Neat little pile of books here awaiting my reviewing attention and am a bit bogged down so I am going to review a few in one post so that I don't fall behind.
The Perfect Hero - Victoria Connelly.
Kay Ashton runs a Bed and Breakfast in the seaside town of Lyme Regis (yes, the one where Louisa Musgrove fell!) and is fairly gobsmacked when the cast and crew of a new production of Persuasion descent upon her. The actor playing Captain Wentworth, one Oli Wade Owen (where did the author get that name from?) is the latest heart throb and she is thrilled to bits that he is actually sleeping under her own roof.
Seems the leading actor, with whom Kay Ashton falls madly in love, has not the integrity of Wentworth himself and he embarks on a brief affair with Kay and we all know it is going to end in tears and so it does. But lurking in the background we have a real Captain Wentworth, the producer Adam Craig, who is content to wait for his love to realise his true worth and fall into his arms. Bit like faithful old Dobbin in Vanity Fair really.
Does she? Well, is Richard Armitage gorgeous? Delightfully light hearted and amusing book and a must for all those of us who love Jane and, in particular, Frederick Wentworth by far and away my favourite Austen hero. Yes, I know but Darcy is a bit of a pain let's face it....
Given to me by a friend who thought I might enjoy it and so I did in a subfusc sort of way. Set in and around Assisi and featuring Commisario Alessandro Cenni (doesn't Commissario sound better than Chief Inspector?) who is rather charismatic and gorgeous, he is set to solve the mystery of a woman found dead in a crypt. She looks as if she has been raped but it seems not, the murderer has arranged the body to make it look that way. The victim is a niece of a local aristocratic family with connections so the police have to tiptoe round it all, cue lots of haughty put downs from Counts and Countesses. Fun read, nothing exceptional and I notice on the back there is a quote "fans of Donna Leon will be ecstatic to find a kindred spirit in Grace Brophy" which I think is overstating it just a tad. Mildly interesting yes, ecstatic, no.
Drawing Conclusions - Donna Leon
And here we have the real thing and I tried to put off reading this for a day or two so I caould prolong the anticipation but gave up almost straight away and plonked myself down and read.
A young woman returns from holiday and finds her elderly neighbour dead and calls the police. On the face of it she appears to have died from natural causes and the autopsy shows that, yes, her death was the result of a heart attack. However, Guido Brunetti finds marks on her shoulders that show she may not have been alone when she died and though he is not sure if this is a murder case or not, he decides to investigate. Brunetti talks to her neighbours, her son and the nuns and residents of an old age home where the victim volunteered to find out if there was anybody who would wish to do her harm. He learns that people 'talk to her' and tell her their secrets and it is the knowledge that has been divulged to her that may have led to her death.
This is a quieter more philosophical book than others in the Leon canon, when reading I found I was comparing it in style and flow to the Sunday Philosophy Club books of Alexander McCall Smith, in its serenity and gentle narrative style. I loved reading it as I have all her others and only wish she would write two or three a year, but like La Serenissima, Ms Leon goes her quiet understated way.
PS I hate to say this but it has been creeping up on me for some time. I am beginning to find Brunetti's Henry James addicted, cooker of superb meals every single day wife, Paola, a tad irritating.....
Stories - All new tales edited by Neil Gaiman and Al Sarrantino
I am not a lover of short stories as you know and cannot say I particularly loved this book, but I found it quirky and fun in places and spooky in others. Joanne Harris has a story in this collection 'Wildfire in Manhatten' which tells the tale of ancient gods living in New York, bit creepy; 'Unwell' by Carolyn Parkkurst is about sibling rivalry and I found the ending unsettling and odd; 'Fossil Figures' by Joyce Carol Oates tells the tale of a demon brother feeding off his lesser sibling from the womb onwards - definitely horrid and one by Neil Gaiman himself 'The Truth is a cave in the Black Mountains' which really freaked me out. This is a mixture of styles and tales which will appeal to your dark side, if you have one, and brilliant though they were in narrative, writing and content, they left me feeling a bit uneasy and with a tendency to check under my bed before switching the light out.....
And finally:
Disgrace and Desire - Sarah Mallory
A historical regency novel sent to me by the author who has obviously twigged that I love a good romance and a wallow and this was perfect. Dashing Jack Clifton, a friend of Lord Allyngham who was killed at Waterloo, returns to London a year after his death to return some mementos to his widow, Eloise. He has vowed to watch over his late comrade's wife but, of course, finds her incredibly exciting and falls in love with her. It seems that the lady has acquired a reputation, the Wanton Widow, and is besieged by admirers on all sides but she seems to have eyes only for her childhood friend, Alex Mortimer. But all is not as it seems and the lady is hiding a secret which she dare not reveal to the ton. So what is it and can Major Clifton and she be happy together?
Again, is Richard Armitage gorgeous? Silly question. Loved it and spent a wallowing couple of hours reading and enjoying.
OK that is it for the moment. I felt so guilty about all these books piling up and not having written about them and I have another five or six to write about as well, but as I am now off to London for the weekend with my family and to babysit my gorgeous Florence, they will have to wait.
Have a good weekend all Random Visitors.
