Mini-Reviews: Cozy (and Series) Round-Up

Now that I'm fully back to reality (mores the pity) from my fabulous two-week vacation in late September, it's time to catch up with reviews for books I read but never go around to blogging about. Given that the first book on our hit parade was finished before I went on vacation (and my memory ain't what she used to be...), it's time for another round of patented Auntie Wendy Mini-Reviews. 

Just Make Believe by Maggie Robinson is the third book in her Lady Adelaide series and one I finished back in early September. Off page between the second book and this one Addy apparently put the moves on Detective Inspector Devenand Hunter, advances that he rebuffed. Not because he's not attracted to her (which is what Addy thinks) but because of the fact that they come from two completely different worlds. This on top of the fact that her dead husband, and now the ghost haunting her to "make amends" so he can get into heaven, Rupert couldn't keep it in his pants while he was alive (and he died in a car accident with one of his mistresses no less) - let's just say Addy's pride is a bit hurt. So she decides to go to a house party hosted by her closest neighbors, Hugh and Pamela Fernald to take her mind off her embarrassment. Hugh, now confined to a wheelchair, is one of England's great war heroes - so when his wife is found poisoned in the conservatory it's shocking indeed. Setting her wounded pride aside, Addy calls in Inspector Hunter who is soon working the case.

Is there anything better than dead bodies showing up at an English house party? To my way of thinking, not really - and it's the premise of this story that kept me engaged. Hugh may have been a war hero but his wife had a pile of secrets - secrets that ultimately got her killed. The question being, which one of the house guests, servants or family members actually poisoned her?  Rupert's ghost, of course, shows up to help Addy, and that was my issue with this entry. I typically eschew ghost characters in mysteries because so often they serve as sleuthing shortcuts and while Rupert avoids that tag in the first two books, he's a big ol' giant shortcut in this entry. Enjoyed the premise, wasn't entirely wild about the execution.

Final Grade = B-

Farewell Blues by Maggie Robinson is the fourth and final book in the Lady Adelaide series and picks up right were the third book left off (which is a cliffhanger).  Unbeknownst to Addy and her sister, their mother, the very proper Dowager Marchioness had...a lover?!  A Duke with a reputation for being a big ol' stick in the mud, but a man has needs I guess so not so much of a stick in the mud that he didn't take a lover.  Anyway, the man has been shot dead in their love nest at The Ritz, and Addy's mother was found standing over the body holding a gun. Um, her gun. And turns out her gun was the murder weapon. The Detective Inspector assigned to the case sees it as open and shut so his desire to actually investigate is nil.  Enter Detective Inspector Devenand Hunter, who is recovering from injuries from the previous book so decides to take some time off so he can privately work the case.

There's plenty of suspects because the Duke's family is a veritable nest of vipers and of course Rupert's ghost comes back to help with the case, despite the fact he feels he more than earned his wings in the last book. While the mystery itself features a nice amount of twists and a variety of suspects, there's a lot of unanswered backstory left off page - namely what Addy's mother would have seen in the Duke, who was stodgy, crusty and frankly had a vile family.  We'll never know, since the author chooses not to address it.  Rupert's ghost provides more shortcuts here, but not as many as the previous entry and in the end he finally earns his wings and stops haunting Addy, to her great relief.  Since this is the final book in the series the author gives the reader 3 (!) epilogues to wrap up the various romantic entanglements that developed over the series.  These felt very much like an afterthought to me, like the author found out in the 11th hour that the publisher was dropping the series so hurry up quick and write some epilogues so we can tack them on at the end. Did I think they could have been better integrated into the story?  Yes.  Did I not like them? Good heavens, I'm not a monster. Who doesn't love 3 happy endings?  Monsters, that's who.

Final Grade = B

Murder in the Dressing Room by Holly Stars is a book I wanted to like a lot more than I actually did.  It has a dynamite premise, which is why I downloaded it in the first place. By day, Joe works a drab, dreary day job as a hotel accountant but by night he is the fabulous drag queen, Misty Divine, working at the legendary Lady Lady's club in London's West End. It starts out as just another night at the club but Misty, who is very close to her mentor, Lady Lady, notices that she seems "off."  When she goes to check on her after the show she finds Lady Lady dead in her dressing room, poisoned by a box of doctored chocolates.

Naturally everyone who had access to the backstage dressing room area are suspects and of course the lead Detective Inspector on the case is an asshole, although his female partner isn't all bad. There's nothing for it, Joe/Misty decides to investigate the crime themselves and naturally lands themselves in a bit of hot water as it appears the killer isn't afraid to strike again.

Like I said, the premise is dynamite and the world-building is pretty good.  Unfortunately the writing isn't. It lacks polish, is very tell-y and more than a bit repetitive - especially when it comes to Misty's internal thoughts and worries. I think had I been home at the time I started reading this it would have failed the pick-up / put-down test, but I was trapped on an airplane when I started it so I plowed through a massive chunk right out of the gate.

Things got a bit better for me once the coincidence of Misty turning up where she doesn't belong too many times gets her arrested, but ultimately she's sprung by the cops and ends up solving the case. Unfortunately while Misty is a fabulous drag queen she suffers from the same affliction that many straight cupcake-baking, knitting amateur sleuths do - which is she's a bungling incompetent more often than not. There's also a dangling loose thread left unaddressed, likely because it's going to be fodder for the next book in the series, currently targeted for June 2026.  I liked the premise and this did keep me reasonably entertained, but between the lackluster writing and Misty annoying me in that special way a lot of amateur sleuths annoy me, it's unlikely I'll pick up Book 2.

Final Grade = C-

Review: Who's Sorry Now?

Last year I finally read the first book in Maggie Robinson's Lady Adelaide mystery series and I enjoyed it so much it made my annual Best Of list for the year. I resolved I would read the remaining three books in the series, but ARC guilt, it's real.  Instead of diving into glomming this series, I put it on the back burner in favor of reading through some neglected ARCs, and here we are a year later.  Well life is short, my reading mojo is crap, and there's no time like the present. Who's Sorry Now? was a delightfully fun read and just what the doctor ordered.

After the events of the first book, Lady Adelaide Compton ran off to New York with her sister Cecilia (Cee) for a well-deserved break. The best part of all?  She hasn't seen the ghost of her profligate dead husband since the resolution of the murder that took place in the barn at her country home. Unfortunately, the reprieve doesn't last long. While enjoying a New York speakeasy, Rupert pops up to warn Adelaide that a raid is coming, she and Cee shimmy out a bathroom window, and decide it's time to head back to England.

Scotland Yard Detective Inspector Devenand Hunter has his hands full back in London. Someone is murdering Bright Young People, poisoning their drinks while they dance and party the night away at their favorite hot spots. A disreputable new establishment, the Thieves' Den, has seen two poisonings thus far and now the villain has targeted the Savoy (of all places). The victim? Lady Cecilia. Blessedly, Lady Adelaide's quick thinking may have saved her sister's life.  Unfortunately he's now got another problem on his hands - Lady Adelaide wants to help. Besides the fact that her own sister could have died, she tells the Inspector that she can get into places and talk to people who will be more forthcoming with her than the police. She's right, of course, but he can't forget how her helping him before almost got her killed. 

What follows is Adelaide (feeling older than dirt as a 30-something widow) befriending the group of Bright Young People who seem to be at the center of the poisonings. Doing his best to "help" is Rupert's ghost, who has been ordered back to assist his widow at the behest of the "higher powers" who think he needs to reform before they'll let him out of ghostly limbo. Then of course there's the mutual attraction simmering between Anglo-Indian DI Hunter and Lady Adelaide, a marquess' daughter and widow of a bonafide World War I hero, never mind he was spectacularly unfaithful when he was alive. It's an attraction they both know is utterly impossible but they're both struggling to resist.

Finally picking up this second book reminded me of why I liked the first one so much, it really is an utterly charming and delightful cozy. While an alive Rupert would be vile and insufferable, a dead Rupert trying to make amends by protecting and helping his widow injects some levity. Robinson writes about the time period (1925) very well, infusing plenty of world-building without bogging down the narrative with a history lesson.  There's also a wide cast of characters around the mystery, including a notorious girl gang (the Forty Dollies) who seem to be mixed up in the whole affair in some way - never mind their main business up until that point is stealing merchandise such as clothes, furs and jewelry. 

The author has kept the first two books fairly lean (under 300 pages) but gives readers plenty of charm, interesting characters, a whiff of romance, and mysteries that are substantial enough to keep the plots moving along. I wasn't entirely enamored with the turn the denouement took in this book, but it's action-packed and I certainly didn't want to come up for air during the final chapters. I'm not going to allow ARC guilt to distract me from picking up Book 3.

Final Grade = B

Review: Nobody's Sweetheart Now

Sometimes my TBR truly is like being on an archeological dig. Will I uncover a precious gemstone? An old coin of moderate value? Or heaven forbid, animal dung. Nobody's Sweetheart Now by Maggie Robinson is the first of four books in her Lady Adelaide historical mystery series and it is one of the gemstones. This book was a pure delight from start to finish.

It's been six months since Lady Adelaide Compton buried her husband Major Rupert Charles Cressleigh Compton. Rupert was dashing, charming, and a bonafide war hero (a pilot!) in World War I. He was also, and this cannot be overstated, a first rate cad. Rupert died after crashing one of his cars in the Cotswold countryside, with a French mademoiselle in the passenger seat. 

Adelaide has spent her mourning period bringing the country house up to scratch and is ready for a house party, much to the horror of her mother, the very proper Dowager Marchioness of Broughton. But, quite frankly, Rupert played Adelaide for a fool so why should she hang on to outdated notions of "mourning." It's 1924 after all.

Unfortunately just as her guests are about to arrive, Rupert, rather his ghost, makes an inconvenient appearance. Blathering on about how he cannot cross over to the other side until he does a few good deeds. Addie is, quite naturally, concerned for her sanity, but before she can start making plans to see a doctor (obviously it will need to be a discreet one!), a murder interrupts her house party. 

The victim, who was not invited, is the ex-wife of one her neighbors, who was invited. Lady Kathleen Grant is found dead in one of the estate's barns, naked as the day she was born. She was also the very definition of a good time girl, a flapper who took many lovers, consumed a fair amount of drugs, and made her way through life being brash and unapologetic. Plenty of people, including nearly all the members of Addie's house party, had motive - but then her gardener, Mr. McGrath, turns up dead in his bed, and not from natural causes. Who would want the kindly Scottish gardener dead?

The local law makes a total muck of things, so riding in to solve the case is Devenand Hunter, an Anglo-Indian police inspector who has to somehow solve the case without ruffling anymore blue blood feathers. He's immediately intrigued by Lady Adelaide, even though he knows any attraction to her is disastrous, but also she seems rather eccentric. Always talking to herself...

I'm going to be honest, yes this sat in my TBR for a long time because of the "ghost thing." I have a hard time with paranormal anything as is, but ghosts in mystery novels have this unfortunate way of acting as sleuthing shortcuts - which just annoys me. I want the humans to actually put in the work and puzzle things out for themselves. And while Rupert naturally does do some noising around, his contribution is mainly to help Addie take the blinders off. There's quite a bit about some of her house party guests that she didn't know, just making her feel even more naïve in light of Rupert's disregard to their martial vows. Rupert's main purpose is largely comic relief and yes he was a cad in real life, but as a ghost cad it's all very funny - especially with Addie trying to stop herself from bickering with him for fear of her own sanity.

Inspector Hunter serves the role of intelligent outsider who has to come in and puzzle the whole mess out and for that he knows he needs some help. Despite her eccentricities, he rules out Lady Adelaide as a potential murderess fairly quickly, and comes to appreciate her insights on the victim and the potential suspects. She also has a stake in wrapping up the mystery, not only because the victim was found on her property, but also because her gardener was likely murdered because he saw something he shouldn't have seen.

The world-building is top notch, truly it cannot be overstated how well the author writes about the time period and sets her stage. There's also a very light romance brewing between Inspector Hunter and Adelaide that will undoubtedly further develop over the course of the next three books in the series. 

My only quibble is that certain events take place off-stage (the local constable mucking up things for example) as the author moves her story ahead, but it's all so charming, delightful, really such a perfect blend of cozy and traditional British mystery, that it's hardly worth harping on. Truly a delight from the first page to the last. I'm looking forward to the rest of the series.

Final Grade = B+

#TBRChallenge 2022: In the Arms of the Heiress

The Book: In the Arms of the Heiress by Maggie Robinson

The Particulars: Historical romance, 2013, Berkley, In Print, Book one in series

Why Was It In Wendy's TBR?: I had an autographed print copy in my TBR and a post-it note still attached to the cover makes me think the author might have sent it to me? Maybe? Or else I picked it up at a conference.

The Review: This month's optional Challenge theme was "After the War" which certainly implies dark, angsty reads. Well, here's a story that is the exact opposite.  Ladies and gents, we have ourselves a romp!

Banking heiress Louisa Stratton ran away from home a year ago. Tired of being a prisoner under her aunt's flinty dragon-like gaze, the moment she came into her inheritance she grabbed her personal maid and started traveling around the Continent in an automobile she bought in France. But her family just won't stop pestering her - so she does what any sensible Edwardian-era heiress would do...

She invents a husband.  Maximillian Norwich is positively perfect and dashing in every way. But still, the family makes noise and worse yet - Aunt Grace's health has been poorly.  There's no avoiding it any longer - Louisa must return home to England and the dreadful Rosemont Manor.  Well, bugger. She's just going to have to find someone to play her husband for 30 days. I mean, it's really the only option!

Charles Cooper is a former captain having served during the Boer War. He's living in a squalid rooming house and pickling his liver with gin when Mrs. Evensong finds him.  Louisa hired her agency to find a fake husband and she thinks Charles is the man for the job.  Charles thinks both women are cracked.  Then he finds out how much Louisa is willing to pay him for a little 30-day farce and we're off to the races.

Of course it all starts to go spectacularly topsy-turvy once they land at Rosemont. A series of "accidents" start befalling Charles/Max and Louisa's family is a venerable nest of vipers.  They're essentially living off her largess and yet think she's a bubble-headed ninny who cannot control her scandalous impulses.  Charles takes one look at the lot of them and his White Knight Complex kicks into hyperdrive - not to mention his sex drive. He's been dead below the waist since returning from war and Louisa with her non-stop prattling, quick wit and hour-glass figure have his Mr. Happy standing up to salute once again.

I absolutely love the Edwardian period - the dawn of the 20th century, women pushing back on the confines of the dying Victorian era, yes we have World War I around the corner, but it's all grand stuff and Robinson handles the time period really well.  We need more romances in this era!

If you know anything about the Boer War at all, you know that it was horrific - and Charles waning time there found him ordered to a concentration camp as part of a damage control campaign. Finding women and children dead and near death hasn't done wonders for his peace of mind. This has naturally given Charles a fair bit of PTSD and hence the drinking. 

Yes, there's dark underpinnings but it's still a romp. A bit of a farce. It's very My Gal Friday in dialogue and sparring. Louisa and Charles rub each other in all the right and wrong ways and it makes for some sparkling, quick-witted reading.  There's even the light mystery bubbling along to keep the reader flipping the pages.  And yet...

It all feels way too long.  The sex scenes are fun and lively but there's frankly too many of them (they felt like word count padding after a while...).  My print copy clocks in at 316 pages and I feel like these mad-cap shenanigans would have been perfect at the length of a Traditional Regency or a Harlequin Historical.  It just seems to go on for a very long time.

Then there's the matter of Louisa's family who are toxic and yet at the end I'm supposed to buy some clap-trap about how they really do care about her it's just they're really, really bad at showing it.  Y'all Wendy did not just fall off the turnip truck. I would have lit Rosemont ablaze while they were all sleeping in their beds.  I mean, if the Boer War can't quell the bubbly tone why should a little mass murder by arson?

As a general rule I have a checkered history with light historicals but this one falls on the less annoying side of the street for me.  Yes, it's a romp but it avoids cutesy and twee (shudder).  I did appreciate several things about the story, but it didn't captivate me to the point where I want to gobble up the rest of the series.  However it has made me curious about Robinson's historical mystery series - of which I'm glad I have book one laying about somewhere...

Final Grade = B-

Unusual Historical Spotlight: Woo-Woo, Edwardian, Retro France, Hero Of Color, San Francisco, Gambling Man, & China

The Guardian's Witch by Ruth A. Casie - Carina Press - July 1, 2013 - Digital Only

Description:

England, 1290

Lord Alex Stelton can't resist a challenge, especially one with a prize like this: protect a castle on the Scottish border for a year, and it's his. Desperate for land of his own, he'll do anything to win the estate--even enter a proxy marriage to Lady Lisbeth Reynolds, the rumored witch who lives there.

Feared and scorned for her second sight, Lisbeth swore she'd never marry, but she is drawn to the handsome, confident Alex. She sees great love with him but fears what he would think of her gift and her visions of a traitor in their midst.

Despite his own vow never to fall in love, Alex can't get the alluring Lisbeth out of his mind and is driven to protect her when attacks begin on the border. But as her visions of danger intensify, Lisbeth knows it is she who must protect him. Realizing they'll secure their future only by facing the threat together, she must choose between keeping her magic a secret and losing the man she loves.

What Makes It Unusual: It's a medieval!  Also looks like we have some paranormal woo-woo, so if you like your historicals straight-up that might be a deal-breaker.

In the Arms of an Heiress by Maggie Robinson - Berkley - July 2, 2013

Description:

Independent heiress Louisa Stratton is going home to Rosemont for the holidays, and at the family’s request, she’s bringing her new husband—Maximillian Norwich, art connoisseur and artful lover, the man she’s written of so glowingly. There’s one hitch—he doesn’t exist. Louisa needs a fake husband, and fast, to make the proper impression.

Charles Cooper, captain of the Boer War and far from silver spoons or gilded cages, is so hard up that even this crazy scheme appeals to him. It’s only thirty days, not till death do them part. What’s so difficult about impersonating a husband, even if he doesn’t know a Rembrandt from a Rousseau?

The true difficulty is keeping his hands off Louisa once there’s nobody around to see their ruse. And then there’s the small problem of someone at Rosemont trying to kill him. Keeping his wits about him and protecting Louisa brings out the honor he thought he’d left on the battlefield. But when Louisa tries to protect him, Charles knows he’s found a way to face his future—in the arms of his heiress.

What Makes It Unusual: It's an Edwardian!

Stolen Spring by Louisa Rawlings - Samhain Retro Romance - July 16, 2013 - Digital Only

Description:

Money makes the world go ’round, but love makes life worth living.

France, 1700

Forced into spying to save her father from debtor’s prison, Marie-Rouge runs away from her lecherous suitor at the glittering court of Versailles, and finds refuge in the simple cottage of a country miller, Pierre—a strong, seductive man who sets her heart to racing wildly.

Her stolen interlude, filled with laughter and warmth, ripens into intoxicating love. Pierre is everything she has ever wanted in a man—passionate, devoted, matching her desire with his own. But her need to save her father from his overwhelming debt means she can never have a future with her beloved Pierre.

The lies she has been forced to tell create a gulf between her and Pierre that seems all but impossible to bridge. And with mysterious suitors and a forced marriage in the offing, will learning the truth be enough to save their love?

This Retro Romance reprint was originally published in May 1988 by Warner Books.

What Makes It Unusual: Wowzers, France well before The Revolution!  Originally published in 1988, I suspect readers might be in for some ol'-fashioned bodice-rippin'.

A Dream Defiant by Susanna Fraser - Carina Press - July 29, 2013 - Digital Only

Description:

Spain, 1813

Elijah Cameron, the son of runaway slaves, has spent his whole life in the British army proving that a black man can be as good a soldier as a white man. After a victory over the French, Elijah promises one of his dying men that he will deliver a scavenged ruby necklace to his wife, Rose, a woman Elijah has admired for years.

Elijah feels bound to protect her and knows a widow with a fortune in jewels will be a target. Rose dreams of using the necklace to return to England, but after a violent attack, she realizes that she needs Elijah's help to make the journey safely.

Her appreciation for Elijah's strength and integrity soon turns into love, but he doubts she could want a life with him, knowing the challenges they'd face. As their relationship grows, she must convince Elijah that she wants him as more than a bodyguard. And she must prove that their love can overcome all obstacles, no matter the color of their skin.

What Makes It Unusual: An interracial romance!

A Wanted Man by Rebecca Hagan Lee - Berkley - August 6, 2013

Description:

A thoroughly English girl raised in Hong Kong, Julie Jane Parham has spent her entire life walking the line between two worlds. When her closest friend, Su Mi, becomes the victim of an arranged marriage gone horribly wrong, Julie travels to San Francisco in order to buy back her freedom and soon finds herself in over her head.

On a rescue mission of his own, Will Keegan uses his saloon, The Silken Angel, as a front to whisk Chinese prostitutes away from the city’s ruthless brothel owners to a life of freedom, risking his own hide in the process.

Sparring with a spirited British lady is the last thing Will Keegan needs, but he isn’t about to let lovely Julie throw herself headfirst into danger. And as the urge to protect her turns into something more, Will knows he must get Julie to trust him, or chance losing her forever…

What Makes It Unusual: 19th century San Francisco! 

The Ballad of Emma O'Toole by Elizabeth Lane - Harlequin Historical - August 20, 2013

Description:

High stakes marriage

After shooting a man, the stakes for gambler Logan Devereaux have never been higher. On trial for his life, he's offered a shocking alternate form of restitution…marriage to his victim's pregnant sweetheart!

Beautiful Emma O'Toole has sworn vengeance against him—and when a newspaper man puts her tragic story to song, the whole nation waits to see what she'll do. Their marriage is the riskiest gamble Logan's ever taken. But he'll put everything he's got on the line for a chance at winning Emma's heart.

What Makes It Unusual: A western!  And man oh man, just reading that description has the needle on my Angst Meter buried in the red.

The Lotus Palace by Jeannie Lin - HQN - August 27, 2013

Description: 

It is a time of celebration in the Pingkang Li, where imperial scholars and bureaucrats mingle with beautiful courtesans. At the center is the Lotus Palace, home of the most exquisite courtesans in China... 

Maidservant Yue-ying is not one of those beauties. Street-smart and practical, she's content to live in the shadow of her infamous mistress-until she meets the aristocratic playboy Bai Huang.

Bai Huang lives in a privileged world Yue-ying can barely imagine, yet alone share, but as they are thrown together in an attempt to solve a deadly mystery, they both start to dream of a different life. Yet Bai Huang's position means that all she could ever be to him is his concubine-will she sacrifice her pride to follow her heart?

It is a time of celebration in the Pingkang Li, where imperial scholars and bureaucrats mingle with beautiful courtesans. At the center is the Lotus Palace, home of the most exquisite courtesans in China… 
Maidservant Yue-ying is not one of those beauties. Street-smart and practical, she’s content to live in the shadow of her infamous mistress-until she meets the aristocratic playboy Bai Huang.
Bai Huang lives in a privileged world Yue-ying can barely imagine, yet alone share, but as they are thrown together in an attempt to solve a deadly mystery, they both start to dream of a different life. Yet Bai Huang’s position means that all she could ever be to him is his concubine-will she sacrifice her pride to follow her heart?
- See more at: http://www.jeannielin.com/lotus-palace/#sthash.i1yGcebJ.dpuf

What Makes It Unusual:  More Tang Dantasy from Lin!  This is her first single title, and the first in a new series for HQN.

So, any of these landing on your shopping list?  Any good unusual historicals you've read recently?  Suggestions and recommendations are always welcome in the comments!