FEAR & PHANTOMS by Carol Hedges @caroljhedges #RBRT

5 GOLD stars

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How I discovered this book: it was submitted to Rosie's Book Review Team, of which I am a member.

Genre: Victorian Murder Mystery

This is the sixth book in Carol Hedges' Victorian Detectives series, featuring the inimitable Leo Stride and Jack Cully.  As ever, it is a complete stand alone; there is the odd reference to events that occurred in previous books, but none of these would make the book any less enjoyable to a reader new to the series.

The story opens in London's freezing early months of 1865, with a series of sightings of a ghostly Madonna in the Underground.  This, however, is but a humorous diversion from the main story, which involves a dastardly conman who defrauds banks to the extent of their ruin, and murders those who impede his success.

As ever, the star of the show is mid-Victorian era London itself, with many delightful, larger-than-life characters to illustrate its many faces.  You will meet the enchanting Pip and Muggly - starving street children who press their noses up against bakery shop windows - the rich in their gambling dens, hard-working clerks Helen and her twin brother Lambert Trigg, the lovely Lucy Landseer - aspiring novelist and writer of controversial articles - and the Triggs' landlords, Mr and Mrs Mutesius, so beautifully painted that you can almost smell the fustiness of their downstairs quarters, and many more.

One quip I have to mention ~ Jack Cully's disapproval of the name of a new cosmetic.  'I'm not a religious man, but all the same, I don't approve of using Bible names like that.  It's wrong.  Virgin soap, Virgin cream ~ whatever next?  Virgin trains?' 

 
No detail is spared in illustrating the gap between rich and poor, the plight of those who are just scraping together enough to keep body and soul together in grim lodgings, and the careless attitude of the unprincipled rich.  Ms Hedges' love of London and the period shines through, as always, her impeccable research and easy wit making this novel a joy to read; I read it in bed, as I always do with this series; curled up under the duvet I could almost believe that outside my window was Victorian London.  I loved every word. 

*****

LILY WHITE IN DETROIT by Cynthia Harrison @CynthiaHarriso1 #RBRT

4 out of 5 stars

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How I discovered this book: it was submitted to Rosie's Book Review Team, of which I am a member.

Genre: Crime, Psychological

Lily White is a PI in Detroit who usually concentrates on insurance scams and missing persons.  When she is asked to investigate the activities of Jimmy Heyl's wife, she finds herself involved in much more than she bargained for, and events become complicated when her personal and professional lives become intertwined.

The novel is written in alternating POVs: Lily in the 1st person, and Detective Paxton in the third.  From the beginning of the story, we discover that there is more to Lily than meets the eye, and the mystery surrounding her is drip-fed slowly, which I liked.  The theme of PTSD is examined throughout the novel, with regard to both Lily and the ex-partner of Paxton.  It is clear that the author has done her research into not only the psychological effects but also the physiological, and the effect is quite an eye-opener for a reader such as me; I knew very little about it.  The factual side of the novel is convincing throughout, and I liked the picture of the Detroit of the 21st century.

I do warm to an emotionally damaged loner in novels, and though this character type is one to be found often in detective stories both in literature and on-screen, Lily was in no way a stereotype.  The author's background in romance novel writing was evident in that I could see exactly where a certain relationship was heading from the very beginning (you know how in romance novels the reader knows before the characters do!), but this element did not seem out of place, for this is a psychological drama as well as a crime story.

There were some events that I thought deserved to be shown in an actual scene via flashback, or at the time, rather than the details being related to one character from another in dialogue, which would have made for more impact and suspense, but on the whole it's a cleverly put together book, and I'd recommend it for anyone who enjoys unravelling murder clues, or has particular interest in PTSD.

SURVIVOR'S CLUB by M K Martin @MKMartinWriter #RBRT

4 out of 5 stars

On Amazon UK
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How I discovered this book: it was submitted to Rosie's Book Review Team, of which I am a member.

Genre: SciFi, genetic engineering, horror.

A brilliant young geneticist, Marius Tenartier, starts work at the top security Chrysalis Biopharmaceuticals.  It seems like he's landed a dream job, but is a bit perturbed by the excessive regulations and the way in which the company appears to expect full life commitment.  The first 20% was brilliant; I was totally engrossed.  It was clear that the author really knows her stuff, and was so well-written, and cleverly, subtly sinister.  Then Marius is sent on a mission to pick up one of the boss's daughters and pick up some samples, and the book turned into something else.  I felt as if it had switched genre from a terrifically convincing scifi thriller into comedy horror, with humans growing tentacles and damsel in distress Miranda's inner thoughts about how hot Marius is when she's strapped to a gurney by a mutating madman.

The book is more people-fighting-monsters-ish than I thought it would be, but of its type it's jolly good.  I liked the writing style a lot, although sometimes the quip-filled dialogue became a little irritating, particularly that of Miranda.  I notice that the author has a military type background and this is clear; this aspect of the novel was highly convincing, as was the medical.  I liked the ending very much; I love a book that surprises and leaves you up in the air in the last chapter, a perfect lead in to the next book.

If you like intelligent scifi/horror and have an interest in horrendous viral outbreaks, I'd most certainly recommend this book.  

UNFORGIVABLE by Sharon Robards

4 out of 5 stars

On Amazon UK
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How I discovered this book: bought after reading this review by Tom Williams; he'd told me how good the book was.

Genre: 1960s drama, about unmarried mothers, and adoption.

Set Australia, this novel is about Sylvia, who, in 1966, is sent by her mother to a Catholic home for unmarried mothers, her baby to be given up for adoption as soon as it is born.

Sylvia resists the often mentally brutal treatment by the nuns, in the belief that her life, her body and her baby should be her own to do with as she pleases, and that her boyfriend, Tommy, will stick by her.  The book is written from alternating third person points of view, that of Sylvia and a young nun, Sister Gregory, who is confused about her committment to the life she has chosen.  Both scenarios work well against the backdrop of the societal changes that were taking place in the 1960s.

The book made me feel a frustrated sort of anger, mostly about how organised religion is used as a method of control, the guilt and self-doubt it induces and the misery caused by these establishments; I felt sure that the author knew her stuff, and I know the reality can be a lot worse than in this story.  Sylvia's plight was heartbreaking, and I wanted so much for things to work out for her; she is so well-written.  Sister Gregory's dilemmas interested me less, but that's just a personal viewpoint; she was equally well-drawn, but I would have enjoyed it more if there had been less about her and more about Sylvia's circumstances.

One of the other 'waiting girls' at the hospital, Kim, is a secondary character in the story, and is the focus of both the prologue and epilogue - in the 1990s, when she is reunited with her adopted child.  I could see why this was done, though it was a bit of anticlimax as I wanted to know what happened to Sylvia, and to a lesser extent Sister Gregory, but this remained a mystery.  On the whole, though, I'd most definitely recommend this book if this is a subject you'd like to read about.  Unless the whole religion bit makes you too angry.  But it's good.  And I do hope Sylvia was okay.  😕

THE LONG FALL by Logan Keys and Mike Kraus

3 out of 5 stars

On Amazon UK
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How I discovered this book: Amazon Browse

Genre: Post Apocalyptic, Climate Change, SciFi

This is part one of a 10 or 12 short novella series, about an unspecified time in the future when a company called Cybercorp have fashioned some sort of thermal shade over the planet to stop global warming.  Whether or not that is a ludicrous idea I don't know, not being a scientist, but I'm prepared to suspend disbelief if the story is great.  At first, I thought it was going to be; it starts off in Antartica when everything begins to go horribly wrong and the temperature plummets super-fast, killing off a bunch of scientists in horrendous ways.  Then the story moves to a girl who works on the NY Times trying to get home in artic temperatures, and the nanny of some kids in Kansas who would have taken them trick or treating if it wasn't for the sudden blizzard and hurricanes.  Okay, so there were some editing 'ouches', but the suspense/drama/extreme weather stuff in all the different scenarios was so good that I could live with them.

Alas, it then went from good to not so good to hmmmm.  Bad punctuation, bad formatting, cheesy dialogue and grammar that was not so much lazy as had decided to take a duvet day.  It seemed like the first half had been written with more care, but the second half was still in first draft.  Such a shame; I was looking forward to finding a good new series and this could have been terrific if it had been redrafted a bit more and worked on by people who know their stuff.  I will, however, try one of Mike Kraus's solo books, as I know he is very popular.  Meanwhile, if anyone can recommend some good (and well edited) books of this genre (EMP, climate change, pandemic, zombie and general dystopian/post apoc), please let me know; I've been disappointed too many times recently. 

MOURNING DOVE by Claire Fullerton @cfullerton3

4.5 out of 5 stars

On Amazon UK
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How I discovered this book: I downloaded it on Kindle Unlimited after reading this review on Rosie Amber's blog and this review on Between The Lines.

Genre: Family Saga (set in Memphis).

Not my usual genre these days, but I do find the culture of the Deep South interesting, and the reviews assured me that it would be worth a read.  It certainly was; it's a fine book.  

The book starts in the late 1960s-ish, and does not have a rounded plot with a beginning, middle and end, but is more just the tale of a family's lives.  It is a first person narrative, told by Millie, who is a child at the start of the book.  Millie's mother is Posey Crossan, née Hawthorne, the archetypal Southern belle from a monied family, with all the accompanying conservative, old-style social expectations, standards and prejudices deeply ingrained within her psyche.  She is the ultimate survivor, and is beautifully drawn:

She had the kind of looks that waited in arrested development during her youth, then pounced like a cat around the time she turned forty.

She was a woman who thought ahead, who'd redirected a nurse from inflicting an innoculation shot on my infant left shoulder to the area tucked beneath my left shoulder blade so I'd look good in a strapless evening gown.

... socialising in her fabulous full-length beaver coat, deeply engaged in gossiping, which was the only contact sport that ever truly held her attention

The other main character is Millie's brilliant, charismatic brother Finley, who excels at school but chucks up any sort of 'expected' career in favour of his band; this brings with it the usual associated difficulties, as artistic clashes occur, and later the insanity of relgious cults is added to the mix.  Throughout, I could feel the clash of the old guard with the ideas and aspirations of the younger generation.

In many ways, although we hear about her circumstances too, Millie is the narrator of the lives of Posey and Finley and the life and times of those around them, standing back, as if her own tale is but a minor plot thread.  It's so well-written, and the characterisation is marvellous.

It works best if you read it in a Deep South accent, I found... and if complex family sagas are your thing, I am sure you will adore this book.