A hilarious and old-fashioned whodunit romp in the mold of P. G. Wodehouse and Agatha Christie, with just a tiny dollop of John Buchan thrown in for good measure. Highly entertaining and perfect reading for winter nights, Blotto, Twinks and the Dead Dowager Duchess will keep you sweetly engrossed from start to finish.
New York Journal of Books
Although a very traditional English mystery, the characters are as entertaining, charismatic and all out fantastic as they were in the first. Mystery readers will want the adventures of Blotto and Twinks to continue for a very long time to come.
Feathered Quill Book Reviews
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Let Nury Vittachi give you a head start on chasing the holiday blues away with a hilarious mystery starring a feng shui master and his party girl assistant (first introduced to American readers in The Feng Shui Detective).
Geomancer C.F. Wong of Singapore needs money, and he needs it now. Because of an office-supply deal gone wrong, he owes a large sum to the Chinese mafia. Fortune favors him when the British royal family asks for a feng shui makeover of their state-of-the-art Skyparc passenger plane, and Joyce McQuinnie, Wong’s assistant, is thrilled at the possibility of meeting a real royal–preferably an available prince. The plum job gets complicated, however, when Joyce’s friend Paul is accused of murdering a top oil executive on board the Skyparc. Joyce is determined to prove Paul’s innocence, but if he’s not guilty, why has he taken a vow of silence? Who is the real killer? And what is the Queen of England’s last name?
The East-meets-West plot component fuels much of the story’s humor, with wonderful results. Shrewd, curmudgeonly Wong considers Westerners ridiculous and confusing, and isn’t shy about telling them so, committing gaffes of his own in the process. Joyce acts as the sleuth for most of the book, her dedication to Paul conflicting with Wong’s need for a quick buck until a third party pays Wong to investigate the murder. Though the answer to the mystery is a bit over-the-top, it is in keeping with the quirky plot and Vittachi’s breezy writing, and the resolution will leave readers laughing and satisfied.
Reviewed by Jaclyn Fulwood for Shelf Awareness
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Set in Florence, this atmospheric novel (written in the tradition of authors like Daphne Du Maurier) tells the story of a woman haunted by the past. Upon her return to the city, everywhere that she looks, Mary sees echoes of the tragedy that befell her. Some years earlier she had visited Florence with her husband. On a day trip to the Boboli Gardens with her husband’s colleagues, Mary had wandered off, only to be savagely attacked in a deserted part of the estate. Leaving Mary for dead, her attacker had then murdered her husband.
That was several years ago, and Mary has now returned to Florence to pursue a course in art history, but everywhere she turns, she comes across stories of women attacked in just the same way. According to the Florentine police, her husband’s attacker is dead, but if so, why do these new cases keep popping up?
Along with her journalist boyfriend, Mary is soon on her own investigative hunt to learn the secret that connects all these murdered women. On the path to the discovery of that answer, author Lucretia Grindle provides her readers with a rich story and an insider’s guide to the beauty and history of Florence. The city can be by turns both enchanting and frightening, and Grindle uses the eeriness to create a very haunted tale of death and religion.
Best of all, Grindle keeps the suspense going until the very end of the book, and wraps all the pieces up neatly. While there may be red herrings to lead readers off the trail, unlike some lesser works, in this novel, every character is used well to enrich the story and enhance the ghostly atmosphere. Everyone in Mary’s life raises suspicion, and everyone could be innocent. That is the brilliance of this plotline and what makes the book so enjoyable.
Of course the Florentine history and the beauty of its Renaissance art add to the richness of the telling. The Faces of Angels takes all the elements of what makes Florence so special, combines them with a contemporary murder mystery, and comes away with a very enjoyable read for mystery fans.
Reviewed by Christine Zibas for Reviewing the Evidence
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The Lover is a truly captivating book that was so very hard to put down, if you will pardon the cliché. It’s well-written with a firm grip of the history of that time as well as a look into the mind and actions of a murderer. Don’t miss it.
Read full review: Bookloons
Historical crime author Laura Wilson captures the air of uncertainty of this time period perfectly. Inspired by the true-life “Blackout Ripper,” a serial killer of prostitutes in the tradition of Jack the Ripper, The Lover evokes the twin threats of the nightly bombing raids and a crazed killer on the loose in London.
Read full review: Seattle PI
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Recently demoted journalist Harry Fitzglen is annoyed to be given the fluff assignment of covering a new art gallery opening. His interest is piqued, however, when he learns that the co-owner of the gallery is Simone Anderson, one half of formerly conjoined twins who disappeared from the public eye when they were infants. In his quest to solve the mystery, Harry stumbles upon records of another set of twins born a century earlier that may be connected to Simone. Pursuing this lead points Harry to a crumbling mansion on the Welsh border, Mortmain House, a foreboding place with a dark history. But bringing the truth to light can be dangerous and Harry may be unleashing secrets that put Simone’s life in danger.
With A Dark Dividing, author Sarah Rayne has created a mystery with supernatural elements that slowly builds tension throughout the book. She slowly builds an atmosphere that is unnerving and tense as the stories, both present and past, are revealed. Using more classical elements of mystery and the paranormal in ways that are reminiscent of Henry James or Wilkie Collins, the author has crafted a novel that is riveting and hard to put down.
Reviewed by Barbara Cothern, in Portland Book Review
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