Knight in Peril / Alice Bienia

 

3.5 out of 5 stars 

Mystery Book Club 2024

From the very first pages, this novel racheted up my anxiety level. Although I have loved travel, I am very definitely a tour traveller. I have zero desire to be all on my own in an unfamiliar place. So Jorja's arrival in Istanbul with no friend waiting to greet her would be a nightmare for me. Realizing that her travel companion and BFF has gone missing adds a whole new layer of angst. I immediately knew that I would need to take frequent breaks while reading this book to soothe my own anxieties.

This is my worst nightmare in fictional form. Searching for a missing woman in a country where I do not know the language and where women's status is definitely second class. A country where the police are not inclined to care about foreigners. Far from friends and family, feeling extreme fear about Gabriella's situation, Jorja demonstrates far more bravery than I think I would. Although I've experienced challenges while outside Canada, nothing this serious has ever happened to me, thank the Goddess! I'll not complain about lost luggage or flight delays ever again.

I am now ready for book club tomorrow night. The author will be attending, so I hope to have some questions formulated for the event. October is evaporating on me and I still have a number of Halloween books to get to. Too bad I couldn't figure out a way to wiggle this book into that game.

Last Argument of Kings / Joe Abercrombie

 

4 out of 5 stars 

Halloween Bingo 2024

I’m not sure why, but reading this book felt like wading through pudding. It was delicious pudding, but I felt like it was much more than 600 pages. None of the characters are particularly endearing, yet I like them and I’m interested in their antics. I mean, Sand dan Glokta has a fabulous inner dialog. Logen Ninefingers, when he’s not berserking out as the Bloody Nine, has plenty of practical wisdom (Better to do a thing than live in fear of it. You can never have too many knives). Ferro, with her disgust for the vast majority of humanity, is highly entertaining. Even poor old Jezel has his moments.

I suspect my problem was a combination of the plethora of battle scenes and the torture sessions. Lately, I have found the endless battle scenes in fantasy fiction to be exhausting and repetitive. And much as I enjoy Glokta, his profession as torturer is off putting. The good news is that the second half of the book seemed to go easier and I picked up steam. The writing is excellent, the settings well realized, the plot is complex enough to keep me reading, but as I indicated above, it was the characterization that cinches this book as well worthwhile.

Abercrombie has tied up enough loose ends to satisfy me. At this point I don’t believe I’ll be continuing on beyond the First Law trilogy. Dark fiction has just worn me down. My apologies to the unfortunate person waiting patiently for me to return this tome to the library—it will be 3 days overdue when I chuck it in the book return tomorrow.

I read this book for the Dark, Darker, Grimdark square of my Bingo card. It is also Book number 529 of my Science Fiction and Fantasy Reading Project

Gone With the Twins / Kylie Logan

 

3.7 out of 5 stars 

Halloween Bingo 2024

I'm both glad and sad that I've reached the last Literary Ladies novel. I will miss learning of the future adventures of this funny foursome: Bea, Chandra, Kate and Luella. They have come a long way since the first book, where they were sentenced to a court-ordered book club where they could work out their differences. But I also think that this is a good stopping place.

Each mystery in this series centres around some classic novel that the book club is reading. This time it's Gone With the Wind, which I found a little odd for a series set on a little island on Lake Erie, deep in Yankee country. Obviously, Kylie Logan had come up with a way to use details from the classic to dress up her cozy mystery and was willing to live with that dissonance. There's a new B&B in town, run by twins who are famous for being kidnapped and mysteriously escaping. They've named their establishment Tara and are hosting a Civil War themed fund raising gala there. And they seem to be out to ruin Bea's business.

In the meantime, there's been a murder of a local real estate agent who has so many detractors that the police are spoiled for choice of suspects. Bea learns that the dead woman broke up Chandra's first marriage and Chandra has been acting erratically. It doesn't take Bea long to take up the hunt for the killer in order to clear her friend.

This was perfect for the Twilight on the Great Lakes square of my Bingo card, as it takes place on South Bass Island on Lake Erie.

The Fake Mate / Lana Ferguson

 

3.5 out of 5 stars 

Halloween Bingo 2024

So this was and wasn't what I expected. I mean with a title like The Fake Mate, I knew that faking would backfire on Mackenzie and Noah. The fun would be in watching it happen. That was the expected part.

The unexpected part was the werewolf part. I'm glad I had previously read (and obsessively re-read) Bride, so the whole idea of knotting wasn't new to me, but in that book the woman of the couple is a Vampyre. No going into heat for her. That was a new (somewhat horrifying) concept. And werewolf sex is … um….juicy? There are an awful lot of bodily fluids involved. I have never been so pleased to be plain vanilla human!

Ferguson also portrays the roles of alpha and omega much differently than my other instructor, namely Patricia Briggs. You couldn't get much different from Charles and Anna Cornick. But I liked Mackenzie's smart aleck sense of humour and her teasing of the initially grumpy Noah. I also enjoyed watching them deal with Noah's mother and Mackenzie's gran, all while trying to maintain the nonchalant façade.

So, reluctant romance reader that I am, I must admit that I enjoyed this quite a bit. Still not as much as Bride—I don't think it'll be in my re-reading queue—but I'm glad I picked it up. (And if this had just been humans in a similar plot, I'm pretty sure it would have bored me to death.)

I read this for the Shifters square on my Bingo Card.

How to Book a Murder / Cynthia Kuhn

 

3 out of 5 stars 

Halloween Bingo 2024

As cozy mysteries go, this one is middle of the road for me. Emma Starrs isn't an idiot, although she does eavesdrop an awful lot. She doesn't seem to believe the police are bumblers, although she does question their priorities. I think I might feel similarly if I was accused of murder. However I always feel like the police don't behave realistically in this genre either.

What I did like was the family business aspect and her relationships with her sister and aunt. Those felt real and grounded the story. I found the “mean girls" from high school, now thinking that they run the town, a little over the top. I mean, do people really carry teenage grudges that long? I would expect Emma to have grown enough to stand up to them better. She has a PhD, for Pete's sake! She has brains and skills, which her nemesis Tabitha does not.

Thankfully the other cozy tropes were pretty mild: the family bookstore has a cat but it doesn't play a major role. Emma's sister finds a love interest, but Emma hasn't yet. There are hints at the end that a certain author might be interested, but they only have a coffee date. The author isn't hurrying to throw absolutely everything into the bucket right away and I appreciate that restraint.

I'm unsure that I'll pursue the series, but stranger things have happened.

I read this for the Cozy Mystery square on my Bingo Card.

Le Fay / Sophie Keetch

 

4.25 out of 5 stars 

Halloween Bingo 2024

OMG, the second “ugly crying" book this week! Will my sinuses ever recover? And, yes, I know this is a Morgan le Fay and King Arthur retelling, so happy endings are just not probable.

Morgan stands up to Merlin, to the judgment of Christians (who frankly don't act very Christian), to Queen Guinevere (who is determined to control her), her brutal husband Urien of Gore, and to the unyielding misjudgment of her brother Arthur. She is not without fault—impetuous, easily angered, unwilling to be limited by anyone, stubborn. Yet I could strongly identify with her independence and determination. Merlin has managed to subvert her brother and his kingdom, leading him to seek power only through violence, foregoing negotiation and not caring to understand Morgan's position. Morgan has lost so much and feels it so deeply.

I must believe at this point that there will be a third book. There just has to be a continuation that includes Lancelot, to humanize Guinevere and teach her to judge less harshly. Does Morgan get a show down with Ninniane, with whom she once had an understanding? Where is Morgan's second child? Will Morgan make good on her vow to bring down the golden city of Camelot? It will undoubtedly make me cry again, but it will be worth it.

I read this for the Grimm Tale square on my Bingo Card.

Poison or Protect / Gail Carriger

 

3.5 out of 5 stars 

Halloween Bingo 2024

This little novella is the story of two operatives, sent by the vampires and the werewolves, who are to unobtrusively protect their host, the Duke of Snodgrove. Preshea Villentia has outlived four husbands and has a reputation as a skilled poisoner. Captain Gavin Ruthven is a massive Scotsman, retired from the military. They immediately recognize each other as potential assistance or obstacles and the dance begins.

They do manage to prevent the Duke’s assassination and to ruin the courtship of his daughter by an unsuitable young man, Gavin’s companion Jack. As usual with Carriger, there are ridiculous situations (a live lobster scurrying around the daughter’s bedroom, for instance). But these are just the framework the author uses to display the developing romance between Preshea and Gavin.

It turns out that Preshea’s marriages were arranged by her employer and the men were marked for death. But before they died, their behaviour towards Preshea has confirmed her opinion that men are brutal and that she is incapable of love. Gavin approaches her gently, treating her like a skittish horse. Can he convince her that she is completely safe with him, that he will never overpower her or take away her options? His careful courtship and Preshea’s sexual awakening are the true point of the story.

I read this for the Punk’d square on my Bingo Card. The steampunk details are few, but present.