As Death Draws Near (Lady Darby Mystery, #5)

As Death Draws Near
by Anna Lee Huber
Rating: ★★★★★
isbn: 9780425277720
Series: A Lady Darby Mystery #5
Publication Date: July 5, 2016
Pages: 342
Genre: Fiction, Historical, Mystery
Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime

I love this book, but it’s getting a bonus 1/2 star bump for being both historically accurate and immediately relevant.

Gage and Kiera are on their honeymoon when they are summoned to Ireland to investigate the death of a young woman, a postulant at the Loretto convent; a recent convert from Anglicanism and a distant cousin of Wellington.

The story’s time – the early 1800’s – and its setting in Ireland, make it the perfect vehicle for exploring religious intolerance and prejudice. If I had to guess, I’d say the author is Roman Catholic, but it’s just a guess, as I think both the Protestants and the Catholics are treated equally. Either way, it is clear that the author is writing from a place of faith herself; the story does not proselytise and it’s not a ‘Christian’ book but its plot is entirely about religion and Huber writes without cynicism, whether she’s talking about its grace or its hypocrisy.

The mystery itself was devastating and complex; I was so very sure I knew where it was going, and I was so very wrong. I saw a small twist coming a mile away but it didn’t go where I thought it would at all. The ending was heart wrenching and gutting and that twist totally blind-sided me.

The author includes a note at the end that discusses what she used from history (a lot) and what she created; she also includes a few recommended reads for those interested in going further. This was an incredibly well-written, entertaining mystery with the added bonus of giving the reader quite a bit to chew on in terms of what people will do to each other in the name of religion and I thought it was handled deftly without being judgemental.

These people, these neighbors, both Protestant and Catholic alike, who spat at each other with such hatred that it sometimes erupted into violence, did so because their faith was slightly different. Because they couldn’t be bothered to learn the truth about each other.

Easily one of my top 5 favourite series – can’t wait for the next one.

The Dirt on Ninth Grave (Charley Davidson, #9)

The Dirt on Ninth Grave
by Darynda Jones
Rating: ★★★★
isbn: 9781250074485
Series: Charlie Davidson #9
Publication Date: January 16, 2016
Pages: 326
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Charley Davidson is living in New York City as Jane Doe, a girl with no memory of who she is or where she came from. So when she begins to realize she can see dead people, she’s more than a bit taken aback. Strangers who enter the diner where she works seem to know things about her…Then she is confronted by a man who claims to have been sent to kill her. Sent by the darkest force in the universe. An enemy that will not stop until she is dead. Thankfully, she has a Rottweiler. And the diner’s devastatingly handsome fry cook, who vows to protect her even though he seems to be lying with every breath he takes. But in the face of such grave danger, who can Jane/Charley/whoever she is trust? She will find the truth even if it kills her…or the fry cook. Either way…

My personal health reality includes sleeping medications, so I rarely suffer from anything that could be called insomnia. Except on very rare occasions when they fail, and last night they failed spectacularly – I never went to sleep. I finally started to nod off when MT’s alarm went off and I briefly contemplated instigating a domestic disturbance.

The good news – I guess – is that I finished The Dirt on Ninth Grave in one sitting. I was engrossed enough in the story to not want to put it down, but I’d have preferred not feeling like a zombie on toast today.

I definitely, thoroughly, enjoyed this book but I liked it the least of the nine books so far. It was the amnesia thing. We finally got to a place in the story arc where we had answers and a clear goal in site and then this book comes along and we’re temporarily rebooted to Charley not knowing anything. I thought this would only last a few chapters… maybe half the book at the outside, but nope: Charley doesn’t snap out of it until the end.

I saved this book until The Curse of Tenth Grave was released because I’d read from several places that Ninth Grave ended on a cliffhanger. I’ll argue this ending isn’t a cliffhanger though, because the action comes to an end; the story is paused. A major story-arc plot twist is revealed, but it’s more a ‘how will this affect the arc’ twist, rather than ‘ohmigod is someone gonna die in chapter 1 of book 10?!?’.

…I think. Thankfully, I have the next book sitting here waiting, so I can find out. After I take a nap.

(I might use this book as the Book with a terrible cover Summer Book Bingo square. It’s not objectively terrible, but I don’t like it.)

On the Edge

On the Edge
by Ilona Andrews
Rating: ★★★
isbn: 9780441017805
Series: Novel of the Edge #1
Publication Date: September 29, 2009
Pages: 336
Genre: Fiction, Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Ace

I love the Kate Daniels series and the synopsis for this one sounded pretty good; a place where two worlds overlapped – an in-between space only certain people could live. Intriguing.

But… no. The writing is solid, descriptive, evocative. But this is much more a paranormal romance than an urban fantasy and animal cruelty is just treated too casually for me; it’s not graphic, but it’s prevalent.

This is also a book that would lose a lot of readers in the first half, especially those with low tolerance for male posturing and non-consent (no rape, to be clear, just the whole ‘I will have you! crap). Andrews’ here is a bit too clever for their own good (what is the proper pronoun usage for 2 people writing under 1 name?!?): a lot of readers won’t have the tolerance to stick around and discover just how wrong perceptions are in the first half of the book.

Overall, I’m not sorry I read it, but I won’t read it again and I won’t read the second book (I think there’s a second book…). I’ll stick with Kate and Curran.