch of blue ribbons,
To tie up my bonny brown hair. (127)

Do you have a favorite Mother Goose rhyme?


© 2013 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Beauvallet. Georgette Heyer. 1929. Arrow Books. 264 pages.

The deck was in shambles.

If only Beauvallet had been filmed... Errol Flynn would have been perfect--absolutely perfect--as Heyer's hero, Nicholas Beauvallet. It was easy to imagine, which perhaps helped me enjoy the novel more. Beauvallet is the heroic pirate who agrees to take Dona Dominica and her father Don Manuel de Rada y Sylva directly to Spain--at the risk of his own life, he is a wanted man after all--after their capture. (The ship they were sailing on, the Santa Maria, attacked Beauvallet's ship.) Beauvallet treats the Spanish lady well--very well. Though he could take her to England and marry her, his intentions are completely honorable, he chooses to keep his word and take her to Spain. He will come for her--fight for her--in Spain. There are essentially three sections in this romance: the initial pirating chapters where Beauvallet is wooing Dona Dominica on his ship; Beauvallet's return to England afterwards which allows readers to meet the family; Beavallet's dangerous journey to win Dona Dominica which sees him traveling through France and Spain.  

I enjoyed this one. You can read my initial review from several years ago to learn more. But I enjoyed it. Beauvallet would never be among my favorite, favorite Heyer romances. Most of my favorite Heyer novels are set in the Regency. This historical romance is set in the Elizabethan period. But it's good fun and well worth the read. 

Read Beauvallet

• If you love Errol Flynn, 
• If you enjoy pirate-adventure love stories,
• If you enjoy historical novels set in the Elizabethan period
• If you enjoy Georgette Heyer

© 2013 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Party Shoes. Noel Streatfeild. 1946. Oxford Children's Classics. 320 pages.

Party Shoes isn't quite what I expected it to be. It started out with great promise, I thought. We meet Selina, a girl living with her British cousins through the war (World War II). One day she receives a present from her American godmother. The parcel contains a beautiful (though inappropriate for the times) dress or 'frock' and some lovely shoes. Selina knows, as do her cousins and aunt and uncle that there will never be a suitable occasion for her to wear the dress and shoes. Not with the war on, not with the economy being what it is, not with shortages and restrictions, etc. So the cousins have a meeting. Every person has to suggest at least one idea of how Selina can wear her dress and shoes before she outgrows them. After many ideas are presented, everyone concludes that they will have a pageant on the neighbor's lawn. They set the date for September 20, 1945. And then they each begin writing their piece.

Selina does learn through the process that she is more capable than she ever thought, that she can do things, that she is good at many things, that she is great with working with people, solving problems, etc.

Over half the book is focused on the tiny details of the pageant, each scene of the pageant. We're there for what feels like three hundred rehearsals. Of course, that's not really the case. Probably more like forty. But still. As their scenes are changed, arranged, rearranged, scripted, directed, etc. I found most of the book tedious. I didn't want it to be tedious. I wanted it to be a delight. But most of the delight happened in the first hundred pages.

Read Party Shoes

• If you like Noel Streatfeild
• If you like reading about creativity, drama, etc. (writing poetry, dancing ballet, acting/directing drama, etc.)
• If you like historical fiction set during this time period (1944-1945)

© 2013 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Skating Shoes. Noel Streatfeild. 1951. 224 pages.

I really loved reading Noel Streatfeild's Skating Shoes. Harriet Johnson is recovering from an illness. Part of her recovery involves daily exercise. At first, this involved tedious, dreary walks. But after visiting her doctor again (well, the doctor visits her), he prescribes something much different. Wouldn't it be wonderful if she could skate daily?! He's happy to make arrangements with the owner of the rink, but her family will have to cover the cost of renting ice skates six days a week. One of her older brothers volunteers to get a paper route which will provide just enough money to pay for the skates. (It will also allow two shillings a week to go into his savings account.) A bit timid, Harriet takes her mother with her that first day at the rink. But she happens to meet a girl her own age, Lalla Moore, and Nana. The two girls become very friendly, and though it takes some plotting on the part of Nana, it soon becomes routine for the two girls to go everywhere together. Lalla envies Harriet her large family at times. And Harriet envies Lalla's natural abilities on the ice. After a few months, these two are soon inseparable. Lalla even spends Christmas day with the Johnson family while her own aunt and uncle choose to holiday on their own. This includes having lessons together on and off the ice. (Harriet still not being allowed back in school just yet.)

Skating Shoes is a lovely book. I loved getting to know Harriet and her family. I did like Lalla. Yes, she could be obnoxious at times, showing how spoiled she was, but I felt sorry for her too. 

Read Skating Shoes

• If you have an interest in ice skating (figure skating)
• If you enjoy coming-of-age stories with strong friendship and family themes
• If you enjoy Noel Streatfeild's children's books
• If you enjoy books set in Britain 

© 2013 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Victoria Rebels. Carolyn Meyer. 2013. Simon & Schuster. 192 pages.



I absolutely loved this book. But I tend to always like Carolyn Meyer's historical fiction. And I have great interest in Queen Victoria. If you enjoyed watching Young Victoria, there's a good chance you'll enjoy reading this book. Half of the novel focuses on Victoria's childhood and her strict upbringing, the second half focuses on the first six or seven years of her reign. Only the last few chapters focus on Victoria as wife...and mother.

Relationships matter in this book. We see this at the very beginning as Victoria struggles to have genuine relationships with the people in her life. Victoria is disappointed again and again as the people she loves and trusts most leave her life. (Her sister, her favorite uncle, various cousins, etc.) She does NOT have a good relationship with her mother...at all. The tension between the two is seen throughout the novel. Other important relationships, of course, are between Victoria and Daisy (Louise Lehzen), Victoria and Albert (her husband-and-cousin), Victoria and Lord Melbourne (prime minister).

It is about politics, but, it isn't only about politics. It offers plenty of drama: ROYAL DRAMA. For example, Victoria's mother does NOT get along with the king...they HATE each other.

I really enjoyed this one. It is told completely from Victoria's point of view. And I think it's well told.

Read Victoria Rebels

• If you LOVED Young Victoria or Victoria and Albert
• If you love Victorian literature (Dickens, Trollope, Gaskell, Collins, Eliot, etc.) and want to have more background on the time period;
• If you love reading about royals
• If you enjoy MG or YA historical fiction

 
© 2013 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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The Convenient Marriage. Georgette Heyer. 1934/2009. Sourcebooks. 318 pages.

"Lady Winwood being denied, the morning caller inquired with some anxiety for Miss Winwood, or, in fact, for any of the young ladies. In face of the rumour which had come to her ears it would be too provoking if all the Winwood ladies were to withhold themselves."

The Convenient Marriage is one of my top Georgette Heyer novels. I've previously reviewed the book and the audiobook. The romance in this novel occurs after the marriage making this Heyer read a bit different.

Horatia is the youngest in the Winwood family. She knows that the family NEEDS to accept the marriage offer from Lord Rule because they are so in debt. (He's offered for Elizabeth, the oldest daughter). But she also knows that her sister could never be happy marrying for convenience when she's already in love with someone else. But why couldn't Lord Rule be made to understood the situation? Why couldn't he offer for her instead? The families would still be "aligned", her family would still be saved...and she'd be the one to have the good life in society. So she goes to Lord Rule secretly and explains the situation to him, making him a proposition of her own...

Her plan is quite bold and quite wonderful. By that I mean it is deliciously entertaining. The first few chapters of this one are so full of promise. Especially the second and third chapters. If there was an award for the best-ever-second-chapter-in-a-book, I'd nominate The Convenient Marriage.

I absolutely love this one. I love getting to know all of the characters: Horry (Horatia), Lord Rule (Marcus Drelincourt), Pelham Winwood (Horry's brother), Sir Roland (Pelham's best friend), Lord Robert Lethbridge (Rule's nemesis), Crosby Drelincourt (Rule's cousin). And that's just to name a few. I loved the storytelling, the dialogue, the glimpses into society life. It can be dramatic and romantic. Most of all I loved the characterization!!! These characters are so flawed and yet lovable!

This Heyer novel is quite memorable and very satisfying! I LOVED it.

From chapter two:

'Will you tell me how old you are?'
'Does it matter?' Horatia inquired forebodingly.
'Yes, I think it does,' said his lordship.
'I was afraid it m-might,' she said. 'I am turned seventeen.'
'Turned seventeen!' repeated his lordship. 'My dear, I couldn't do it.'
'I'm too young?'
'Much too young, child.'
Horatia swallowed valiantly. 'I shall grow older,' she ventured. 'I d-don't want to p-press you, but I am thought to be quite sensible.'
'Do you know how old I am?' asked the Earl.
'N-no, but my cousin, Mrs. M-Maulfrey, says you are not a d-day above thirty-five.'
'Does not that seem a little old to you?' he suggested.
'Well, it is rather old, perhaps, b-but no one would think you as much,' said Horatia kindly.
At that a laugh escaped him. 'Thank you,' he bowed. 'But I think that thirty-five makes a poor husband for seventeen.'
'P-pray do not give that a thought, sir!' said Horatia earnestly. 'I assure you, for my p-part I do not regard it at all. In f-fact, I think I should quite like to marry you.'
'Would you?' he said. 'You do me a great honour, ma'am.' (24-25)

Read The Convenient Marriage

• If you enjoy (clean) romance novels
• If you enjoy historical romance novels
• If you enjoy Georgette Heyer 

© 2013 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Regency Buck. Georgette Heyer. 1935. 352 pages.

Regency Buck was one of the first Georgette Heyer novels I read. It is the story of a brother and sister newly arrived in London. They are rich--or soon will be rich once they are of an age to inherit their father's money. But in the meanwhile they find themselves under the protection of a surprisingly young man, Earl Worth. Judith Tavener's first impression of Worth is something. Readers aren't exactly clear at times HOW he feels about her, but readers never question Judith's feelings regarding him. She HATES him. She does not trust him. She could easily name half a dozen men she'd rather spend time with. Not that Judith wants to rush into marriage with anyone. But to be told by a man she hates that she is forbidden to accept any suitor's proposal...well...it's frustrating. Is Worth doing it just to annoy her or does he perhaps know more of the world? Worth is also opinionated on Peregrine Tavener's love life. Though he does permit the young man to become engaged to a worthy woman. Still he would have him wait...

Regency Buck has drama and mystery. For as the novel progresses, readers learn that Peregrine's life is in danger. There are a series of attempts on his life, not that Peregrine is quick to realize his own danger or quick to judge those near him who may not be as trustworthy as he believes...

It is also RICH in historical detail. Though readers may not know just how rich it is unless they're familiar with the time period and the historical figures of the day.

I enjoyed the characterization and found the plot quite exciting!

My first review.

© 2013 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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The Talisman Ring. Georgette Heyer. 1936/2009. Sourcebooks. 316 pages.

It can be easy to forget just how much you enjoyed a particular Heyer romance when you've read so many. The Talisman Ring is certainly enjoyable and quite satisfying...even if it doesn't necessarily stay as fresh in one's memory as being a favorite-favorite. I enjoyed the two romances in this one. But above all, I enjoyed the dramatic, suspenseful mystery! It reminded me a bit of the promise of Northanger Abbey, except in this case, there was actually plenty of adventure and danger and mystery!

One of the heroines, Eustacie, is quite fun because she is so over-the-top silly and dramatic. She CRAVES romantic adventures and dangers--the stuff of novels. While she's willing to settle, to a certain degree, for a marriage of convenience, she really, truly wants a soul mate just as imaginative and expressive as she is. She wants to be made much of, she wants to be adored, she wants to be rescued, she wants to feel like life is one thrill after another. Her grandfather wants her to marry one cousin, Tristam Shield, one of the heroes of the novel; but these two just do not suit one another! They would drive each other crazy if the marriage actually took place! But Eustacie is determined to run away--in the middle of the night. And oh the adventure she stumbles into that night, SMUGGLERS. How perfect, how romantic. One of the smugglers turns out to be another cousin, Ludovic, a man who had to flee England several years earlier because he's suspected of murder....

And that's just the start!

A scene between Eustacie and Tristam:

“You would more probably have gone to the guillotine,' replied Sir Tristram, depressingly matter of fact.
'Yes, that is quite true,' agreed Eustacie. 'We used to talk of it, my cousin Henriette and I. We made up our minds we should be entirely brave, not crying, of course, but perhaps a little pale, in a proud way. Henriette wished to go to the guillotine en grande tenue, but that was only because she had a court dress of yellow satin which she thought became her much better than it did really. For me, I think one should wear white to the guillotine if one is quite young, and not carry anything except perhaps a handkerchief. Do you not agree?'
'I don't think it signifies what you wear if you are on your way to the scaffold,' replied Sir Tristram, quite unappreciative of the picture his cousin was dwelling on with such evident admiration.
She looked at him in surprise. 'Don't you? But consider! You would be very sorry for a young girl in a tumbril, dressed all in white, pale, but quite unafraid, and not attending to the canaille at all, but--'
'I should be very sorry for anyone in a tumbril, whatever their age or sex or apparel,' interrupted Sir Tristram.
'You would be more sorry for a young girl--all alone, and perhaps bound,' said Eustacie positively.
'You wouldn't be all alone. There would be a great many other people in the tumbril with you,' said Sir Tristram.
Eustacie eyed him with considerable displeasure. 'In my tumbril there would not have been a great many other people,' she said.” 

I loved this one; I just LOVED it. It's so delightful and fun! I am just loving my 2013 project of reading and rereading all of Georgette Heyer's romances in chronological order!

Read The Talisman Ring

• If you enjoyed Northanger Abbey
• If you enjoy historical romance with a good bit of mystery
• If you like drama, romance, mystery, adventure set in the 1790s
• If you enjoy Georgette Heyer

© 2013 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Peril at End House. Agatha Christie. 1932. HarperCollins. 287 pages.

It is such a pleasure to read an Agatha Christie mystery. Peril at End House stars Hercule Poirot and Captain Hastings. (I really love it when Hastings is "helping" Poirot solve a case.) This mystery is a hard one for Poirot to solve, though he doesn't realize that until the very, very end! This is a novel that could very easily be spoiled so I won't say much about it except that it was a pure delight to read this one! 

I think I LOVED this one so much because it kept me guessing, and it kept Poirot and Hastings guessing as well! While it's not unusual for a mystery--a crime--to keep Hastings guessing, it was satisfying to see Poirot stumble around a bit!

Favorite quotes:

“Poirot," I said. "I have been thinking."
"An admirable exercise my friend. Continue it.”

“You have a tendency, Hastings, to prefer the least likely. That, no doubt, is from reading too many detective stories.” 

“Evil never goes unpunished, Monsieur. But the punishment is sometimes secret.” 

 Read Peril at End House

• If you like Agatha Christie
• If you like classic or vintage mysteries
• If you like British cozy mysteries
• If you like Captain Hastings and Hercule Poirot

© 2013 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Why Shoot a Butler? Georgette Heyer. 1933. 352 pages.

While I've read plenty by Georgette Heyer, Why Shoot a Butler (1933) was my first mystery novel by Heyer. I definitely enjoyed it! Mr. Amberley, our detective hero, is on the way to visit his aunt, uncle, and cousin. He's lost his way because he followed his cousin Felicity's directions. While he's trying to find his way, he sees a woman on the side of the road. Upon further investigation, he realizes that this woman is standing by a car...a car with a dead body in it. Amberley is convinced of two things: he does NOT like this strange woman, their conversation was, well, awkward to say the least; but, his instinct is telling him that she is innocent of murder...and that if he were to report her being found by the body that she'd be arrested. The police probably wouldn't look hard for the real murderer then. 

His visit with the family goes well. And as the murder investigation gets under way, he stays around and does his own investigation. He learns more and more about this woman, Shirley Brown, and her brother. He is on her side even if she doesn't want him on her side or by her side...

I really loved this one and found it very pleasant. 

Read Why Shoot A Butler

• If you enjoy Georgette Heyer
• If you like British mysteries
• If you like vintage mysteries of the 1930s
• If you like mysteries with a touch of romance

© 2013 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Hamlet, Revenge! Michael Innes. 1937. 312 pages.

Hamlet, Revenge is the first mystery novel I've read by Michael Innes. It was published in 1937 and stars Inspector Appleby. The first half of the novel focuses on Scamnum Court, the family is producing a private showing of Shakespeare's Hamlet. Family, family friends, friendly acquaintances will star in this tragedy. Of course, from the start, readers know that all will not go well. (It is a mystery, after all. But there is plenty of foreshadowing in the introductory chapters.) The second half of the mystery focuses on Inspector Appleby and company as they try to solve the murder(s) that occurred on that tragic weekend.

There are SO MANY suspects in this one. So many characters introduced, and it was almost impossible to remember who was who. The mystery is very detailed, clues abound, and if you've got the attention to give to this one, it would probably be worth your time. It took me a while to get into this novel, but by the end I did care.

Read Hamlet, Revenge

• If you enjoy mysteries, British mysteries, vintage mysteries
• If you enjoy mysteries with literature and/or drama and/or academic connection

© 2013 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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