WHITE FOREST by Adam McOmber

Tags

Fairy Tale, Mystery, Occult

 

THE WHITE FOREST is an utterly enchanting, delightfully creepy fairy tale-meets-mystery. The novel is narrated by Jane, who lives with her father in a crumbling estate. She takes joy in wandering the heath with her friends Nathan and Maddy, but as the three come of age, Maddy and Jane both develop feelings for Nathan. Nathan, having returned damaged from the war, finds himself mired in a cult run by Ariston Day before he disappears. Renowned investigator Inspector Vidocq (on whom Poe based his fictional detective) is on the scene to solve the case, but Jane hesitates to give him all the relevant information, particularly that she has a special gift for seeing the souls of objects. She and Maddy decide to track down Nathan themselves, but the cult is as fascinated with Jane as she is with it.

The glimpses of the White Forest range from creepy to terrifying, the minions of Ariston Day looming malevolently over the scene. Jane is an amiable protagonist, believable despite her otherworldly gifts. She is capable and competent in her investigation, which runs into dangerous areas, but she doesn’t take excessive risks. Her relationship with Maddy is complex and interesting. The pacing is outstanding. I had difficulty putting the book down when I needed to, simply because I was caught up in the slowly unfolding story. As the various threads come together to reveal the truth at the heart of the novel, I was riveted.

An outstanding paranormal mystery/fairy tale/coming-of-age story.

Source disclosure: I received an e-galley of this title courtesy of the publisher.

THE SEANCE SOCIETY by Michael Nethercott

Tags

1950s, England/UK/Ireland, Mystery, Private Detective

 

This book was just good fun. Set in 1956, it follows reluctant private investigator Lee Plunkett as he looks into the death of eccentric, wealthy inventor Trexler Lloyd, who ostensibly died when his Spectricator, a machine intended for use in communicating with spirits, malfunctions. Lee inherited the family business, but he isn’t particularly committed to the job. Fortunately, he has the well-read Irishman Mr. O’Nelligan to keep him motivated and add insights. The array of suspects is quirky and fun, a veritable game of CLUE. Plunkett, led by O’Nelligan, tries to untangle truth from lies

Plunkett is an interesting choice for protagonist. He doesn’t want to be an investigator (he was drawn into the family business) and he isn’t much of a go-getter. This would make for a terribly boring book if it weren’t for his interactions with O’Nelligan. Together, they make a fun team to follow. Plunkett, a determined skeptic, must pretend to be a psychic in order to investigate the murder, and this makes for plenty of funny moments.

An entertaining light mystery with an old-fashioned feel. Great fun.

Source disclosure: I received an e-galley of this title courtesy of the publisher.

CLEAN BURN by Karen Sandler

Tags

Mystery, Private Detective, Small Town

This novel introduces Janelle Wallace, former San Francisco cop who is still traumatized, physically and emotionally, but a missing-child case gone badly. She has given up searching for missing children…until now. She ends up pursuing leads in her hometown of Greenville where her former partner/lover, Ken Heinz, is sheriff. Janelle is perhaps more damaged than your usual damaged heroine, with childhood abuse, physical injury, PTSD, and an unhealthy fascination with fire, but she was surprisingly likable. Her issues are thorny and the book is often dark, but her own sardonic wit and her secretary’s observations add desperately needed comic relief. “She kept that smile fixed on her face. ‘I’m not at liberty to divulge Sheriff Heinz’s current location. But I’d be glad to take a message,’ she told me cheerily. I rarely let myself be thwarted by cheer.” She’s fully aware of her flaws, and she knows she doesn’t have them under control, but she tries. There’s a lot of metaphorical fire talk that could easily be tedious or cliche, but I liked Janelle enough that it seemed to fit right in. The Ken/Janelle tension was blah to me, but fans of romantic suspense will expect it. Janelle is the strength of this story, so passages from the point of view of a psycho weren’t really interesting to me, but again, thrillers are expected to include psycho point of view, and I was invested enough in the mystery to slog through those passages.

A promising start to a private detective/thriller/damaged heroine series. I liked Janelle, and I’ll follow where she goes next.

Source disclosure: I received an e-galley of this title courtesy of the publisher.

KILLER’S ISLAND by Anna Jansson

 

 

I guess I’ll classify this one as “meh,” but as it turns out to be the eleventh in the series, I think I’ll go back to the beginning and give the first a try. Unfortunately, the publisher decided to publish the eleventh book in English before any others, and the seventh after that, so it’s anyone’s guess as to when that might be possible. It’s a bizarre choice for a series. KILLER’S ISLAND was interesting and started out with promise, using the Gotland myth of the White Sea-Lady, a drowned bride who lures men to their deaths, to tie various threads together.

This is the Maria Wern series, centered on a detective in Sweden, but this installment was hijacked a bit by Erika Lund, Maria’s friend who is dating a doctor. It is my understanding that the novels generally follow Maria more closely, and I think I would have preferred that. Ultimately, my failure to identify with Maria, along with an over-reliance on coincidence, that earns this novel a “meh” rating, but the use of myth intrigued me enough that I will read the first book if ever it should come out in English.

Source disclosure: I received an e-galley of this book courtesy of the publisher.

Reviews With Lilah: WEDNESDAYS IN THE TOWER by Jessica George

Tags

Childrens 9-12, Fantasy, Reviews With Lilah

I read TUESDAYS IN THE CASTLE aloud with Lilah and we both loved it. This book introduces Castle Glower, which is almost as much a character as the people who reside in it, chief among them Princess Celie, her siblings Bran, Rolf, and Lilah, and their parents. Castle Glower constantly changes itself, adding and removing rooms, for reasons that are not understood at the beginning of the book. We were delighted to have the opportunity to review the follow-up, WEDNESDAYS IN THE TOWER. In the sequel, George engages in more world-building than in the first book. We learn more about the castle, having already experienced its quirks, and its history is revealed. A tower appears to Celie one day, with a strange egg inside. Celie tries to show her siblings, but the castle only allows Celie in. And then the egg hatches. It becomes clear that the castle wants Celie to care for and raise what’s inside.

There is palace intrigue, with royal visitors from other lands and a magician with dubious intentions. The castle begins to act more and more unpredictably, shifting and changing with apparent randomness, and its inhabitants are afraid. Celie, as the one who knows the castle best, is called on to solve the problem.

It’s not necessary to read TUESDAYS IN THE CASTLE first, but I’d recommend it. WEDNESDAYS IN THE TOWER ends with a cliffhanger, and George confirmed via GoodReads that there will be a THURSDAYS… installment. Lilah’s review is neatly summed up by: “I love this book! I love Celie and Rufus and the castle! I hope she writes THURSDAYS and FRIDAYS and SATURDAYS and SUNDAYS and MONDAYS and even more than that!”

I would have loved this book as a child, and I love it as an adult reading aloud with my daughter. The children are certainly not flawless (there’s plenty of rule-breaking) but they are compassionate and work together to solve problems. The world George has built has almost endless possibilities, and I relished learning more about the castle’s origins.

Source disclosure: I received an e-galley of this title courtesy of the publisher.

CLAIRE DEWITT AND THE CITY OF THE DEAD by Sara Gran

Tags

Mystery, New Orleans, Private Detective

 

Claire DeWitt is not your average private investigator. In fact, she’s the greatest detective in all the world, an accolade she wears without irony. “Ho-kay,” you may be saying to yourself, wondering what the punchline is. There isn’t one. Claire’s world is like ours, complete with a Katrina-ravaged New Orleans, but it is a world in which detection is a calling, a 1959 French manual called Detection by Jacques Silette (himself shrouded in myth and mystery) is a bible, and Claire’s mentor, Constance, at her death, passed the torch of “best detective in the world” on to Claire, who eventually moved away from New Orleans. If you can’t suspend disbelief and go with that, this is not the book for you. If you can, however, you’re in for a treat.

Claire returns to New Orleans for a case; a client has hired her to find his uncle, who went missing during Hurricane Katrina. Her New Orleans is dark, scarred, and not a little seedy, never recovered from the devastation: “Some people, I saw, had drowned right away. And some people were drowning in slow motion, drowning a little bit at a time, and would be drowning for years. And some people, like Mick, had always been drowning. They just hadn’t known what to call it until now.” How do you find one drowned person in a city filled with them? Claire digs in, using all her available resources, including prescription and street drugs to open her consciousness, the I Ching she learned from Constance, dream analysis, and the classic PI strategy of lying. 

Claire is a hard-boiled PI with a twist (the occult fascination, the drugs, the “best detective in the world” thing). She is, naturally, haunted by her past. In this case, it’s the disappearance of a friend years ago. We learn details about this event and the trauma and investigation following it as the current investigation progresses. She’s also funny. 

“Forty-two,” I said. I was thirty-five. But no one trusts a woman under forty. I’d started being forty when I was twenty-nine.

“Wow,” Leon said. “Sorry. Just, you know. You look really young. Wow. Do you do something or–?”

“I drink a lot of water. Eat a lot of fresh fruit. And I do a lot of yoga.” I’d never done yoga. I rarely drank water. “It really helps with the collagen.”

 

If you enjoy a good mystery with humor and are open to an unconventional story, you can’t go wrong with CLAIRE DEWITT AND THE CITY OF THE DEAD. 

Source disclosure: I received an e-galley of this title courtesy of the publisher.

THE VANISHING ACT by Mette Jakobsen

This is a lovely little book. Since it begins with a girl finding the body of a boy washed up on the tiny island she inhabits (along with her father, a priest, a magician named Boxman, an a dog named No-Name), I at first thought it was a mystery. It is a mystery, but on a grander scope than a murder mystery/whodunit. With this strange group of island inhabitants, it is somehow not shocking that the dead boy is brought into Minou’s house and kept in a room with the window open to keep him cold until the boat can come to take him away. Both Minou and her father speak to the boy, searching for their respective answers. Minou’s father, a philosopher, convinced he’s a descendent of Descartes, is looking for nothing less than The Truth. Minou is looking for her mother, who put on her best shoes and disappeared without a trace. When one shoe was found, they buried it and held a shoe funeral. Everyone but Minou, sure her mother is alive, attended. Did she, as the adults assumed, walk into the ocean? Or is she somewhere out there? If she is alive, why hasn’t she returned?

‘I am close to finding the beginning, Minou. The first truth.’ Papa poured me a coffee and began to slice the bread vigorously. ‘Ah, if only your mama were here. There are so many things I would like to tell her, Minou.’

‘What would you say to her, Papa,’ I asked eagerly.

‘Oh, it’s very exciting.’ Papa pushed the bread and jam closer to me. ‘First, of course, I would tell her that with a constant temperature of six degrees below zero the dead boy is keeping remarkably fresh.’ Papa fumbled in his pocket and withdrew a crumpled note. I measured the temperature at precise intervals last night, Minou.’ He waved the note in front of me. ‘But there is something else. In the middle of the night, as I was speaking to the dead boy, I saw his face in the shadows. His jaw, his hair, and I realized–‘ Papa paused for effect ‘–that he looks like a young Descartes.’

As Minou and her father both speak to the dead boy, seeking the truth, the tangle of Minou’s memories of her mother is slowly loosened, revealing more than either of them expected.

Source disclosure: I purchased this title.

BELLMAN & BLACK by Diane Setterfield

Tags

Ghost Story, Literary Fiction, NetGalley

 

BELLMAN & BLACK, the long-awaited followup to Setterfield’s stellar debut, THE THIRTEENTH TALE (2006), is subtitled “A Ghost Story,” and it is. Not strictly in the traditional sense, but the story and its characters are haunted. As in THE THIRTEENTH TALE, Setterfield uses her gift for creating atmosphere to cast a gloomy sense of dread over even the happiest moments of Bellman’s life.

As a child, William Bellman kills a rook with his slingshot, a chance act that he quickly forgets–but that never forgets him. A mysterious man turns up at funerals, at first on the periphery, eventually introducing himself as Black and striking a strange bargain with Bellman. Bellman, afraid to ask the exact terms of the deal, proceeds blindly, changing the course of his life and making his fortune with it. But what is the deal? And when will Black collect?

In the midst of the rise and fall of Bellman’s fortunes (and the litany of tragedies that befall him) are interludes about the rook that are both informative and poetic. The lore and the nature of the rook infuse the narrative, the dark, inevitable presence haunting Bellman until the final reckoning. 

A gorgeous book.

Source disclosure: I received an advance copy of this title from the publisher.

THE ABSENCE OF MERCY by John Burley

Tags

Fiction, LTER, Mystery, Police Procedural

THE ABSENCE OF MERCY by John Burley: I could subtitle this review “I was so bored.” The premise was enchanting; the execution, not so much. Dr. Ben Stevenson, pathologist, is a small-town medical examiner, a very undemanding job until the first victim of a serial killer turns up, mutilated, and the second is a friend of his oldest son’s. The killer eventually begins taunting Stevenson, who fears for his family, yadda, yadda, yadda. 

You might think it is not easy to make a serial killer book boring. I knew I was in trouble when the first pages were from the point-of-view of Unknown Psychopathic Killer. This rarely bodes well in my experience. However, I gave the book the benefit of the doubt and soldiered on. After all, a small-town medical examiner is a favorite premise of mine, and the father struggling with his fears could be a fascinating psychological portrait.

Could be.

So, here’s where the book lost me. The crazily shifting point-of-view meant I never identified with any of the characters and I wasn’t invested in the outcome to begin with. Clunky foreshadowing and anvil-on-the-head hints meant that I was just waiting for the characters to finally catch up to me (sadly, I was not mistaken when I guessed the outcome early on). When they finally did catch up, the book dragged on for some time for no apparent reason, to an ultimately unsatisfying conclusion. I didn’t even care that the ending was unsatisfying, because, thank the literature gods, the book was over! 

Source disclosure: I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher.

ANTONIA LIVELY BREAKS THE SILENCE by David Samuel Levinson

Tags

Literary Fiction, LTER

The blurbs compare this title to THE SECRET HISTORY and REBECCA, so perhaps my expectations were too high with this novel. The premise: Catherine Strayed gave up her own career to support her husband’s writing, even moving to an insufferable small town to do so. When her former professor/lover, Henry Swallow (who is also the reviewer who destroyed her husband’s career), moves to town, things get awkward. Now widowed, she leads a quiet life until Antonia Lively, Henry’s latest protege, turns up at her door.

First, the Big Ideas: What is fiction? What responsibilities does an author have? Who owns a story – the writer, or those who lived it? At what point is fiction separate from the reality that inspired it? These are certainly interesting questions, and Levinson explores them thoroughly. He doesn’t reach any Big Conclusion, but it would have been shocking if he had. As an intellectual exercise, this novel provokes discussion admirably.

The plot: The “shocking” twists and turns are somewhat random, and Levinson relies overmuch on coincidence. One “revelation” surprised me only because the characters hadn’t realized it earlier. The pacing is very slow, and I’m a patient reader. Sixty pages in, I had only managed to reach the emotion “bored.” It took me two weeks to slog through the first 100 pages because I kept putting it down in favor of books that actually held my interest.

The characters: ANTONIA LIVELY BREAKS THE SILENCE reminded me a bit of THE GREAT GATSBY, in the sense that it was very well-written, but I cared not a whit for any of the characters. I had developed some minor sympathy for Catherine by end of the first third, but then Levinson changed points of view, and I could barely be bothered to continue. There’s an “I” in the third-person-wandering point-of-view, and I believe I was supposed to be surprised when the identity is revealed. I wasn’t; rather, I couldn’t see the point. Something something clever metafiction, I suppose. Or something.

I don’t have to like characters, but I need something besides an intellectual exercise to keep me going. If I hadn’t committed to write a review for this novel, I would have chucked it after the first sixty pages without concern that I would miss anything.

Source disclosure: I received a copy of this book courtesy of the publisher.