books read, June
Jan. 14th, 2019 11:14 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cyphomandraHelene Hanff, 84, Charing Cross Road (re-read).
Robin Stevens, Murder Most Unladylike, Arsenic for Tea, First Class Murder, Jolly Foul Play, Mistletoe and Murder, Cream Buns and Crime (first four re-reads).
Shira Glassman, The Second Mango (reviewed earlier).
Laura Amy Schlitz, A Drowned Maiden’s Hair
T Kingfisher, The Clockwork Boys
Nancy Garden, The Year They Burned the Books
Dick Francis, Reflex
Anthony Horowitz, The House of Silk
This is always charming and compelling even when I am mentally arguing with the author over her ridiculous opinions about fiction (she is unconvinced). I am both curious as to how much editing went on to create this and reluctant to ever find out.
These are all solid detective stories as well as great depictions of character and I really like them (and ended up writing this for Yuletide). Hazel Wong, the Hong Kong Chinese narrator sent by her English-admiring (and, I think, Cambridge-educated father) to Deepdean School for Girls is both a standard detective narrator (the slightly foreign outside) and quite different in her control of the story, and Daisy Wells is both the typical English schoolgirl, all long blonde hair and fair play, and so much more than that. These cover the typical 30s settings of the boarding school (x2), the country house (cut off by floods), Cambridge, and, my favourite, the Orient Express, as well as an assortment of shorter pieces in Cream Buns and Crime. These do have slightly different titles in the US.
Maud Flynn is adopted from a suitably horrific period orphanage by a group of rich elderly sisters; desperate to stay with them rather than be sent back, she goes along with their when she discovers what they actually want her for - to play the part of the dead daughter of one of the clients the sisters extract money from via fake seances. All the characters in this are neatly done, and it’s an enjoyable children’s gothic without being too horrific.
I really need to read the second of this to judge it fairly; it feels very much cut off rather than shaped. In a city that is very much losing a war, a group of condemned criminals are sent on a suicide mission that just might save them all. I am fond of Slate, the grumpy criminal accountant who leads the group, and Sir Caliban, a paladin who murdered dozens when possessed by a demon, although I am not entirely convinced by all the romantic plotlines, and it’s a fun read while also having quite a lot going on underneath.
I still have a massive soft spot for her Annie on my Mind, but none of her others (that I’ve read) have ever approached that level (although I do like Lark in the Morning for being YA with a lesbian lead with a story that is not about her being a lesbian). This is surprisingly clumsy and all about the issues - Jamie Crawford, who is gay, edits her school newspaper, and comes up against a group of fundamentalists on the school committee. She also falls in love with a new girl who is a talented photographer (and straight) and her best friend is outed and attacked, and none of it, sadly, is particularly convincing. I downloaded one of her adult books with the aim of reviewing it for FFFriday, but the first few chapters haven’t worked for me either.
The camera one -sovay mentioned re-reading this, and I dug it out because I am nothing if not suggestible. As opposed to Lee Child, Dick Francis was capable of giving his books short, punchy titles that were both totally appropriate and deeply memorable. This is just lovely in terms of how it handles the plot and characters, and the final neat twist is particularly nice (in terms of the aims of the blackmailer).
Sherlock Holmes continuation officially authorised by the Conan Doyle estate. It’s okay. It’s about a ring of pedophiles so it has that whole “the story Conan Doyle couldn’t tell!” thing going on, and while the plot is all right the characters and in particular the Watson & Holmes relationship didn’t work for me.
Robin Stevens, Murder Most Unladylike, Arsenic for Tea, First Class Murder, Jolly Foul Play, Mistletoe and Murder, Cream Buns and Crime (first four re-reads).
Shira Glassman, The Second Mango (reviewed earlier).
Laura Amy Schlitz, A Drowned Maiden’s Hair
T Kingfisher, The Clockwork Boys
Nancy Garden, The Year They Burned the Books
Dick Francis, Reflex
Anthony Horowitz, The House of Silk
This is always charming and compelling even when I am mentally arguing with the author over her ridiculous opinions about fiction (she is unconvinced). I am both curious as to how much editing went on to create this and reluctant to ever find out.
These are all solid detective stories as well as great depictions of character and I really like them (and ended up writing this for Yuletide). Hazel Wong, the Hong Kong Chinese narrator sent by her English-admiring (and, I think, Cambridge-educated father) to Deepdean School for Girls is both a standard detective narrator (the slightly foreign outside) and quite different in her control of the story, and Daisy Wells is both the typical English schoolgirl, all long blonde hair and fair play, and so much more than that. These cover the typical 30s settings of the boarding school (x2), the country house (cut off by floods), Cambridge, and, my favourite, the Orient Express, as well as an assortment of shorter pieces in Cream Buns and Crime. These do have slightly different titles in the US.
Maud Flynn is adopted from a suitably horrific period orphanage by a group of rich elderly sisters; desperate to stay with them rather than be sent back, she goes along with their when she discovers what they actually want her for - to play the part of the dead daughter of one of the clients the sisters extract money from via fake seances. All the characters in this are neatly done, and it’s an enjoyable children’s gothic without being too horrific.
I really need to read the second of this to judge it fairly; it feels very much cut off rather than shaped. In a city that is very much losing a war, a group of condemned criminals are sent on a suicide mission that just might save them all. I am fond of Slate, the grumpy criminal accountant who leads the group, and Sir Caliban, a paladin who murdered dozens when possessed by a demon, although I am not entirely convinced by all the romantic plotlines, and it’s a fun read while also having quite a lot going on underneath.
I still have a massive soft spot for her Annie on my Mind, but none of her others (that I’ve read) have ever approached that level (although I do like Lark in the Morning for being YA with a lesbian lead with a story that is not about her being a lesbian). This is surprisingly clumsy and all about the issues - Jamie Crawford, who is gay, edits her school newspaper, and comes up against a group of fundamentalists on the school committee. She also falls in love with a new girl who is a talented photographer (and straight) and her best friend is outed and attacked, and none of it, sadly, is particularly convincing. I downloaded one of her adult books with the aim of reviewing it for FFFriday, but the first few chapters haven’t worked for me either.
The camera one -
sovay mentioned re-reading this, and I dug it out because I am nothing if not suggestible. As opposed to Lee Child, Dick Francis was capable of giving his books short, punchy titles that were both totally appropriate and deeply memorable. This is just lovely in terms of how it handles the plot and characters, and the final neat twist is particularly nice (in terms of the aims of the blackmailer).Sherlock Holmes continuation officially authorised by the Conan Doyle estate. It’s okay. It’s about a ring of pedophiles so it has that whole “the story Conan Doyle couldn’t tell!” thing going on, and while the plot is all right the characters and in particular the Watson & Holmes relationship didn’t work for me.
no subject
Date: 2019-01-14 12:18 am (UTC)That seems especially annoying in an authorized sequel!
I'm so glad you liked Reflex.
no subject
Date: 2019-01-23 08:18 pm (UTC)I did! I'd remembered the photography gimmick side of it, but not the main lead, and I liked him very much.