A Great Deliverance - Elizabeth George

A Great Deliverance by Elizabeth George
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

First the superficial. I'm having a hard time getting over how annoying a couple of the characters were. The horribly caricatured American tourist was too much - I ended up skipping any passage with him. And felt he was completely unnecessary to the plot. It's difficult to enjoy a book when you have such antipathy to ridiculous characters.

I did like Lynley, but his partner... I'm sure that she will get better as the series progresses, but did she really have to shriek and shrill so much? And shouldn't a police sergeant have a bit more control over herself?

To be fair, it was written in the 1980s, and suffers some from the trends of the time. It dwells far too long on psycho-babble and torturous interpersonal relationships and family problems, and moves onto fairly explicit descriptions of sexual abuse, which didn't come across as that much worse than everyone else's psychological turmoil. Everyone's internal struggles seemed highly exaggerated, except for the actual victims of crimes.

Ok, so maybe I didn't like it all that much? But I liked Lynley. Keep Lynley and ditch the rest, and we might have something I don't cringe to read.

The Lake House - Kate Morton

The Lake House by Kate Morton
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

So when is she writing another one?

Kate Morton is one of those authors whose settings are so vivid, they make you nostalgic for a similar time or place even when you've never been there. She also draws fully dimensional characters, and along with that comes sadness and failing, and reality of life. Normally I don't enjoy books that drag me into acknowledging harsh realities, but Morton is one author who does it in such a way that I can't help admiring it. This is another wonderfully written book, a joy to read even with the pain that is uncovered along the way.

The atmosphere in The Lake House is warm and nostalgic on the one hand, and full of overgrowth and decay on the other. As the story switches back and forth from the 1930s to modern day, you get such a sense of innocence and paradise lost, and can't help but fear knowing how the tragedy happened.

The mystery is explored in the modern timeline, with character perspectives from the past interspersed. The past timelines bring the tragedy alive so that it's not just a distant memory being uncovered.

The discoveries kept me involved, but I guessed some of the big twists before the characters did. Probably because I had extra information from seeing the past firsthand. But there were a couple of surprises in there for me still. I'm still not sure what I think about the final surprise. It was almost one coincidence too many. That's just a minor point, however, and the pieces do fit.

I also didn't hate the book once I knew everything, which can happen when the ending is too disturbing or senselessly tragic (I'm looking at you, The House at Riverton!). Thankfully, I was satisfied with this conclusion. Every tiny clue and action was accounted for. My only complaint is that I didn't get more of the characters. I wanted to follow them further, away from the Lake House. That's never a bad feeling to have at the end of a book.

The Mysterious Affair at Styles - Agatha Christie

The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I very much enjoyed my first Agatha Christie experience. Poirot is a fun character, and I'm looking forward to reading more mysteries featuring him. I enjoyed how the narrator kept doubting Poirot and jumping at the same conclusions that I wanted to jump at, which told me how much I was missing. It turns out all the pieces were there, I just forgot about some of them, or didn't see how they fit together. It's always fun to read a mystery where I don't guess correctly, but it all clicks at the end.

Grey Mask: A Miss Silver Mystery - Patricia Wentworth

Grey Mask: A Miss Silver Mystery by Patricia Wentworth
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Grey Mask is the first in one of the classic Golden Age detective mystery series, one that seems to have been largely forgotten. I really enjoyed it, apart from some excessive use of the word "frightfully" and one character who was unbelievably silly.

This is my first author from the era, so I'm not sure if this is normal or not, but Miss Silver (the detective) is just a minor side character. Her clients are the main characters here, and she pops up to help along the way. I don't even know enough about her to know whether I like her or not. I'm curious to see whether this pattern continues in the series.

As far as the mystery goes, it wasn't one that I really tried to figure out. I just went a long for the ride, learning things as the characters did, often being told them by Miss Silver or someone else. So it wasn't the puzzle kind of mystery for me. Still entertaining though.

I definitely plan to read on, but I also need to read some of the more well-known Golden Age authors for comparison. For now, this is 4 stars for entertainment value.

The Cuckoo's Calling - Robert Galbraith

The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I was needing a really good mystery where the murder actually gets investigated methodically and the picture is gradually revealed through interviews and evidence gathering. I know that might sound boring, but it's totally not! I've had my eye on The Cuckoo's Calling for a long time and finally decided to go for it. I'm so glad I did because it was completely satisfying as a mystery. It kept me on the case while I wasn't reading it, trying to put the clues together.

I had a couple of decent theories, but I was nowhere close to being right. I love a mystery that gives me enough to chew on but still surprises me in the end. Especially when the answer fits all the pieces together instead of adding something new - of course I can't figure it out if I don't have all the information. But that was not a problem here, so the 'clicking into place' was very satisfying.

The characters are really well done. Even more than the mystery, they are what kept me up late reading. Cormoran is such a great character, full of tension. He's real and deep, and I loved seeing his progression throughout the book. I'm looking forward to seeing how he develops in the sequels. The story really is about him, not just about a murder that happens to need a detective as a byproduct.

I also really loved Robin, his temp secretary. She's enthusiastic, smart, enterprising, and empathetic. She provides a good balance for Cormoran's older, broken-down, gritty brilliance. They both feel like real people with more than enough depth to sustain a series.

Add to this a vivid setting with a real sense of current day London and interesting details about the lives of the rich and famous (it's not all roses), and you have a truly rich novel, not generic in any way.

The book lingered with me after I finished it, and is still vivid in my mind a few days later. It's safe to say I loved it. If I hesitate to give it 5 stars, it's only because of how realistic it was - something that I appreciate but don't always enjoy when it comes to the darker, seedier side of life. But, although it was dark at points, it wasn't bleak, and I can deal with that. I'm even getting better at enjoying that (gasp!).

Aside: If I hadn't already known J.K. Rowling wrote this, I wouldn't have had a clue. She uses a completely different voice, style, and genre - hence the pseudonym. In my mind, the high quality and maturity of this book proves her versatility and growth as a writer. I'm thrilled that she's found a new creative direction that I can enjoy based on its own merits. Keep 'em coming!

Sign of the Four - Arthur Conan Doyle

The Sign of Four by Arthur Conan Doyle
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

3.5 Stars, rounded up.

I did enjoy the mystery a lot, and am warming up to Watson and Holmes, but the extra story of the villain that was tacked on the end was again too much of a tangent. It was enough for me to take off half a star from my rating. At least I knew about it beforehand this time, so I wasn't too surprised when the last quarter was a second story. I was still waiting for it to get over with, although there were a few interesting parts in there. I heard that this is the last Sherlock Holmes story with the entire story of the crime dumped at the end, and that Doyle found his style after this. If so, I am looking forward to the more mature stories to come.

Review: Ice Blue

Ice Blue by Emma Jameson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



This is a contemporary New Scotland Yard procedural mystery in London with some quite gruesome murders and gritty details making this not what I would call a cozy mystery. Involving the elite class, which I didn't realize was still so... elite these days, the mystery was interesting with some good misdirection and a satisfying reveal.

For those who like a bit of romance in their mystery, there is the start of a romance between the 60 year old chief and a detective half his age, which surprisingly didn't seem too weird. There was some insta-love there, and not enough explanation of why the chief is suddenly in love with his subordinate. The romance took a back seat to the mystery, so it didn't take over the entire plot, but it could still be too much for some readers - there was more than a trace of it.

I enjoyed the mystery in spite of the blood and guts, so I'll be checking out the next book in the series for sure.



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