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Book Review – The Plot is Murder

/ Eleanor Jane / 2 Comments

I am always on the lookout for new (to me) cosy crime books.  They are just so comforting and the best kind of relaxation so when I heard about the Mystery Bookshop series by V M Burns I had to try it out.  It is set in a mystery bookshop after all!

Publisher’s Blurb





Samantha Washington has long dreamed of owning a mystery bookstore.  And as she prepares for the grand opening, she’s realizing another dream–penning a cozy mystery set in England between the wars.  While Samantha hires employees and stocks her shelves, her imagination also gets to work as her heroine, Lady Penelope Marsh, long-overshadowed by her beautiful sister Daphne, refuses to lose the besotted Victor Carlston to her sibling’s charms.  When one of Daphne’s suitors is murdered in a maze, Penelope steps in to solve the labyrinthine puzzle and win Victor.

In the meantime, however, the unimaginable happens in real life.  A shady realtor turns up dead in Samantha’s backyard, and the police suspect her–after all, she might know a thing or two about murder.  Aided by her feisty grandmother and an ensemble of enthusiastic retirees, Samantha is determined to close the case before she opens her store.  But will she live to conclude her own story when the killer has a revised ending in mind?

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I very much enjoyed this book.  It is light, easy reading which is perfect right now.  The mystery kept me guessing and I especially loved reading about Nana Jo and the girls.  I only hope I’m half as active and resourceful as them when I’m their age!

I hadn’t realised that half of the text  would be taken up by the crime novel which Sam is writing.  That did throw me a bit to start with but I actually really like the way it was woven into the main plot.  There were however some aspects of the portrayal of life in 1930s England which grated and I did feel that perhaps some more research could have been done here.

Overall though, I thought it was a fun book and I will definitely be reading more in the series.

Book Details

The Plot is Murder by V M Burns
Publisher: Kensington Publishing
ISBN: 9781496711816
RRP: £11.99

 

Book Review – Death Sets Sail

/ Eleanor Jane / 2 Comments

I have been a fan of Robin Stevens’ Murder Most Unladylike series for years so, although I am very sad that Death Sets Sail is the last in the series, I was incredibly excited to receive a review copy from Penguin Random House.

Publisher’s Blurb

The ninth and final novel in the number-one bestselling, award-winning Murder Most Unladylike series.

Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong are in Egypt, taking a cruise along the Nile.  They are hoping to see some ancient temples and a mummy or two; what they get, instead, is murder.

Also travelling on the SS Hatshepsut is a mysterious society called the Breath of Life: a group of genteel English ladies and gentlemen, who believe themselves to be reincarnations of the ancient pharaohs.  Three days into the cruise their leader is found dead in her cabin, stabbed during the night.

It soon becomes clear to Daisy and Hazel that the victim’s timid daughter is being framed – and they begin to investigate their most difficult case yet.

But there is danger all around, and only one of the Detective Society will make it home alive…

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I have been waiting for this book for so long that I was afraid I might have built it up too much in my mind and I would be disappointed.  I needn’t have worried though – this is a great book which definitely lives up to the rest of the series.

Of course, I am well above the target age for these books but even so I found the plot had a lot of unexpected twists and I only guessed the murderer a few pages before they were revealed.  That’s the best kind of mystery – it’s satisfying to be able to work it out but only if it’s right at the last minute!  I also loved the fact that the book is set in Egypt and I especially enjoyed the Agatha Christie references.

The characters have grown a lot over the course of the series and I will be sad to see them go.  Hazel in particular has developed so much and I found myself cheering for her several times in this one.  Robin Stevens has just announced a new series which will begin in 2022 and will focus on Hazel’s little sister May – I will be very much looking forward to that. In the meantime if you haven’t read Murder Most Unladylike yet I would highly recommend giving it a go.

Book Details

Death Sets Sail by Robin Stevens

ISBN: 9780241419809

Publisher: Puffin

RRP: £6.99

Summer Mysteries

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I am taking a few days annual leave this week. I have only been back at work for five weeks but it has been exhausting and I was more than ready for the break.

Of course, there are still things I need to get done this week but I was hopeful that I could spend a good chunk of the time reading. So far I have done pretty well and have read two of the Albert Campion series by Margaret Allingham – Traitor’s Purse and Coroner’s Pidgen. I have read both before so knew I would enjoy them and I have been revelling in them.

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I would have moved onto the next one but it is new to me and I need to wait until I actually have a copy. Instead, I have been drawn to another cosy mystery – The Plot is Murder by V M Burns. I don’t know a huge amount about this one but it was recommended to me and it is set in a mystery bookshop. How can I not like it?

Jane Austen Society

/ Eleanor Jane / 2 Comments

Last weekend should have seen the AGM of the Jane Austen Society UK at Chawton House.  This year is the 80th birthday of the society and so it would have been quite a special occasion.  Of course, for obvious reasons, this couldn’t happen.

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Instead, Chawton House hosted an online event which included a tour of the house and a talk about the history of the society which was very interesting.  1940 seems like an odd time to be creating such a society and I can understand why people thought there were more important things going in in the world.  It is however an excellent example of keeping calm and carrying on.

The highlight of the day for me though was the selection of birthday wishes from Jane Austen societies around the world.  It was very moving and even humbling to see how much people love Jane Austen and her world.

The videos are still available on the Chawton House YouTube channel and are well worth a watch if you can.

Literary Escapes

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A conversation at work about Jane Austen adaptations (I still need to see the new Emma!) led me to re-watch Lost in Austen over the weekend.  I haven’t seen it since it first came out but was very happy to find that I still thought it was excellent.

I love that Amanda is so involved in the world of Pride and Prejudice that the people and manners in her real life seem brash and even vulgar by comparison.  I too have wished that I could escape to Jane Austen’s world.

It got me thinking though – if I really could change places with someone in a book, who would it be?  Of course, Elizabeth Bennet is a good choice and I can definitely see myself in the world of Pride and Prejudice.  Betsy Ray would be another – I would so love to spend time in Deep Valley, go to some skating parties and experience Sunday night lunch at the Ray’s house.  Perhaps the ultimate though is Anne Shirley.  I have wanted to go to Avonlea ever since I first read the book and, of course, Gilbert would be there too.

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The only flaw in the plan is that I would have to actually swap places with these characters when what I really want to do is spend time with them.  I want to explore Avonlea with Anne and I definitely would love to talk to all three of them – plus so many others.  Switching places isn’t the answer.  I need a new plan!

Where in literature would you go if you could?

Sparkling Cyanide

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I have been reading Agatha Christie’s Sparkling Cyanide with a lovely group of people on Instagram and have been thoroughly enjoying it.

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I haven’t read any Christie for a while and it has been years since I read this one.  So much so that I genuinely had no idea whodunnit – which makes a nice change for me when I’m re-reading a book.  This was a good one too – a long list of suspects who all seemed pretty plausible.  Early on I did single out the love interests and write them off as suspects but then I remembered that Christie is not Ngaio Marsh or Georgette Heyer.  Anyone could have done it – including either or even both of the love interests – so they went back on the list.

In the end, I only guessed a few pages before the reveal which is always satisfying.  I like to be able to work out the solution before the detective but it’s not so great when you work out the murderer right at the beginning of the book!

It was a lot of fun reading this with the others.  There are always so many things which come up in the chats that I just don’t notice for myself when I’m reading and it is lovely to share my ideas with other people.  We might not be able to have in person book clubs at the moment but this is just as good (especially as my book club would never read a lot of the books I would like to choose!).

Literary Picnics

/ Eleanor Jane / 2 Comments

In our continuing efforts to make our weekends different to the rest of the week, we have taken a picnic lunch out to the field almost every Sunday since lockdown started. Our first one made me feel like Judy from Daddy-Long-Legs. Like Judy and Jervis, we carried a table out to sit under the trees.

Our next attempt was right in the midst of my Swallows and Amazons re-read and so I was much more ambitious. I called up everything I could remember from the books and all of my old Girl Guide knowledge to build a campfire and cook our lunch over that. I was quite proud of my success – and also surprised about how relatively easy it was. We repeated the exercise on another Sunday and it is such a fun way to cook lunch, even if you do end up smelling strongly of smoke!

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I even did some rummaging and found the flag I made when I was first reading Swallows and Amazons as a child. You can’t really tell but it is a sparrowhawk flag made to look like Swallow’s and I was very proud of it. It made our picnic feel like a proper camp too.

Having eaten lunch, we spent the rest of the afternoons just sitting with tea and books. It is the most restful way to spend a day and I always ended up feeling incredibly calm and peaceful. I shall be sorry to lose these days as I return to work but am determined to find some way to fit them into my life anyway.

Book Review – The Fowl Twins

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I was so excited to receive a review copy of Eoin Colfer’s new book The Fowl Twins last autumn.  My sister was obsessed with his Artemis Fowl books as a teenager so out of curiosity I picked one up myself.  I was instantly hooked and have loved them ever since.  It took me far too long to get around to reading this one but I’m glad I finally did.

Publisher’s Blurb

Criminal genius runs in the family…

Myles and Beckett Fowl are twins but the two boys are wildly different. Beckett is blonde, messy and sulks whenever he has to wear clothes. Myles is impeccably neat, has an IQ of 170, and 3D prints a fresh suit every day – just like his older brother, Artemis Fowl.

A week after their eleventh birthday the twins are left in the care of house security system, NANNI, for a single night. In that time, they befriend a troll on the run from a nefarious nobleman and an interrogating nun both of whom need the magical creature for their own gain . . .

Prepare for an epic adventure in which the Fowl twins and their new troll friend escape, get shot at, kidnapped, buried, arrested, threatened, killed (temporarily) . . . and discover that the strongest bond in the world is not the one forged by covalent electrons in adjacent atoms, but the one that exists between a pair of twins.

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Starting this book was like stepping back into a familiar world.  Artemis himself wasn’t around and neither were Holly Short or Butler but this book fits right in with the original series and I felt very at home there.  I loved Myles and Beckett and NANNI was just genius.

The plot is full of twists and turns and although I saw most of them coming it didn’t at all detract from my enjoyment of the book.  After all, it is aimed at children significantly younger than I am!  This is a fun and exciting start to a new series and I am already eagerly awaiting the new book.

Book Details

The Fowl Twins by Eoin Colfer

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers

ISBN: 9780008324810

RRP: £14.99

Holidaying at Home

/ Eleanor Jane / 5 Comments

At the moment I should be spending two weeks in the Hebrides.  I love spending time in Scotland and was very much looking forward to the trip but I have been determined to make the best of the time and try to make this fortnight feel different to the rest of this time at home.

I started by wanting to read books set in the right area.  I had intended to take Dorothy L Sayers’ Five Red Herrings with me as it is set near where I was due to be staying.  It is several years since I read it last but I have always remembered it as one of my favourites in the Lord Peter Wimsey series.  I had forgotten how complicated it is though – this time around I had a terrible time keeping all of the various alibis and timelines in my head!

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I intended to read more books set in Scotland but have ended up reading whatever happened to take my fancy.  Apart from Five Red Herrings I have been trying to restrict myself to my TBR shelf which is once again getting out of hand.  I was hoping that the lockdown would help me burn through it a bit but I’ve spent a lot of time seeking comfort by re-reading old favourites.  I also know that there are a whole load of brand new books I will buy as soon as I’m back in a bookshop.  I have a list.

For my ‘holiday’ fortnight I have been just browsing the shelf and taking whatever I happen to feel like reading that day.  The result has been quite eclectic – so far I’ve had Backstage with Peggy by Doris A Pocock, The Fowl Twins by Eoin Colfer, October Man by Ben Aaronovitch, The Girl Who Reads on the Métro by Christine Féret-Fleury and I’ve just moved on to Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.  I am currently feeling the call of L M Montgomery though and I may soon have to abandon the TBR for her.

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So far this week has been even more laid back than last week and I have spent many happy hours outside with my book and a cup of tea.  We have been getting quite inventive with the places we choose to sit – much use has been made of the ponies’ fields – in order to make this fortnight feel a little different.  It is working though – is really does feel like a holiday.

Lockdown Lit Fest

/ Eleanor Jane / 2 Comments

The lockdown is certainly creating a great deal of creativity when it comes to meeting up.  I have recorded music with my choir and have regular orchestra and ballet rehearsals over Zoom.  It has been fun to see everyone and to have a bit of structure in the week.

My favourite discovery so far though has been the rise of online literary festivals.  I love book festivals but I can’t usually get to many of them so the idea of having them come to me is just wonderful.  Obviously it’s not the same as getting to go to them but it is far better than nothing.

The online Hay Festival is coming up at the end of this week and I have booked my place at a whole load of the talks.  I am going to be in front of a screen for an awful lot of time next week!

First though, Chawton House had their own lockdown festival this past weekend.  Apparently they’ve been wanting to do a festival for a while and the lockdown pushed them into putting something together.  I have to say that if they do manage to have an actual in person festival I will be doing my very best to get there.  Even if they don’t, I have realised that I need to visit – the only time I’ve been to the house was for the AGM of the Jane Austen Society so I didn’t get to see very much of it (I have made a proper visit to Jane Austen’s House Museum but I would love to see that again as well).

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I have had a lovely weekend watching the talks and feeling very intellectual for doing so.  It was so interesting to see a bit of behind the scenes of the house and to learn more not just about the people who lived there but also about some related books – like The Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner which is out next week and sounds great.  I also had a brilliant time playing with some found poetry using lines from poems in the house.

I have come away with a renewed enthusiasm for 18th and 19th century writers and a list of new to me authors to try.  I’m pretty sure I’ve heard of George Sand but not Jane West or Jane Porter and I certainly haven’t read any of them.  They are firmly on my list now though and I am very keen to read them soon.  It is such a great feeling!

The festival is obviously over now but some of the talks are still available on the Chawton House youtube channel.  If you can I would highly recommend you have a watch!