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From City Book Review:
“A devastatingly accurate recreation of life in the upper reaches of British society in 1952-3, nicely capturing the paper-thin hypocrisy of those in positions of influence.”
A review of Ghost Song from the e-zine Curled Up with a Good Book:
“Ghost Song will scare you, titillate you, and keep you turning pages until you find out exactly what happens to Toby Chance, a successful songwriter who eerily disappears in 1914….[A] delightful read.”
By Tom Schantz for the The Denver Post:
The antihero of L.C. Tyler’s four-book Edgar-nominated series puts pen to paper only when the bill collectors gather. …. But bills must be paid, so he hits upon the idea of taking a cruise down the Nile to spark his less-than-fertile imagination. After all, it worked for Agatha Christie. Once again Ellie, his faithful agent, accompanies him and it doesn’t take long before Ethelred (the most unready of all writers) finds himself dealing with a very real murder. It’s an affectionate send-up of the genre by a writer who, unlike Ethelred, is adept at turning a phrase and planting a clue. It may not be a serious mystery but it is seriously funny.
It’s not as if we aren’t warned — by page 3 of the prologue, we learn that on Coronation Day in London of June 1953, Harriet Wallis will shoot to death her husband, Cecil. The next 331 pages explain in grim, compulsively readable detail, what leads up to this event, making Harriet the “second-last” woman to be hanged in England. The upper-middle class Wallises, their strange children, a relative and a nanny with a secret will all figure in this story, and it’s a tribute to the author that we keep reading, knowing what a sad ending awaits.
By Harriet Klausner of The Mystery Gazette and Midwest Book Review:
This is an enjoyable historical thriller that opens up with the murder followed by what led to the homicide. Harriet is like the rest of the country as life has begun to return to normal after the Depression and war, and the pending coronation brings fervor of renewal. Although the storyline never matches the opening psychological suspense, fans will enjoy reading this engaging tale wanting to know why.
In the voice of Downton Abbey’s Dowager Countess Violet! (no, seriously)
It all starts with the purchase of a console television, so it’s no surprise that things end badly. The television is to ensure that the Wallis family, their friends, and anointed neighbors can watch the coronation on June 2, 1953, of that Windsor girl in the ease of their comfortable South Kensington home. Just as the newly crowned queen steps out onto the balcony of Buckingham Palace, Mrs. Wallis fires six bullets into her husband and is duly tried and found guilty, becoming the second-to-last woman in England to be executed. Once the author has our attention, the story slowly and with totally convincing and elaborate detail portrays the pressure cooker that is that “ideal” 1950s London home.
“Brett is a devastating social critic and master of equally devastating physical characterization. This is the kind of book you’ll have to put down frequently, as you roar with laughter.”
From Stephen Hong Sohn’s Asian American Literature Fans:
The texture of Flint’s narrative is tremendous, as she weaves together a crackling plot and adds other dimensions that speak to the complicated transnational social contexts that link both Singapore and Malaysia.
