A Murder at Rosamund's Gate (Lucy Campion Mysteries #1) by Susanna Calkins

Publisher: Minotaur Books

Publish Date: April 23, 2013

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 352

ISBN: 978 1250007902

 Lucy Campion, a seventeenth-century English chambermaid in the household of the local magistrate, life is an endless repetition of polishing pewter, emptying chamber pots, and dealing with other household chores until a fellow servant is ruthlessly killed, and someone close to Lucy falls under suspicion.  Lucy can’t believe it, but in a time where the accused are presumed guilty until proven innocent, lawyers aren’t permitted to defend their clients, and – if the plague doesn’t kill the suspect first – public executions draw a large crowd of spectators, Lucy knows she may never find out what really happened.  Unless, that is, she can uncover the true herself.

Determined to do just that, Lucy finds herself venturing out of her expected station and into raucous printers’ shops, secretive gypsy camps, the foul streets of London, and even the bowels of Newgate prison on a trail that might lead her straight into the arms of the killer.

My Thoughts

I'm a cover lover - there is no doubt about that and I found this particular cover so haunting and beautiful I knew I had to read it.  Then reading the synopsis and a promise of a good mystery set in the seventeenth century I was sold.  I loved the time period, loved the setting and the description of London and the premises of the story.  However there too much going on for me to fully engage in the story.  In addition to Lucy trying to solve the mystery of her friends murder there was also a number of other sub stories going on as well.  There was a romance budding with Lucy.  The plague struck and then became a focal point of the story.  There was also the political aspect and how during that time London had a corrupt justice system.  While the author did a great job of weaving everything together I found that it was all a bit too much. 

I liked her writing and glad that she chose to use modern language as opposed to what would have been used in the seventeenth century.  As she explains in her author's notes this is much easier for the reader, and as a lover and avid reader of historical fiction this is something even I appreciate.

This is the first book in a series and while I found the introduction to the series a bit slow I think it is a series worth reading and will continue on with the second book From the Charred Remains as I believe Calkins has so much room to grow as a storyteller.  I think Lucy is an interesting character and although not very complex (which is refreshing sometimes) am intrigued as to where the author takes her.  Although I didn't love the novel I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Calkins or this novel.

My Rating: «««

Buy it Now!

The reviews made here are my personal opinion. I’m not being paid to review any of these books. I am by no means a professional book reviewer or editor.  I do this for the love of books.

Unwanted (Fredrika Bergman and Alex Recht #1) by Kristina Ohlsson

Publisher: Atria/Emily Bestler Books

Publish Date: February 28, 2012

Format: MP3 CD

Discs: 2

ISBN: 978 1624065590

In the middle of a rainy Swedish summer, a little girl is abducted from a crowded train.  Despite hundreds of potential witnesses, no one noticed when the girl was taken.  Her distraught mother was left behind at the previous station in what seemed to be a coincidence.  The train crew was alerted and kept a watchful eye on the sleeping child.  But when the train pulled into Stockholm Central Station, the little girl had vanished.  Inspector Alex Recht and his special team of federal investigators, assisted by the investigative analyst Fredrika Bergman, are assisting to what at first appears to be a classic custody fight.  But when the child is found dead in the far north of Sweden with the word “unwanted” scribbled on her forehead, the case soon turns into the investigation team’s worst nightmare – the pursuit of a brilliant and ruthless killer.

My Thoughts

I've never really been a big fan of Scandinavian literature.  I have no desire to read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series - although I'm sure I eventually will as they are sitting on my shelf.  I don't know exactly what it is that I don't like about them, but it's possible the dark and twistedness of the stories.  I defiantly did not enjoy this book.  It's possible the reason is because I absolutely hated the narrator for the audio book.  Maybe had a physically read the book I may have enjoyed it more, but listening to it made my ears bleed.

The premises for this story is just wrong.  I found it so disturbing that it didn't even want to finish.  A little girl is abducted  and later found dead with her head shaved.  During the whole novel the author does not portray any heartbreak from the family of the murdered little girl.  The father not only never makes an appearance during the entire story, he becomes a suspect...which I found extremely disturbing.  And I didn't feel any closure of his part of the story.  I hated the background story for Fredrika and Alex, it was unnecessary and had no added value to the story.  There was nothing gripping about this story that left me wanting more.  I simply finished it to move on to something else.

I just found the whole story unrealistic and unbelievable and the ending rushed.  The overall plot of the book was just weak and disturbing.  Overall I did not enjoy this and will most likely not read the rest in the series.

My Rating: ««

Buy it Now!

The reviews made here are my personal opinion. I’m not being paid to review any of these books. I am by no means a professional book reviewer or editor.  I do this for the love of books.

Defending Jacob by William Landay

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Publish Date: January 31, 2012

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 432

ISBN: 978 0385344227

Andy Barber has been assistant district attorney in his suburban Massachusetts county for more than twenty years.  He is respected in is community, tenacious in the courtroom, and happy at home with his wife, Laurie, and son, Jacob.  But when a shocking crime shatters their New England town, Andy is blindsided by what happens next: His fourteen-year-old son is charged with the murder of a fellow student.

Every parental instinct Andy has rallies to protect his boy.  Jacob insists that he is innocent, and Andy believes him.  Andy must.  He’s his father.  But as damning facts and shocking revelations surface, as a marriage threatens to crumble and the trial intensifies, as the crisis reveals how little a father knows about his son, Andy will face a trial of his own – between loyalty and justice, between truth and allegation, between a past he’s tried to burry and a future he cannot conceive.

My Thoughts

This is another one of those books that I wanted to love (cause everyone else has) but it was just ok.  I found parts of it rather slow and boring and wondering when it was going to pick up.  One aspect I really enjoyed was the transcript conversations with Andy Barber and Neal Loguidice, totally led me down a different path than what I was expecting.  There was not one character I enjoyed or was attached to, Laurie just drove me up the wall.

The redeeming quality was the end.  Oh the end.  Mind hole blown.  Was not expecting that what so ever.  The end is want bumped this novel up from a 2 to 3 star.  This was my first book by William Landay and would be willing to give one of his others a read, I never judge an author having only read one of their books.

My Rating: «««

Buy it Now!

The reviews made here are my personal opinion. I’m not being paid to review any of these books. I am by no means a professional book reviewer or editor.  I do this for the love of books.

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

Publisher: Crown Publishing
Publish Date: May 5, 2009
Format: download library
Pages: -
ISBN: -

Libby Day was seven when her mother and two sisters were murdered in “The Satan Sacrifice of Kinnakee, Kansas.”  As her family lay dying, little Libby fled their farmhouse into the freezing January snow.  She lost some fingers and toes, but she survived – and famously testified that her fifteen-year-old brother Ben, was the killer.  Twenty-five years later, Ben sits in prison, and troubled Libby lives of the dregs of a trust fund created by well-wishers who’ve long forgotten her.

The Kill Club is a macabre secret society obsessed with notorious crimes.  When they locate Libby and pump her for details – proof they hope may free Ben – Libby hatches a plan to profit off her tragic history.  For a fee, she’ll admit her testimony wasn’t so solid after all.

As Libby’s search takes her from shabby Missouri strip clubs to abandoned Oklahoma tourist towns, the narrative flashes back to January 2, 1985.  The events of that day are relayed through the eyes of Libby’s doomed family members – including Ben, a loner whose rage over his shiftless father and their failing farm have driven him into a disturbing friendship with the new girl in town.  Piece by piece, the unimaginable truth emerges, and Libby finds herself right back where she started – on the run from a killer.

My Thoughts

Oi! Where to even begin...my head is still spinning.  Dark places is set between present day and 1985 when it (no spoilers) all went down and is told from three main points of view; Libby Day, Ben Day and Patty Day, which a I always enjoy - lets you get inside everyone's head.

When I first started reading I wasn't sure I was going to like it.  I was such a fan of Gone Girl and had set Gillian Flynn on a pedestal for mystery writing I just wasn't sure it was going to live up to my expectations.  Once I started really getting into the story and trying to figure out the "who done it" is when I really started to enjoy the novel.  It is very dark, twisted and horrifying, one of those novel you want to hate for it's content but you just can't help but love it.  This book is disturbingly awesome and clever, pure magic.

I would have given it a 5 star rating had I not been able to piece together the ending before the end.  But overall a great read! 

My Rating: ««««

Buy it Now!

The reviews made here are my personal opinion. I’m not being paid to review any of these books. I am by no means a professional book reviewer or editor.  I do this for the love of books.

Sutton by J.R. Moehringer

Publisher: Hyperion
Publish Date: September 25, 2012
Pages: 352
Format: Hardcover (local library)
ISBN: 1401323146

Willie Sutton was born in the squalid Irish slums of Brooklyn in 1901, and came of age at a time when banks were out of control.  If they weren’t failing outright, causing countless Americans to lose their jobs and homes, they were being propped with emergency bailouts.  Trapped in a cycle of panics, depressions and soaring unemployment, Sutton saw only one way out, only one way to win the girl of his dreams.

So began the career of America’s most successful bank robber.  Over three decades Sutton became so good at breaking into banks, and such a master at breaking out of prisons, police called him one of the most dangerous men in New York, and the FBI put him on its first-ever Most Wanted List.

But the public rooted for Sutton.  He never fired a shot, after all, and his victims were merely those bloodsucking banks.  When he was finally caught for good in 1952, crowds surrounded the jail and chanted his name.

It was more than poverty or rage at society that drove Sutton.  It was one unforgettable woman.  In all Sutton’s crimes and confinements, his first love (and first accomplice) was never far from his thoughts.  And when Sutton finally walked free – a surprise pardon on Christmas Eve, 1969 – he immediately set out to find her.

My Thoughts
Blending vast research with vivid imagination, J.R. Moehringer brings Willie Sutton blazing back to life.  This is a story with many layers including politics, crime and most of all love.  Even though this is a novel about a famous bank robber, Moeringer tells a beautiful love story which is the main reason Sutton chose the life of crime.  It gives us an extensive overview of the risk versus the reward of the profession. 

There are so many vibrant aspects to this story; beating by cops, narrow escapes, unexpected kindness, tearful betrayals and hair raising robberies, life lessons…I could go on and on.  I was absolutely transfixed by this book and I can’t praise it enough.  The story starts and ends on Christmas Eve 1969 and the author does not go on to tell us about Willie’s life after his release which lead me to do some research on my own and have become completely fascinated with Willie Sutton.  Although he never robbed another bank after his final release he still led a pretty interesting life.  He became an advocate for prison reform, consulted with banks implementing anti-robbery techniques and even became a spokesperson for the New Britain Bank and Trust Company.

Highly, highly recommended!

My Rating: «««««

Buy it Now!

The reviews made here are my personal opinion. I’m not being paid to review any of these books. I am by no means a professional book reviewer or editor.  I do this for the love of books.