The Spymaster's Brother

The final book in the Francis Bacon Mystery series by Anna Castle centers around the protagonist's brother, Anthony Bacon.  When the story opens Anthony has returned to England after living in France for 13 years. While he was in France Anthony built a huge intelligence network throughout Europe. He and Francis are seeking a wealthy patron and offer Anthony's services to the highest bidder. Since he is suffering with severe symptoms of gout, Anthony has trouble walking unassisted and with his self care. When a dead body is found next to Anthony's coach, Francis thinks his brother killed someone because the dead man had been spreading vicious rumors about Anthony that could ruin his reputation and the value of his network. Francis's sidekick Tom Claraday believes Anthony's secretary committed the murder and the two of them set out to find the killer.

This series has been highly entertaining. I love the two sleuths, Francis and Tom. They work well together and their different personalities do not hinder their investigations. It actually helps them determine the identity of killers. While reading the Spymaster's Brother, I became so intrigued about Anthony Bacon's life that Internet research into his life occasionally interrupted my reading of the book. His life story is fascinating. It was intriguing enough to overshadow my enjoyment of the book. I feel my independent research was more interesting than the plot. Had I not checked out Anthony's life story, the story probably would have been another entertaining read for me.

The period details are another enjoyable part of the series. The author wrote the setting descriptions well enough for me to want to visit England, especially Cambridge where Tom Claraday was at school in the early books in the series. Ms. Castle's knowledge about the Elizabethan time period shined throughout the series. I hope she continues to write historical fiction.

4 out of 5 stars. Anna Castle take note, a series based on Anthony Bacon and his assistant living in France building that spy network would be great reading. 

Year of the Rabbit

Year of the Rabbit is Tian Veasna's graphic memoir about life growing up under the bloody reign of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. He was born three days after the Khmer Rouge came into power and escaped with his family into a Thai refugee camp at age five. They eventually settled in France. The story covers the experiences of his mother Lina, father Khim, the baby Chan and their extended families.  After he became an adult the author interviewed his relatives to obtain information for the book.

The book opens with the families leaving their homes in Phnom Penh for safety. They expected to return in a few days but along their route they learned that the city was being permanently evacuated by the Khmer Rouge. The author, Chan, was born while his parents walked for months seeking safety. A bad decision to use forged travel permits gets them sent to a re-education camp where, for the next five years, they witness firsthand the regime's brutality.

Year of the Rabbit is first and foremost a well told story. The artwork enhances it by bringing passion into the pages. The overwhelming fear and hopelessness felt by the refugees is drawn on each page. What was interesting to me was that as Chan's family ran into old friends during these years, these friends did not stop being their friends. They offered spare food or helpful information. I expected that people would behave the opposite. The capacity of the Cambodian people for good is the amazing part of this story.

Sugar and Spite

After reading two steamy historical fiction novels this month I thought it best to switch to a cozy mystery. Sugar and Spite is the 22nd installment of the Ettie Smith Amish Cozy Mystery series by Samantha Price. This is the first book in the series that I have read.

Amish sisters Ettie Smith and Elsa-Mae Lutz decide to bring a cake as a peace offering to Brunhilde Hoffman whom Elsa-Mae believes is angry with her. Upon entering Brunhilde's candy shop they find her dead body. The cake is accidentally dropped on the floor. Thinking that the cake contaminates the crime scene, they clean it up. Since the Amish people don't like speaking to outsiders, the police ask the sisters to talk to their Amish neighbors about what they know about Brunhilde. Ettie and Elsa-Mae then begin to interview their suspects and gather evidence.

This book is a traditional cozy with no violence or sex described within its pages. The main characters are an amusing set of sisters whose back and forth commentary on everything imaginable will make the reader chuckle. There is no sibling rivalry here. Etta and Elsa-Mae get along well, sweetly nudging each other when their habits annoy the other sister. The plot was more complicated than I expected for a cozy. The sisters find plenty of people who had bad experiences dealing with Brunhilde, both personally and in business, and these issues needed to be fleshed out by them in order to solve the crime.

Sugar and Spite is a relaxing read. I rate it 4 out of 5 stars.

The Stolen Girl

The Stolen Girl is part one of The Veil and the Crown series featuring Aimee de Rivery as the heroine. Aimee is a young French convent girl who is kidnapped by pirates and given as a gift to the Sultan of Turkey for his harem.

Aimee Dubucq de Rivery and her best friend and cousin Rose Tascher de la Pagerie are born on the French island of Martinique in 1763. Their story in the book begins when they are 14 and on their way to visit an African witch in order to have their fortunes told. Both are told that they will be queens.  When Aimee is 18, she sails for France to enter a convent but also to spend a month with relatives in Paris who can help her find an aristocratic husband. Rose follows her one year later to marry an aristocrat. They both believe that they are on the path to be queens until life stops working out so well for them.

With a title promising a stolen girl, I thought the girl would be stolen early in the book. Aimee isn't "stolen" until 2/3 into the story. However, this anomaly did not affect the readability of the book. The author packed her novel with interesting historical facts such as the prediction of Euphemia David. Euphemia was the African witch who told Aimee and Rose's fortune. The prediction was published in France in 1820 because Rose eventually became Empress Josephine. The latter third of the book is erotic as Aimee gives up her Catholic training to pursue riches as a concubine. Her eyes are on the clothes and the jewels and she will do anything to get them but the truth is that she really likes sex.

The story abruptly ends at awkward place. There is no denouement. The reader is supposed to automatically begin reading Part 2 of the series, The French Sultana. I felt uncomfortable with the ending and it affected my rating of the book. As far as the sexual content is concerned, if I paid attention to the publisher's warning I probably would not have purchased the book. I am not interested in reading explicit sex but it's not the author's fault that I missed the warning. However, when I am searching for books on Amazon I only look at the listed genre. Why should I have to do an Internet search to determine if the book is X rated?

4 out of 5 stars. 

Saga: Compendium One

Saga is a science fiction and fantasy comic book that is based on Star Wars. Compendium One contains serialized comic strips 1 through 54 in a gigantic, 1,328 page, 5 pound book.  Saga was written by Brian K. Vaughn, with Fiona Davis creating the artwork. Vaughn stated in an interview with Entertainment Weekly that Issue 54 was the halfway point for the comic strip and that 108 total issues were planned for this story. It took him seven years to write these initial 54 issues.

This romance story opens with the birth of Hazel, who narrates the book as an adult character. Saga centers around her life. She is the child of Alana and Marko. Alana was born on the planet Landfall, has black skin and wings. Marko was born on Wreath, Landfall's moon, has white skin and horns. Wreath and Landfall have been at war for a long time as has the entire galaxy. Both Marko and Alana are considered AWOL from their military assignments and are being hunted by their respective militias not only because they are AWOL but because they breeded together. However, it is difficult to run with an infant and this new family runs across a few unusual characters while on the run to find a safe place to live.

Saga covers a few social issues such as interracial marriages, racism, gender identity, and violence. Marko and Alana are not the only soldiers to leave their military posts. The main reason they are being sought is because they broke society's rule against having sex with someone who is not like themselves and having the audacity to have a child together. If they are found, they will be killed but both sides want possession of Hazel. Several of the characters they come across while on the lam have gender identity issues. Some are gay. It seemed bizarre to be discussing this issue concerning nonhuman characters. Fiona Davis did a fabulous job drawing these creatures. They were entertaining to look at but to think of them as transgender, gay or something else was more humorous to me than being social commentary by the author.  There was alot of violence in the book but as far as the illustrations were concerned, this was science fiction violence. The social commentary on violence comes into the plot with Marko grappling with his military past. He hates that he has been violent and wants to promote peace. His problem is that to protect his family he may have to be violent.

I LOVED Saga. I am not a science fiction or fantasy fan but this story gripped me from the beginning and I binge read it this weekend. Unfortunately, Issue 55 is not out yet. The author and illustrator took a year sabbatical on writing this comic and nothing new has been published yet. It's killing me because Issue 54 ended with a cliffhanger. 

Definitely 5 out of 5 stars!

Firefly

Firefly is book 1 of the Warrior Woman of the Samurai series featuring Keiko, the female samurai.  The summary from the publisher reads "There are some who believe that the honor of a samurai is reserved for men.  But they are wrong.  Keiko was born the daughter of a samurai.  But as a mere younger sister, her future was to run errands for her lovely elder sister and obey her father.  Until the day it fell to her to defend the honor of her sister and her family..."

Let me just come right out and say it. I hated this book.  I would call it porn. I bought a kindle copy of the book as it was advertised as being a historical fiction novel but it isn't.  It contains basically one trashy sex scene after another that just happens to take place in ancient Japan. While the heroine trains to become a samurai and falls in love with a ninja, every scene in between these plot actions is sexual, whether is be gay sex, paid sex, or rape and all in glorious detail for your reading displeasure.

Can I rate this -10 stars?  OK.  I will.

Old Bones

Old Bones is the first book in a new series by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. It is the Nora Kelly Book 1 with character Nora Kelly being the curator at the Santa Fe Archaeological Institute. Nora is approached by historian Clive Benton for help in putting together an archeological expedition to locate the Lost Camp of the ill-fated Donner Party. The Donner Party were headed west in 1847 to California but got lost and starved to death. They killed and ate their horses, dogs and then each other. Benton has just found a diary of one of the victims that has clues to the location of the Lost Camp.  He needs the assistance of Nora and her team of explorers and scientists to find the camp as well as a possible treasure grove of gold coins worth twenty million dollars. Nora agrees to lead the expedition. Her team soon discovers that finding the camp and uncovering what the Donners experienced has modern-day repercussions.

Old Bones was an enjoyable read. The pace was steady and the intricate plot gradually unveiled its mysteries. What I find exceptional is that there are two strong female characters that will most likely be working together in future novels.  They make a great pair. Nora Kelly is an archeologist and Corrie Swanson is a rookie FBI agent. Both characters have been in previous Preston and Child books but not together. These two worked side by side in Old Bones after one of Nora's team died unexpectedly. What is unusual is that two male authors are writing about two female protagonists. Usually women write about women and vice versa. It's exciting to see two intelligent women in authoritative positions working in tandem on cases.

While the wild west setting of the book is not something I care for, Old Bones had enough archeology, history and crime to keep me happy. I rate this book 5 out of 5 stars.

Allegra

Allegra is the sequel to Christine De Melo's Sabina. Allegra Castagno is Sabina Rossi's granddaughter. She learns basic goldsmithing in her father's workshop but has a special talent for jewelry. Her father decides to allow her to be apprenticed to a friend of his, Domenico, even though the guilds, clergy and magistrates forbid women from working in the trade. After completing her training Allegra begins designing a few pieces. Her work becomes in demand but her father cannot tell anyone who the designer is. He decides to say that "La Castagna" is the designer. Allegra works tirelessly in the business, spurning many wealthy suitors over the years because marriage would mean having to give up her goldsmithing. One day a man returns to her life that challenges her desire for both a work and family life in 16th century Florence.

Allegra was an enchanting novel but it is impossible not to compare it to Sabina. Sabina was better. However, I must say that Sabina was so good that nothing could probably come close to being as good as it was. Allegra did not have the lavish setting descriptions that the earlier novel had. Instead, it was action driven. Most of the characters were less developed than those in Sabina except for Bianca Cappello. She led an extravagant life which the author wrote about in detail. This detail was something I expected after reading Sabina where each character's sinful behavior was generously recounted. Allegra, however, seemed to me to be a 16th century version of how can a woman have it all, both job and marriage. Does she get it all? Read the book!

4 out of 5 stars!

Book of the Month: January

I read 9 books in January. It was a great month for reading. The book that I enjoyed the most was Sabina by C. DeMelo. It is a historical fiction novel that takes place in 15th century Florence. I was captivated by Sabina's life story but more than that I loved the author's luscious setting descriptions. They made the book come alive. From the clothes that the ladies wore to the architecture and the bucolic surroundings, the setting was a big part of the story. The characters were amazing as well, particularly the men that Sabina loved. I loved them too. Sabina is a must read for historical fiction fans.

Sabina

Sabina is a historical fiction novel set in Florence beginning in 1477 when Sabina Rossi is twenty-years-old. The Rossi family is a noble Tuscan family who have become penniless. When her father arranges a marriage for her with an older but wealthy man, Tommaso Caravelli, he is trading her gorgeous looks for a dowry. However, Sabina is in love with Marco Alfani, a poor boy her age whom she has been sleeping with. Marco's request for her hand in marriage is denied by her father as Sabina has already agreed to marry Tommaso. After her marriage Sabina tries to live a respectable life. Her brashness could get her into trouble but her good looks seem to smooth things over with Florence's elite Medici family, especially Lorenzo de Medici. After her new husband suddenly dies, Sabina finds herself extremely wealthy with plenty of options on how to live her life. The question is will her headstrong nature take over or will she adapt to living in a man's world? This story is a three generation saga that ends with Sabina's death at age 80 and includes her daughter and granddaughter.

I LOVED this novel! The setting descriptions were delicious, from the bucolic surroundings to the grand architecture and exquisite fabrics that adorn the walls of homes and churches. The reader feels like they have been transported to Renaissance Italy.  The characters were extraordinary.  Sabina is a great heroine. She begins life as a spoiled girl but grows up learning how to live as she wishes under the restraints of fifteenth century Florence. Her sister Cecelia is her opposite. Cecelia becomes a nun after her husband and son pass away. She is subserviant whereas Sabina is willful. These two sisters still manage to get along despite their different lifestyles. You know that one will always back up the other. Marco is interesting. He enters the story as a lustful boy but later enters the priesthood and becomes lustful for power. His desire for sex has never waned though. The men whom Sabina has relationships with are dreamy. I am personally not opposed to meeting Tommaso Caravelli, Lorenzo de Medici, or Sabina's other men. She chooses them well. All have plenty of money to lavish upon her, are good in the bedroom and do not care that she is an independent woman with a sassy tongue.

Historical fiction and romance fans simply must read Sabina! Passion drips off its pages; passion for sex, romance, art, political power, religious power, and personal possessions. 5 out of 5 stars!

The King's Justice

This is the first installment  of the Stanton and Barling Mystery series by E. M. Powell. It takes place in 1176 England with Aelred Barling, court clerk to Henry II's justices, and Hugo Stanton, Barling's messenger. They are sent from the traveling royal courts to investigate a murder in Claresham after Sir Reginald Edgar arrives at the court in York to request permission to hang a suspected murderer. Edgar is a little drunk and a lot obnoxious and since he has no witnesses his request is denied. Barling and Stanton are ordered to investigate the matter and administer the king's justice, if necessary.  The case initially appears to be an open and shut case with a suspect already locked up in jail. Additional bodies begin to be found but with the suspect escaping from jail, the villagers in Claresham are demanding that he be caught and hung immediately.

The king's justice is the name of a test that determines if a person is innocent or guilty. The test is performed by tying the suspect's hands to their ankles and submerging them in water.  If the suspect drowns, he is innocent.  If the suspect floats, he is guilty and is hung later in the day.  I wondered while I was reading this whether the person controlling the rope that submerges the suspects was able to decide who was guilty. It seemed to me that this person held onto the rope at all times and could submerge you in a way that you floated as a guilty person.

I enjoyed the book but with 6 or 7 murders to investigate it was a bit exhausting. There were several intriguing suspects and many twists and turns, perhaps too many twists and turns if that is even possible. The back and forth between new victims, new suspects and new twists should have been suspenseful but it just seemed to be too much for one book.  With each new victim there was a new suspect. Also, it was surprising that Stanton was a more cerebral sleuth than Barling. I expected the opposite. It will be interesting to see how their work relationship grows in subsequent novels.

4 out of 5 stars.

Let Slip The Dogs

In book 5 of the Francis Bacon Mysteries the story takes place at Richmond Palace in 1591. Courtiers and titled ladies are in each other's arms while Tom Claraday and Trumpet conclude their plans to fool Trumpet's soon-to-be husband on the wedding night.  They will get him drunk and substitute a lookalike in the bed chamber while Trumpet meets Tom in his room. Even the main character Francis Bacon will get involved in a private liaison. However, when a young man who is known to collect gossip is found dead in the Queen's orchard there is only the question of whether he was murdered to keep a romantic secret or a political one. Bacon does not want to get involved. He is particularly bothered in this installment of the series by not having a position or patron and has considered being bought by a foreign entity for money.

I enjoyed this book but would have to say that it is my least favorite so far in this series.  This just goes to show how well the earlier books were written.  The actual murder did not occur at least until a third into the book with sex taking prominence in the plot. It seemed out of character for Francis Bacon to get involved in a sexual liaison and to be so depressed about his finances that he considered committing a treasonous act just for money. Everyone gets down in the dumps and does stupid things but not in a mystery series. Also, the investigation of the murder did not involve Bacon because he was busy with his pity party. It was done by Tom and Trumpet talking between themselves. They didn't interview witnesses, etc... The main character/sleuth should be the one doing the sleuthing and this was a mistake on the author's part.

Let Slip the Dogs was a departure from the mystery formula that the author has followed in the series. Let's see what she does with the final book in the series.

The Library of Legends

I have been patiently waiting for Janie Chang to publish her next book since I finished reading Dragon Springs Road last year. Last week I received an advanced review copy of The Library of Legends from William Morrow through the Early Reviewer's Program at Librarything. The book will be published on May 12, 2020. The story takes place in China in 1937.

When Japanese bombs begin falling on the City of Nanking, nineteen-year-old Hu Lian and her classmates at Minghua University are ordered to flee. Lian and a convoy of students, professors, and staff must walk a thousand miles to the safety of China's western provinces, their journey under constant threat of aerial attack from the Japanese. More than refugee lives are at risk. The students are carrying a priceless treasure, a five hundred year old collection of myths and folklore called the Library of Legends. Their duty to safeguard the Library forms unexpected bonds between them. Lian finds friendship and romance with the wealthy and handsome Liu Shaoming. After one classmate is murdered and another is arrested, Lian realizes that she must escape before a family secret is revealed, putting herself in danger of being arrested also.

I enjoyed this book but at the midway point I got bored with the students constantly marching through China. Not much happened with the characters at this point in the story to carry the plot forward while the students walked for hours and then rested. There were approximately 60-75 pages that were sluggish. The story soon picked up when a professor and then a communist student were murdered. In addition, there is an element of fantasy in the plot. The Library of Legends has a folklore story about celestial beings, gods and guardian spirits living on earth to help humans. There are several of these guardian spirits woven into the plot. I wouldn't normally like the fusion of the historical fiction and fantasy genres but it fits the setting of this book. It takes place in China which,  even today, has a focus on ancestor worship.

The author chose a great historical subject to write about. In 1937 China, when the Second Sino Japanese War broke out, the universities were evacuated. The students, called liuwang, school administrators and professors all walked through China to safer areas where they could continue their school activities. They carried luggage, lab equipment, library books and kitchen ware. They stopped often at Buddhist and Daoist temples where they could rest for a few days before resuming their walking. The author chose this subject because her father was a liuwang from Nanking University.

4 out of 5 stars.