The Blue and the Gray by M.J. Trow

First Sentence:  “I don’t believe it!” Arlette Ross McKintyre’s eyes flashed fire as she looked up at the Presidential box.”

      

Captain Matthew Grand happened to be attending the play at Ford’s Theater when Lincoln is shot.  He attempted to apprehend Booth, but failed and is sent to London undercover to track down one of the co-conspirators.  In London, newspaper report Jim Batchelor has been investigating a series of garrottings by the Haymarket Strangler but is hired to do an article on Grand and the assassination.  The unlikely pair team up when there are signs the two cases may be related.

      

The story begins with an opening which starts out light but quickly turns much darker and tragic.  What is interesting is that one never thinks of Lincoln’s assassination from the perspective of a bystander, yet Trow does an excellent job of making you feel as though you were there. 

      

The characters are fully drawn.  Grand’s fiancée is catty, ambitious and highly annoying; yet her butler is delightful. Grand has the confidence of a former military captain, yet you feel his overwhelm in coming to London.  Batchelor is canny and a survivor who believes in what he does. The interchanges between Grand and Batchelor are wonderful and the characters are an interesting mix.

      

Trow provides fascinating references to historical characters and events, most of which may have been previously unknown to readers, yet their inclusion adds extra dimension to the story.  For all the grimness of the situations, Trow’s voice and touches humor, of situations and the dialogue.

      

“The Blue and the Gray” is a very good read introducing two wonderful characters.  How delightful to find a new series to follow.

THE BLUE AND THE GRAY (Hist Mys – Capatin Matthew Grand/James Batchelor – Washington D.C., London – 1865) - VG

Trow, M.J. – 1st in series

Severn House – April 2015

An Unmarked Grave by Charles Todd

First Sentence:  I stopped just outside the ward and leaned my head against the cool wood of the doorframe.

      

WWI is raging but it is influenza that battlefield nurse, Bess Crawford, and others which is killing off soldiers.  In the midst of the dead is a man whose death isn’t from either war or illness; he’s been murdered and Bess recognizes him.  Those who’ve seen the body start to die in ways that seem natural.  Before Bess can do anything, she also succumbs to the flu and is sent back to England, but that doesn’t stop her determination to find out who killed the man and why.

      

The story begins with a powerful and effective opening relating to the impact of the influenza epidemic in the midst of war.  What sets the Todds apart is the ability to describe an horrific scene, conveying all the impact, but without going into graphic detail.  By contrast, you truly can feel the love and caring that Bess and her family have for one another.  It’s also nice to see the progression, albeit very slow progression, of the relationship between Bess and Simon, her father’s bagman.

      

There is a large collection of characters, but they weren’t confusing.  The Todds have truly captured the dedication of the war-time nurses and the contrast of their lives from being on the battlefield and when they return to England, remember that most of the nurses came from the upper classes           

      

“An Unmarked Grave” may be the best in the series, so far.  There is drama, intensity and some excellent red herrings. 

AN UNMARKED GRAVE (Hist Mys-Bess Crawford-France/England-1918) – VG+

Todd, Charles – 4^th in series

William Morrow, June 2012 

A Market Tale by Martin Walker

First Sentence:  Like so many events in the small Périgord town of St. Denis, deep in the gastronomic heartland of France, this story begins in the market that takes place each week in the square between the seventeenth-century mairie and the old stone bridge that crosses the Rover Vézère. 

            

When Kati, a Swiss tourist, catches the eye of Marcel, a young widower and friend to Bruno, the town’s police chief, everyone is delighted. Everyone, that is, except Marcel’s overbearing sister, Nadette.  When her schemes against Kati escalate to the attention of the law, it’s time for Bruno to step in.

            

Walker’s descriptions are evocative and sensory…”It was like tasting perfume:  a sweetness that was intense without being sickly, and with a sparkling zest that seemed both full of energy and deeply comforting.”  What a wonderful description conveying the taste of a fine strawberry.  He places you in the environment of the story of sights, sounds, smells and even tastes.  One cannot read Walker without wishing for the wonderful foods he describes.

            

In Bruno, Walker has created a character who believes in maintaining the law, but using finesse over force, and he does that to perfection here with a resolution satisfactory to everyone.

            

“A MarketTale” is a delightfully charming story that leaves you smiling…and hungry.

A MARKET TALE (Short Story-Bruno-St. Denis, France-Contemp) – VG

Walker, Martin – Short Story

Random House / A Vintage Short (Kindle eBook), December 2014

As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust by Alan Bradley

First Sentence:  “Banished!” the wild wind shrieked as it tore at my face.

      

Falva de Luce has been sent off to boarding school in Toronto; the same school her mother had attended.  On her first night there, down from the chimney in her room drops a charred and mummified body.  It had clearly been there some time and it’s head had separated from the rest.  Flavia is determined both to find out the victim’s identity and who killed her, but also solve the mystery of girls disappearing without a trace from the school

      

A compelling opening, or hook, is always important to a story.  This had a great hook!

      

Flavia is now 12, but she is anything but your typical pre-teen.  She is a self-trained chemist, bright beyond her years and accustomed to corpses, this being the seventh she has encountered.  She is a completely fascinating character.  It is not that she is particularly likable, but that she is smart and clever, sympathetic to those who are weak, and vulnerable in her own way.  In a sense, Flavia is a character to whom anyone who grew up feeling different, isolated or alone and easily understand, “No sooner was I safely among the gravestones than a great feeling of warmth and of calm contentment came sweeping over me.”

      

Although, for series fans, it seems strange for Flavia to not have her usual supporting cast, her new one is more than admirable.  In fact, there are a number of them who are quite delightful. 

      

There are some references to previous books.  However, if one has not read them, it is not a hindrance, although it does leave open the pleasure awaiting a new reader to start at the beginning of the series.

      

Bradley has an excellent voice and captures Flavia brilliantly and with soft humor.  She is both very human and a little bit frightening, but never in a cruel way. 

      

“As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust” is a very good, clever mystery with good twists and a more than satisfactory ending.

A CHIMNEY SWEEPERS COME TO DUST (Trad Mys-Flavia de Luce-Canada-Contemp) – VG

Bradley, Alan – 7th in series

Delacorte Press, 2014

The Museum of Literary Souls by John Connolly

First Sentence:  Let us begin with this:  to those looking at his life from without, it would have seemed that Mr. Berger led a dull existence.

      

Mr. Berger leads a quiet, uneventful life.  An inheritance has allowed him to retire young and move to a small English village, spending most of his time reading and walking.  On one walk, he sees a woman who reminds him greatly of a classic fictional character.  She throws herself in front of a train, but no body, of any evidence of the event, is found.  When Berger encounters her again, he follows her to a place where fiction and reality intermingle.

     

 Connolly has employed a voice reminiscent of “once upon a time.”  From the moment you start reading, you know you are in for a good story.  He has wonderful, subtle humor, irony and dialogue; great repartee.  ““You may think me mad.”  “My dear fellow, we hardly know each other.  I wouldn’t dare to make such a judgment until we were better acquainted.”  Which seemed fair enough to Mr. Berger.”

This ebook is only 68 pages.  However, within those pages lies magic.  It's a book which tickles one's imagination and makes you smile.

“The Museum of Literary Souls” is a story with which every bibliophile and true lover of books will identify.  There’s even a slight nod to Doctor Who.  What a wonderful story.

THE MUSEUM OF LITERARY SOULS (Fantasy/Mystery-Mr. Berger-England-Contemp) – Ex

Connolly, John – Standalone Novelette

Storyfront, 2013 - Amazon Digital Services, Inc.

The Laws of Murder by Charles Finch

First Sentence:  A late winter’s night in London:  the city hushed; the revelers half an hour in their beds; a new snow softening every dull shade of gray and brown into angelic whiteness.

      

Charles Lenox has retired from Parliament and returned to detective work, opening an agency with three others.  Business has fallen off, and unfavorable statements have been made about the agency in the press, one by Inspector Jenkins, a long-time Scotland Yard ally.  When Jenkins is murdered, Inspector Nicholson, with whom Lenox had also worked, comes to hire the agency’s help. Of particular interest to Lenox is that Jenkins body is in front of the house of the Marquess of Wakefield, one of those on Lenox’s list of criminals who have, so far, evaded his capture. 

      

The first sentence alone provides a sense of the wonderful sense of place created by Finch.  His period details are just as well honed.  Unfortunately, a very fine first chapter is spoiled with the inclusion of a completely unnecessary portent which immediately takes the reader out of the moment the author just spent several pages constructing.  Happily, it was the only portent.

      

Finch has created a very good, well-rounded cast of characters.  They are fully dimensional and have lives beyond the actual mystery.  He also brings new readers up to speed very quickly.  He writes small children very well and the interludes of domesticity add a charm and sense of reality to the story.  By Lenox having a daughter, it enables him to contemplate the roles of women in present, and in future, society.  Though his friendship with his former butler, we learn a bit about the inner workings of Parliament during that time.

      

Even though the reader is quite certain the tides of fortune will, at some point, change, it’s nice to see the protagonist realistically going through a difficult time.  That Lenox realizes he is in a situation different from anything he has previously experienced adds a maturity to the character and the story. 

      

Finch has a wonderful way with words that add a richness to the story; “…big windows overlooking Chancery Lane.  Dozens of raindrops were dawdling down them, moving infinitesimally until one would decide to fall all at once in a split second, as if dashing for a forgotten appointment.”

      
“The Laws of Murder” is a well done historical mystery with a good plot twist and a very satisfactory climax. 

THE LAWS OF MURDER(Hist Mys/Enquiry Agent-Charles Lenox-London-1876) - VG

Finch, Charles – 8^th in series