Allegiance of Honor / Nalini Singh

 

3.7 out of 5 stars 

It's been over a year since I last visited the Psy-Changeling world and I felt the pull this week. Singh has increased the ante in the last few volumes. Of course there's still a strong romantic element--that's her signature, after all, but the global politics between the Changelings, the Humans, the Forgotten, and the Psy have become absorbing for me. This change in focus is noticeable in the cover art for recent books. They no longer feature headless, shirtless male torsos. With the introduction of plotlines focusing on Psy main characters, clothed male figures became more prevalent, followed by this novel with a much more abstract image. I don't mind one little bit!

This story involves a big win for multi-species co-operation. Working together, they recover a kidnapped member of the aquatic shapeshifter community. The wolves and leopards may be leading the way, but other groups are seeing the benefits of the Trinity group too. Now the challenge will be deflecting the malign influences of the Consortium. 

There's a little too much baby kissing in this book for my taste, but I decided at age 11 that children were not on my list of life goals. I realize that I am in the minority on this issue. Babies agree with me, however; they start to fuss soon after some well meaning person insists that I hold them. Inexperienced as they are, infants recognize a rank amateur. 

I had hoped to plunge on into the next book and was ever so disappointed to find that it would be necessary to wait. Humph! But Libby promises that a copy will be available soon. I certainly hope so.

Exit Strategy

 

3.75 out of 5 stars 

Kelley Armstrong is going to be attending a conference this summer that I am registered for and it is my practice to read something by the featured guests before the event. I have previously read two books from Armstrong's urban fantasy Otherworld series and, despite being a UF enthusiast, they didn't inspire me. Since then, the author has branched out into other genres and I decided to give this series a try. I'm glad I did, as I quite prefer it.

Contract killers seem to be having a moment. I guess they are exotic and intriguing to us ‘normal’ folk and their inner lives are fun to speculate about. Most of us will never meet such a person, so a novel chock full of them, like this one, multiplies the allure. Maybe it's like the current fascination with true crime—our society trying to figure out its dark side.

At any rate, I rather liked Nadia, the former police officer, who now owns a vacation lodge in the Ontario wilderness and takes hit jobs to pad her budget. Kind of like the farmer who has a job in town so he can keep on farming. Her mentor, Jack, is more enigmatic, taciturn to the point of ridiculousness. It becomes obvious that he would like to be more meaningful in Nadia's life, but has no idea how to accomplish that. He can easily plan someone's death, but can't plan how to advance a relationship. Armstrong introduces the rogue FBI agent Quinn in part to inspire Jack to quit dillydallying. Quinn has no problem relating to Nadia and she is attracted to him in return. Although I'm not usually into love triangles, I find this one interesting and I found myself placing a hold on book two immediately after finishing this one.

I guess I have found a way into Armstrong’s work. I'll be interested to hear her speak in August. 

The Paris Mystery / Kirsty Manning

 

3 out of 5 stars 

I’m trying to find my reading groove again, so I picked up this mystery chosen by my RL book club and hoped for the best. I was in luck, as Manning wrote a decent story. The setting was distinctly outside my experience, so I have no idea how realistic her version of 1938 Paris and the news business of the time is. In order to enjoy the book, one must make several assumptions: that a young Australian woman would slide into Parisian society so seamlessly, that her employer would be as supportive as depicted, and that opportunities for investigation would be achieved so easily. One must avoid looking at these details too directly or risk destroying the pleasure of a convenient plot.

I admit that I groaned a bit when I picked up the book and realized it featured a journalist. I did not expect to be converted to liking Charlie and it took me about 60 pages to find myself okay with her.

In short, it was better than I anticipated and not a hardship to read (unlike some other book club selections). Some of this is due to me, not the book, as I have a concentration problem currently.

At Bertram's Hotel / Agatha Christie

 

4.25 out of 5 stars 

Book 10 of the 2025 Read Your Hoard Challenge

I've been having difficulty settling on a book recently. I pick up one, then another, but can't seem to concentrate on any of them. What cures that? Agatha Christie, of course! Especially if it's a Miss Marple. I admired the structure of the mystery as I read, watching Christie weave together a train robbery, an underhanded young heiress, an absentminded clergyman, and the anachronistic hotel that Miss M has chosen as her get away.

Despite the presence of my favourite old bird, Miss Marple doesn't actually solve this one. She is merely the sharp eared and observant bystander. Chief Inspector Davy, to his credit, quickly realizes that she is a valuable resource and treats her accordingly, but it is he who does the heavy lifting, figuring out the whole web of crime.

I must confess that I enjoyed the delightfully vague Canon Pennyfather. The fact that he would wander the world continually unsure where he was going was amusing. The people who know him wait quite a while before starting to worry about him. I've gone through the same chain of emotion: starting with wondering, moving on to mild annoyance, followed by exasperation, and culminating in being acutely worried. I thought Christie managed that emotional arc very skillfully.

One other observation—when the jeweler comments on Elvira Burke, that young heiresses are more strictly separated from their cash than other inheritors, it made me think of Brittany Spears and how hard her family worked to keep her under a conservatorship so they could avail themselves of its advantages. There's really nothing new under the sun, is there?

Jack the Bodiless / Julian May

 

3.5 out of 5 stars 

2025 Re-Read

Book 9 of the 2025 Read Your Hoard Challenge

I am bumping my rating of this novel up to 3.5 stars. I came to it with fewer expectations this time, ten years after my first reading. I am appalled by my lack of memory—this was like reading the book for the first time.

I paid more attention to the Lylmik this time around, wondering about their guardianship of the Remillard family. Does it make sense that entities who only wear bodies occasionally would be interested in Jack Remillard, who essentially becomes a brain in a simulated body. I have to question how the Lylmik came to dominate the Galactic Milieu? Why do they get to manipulate and veto everybody else?

Most of the Remillards are pretty difficult to feel much affection for, except maybe for Rogi. But he's one of the untalented members of the family, an alcoholic who self medicates perhaps to deal with all the arrogant relatives who expect him to do their bidding. Little do they know that Rogi only co-operates because he has been coerced by the Lylmik that he calls the Family Ghost.

At any rate, this is background for the Marc Remillard that I met in May's Saga of Pliocene Exile. He is well on the trail towards his self imposed exile back in time, even as a youngster here. I note that the human race is represented as troublesome in this future, similar to David Brin's Uplift series where they are considered feral upstarts. A pretty cocky self-assessment, truly. I wonder if this species self-confidence is warranted?

May Day / Jess Lourey

 

R

3.5 out of 5 stars 

In 2020 I jumped into this series at book 7 (November Hunt). I was charmed and read on to the series’ end. I always thought that I would return to the earlier volumes and enjoy getting to know Mira, Mrs. Berns, and the whole cast of Battle Lake characters. Finally, I've got around to it.

I'm glad that I didn't begin here actually, as Lourey hadn't really found her groove yet. Mira is fairly well defined—I recognize her despite her potential alcohol problems and her non-vegetarian menus. I was thrilled when Mrs. Berns showed up in the first pages (more stewing hen than spring chicken), but she and Mira haven't connected yet. I'll be interested to see which book sees them becoming friends and co-conspirators.

I may be mistaken, but this is the earliest book I could find by Lourey, but I can already see a lot of the things that make me like her work. Her female characters are realistic, not a Mary Sue among them. They've got problems, they've got secrets, they've got questionable judgment, plus they are curious as cats. I also love the Minnesota setting, a place I've never visited but feel like I know because of Lourey's novels. Battle Lake seems like the Minnesotan version of Agatha Christie's St. Mary Mead, a small community where it's possible to recognize everyone and to have an opinion about them. Plus, Lourey is really good at thinking up really creepy situations for her characters, even in this cozy mystery.

I wouldn't do the amount of lock picking that Mira does, which is the one thing that I didn't care for here, but this is a common feature of cozy mysteries, much to my chagrin. I hate it but I can't avoid it. And it makes me wonder how many people would feel justified doing a bit of B&E to find out a bit of information? Despite this bugbear of mine, I enjoy Mira and this series and I plan to continue on reading them.

The Masquerades of Spring / Ben Aaronovitch

 

3.75 out of 5 stars 

I'm glad that my library's only option for this novella was in the form of an audiobook, for otherwise I would have missed a wonderful performance by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith. Aaronovitch, I have heard, likes to test Kobna's mettle with as many regional accents as possible. Kobna does the British voices with authority and to my Canadian tin-ear seemed to do a creditable Southern voice, as well as several flavours of New York.

Augustus Berrycloth-Young, our narrator, seems to me to owe a great deal to P.G. Wodehouse's Bertie Wooster. His name (and his nickname Gussie) would fit into one of B. Wooster's tales quite smoothly. As would much of Gussie's vocabulary and his tendency to discount his own intelligence. He admits to wanting merely to live quietly and comfortably with his lover, Lucian, while enjoying the jazz of New York. His valet, Beauregard, isn't the absolute fount of wisdom that Jeeves was, but he is a very able assistant.

The spoke in the wheel of Gussie's routine is the appearance of Thomas Nightingale, seeking a place to stay and magical assistance. As happens when we deal with a person from our past, Gussie falls into his former role as the follower, despite needing a low profile both as magical practitioner and as a gay man when his orientation is considered illegal.

Although starting quite gradually, the author picks up speed until the reader/listener is pulled compulsively along, needing to know if Nightingale and Gussie can achieve their mutual goal without ruining Gussie's existence in the Big Apple. Much of the tension in the story results from dealing with prejudice against Lucian as a black man and against both Lucian and Augustus as gay men.

An interesting peek into the life of Nightingale well before Peter appeared on the scene and when practitioners were more numerous.