Catching Up on My Book Reviews...Again

 

This is my latest attempt to share the books I've read with you all. My only excuse is that, for the past few months, I've been much too easily distracted to concentrate on reviews. 

These won't be the size of my normal reviews, but I will provide links to Amazon in each title if you want to learn more about any of the books.

Deadly Remains by Kate Ellis

#29 Wesley Peterson police procedural set in Devon, UK

Rating: B+

My Thoughts: Kate Ellis's Wesley Peterson series has been a "Go To" series for me for years. I love the blend of mystery, history, and archaeology. 

While Wesley and his team investigate the death of a celebrity ghostwriter and his missing laptop, Dr. Neil Watson, with the help of Wesley's teenage son Michael, excavates a crashed World War II plane on Dartmoor.

The mystery is solid, and the ongoing lives of the characters rich and satisfying. You can tell how much I like this series by the fact that it's 29 books long (so far), and I've read every one.

Killer Thriller by Lee Goldberg

#2 Ian Ludlow thriller set in Hong Kong

Rating: A

My Thoughts: After thoroughly enjoying the first book in the series, True Fiction, once again, I found myself in need of some light, fast-paced fun, so I turned to this second. I was not disappointed. 

In fact, his assistant Margo's choice of weapon in a fight had me howling with laughter. There's lots to learn about China and even filmmaking, but if you're in the mood to buckle your seatbelt and sit back for a laugh-filled adventure, I can't recommend this one highly enough.

One of my favorite lines? "The ambiance was so masculine that infertile men could increase their sperm count just by walking in the door."

Ian Ludlow's observations alone are well worth the price of admission. I'm sad that there's only one more book in the series.

Dreamers of the Day by Mary Doria Russell

Standalone Historical Fiction set in the Egypt and the Middle East

Rating: B+

My Thoughts: Narrated by schoolteacher Agnes Shanklin, we follow her through life with a suffocating mother, through the losses of World War I and the Great Influenza, and right into the creation of the modern Middle East. 

Russell, once again, has a marvelous sense of time and place. I found myself wanting to swat flies as Agnes walked the streets of Cairo, and the friendships she made with people like Winston Churchill, T.E. Lawrence, and Gertrude Bell gave the sheltered woman's life a fairy tale aspect. Few would have expected her to have the bravery to set out on such an adventure by herself.

All in all, Agnes reminded me of a young Eleanor Roosevelt, and I enjoyed her story.

Jungle of Stone: The Extraordinary Journey of John L. Stephens and Frederick Catherwood, and the Discovery of the Lost Civilization of the Maya by William Carlsen

Set in Central America

Non-Fiction

Rating: C+

My Thoughts: I have always been fascinated by the ancient civilizations of the Aztec, the Inca, and the Maya, so this book was right up my street.

The sections on the Maya were fascinating, but the book bogged down with the detailed biographies of Stephens and Catherwood. For some reason, the title of the book led me to expect more Maya than it delivered, which was disappointing.

A Fatal Feast at Honeychurch Hall by Hannah Dennison

#11 in the Honeychurch Hall cozy series set in England

Rating: C+

My Thoughts: Although the number of cozy mysteries I read has fallen in recent years, there are still certain series that I follow, and this is one of them.

Unfortunately, not all entries in a long-running series can be dazzling. This one is lackluster. There is little humor, nothing about antiques, and the whodunit was easy to deduce. The emphasis is on people's mean-spirited, money-grubbing actions, and that's never been a favorite of mine.

I'd also like to add that I think it's past time for Kat's mother's chickens to come home to roost. I've never liked her allergy to the truth and what it's done to the people in her life, but I doubt it's going to happen. I have a feeling that most readers find her funny. I wish I did!

That's all for now. I'm getting really close to being completely caught up. When that happens, I may have palpitations! 

Murder at the Mena House by Erica Ruth Neubauer

First Line: When selecting an exotic location for travel, it's advisable to choose one where the air isn't trying to kill you.

Egypt, 1926. Traveling with her Aunt Millie means constantly fending off her well-meaning relative's attempts at matchmaking. Ensconced in the luxurious Mena House Hotel in the heart of Cairo, American Jane Wunderly would rather gaze longingly at the Great Pyramids of Giza than into the eyes of a dashing stranger. However, when she meets Mr. Redvers, her opinion slowly begins to change.

There are lots of interesting guests at the Mena House, but socialite Anna Stainton takes the cake as the most infuriating one. When Jane is found standing over Anna's dead body, she becomes the prime suspect. Jane has no time to lose; she must learn who she can trust and who had the motive to commit murder. Somewhere amongst all those staying at the Mena House is a person with too many secrets, a person willing to commit as many murders as it takes to keep them.

There is some great period detail in Murder at the Mena House that puts readers right in the middle of the action, and life without air conditioning in the desert is just one of those fascinating facts.

Jane Wunderly is a strong, interesting character with a backstory that makes it clear why she's not in the market for a husband, although I do wish she could afford to travel without the disagreeable Aunt Millie (who has her own little secrets).

How's the story? It's a good'un, with excellent misdirection and some exciting action scenes. Am I willing to take another trip with Jane? You bet! Just let me finish packing my bags.

Murder at the Mena House by Erica Ruth Neubauer

eISBN: 9781496725875

Kensington Books © 2020

eBook, 304 pages

Historical Mystery, #1 Jane Wunderly mystery

Rating: B+

Source: Net Galley

 

Mystery Stories by Elizabeth Peters

This is a collection of three short stories written by Elizabeth Peters. As a teenager, I enjoyed the books she wrote under the pen name Barbara Michaels, but it wasn't until I was an adult that I read one of her Amelia Peabody books (which really didn't grab me).

"Liz Peters, PI" is about a woman crime fiction writer/private investigator who has a friend drop dead in front of her in her own home. I loved the voice of Liz and laughed when she invoked the name of "St. Kinsey." This is a Christmas-themed story and did warm my heart.

"The Locked Tomb" is one of her ancient Egyptian-themed mysteries involving the robbery of a sealed tomb. I found this to be the least enjoyable of the three, primarily because it was so easy to deduce who robbed the tomb and how.

The third story is "The Runaway," about two teenage girls who ran away from home and have sought shelter in a derelict farmhouse out in the country. Not only did I like the voice of the younger sister, but I also found the story to be creepy and perfect for Halloween reading.

Did these stories tempt me to continue to read Elizabeth Peters? Only time will tell! 

Mystery Stories by Elizabeth Peters

eISBN: 9781504055505

Open Road Integrated Media © 2018

eBook, 86 pages

Short Stories

Rating: B

Source: Purchased from Amazon.


 

Easy Go by John Lange (Michael Crichton)

First Line: The Great Pyramid of Cheops filled the horizon.

There's nothing better that brilliant Egyptologist Harold Barnaby loves to do than go back over translations of ancient hieroglyphics and correct all the errors he finds. That's how he finds a message that just might lead him to a tomb holding fabulous treasure. 

He could put his name on the greatest archaeological find of the century, but there's one slight problem: he doesn't just want to dig it up. He wants to steal it. Unfortunately he's going to need help accomplishing this. With the aid of a smuggler, a thief, and an English lord, Barnaby plans his heist. What none of them realize is that tomb raiding is much trickier than they thought.

I've been slogging through a raft of unlikable characters in my reading lately, and I needed a complete change of pace. I was in the perfect mood for an adventure about finding-- and trying to steal-- the lost tomb of a pharaoh. Written under the pen name John Lange while he was still a resident, Michael Crichton's Easy Go was exactly what I needed when I needed it. (The man wrote books while in medical school and as a resident? Did he need no sleep?)

Yes, the book has its problems. The romance was rather feeble. Not only did it not seem to have much purpose in the book, it didn't do a thing for me. The characters were also stereotyped, but that almost goes hand-in-hand with most thrillers where the emphasis is on plot over character. 

I was more than willing to overlook the weaknesses for the luscious story. Speaking of weaknesses, I have one for a heist story well told, and this one delivers. I've always been fascinated with ancient Egypt and wondered what it would be like to actually find a pharaoh's tomb. From finding one, it's not that big of a jump to wonder what you would actually do with all that treasure-- especially if you thought you had a good chance of stealing it.

If you love ancient Egypt and are in the mood for a bit of fast-paced tomb raiding, give Easy Go a try. You might just enjoy it as much as I did.

Easy Go by John Lange (AKA Michael Crichton)

eISBN: 9781480400580

Open Road Integrated Media © 2013

Originally published in 1968.

eBook, 288 pages

Thriller, Standalone

Rating: A

Source: Purchased from Amazon. 


 

The Singer from Memphis by Gary Corby

First Line: "Master, there's a man at the door who wants to see you. He says his name is Herodotus."

Nicolaos believed helping an author with research for his book would be a pretty tame way to pay the bills. But Herodotus's research trip to Egypt isn't well timed. Egypt is in the midst of a rebellion to throw out its Persian Empire overlords. Pirates infest the sea. There are three different armies to contend with. You can't step foot in the river because of the crocodiles-- and there are hordes of secret agents on dry land. It's not long at all before Nicolaos wants to take his wife Diotima back home to Greece where he can get a decent cup of wine.

I fell for Gary Corby's grasp of history and his excellent storytelling the first time I picked up one of his Athenian mysteries. Nicolaos is the perfect sleuth, called upon to investigate all sorts of interesting situations by Athens' premier citizen, Pericles. Nico's wife Diotima (a former priestess) is quite talented at deduction herself, and even his younger brother Socrates (yes, that Socrates) can come up with a good question or two (dozen). 

Corby has created the perfect little time machine in which readers can visit ancient Greece and still feel at home. There are action sequences at sea and on dry land that will certainly keep the pages turning, and since there is no shortage of secret agents representing all the various factions in Egypt, readers will be kept guessing at the outcome. Traveling along with the world's first historian is yet another perk of reading this book.

One of the ways Corby makes readers feel so at home in this ancient world is with his use of humor. In this book, that humor begins with the title. How many of you thought of Elvis Presley when you saw "The Singer from Memphis"? I would imagine most of you did, unless you knew that Gary Corby writes mysteries set in ancient Greece and that there was a city in Egypt named-- you guessed it-- Memphis. But in this book, one of the characters is a young female who makes a living singing in a bar in Memphis, and the first time Nicolaos sees her, she's singing a song in Greek about suspicious minds. (Any Elvis fans smiling?) There's another instance of subtle humor when I was reminded of what happened when someone wore a red shirt in the original Star Trek series. Whether subtle or laugh-out-loud funny, Corby's humor brings his story to life and helps his readers make the transition to the ancient world. 

The Singer from Memphis has a wonderful setting and characters and an engrossing mystery with more than a hint of a treasure hunt to it. For those of you who are wavering because you think you'll be unable to pronounce words, know what some of the words are, or be lost in history, waver no more. Corby has included a short cast of characters complete with pronunciation, a brief historic timeline to set up the story (although you really don't need it), and a glossary to define any of the words you may not be familiar with. Rest assured that Corby does a marvelous job of placing you in the ancient world without the feeling that you're drowning in history. In addition, his Author's Note at the end should not be missed-- although he warns you not to read it first because it's full of spoilers. This section tells you what is true and what isn't in the story as well as several other fascinating facts. Is it necessary to read this series in order? No, but I can see you reading one and then going back for the others.

Gary Corby has prepared the feast, and it's sitting on the table, waiting for you. All you need to do is to sit down and begin enjoying yourself.
      

The Singer from Memphis by Gary Corby

ISBN: 9781616956684

Soho Crime © 2016

Hardcover, 352 pages

Historical Mystery, #6 Classical Athens mystery

Rating: A

Source: the publisher

   

Too Bad to Die by Francine Mathews

First Line: He learned about Mokie the day the new boy arrived.

Having barely survived his schooling and a quixotic mother, Ian Fleming is now an intelligence officer in the Royal Navy who spends his spare time spinning stories in his head, but when he becomes a part of the all-important Tehran Conference, he has no time to be bored. Tipped off that Hitler's top assassin is in Tehran with orders to kill Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin, Fleming goes undercover to identify and stop the killer. Between martinis, beautiful women and brutal attacks, this naval officer learns that betrayal can come from very unexpected quarters.

Having read and enjoyed Mathews' previous historical thriller Jack 1939, I looked forward to reading Too Bad to Die, and I was not disappointed. I was hooked in the prologue when I learned the origin of the book title. Too Bad to Die is an excellent blend of history, literature and cinema as it gives us the background of Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond, and the importance of the meeting between Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin. 

Mathews' research blends seamlessly into her narrative. Her portraits of the world leaders are at once informative and familiar. By sharing scenes from Fleming's boyhood, we can also read and smile and trace the beginnings of one of literature's most famous characters. 

While the book satisfies on both history and mystery levels, it also delivers with a good solid pace and exciting action sequences-- although a scene of torture towards the end of the book may make some readers uncomfortable. My radar must be in fine shape because I did find the identity of the super spy/killer a bit too easy to guess, but there's a lot more to this book than whodunnit. 

If you're a fan of well-researched, high octane historical thrillers, Too Bad to Die is too good to miss.

Too Bad to Die by Francine Mathews

ISBN: 9781594631795

Riverhead © 2015

Hardcover, 368 pages

Historical Thriller, Standalone

Rating: A

Source: Amazon Vine