Review - A Dark and Stormy Murder

It took a few months to get to this book in the TBR pile.  But the concept of a Gothic cozy mystery was so compelling, I finally made the time to read it.  Find out if Gothic works in a cozy in the review.  Julia Buckley is also the author of the UnderCover Dish Mystery series.  She did us the honor of a guest author post (click here) where she shared her love of gothic suspense author Mary Stewart.

Author: Julia Buckley

Copyright: July 2016 (Berkley) 304 pgs

Series: 1st in Writer's Apprentice Mystery series

Sensuality: Mild

Mystery Sub-genre: Cozy

Main Characters: Lena London, new writing assistant to a best-selling author

Setting: Modern day, Blue Lake Indiana

Obtained Through: Publisher for honest review

From the book cover: "Lena London's literary dreams are coming true—as long as she can avoid any real-life villains...

Camilla Graham’s bestselling suspense novels inspired Lena London to become a writer, so when she lands a job as Camilla’s new assistant, she can’t believe her luck. Not only will she help her idol craft an enchanting new mystery, she’ll get to live rent-free in Camilla’s gorgeous Victorian home (Graham House) in the quaint town of Blue Lake, Indiana.

But Lena’s fortune soon changes for the worse. First, she lands in the center of small town gossip for befriending the local recluse. Then, she stumbles across one thing that a Camilla Graham novel is never without—a dead body, found on her new boss’s lakefront property.

Now Lena must take a page out of one of Camilla’s books to hunt down clues in a real crime that seems to be connected to the novelist’s mysterious estate—before the killer writes them both out of the story for good."

Lena makes friends really easily. Within a few hours of arriving in Blue Lake for her new job she strikes up a friendship with a surly neighbor the majority of people in town are leary of since he is still a prime suspect in the disappearance of his wife - and a scattered young woman with two children in tow.  She is intelligent yet can fly into tangents of shear emotion.  Best-selling author Camilla is a delight and a star in the book. BFF Allison seems like a great person, but I would like a bit more of her character.  

Sam West is an slightly older man with a dark cloud of suspicion that he killed is "missing" wife.  **Spoiler: I find Lena's nearly instant interest in and defense of him, and he in her, a bit creepy considering his wife's suspicious disappearance. **End Spoiler.  Policeman Doug Heller who takes his job very seriously and is the popular guy with blonde good looks tries to impress Lena. Adam Rayburn runs the one upscale restaurant, Wheat Grass, and seems interested in Camilla.  I have to mention the animals: Lena's cat Lestrade and Camilla's German Sheperds Rochester and Heathcliff are great!

Blue Lake is an ideal setting and Graham house has a few locals who swear it holds a secret - they evoke the gothic atmosphere.  The main plot has it's own complexities, but the subplots of Graham House's secret and Sam's wife's disappearance cast long shadows and add great layers.  Pacing kept the interest up.  

You know I like the hair raising tense killer reveals, and this book delivered.  Great job there.  The wrap up leaves a pretty big sub-plot cliff hanger so you are on the edge of your seat for the next book.

I loved this Gothic cozy in many ways, but there was the blemish I mentioned in the spoiler, plus Lena has an incredibly childish moment and throws food at the police for doing their jobs.  Those are the down side.  The up side is a successfully atmospheric tale with a substantial mystery and otherwise well done characters.  I down right loved parts. I will definitely be looking for the next book in this new series.  

Rating: Excellent - Loved it, it had a good grip on me inspite of some minor issues! 

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Guest Author Post - Julia Buckley

Julia Buckley is a Chicago mystery author whose career started in 2006 with the publication of THE DARK BACKWARD. She is currently writing two series for Berkley Prime Crime, the first of which launched with THE BIG CHILI (Undercover Dish Mysteries) and the new A DARK AND STORMY MURDER (A Writer's Apprentice Mystery).

Julia has taught high school English for twenty-seven years; she lives near Chicago with her husband, two sons, three cats, and a mischievous Lab puppy named Digby.  Please welcome Ms. Julia Buckley to our little corner of the blogosphere. 

When I Discovered Mary Stewart

I remember when I first fell in love with Mary Stewart. It was somewhere between the late seventies and the early eighties; my mother, a volunteer librarian at my school and eventually at our local library, was always bringing home interesting books. We were huge library supporters: my dad was on the board, and we invited the local librarian, a bachelor, to our house for dinner and games of Password.

My mother had long been a Mary Stewart fan, and I can’t recall if she pressed one into my hand, assuring me that I’d like it, or if I picked one up on my own. Stewart’s covers and titles were compelling, with a Gothic flair and a sense of menace.

In any case, I read the first book. In those days we children who were still in school tended to come home in the afternoon and lie on the furniture like giant sloths, reading the books we had been forced to leave behind. I remember hearing a lot of “Why don’t you go get some fresh air?” while I lay there, devouring chapter after chapter.

The first way that Stewart lured her reader was with an Epigraph at the beginning of each chapter, always literary, referring the reader to a passage from Shakespeare, or Milton, or Bronte. This carefully-selected quotation always had relevance to the story she was telling. After this came the one-two punch of a fascinating setting and a gripping plot, introduced by an irresistible first line.

In her first suspense novel, Madam, Will You Talk?, Stewart begins by setting the tone: 

"The whole affair began so very quietly. When I wrote, that summer, and asked my friend Louise if she would come with me on a car trip to Provence, I had no idea that I might be issuing an invitation to danger" (Stewart 1).

Every Mary Stewart fan knows the quiet satisfaction of this sort of beginning. One can be assured of an exciting ride with a highly literate driver.

In my own book, A DARK AND STORMY MURDER, Camilla Graham is a Mary Stewart-type suspense novelist, and Lena London is as star-struck as I would be, had I ever been given the chance to meet Lady Stewart in person. I suppose the book is a kind of wish fulfillment. In an homage to Stewart’s books, I begin each chapter with an epigraph, but I am quoting Camilla Graham’s book, THE SALZBURG TRAIN.

After that the resemblance to a Stewart novel ends, but it is still my love letter to the best writer of romantic suspense.

(My other favorite Mary Stewart titles include NINE COACHES WAITING, MY BROTHER MICHAEL, THE MOONSPINNERS, AIRS ABOVE THE GROUND, THIS ROUGH MAGIC, THUNDER ON THE RIGHT, and THE IVY TREE.

A DARK AND STORMY MURDER (Berkley Prime Crime) will be on sale on July 5, and is available for pre-order on Amazon).

Work Cited

Stewart, Mary. Madam, Will You Talk? London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1954.

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THANK You Ms. Buckley.  I am a huge Mary Stewart fan as well.  I have a hardcopy of The Moonspinners and still remember the haunting story of Airs Above the Ground.  Of course the Crystal Cave trilogy is phenomenal.   Playing games of Password, Yes!

Review - Cry in the Night

This is another stand alone novel from the author of the Death on Demand mystery Series and the Ruth Bailey Ghost mysteries.  I reviewed her prior novel "What the Cat Saw" (click here for review) and interviewed the author (click here.)  This is written in the style of the old Gothic suspense novels like Mary Stewart's "Moonspiners" and "Airs Above the Ground", and reminded me of Agatha Christie's "They Came to Baghdad" - only portraying a modern woman.

Author: Carolyn Hart

Copyright: Dec 2013 (Berkley) 256 pgs

Series: Stand-alone Novel

Sensuality: n/a

Mystery Sub-genre: Gothic suspense

Main Characters: Sheila Ramsay, Egyptologist at  NYC museum

Setting: 1982, New York but primarily Mexico City

Obtained Through: Publisher for an honest review

Sheila attends a conference at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. and sits in on a lecture by Jerry Elliot, visiting curator at the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City. After the lecture Sheila and Jerry strike up a conversation and spend the day together.  That short time of fast friendship makes an impression on Sheila well after the conference is over and she returns to New York and her Egyptology department.

Some time passes and her museum needs to return an old manuscript they were studying to the family that lent it.  Sheila puts her name in the hat to return the manuscript to the Ortega family in Mexico city with the hope of getting some sightseeing in and visiting Jerry Elliot again.  Sheila is picked to make the trip to return the manuscript to the Ortega Family.  As soon as the plane lands she is in somebody's cross-hairs with a note handed to her in the airport threatening death if she doesn't return to New York.  Her first night at the Ortega's mansion she awakes in the night from a sharp cry...thus begins the danger she will face without knowing how she has been injected into a deadly hunt for ancient treasure. 

Sheila is a level headed, smart gal who takes a step outside her comfort zone only to be thrown into a dangerous situation out of her control.  She handles what is dealt her with reason and appropriate fear.  Jerry Elliot proves to have a one-track mind on antiquities above Sheila's situation.  He does provide key information but is not what Sheila remembered nor expected. In true gothic fashion, the man who captures Sheila's imagination, Tony Ortega, is an enigma through most of the novel.  Other members of the Ortega family are involved, but Rita and Francesca, ten year old twin sisters of Tony are memorable.

The setting is divided between the Ortega's mansion in Mexico City and sights in Mexico.  Sheila is just being a tourist when a suspenseful drama unfolds at Teotihuacan (City of the Gods), an archaeological site with famous Mesoamerican pyramids.  Incorporating such distinctive sights helps to transport the readers into the exotic locale.
 
This is a shorter book of only 256 pages, which results in a fast paced story overall.  Surprisingly there were still a few spots that seemed a bit slow.  The plot is a slight stretch, but believable enough for an entertaining novel.  There are plenty of suspects and information is slowly revealed, which keeps the reader in the dark along with Sheila.  It has a good suspenseful killer reveal and climax that brings the story threads crashing to a finale.  There is one little question left unanswered at the end, purposefully left hanging.  The wrap-up provides a feel good ending despite the fall out.

If you miss the gothic suspense novels and yearn for a similar story, you will enjoy this exotic race amid Mexican ruins.

Rating: Good, not great - A fun read with fast pace for a light adventure.

Review: Murder on the Cliffs by Joanna Challis

It is National Library week so take a little time this week to get to know your local library if you haven't already. I plan on paying my overdue charges! Yes, I donate to the fund to buy new books regularly via my late fees.

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Author: Joanna Challis

Copyright: November, 2009 (Minotaur); 304 pgs.

Series: #1 Daphne du Maurier Mysteries

Sensuality: N/A

Mystery sub-genre: Historical Cozy

Main Character: 21 year old Daphne du Maurier, aspiring author (who later writes Rebecca that becomes a movie)

Setting: 1928 Cornwall England

Obtained book through: Library

21-year-old Daphne is visiting Cornwall to research local history and encounters a teenage girl, Lianne Hartley, leaning over a beautiful young woman's dead body on the beach during a storm. Lianne identifies the dead woman as Victoria Bastion, the local town girl who was about to marry Lianne's brother, Lord David Hartley. Daphne soon meets other members of the aristocratic Hartley family, whose complex relationships and great house, an Elizabethan mansion called Padthaway, cast a spell on her. 

My ears may be young," I replied, "but they are not unhinged by scandalous doings.  In fact, it's quite inspirational for me and my writing. Oh yes," I sighed, deciding to include Ewe in on the secret, "I've come to Windemere Lane at the right time.  For a reason."

"A reason?"  Ewe barked.  "Well, I'd put my two bob on you more than Sir E in solving this case.  I reckon one of those Hartleys did it - her ladyship more than likely.  But Sir E, he's a stickler for the old and rich.  He may seem to be investigating, but he'll never betray them, not ever."...

"Oh my," Ewe laughed.  "If I were Sir E, I'd be worried about you."

"Me?"

"Yes, you.  Miss prim and proper Miss Daphne du Maurier wanting to be a writer of great novels."  She paused.  "You've come to Windemere because you wanted adventure, and adventure met you halfway.  You wanted inspiration, well, a real live murder case could be no more inspiration needed..."

She was right.  I'd stumbled right in the midst of murder and mayhem.

In Windemere Lane of all places.  I intended to shake things up and solve the mystery of Victoria Bastion's death. 

It had become my mission.

And nobody could stop me.

Since Ms. du Maurier's family is well known and friends with the Prime Minister she is welcome at the great Padthaway, encouraged to be the friend of Lianne and the grieving groom is takes an interest in her.  All of which gives her easy access to snoop and question.

The young miss du Maurier is staying with the retire nurse to her Daphne's mother on the wild coast of Cornwall.  This tale drips of gothic romantic imagery, but often times the writing is a bit confusing (even to a gothic suspense lover like myself).  If you can wade through the sometimes convoluted and wordy sentences it is an entertaining tale.  The mystery is a classic formula, a secretive and powerful family that the villagers feel will get away with the murder of the beautiful town girl making good by marrying the Lord.  A limited number of people as suspects within the house provide some twists and turns.

The character of miss du Maurier as an imaginative, slightly headstrong and lovely young lady who discovers the dead body and takes on the pleas of the grieving mother to find out who killed Victoria is convincingly portrayed.  I must say I liked the young Daphne who is a mixture of a daydreamer and a sensible character. Her sympathy for her fellow man is deftly balanced by her wariness of a killer roaming free.  The character of her hostess, the retired nurse, is a fun addition with her unswerving curiosity over the murder. 

The story is doled out a bit at a time and sheer curiousity kept me reading.  I enjoyed how a late arrival character, Major Browning is somewhat a mystery and definitely throws some romantic tension into the mix.  There is enough misdirection that I was suspecting the wrong person all together.  Even after the revelation of the murderer, there is one more twist to be uncovered.  The wrap-up leaves us with a potential on-going romantic interest as a tantalizing morsel to keep us eagerly awaiting the next book.  It is a promising debut for a new series.  I hope that the writing gets smoother and cleaner which would make this a stellar series.

For your convenience you may purchase your copy here.