Two Book Reviews: Naughty in Nice; and The Tale of Castle Cottage

These two cozies are English though written by authors in California and Texas. Naughty in Nice, A Royal Spyness Mystery by Rhys Bowen and The Tale of Castle Cottage: the Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter by Susan Wittig Albert are both nostalgic mysteries, one set in the 1930s when the British vacationed on the Riviera and hobnobbed with the rich and famous, and the other in the very early 1900s, when children's author Beatrix Potter lived and wrote about animals in the English countryside.


The Tale of Castle Cottage is a very cozy cozy, set in the English countryside, with various animals representing the inhabitants of a village in the English Lake District. Here Beatrix Potter spends her summer of 1913 working and renovating Castle Cottage, the place where she and her fiance William Heelis will live after they marry. Theft from the construction sites and the death of a carpenter are the meat of the mystery novel, and the romantic aspect is supplied by Beatrix's engagement, which is frowned on by her parents.

This cozy is for readers who have nostalgia for all things British and especially for Beatrix Potter, author of The Tale of Peter Rabbit and other children's stories. (My favorite character in the Potter stories was the hedgehog in The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy Winkle!)

In Naughty in Nice, a novel set in 1933, the main character is Lady Georgina (Georgie) Rannoch, a descendant of Queen Victoria. Georgie is a favorite of the current Queen Mary, wife of King Edward, who sends her to the Riviera to recover a valuable snuff box stolen from her by one Sir Toby Groper, an unscrupulous character living in Nice.

Famous persons of the day crop up on the Riviera. The Prince of Wales and Mrs. Simpson appear, and Georgie stays in her mother's villa with the famous designer Coco Chanel, who grooms her as a model for the Chanel collection of the season. When Sir Toby is murdered, however, Georgie finds herself a suspect.

I read eagerly through three-quarters of the book but balked at the spot where Georgie is arrested. This change in the plot didn't sit well with me for some reason, and I flipped through the rest of the mystery just to find how the book would end. I knew of course that the true criminal would be found and charged with the murder. Overall, though, I enjoyed the period setting, descriptions of the Riviera, historical tidbits, and the lively characters of Georgie and her mother.

The books were sent to me by the publisher, The Berkley Publishing Group, for possible review. My opinions are in no way influenced by my receiving complimentary copies of the books.

Feature: A Marked Heart, a Memoir by David George Ball

Title:A Marked Heart by David George Ball
Paperback, 240 pages
Published March 28th 2011 by iUniverse, Incorporated
Genre: Memoir



In looking back, I understand now what an incredible force my missionary mother was in my life. As a child in wartime England, I thought she was just like everybody else's mother. Although she frequently reminded me she had dedicated me to the Lord's service, at first I didn't grasp what she meant. Gradually I began to realize she was different. She seemed to think her will and God's will were the same. If I didn't obey her, I wasn't pleasing the Lord. (from the Introduction)

Publisher's description: "The son of a missionary and a Baptist minister, seventeen-year-old immigrant David George Ball was following his destiny to become a pastor. . But when he met the then relatively unknown Martin Luther King Jr., the course of Ball's life changed forever.

In this memoir, A Marked Heart, Ball narrates his journey: beginning with growing up in wartime England; immigrating to the United States in 1954 to take the pastor's course at Chicago's Moody Bible Institute; attending Yale University as a scholarship student; and, most importantly, meeting King. Later, he worked on Wall Street as a lawyer, started a family, championed the 401(k) plan, and served as assistant secretary of labor.

A Marked Heart describes how Ball's encounter with King inspired the rest of his life's work, and it provides a multifaceted look at his immigration, education, family relationships, career, and his commitment to public service.  Ball never became a minister, but his story tells how his commitment to God and prayer guided his life."

Source: A copy of this book was sent to me by the author/publicist.

Book Review: Sanctus by Simon Toyne

Teaser Tuesdays asks you to choose sentences at random from your current read. Identify the author and title for readers.

"So," he said at length, "we have a renegade monk standing on the very summit of the Citadel, forming a deeply provocative symbol, one that has probably already been seen by hundreds of tourists and the Lord only knows who else, and we can neither stop him nor get him back."

"That is correct." Atannasius nodded. "But he cannot talk to anyone while he remains up there, and eventually he must climb down, for where else can he go?" (ch. 10)

Comments: The renegade monk, Brother Samuel, has escaped confinement in the Citadel after balking at the ceremony of the order, where he had witnessed "awful scenes" and learned "terrible secrets." We are later told of the existence of a heretic Bible and an ancient relic called the Sacrament that the Citadel and the order of monks are protecting with their lives. The secrets of the Citadel are jeopardised when Brother Samuel jumps to his death from the top of the mountain, in full view of television media, tourists, and the world.

The book made me think of the DaVinci Code, which had secret groups and secret religious rites. Sanctus seems to take this further, with a new version of religion whose symbol is the sign of the tau.

Described as an "apolacyptic conspiracy thriller", this is a book for those who didn't want The DaVinci Code to end, another book of suspense based on religion.

Title: Sanctus by Simon Toyne
Hardcover, 400 pages
Published March 31st 2011 by HarperCollins
An ARC of the novel was provided by the publisher. 

Sunday Salon: The End of Summer

Welcome to the Sunday Salon. Click on the logo to join in.

I'v been enjoying the past few days' sunny but cooler weather and nights without air conditioners. The red maple in the back has turned from purple grey-green to a  rusty color, though it's not yet in its full fall foliage. The tomato vine is full of tomatoes of all sizes though it has stopped blossoming.  My exotic hot pepper plants have produced a few thick and elongated green peppers that I am waiting to pick. I think they need to turn from green to red to be ready for cooking.

The roses are cutting back on blooms, a few chrysanthemum plants are in bud, and the giant hibiscus plant is opening all  its final buds with energy and vigor before the cold really sets in. And I am getting ready for winter by putting away summer clothes and sheets and getting out the flannels.

Last week, I read a lot and posted a few reviews:

The Dog Who Knew Too Much, a mystery by Spencer Quinn
Death of the Mantis, a mystery by Michael Stanley
Betrayal of Trust by J.A. Jance; and The Most Dangerous Thing by Laura Lippman, crime fiction novels
Help! for Writers, a manual by Roy Peter Clark
Death on Tour, a mystery by Janice Hamrick

I am now reading, thanks to my random number generator, the 10th in my pile of books: Thick as Thieves by Peter Spiegleman. Yes, I'm using an RNG to help me choose the next books to read! It has the authority to make me decide and settle on one book, otherwise I'd be still trying to make up my mind.

A lovely and surprise win in a book contest came from the author, Laura Joh Rowland,who sent The Ronin's Mistress, with a very nice handwritten note. I've read her books in the mystery series before. They are set in early 18thC Japan amd feature the Shogun's chief investigator, Sano Ichiro.

What have you been reading lately?

Book Review: Death on Tour, a Mystery by Janice Hamrick

Title: Death on Tour, a Mystery by Janice Hamrick
Publisher: Minotaur Books, April 26, 2011

I picked this up at the library because of the cover picture of the Sphinx and the pyramids in the background and not because of the figure of the Grim Reaper with his  scythe, although that let me know right off that the book was a mystery.

The book was a descriptive travel of Egypt for me, as I went on a tour with WorldPal, from the pyramids of Cairo, Giza, Abu Simel, Luxor, Karnak, the tombs of Tutankhamen, the Valley of the Kings, a cruise on the Nile. There is more travel information and overall descriptions of the pyramids than in Agatha Christie's Death on the Nile or even in Elizabeth Peters' Amelia Peabody Mystery Series set in Egypt.

While you armchair travel, there is a murder mystery that plays out. Two murders on the tour, to be exact, and two attempts on the heroine, Jocelyn's life. Jocelyn and her cousin Kyla unwittingly become involved in the murder mystery when one in their tour group has a suspicious and fatal fall after climbing up on a rocky outcrop. Some one else is killed later in a bazaar shop, and Jocelyn is attacked in a pyramid and on board their ship on the Nile. The title Death on Tour is an apt one.

Very well written and plotted, I recommend the book to cozy readers and anyone interested in a murder mystery tour of Egypt along the Nile, with some romance mixed in.

Death on Tour won the 2010 Mystery Writers of America/Minotaur Books First Crime Novel Competition

Book Tour: Help! for Writers by Roy Peter Clark

This writer's manual is a good one for beginning writers and also for those who know about the writing process but who need a little nudging to get on their way.

Here's a taste of the book, tips on coping with writer's block ( from ch. 13):

Lower your standards at the beginning of the process. Raise them later.

Write for ten minutes as fast as you can - without stopping.

Tell the critical voice in your head to "shut up!"

If you are blocked in your usual writing place, try a new place.

The book takes you through seven steps of the writing process, (because writing is a process with a capital P). There are specific things you have to do at the beginning, the middle, and the end, such as finding a topic, getting focused, making a draft, and so on. The author lists the steps in the process, discussing them at length in eight sections: Get started/Get your act together/Find focus/Look for language/Build a draft/Assess you progress/Make it better

Each section is divided further into chapters and subsections that give tips for each step in the writing process. There are 210 writing tips in all.

I was particularly interested in writer's block and procrastination, in the section on Building a Draft. I like the down to earth, almost common sense approach to the subject. "Create a reliable, comfortable place to write." And, " Impose a deadline on yourself." Simple, but we all need reminders.

I found this a good manual to show writers the many things they can do to start, move forward, and get their writing done, and redone! It's easy to follow, and would you believe this...it's also fun to read!

Title: Help for Writers: 210 Solutions to the Problems Every Writer Faces
Author: Roy Peter Clark
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company (2011), Hardcover, 304 pages
Objective rating: 4/5

An Advanced Readers Copy of this book was provided by Anna Balasi of Little, Brown and Company for this book tour. My rating was not influenced by my receiving a complimentary copy for review.

Book Reviews: Betrayal of Trust; and The Most Dangerous Thing

Two detectives are called in when a snuff film is found on a young man's cell phone. The young man happens to be the step grandson of the Governor of Washingston State. The boy denies knowing anything about the film which shows the strangulation of a young girl, or who sent it to him. Detectives J.P. Beaumont and his partner and wife, Detective Mel Soames, are assigned to the case.

The story is about high school adolescents unsupervised by adults and others betrayed by the adults they trust. The book points out the dangers adolescents sometimes face, not only from adults, but also from each other.

Title: Betrayal of Trust by J.A. Jance
Hardcover, 352 pages
Published July 5th 2011 by William Morrow & Company
Objective rating: 4.5/5



A book with a similar overall theme is Laura's Lippman's The Most Dangerous Thing. Five adults were best friends growing up together. Now, Gordon, in his 40s, has died after crashing his car into a tree. Was it suicide or the result of drinking and speeding? The novel is written with flashbacks in every other chapter, to reveal what happened during their childhood and the consequences in adulthood. Slow to start off, the book nevertheless grabs you in the second half with its startling revelations about the adults and the children that they were.



Title: The Most Dangerous Thing by Laura Lippman
Hardcover, 384 pages
Published September 1st 2011 by William Morrow (first published August 23rd 2011)
Objective rating: 4/5

These two books were sent to me by the publisher. My reviews and ratings are in no way influenced by my receiving complimentary copies.