#TheHeronsCry #NetGalley

The Heron’s Cry is the second novel in the series featuring Matthew Venn. It follows on The Long Call. In that first novel, readers learn Matthew’s history. He was raised in a strict religious group where his sexual orientation and desire to work in the police force were in conflict with the values of those around him. Doing what was right for him has taken something out of Matthew. Luckily, his husband Jonathan offers support and love along with a different way of looking at the world.

Matthew’s current case takes place in a small community. There are several deaths. How are they connected? How will those around the victims cope and live their lives from this point on? Those characters are farmers, artists, pub owners and others with intersecting lives.

The first victim is Nigel Yeo. Was his death a personal vendetta or was it related to work that he was doing for an organization called Patients Together? How is the death of an artist related to this? And what about the cause of death of a third victim?

What Ann Cleeves does well:

-She creates a strong sense of place with her descriptions of the book’s settings.

-She forms a world filled with characters whose lives collide. All of these characters come alive. There are those who are present in this novel and also the recurring police characters and Matthew’s mother and husband. I enjoyed spending time with them.

-She raises an important social issue but it may require a trigger warning for some readers as the subject relates to suicide.

More than halfway into the novel, Matthew and Jonathan (his husband) see a heron. Watch for this and how Jonathan connects that bird to Matthew and his way of looking at the world. It seemed quite apt.

I was delighted to receive this ARC from NetGalley. I have read all of the Vera Stanhope and Jimmy Perez novels by this author and recommend them highly. When Ms. Cleeves announced that there would be no more Perez novels, I knew that I would miss them. The Matthew Venn novels are just a scintilla less engaging to me but I do recommend them. I hope that before long there will be a third Matthew Venn story.

Four stars

The Living and the Lost, the new novel by Ellen Feldman, follows on last year’s excellent title, Paris Never Leaves You. Each of these books is about the resonance that WWII has had for its’ characters. I highly recommend both.

This novel offers a vivid sense of place, object, plot and character. In particular, watch as protagonist Millie goes to the train station in Berlin on a number of occasions. In terms of objects, consider the breakfront. Think of what the word break means; it can be something shattering and a front can be the face that is shown to the world. What is the importance of this article of furniture in the novel? What do readers learn about protagonist Millie through it?

Millie grew up in Germany, made it to the U.S. (at great cost) and returns to Berlin to work post war. In today’s words, readers will identify Millie as having PTSD. This makes her life challenging. Millie’s brother David is her family. In what ways are they the same? Different?

Another important character is Harry. Millie works for him and readers watch as they get to know him. Where will their paths converge? What will their contact offer to each of them?

Throughout the novel, there are scenes of post war Berlin. Who are the victims other than the obvious ones? Will there ever be progress? Will anyone’s family be found post concentration camp?

What was it like to be a survivor in the U.S. during the war? How was it to know that this critical confrontations was not even fully in the awareness of some of the American Jewish characters? What does it mean to have the burden of surviving when others did not?

Think about the title of this novel, The Living and the Lost. While you may assume safely that you know who the living are,wonder, too, about the lost. To me, they are not only those who are dead but also those who have not found their way (yet) in post-war life.

The Living and the Lost is a complex, thoughtful work. I highly recommend it. It would be an excellent book club choice.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions are my own.

Five stars

sleuthofbakerstreet.ca/i/1584200/September_2021_e_MOM_Read.pdf

Two Women in Rome is the latest novel by Elizabeth Buchan. I have read and enjoyed many of her earlier books.

Two Women in Rome is a dual time line story set, as one would expect from the story’s title, in Italy. In the present, Lottie has recently married Tom and has gotten a job as an archivist. In the past, Nina has led a very complex life that she has had to carefully balance. Her story takes place around the time of Moro’s kidnapping, a rather unsettled time for Italians.

It is difficult to review this book as I don’t want there to be any spoilers. Readers will enjoy the slow burn of the novel as they find out what happened to Nina, a gardener, painter and a person with another job as well. They will also learn that Nina had a forbidden love affair. It is described with a sense of how important that relationship was to her.

In the present, Lottie has access to an archive with many documents relating to Nina. She wants, for many reasons, to understand Nina’s life. As often happens in dual time stories, the two narratives will intersect.

I very much enjoyed spending time with these two women who lived in Rome. I hope that readers will as well.

Nature Wakes Up

by Sean Taylor; Alex Morss

#BusySpring #NetGalley Pub Date 28 Sep 2021‘

This is a lovely illustrated picture book that follows Jasmine, her dad and her sibling as spring begins all around them. Children can see the beauty of the season through Jasmine’s eyes. It will make them look forward to our next spring season. The end of the story has sections about the season itself, plants, animals and more.

This is a nice book for children. It will encourage them to take an interest in nature.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title. All opinions are my own.

nyti.ms/3h6m0aZ

The Moonflower Murders by Anthony Horowitz

My earlier review:

A very clever mystery: Moonflower Murders

by joycesmysteryandfictionbookreviewsNovember 22, 2020

A Novel

by Anthony Horowitz

Anthony Horowitz is a creative and imaginative author of complex mysteries. This book follows on his earlier novel, The Magpie Murders that also featured Susan Ryeland and the story within a story detective, Atticus Pund. I liked this title more than that first title in the series.

When the story starts, Susan has left England to run a hotel on a Greek island. It seems that venture is beginning to pale so when the opportunity comes to return to England, Susan is on her way. Susan is asked to investigate the disappearance of a hotelier’s daughter. Cecily was not seen again after calling her parents to tell them that, based on an Atticus Pund novel, she believes that a guest murdered at the hotel a number of years previously, was not killed by the accused and then convicted hotel worker. Does this sound a bit confusing and convoluted? Well, it just may be.

Susan investigates the case and, as part of her research, rereads the Atticus Pund book. That novel is very cleverly inserted in the middle of the book. I found this to be so appealing. There was the book cover, the blurbs, the copyright, everything one would expect but, again, it is a novel within the novel.

Will Susan solve the case? What happened to the missing daughter? Who committed the murder at the hotel and that is then fictionalized in the Pund book? There are many characters and there is lots to solve here.

This book is original and intriguing. I very much enjoyed it. It is long at over 600 pages so settle in for a long read.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions are my own.

Murder in a Scottish Shire by Traci Hall

This is the first entry in what, I think, will be a series. The things that I loved most in this cozy mystery were the setting, the characters and the knitting. The story takes place in a small Scottish town that, aside from murder, sounds like an idyllic place to live. The protagonist, Paislee, is surrounded by family and friends. She runs Cashmere Crush, a friendly shop, for wool and knitting.
As often happens in mysteries, there are two murders. As an amateur, Paislee annoys the detective but…of course, finds the killer. I was pretty sure that I knew who this was and I was right. There is a clue that really points to the perpetrator.
This is a good book if you just want something easy and distracting. There is Scottish dialect which tries to add authenticity but can also be distracting.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title in exchange for an honest review.

The Woman Before Wallis A Novel of Windsors, Vanderbilts, and Royal Scandal

Historical fiction at its best allows readers to immerse themselves in another place and time. When it is done very well, I often find myself wishing for a different ending…even as I know what happened historically. That was exactly my reaction to this novel; I kept wanting to guide the characters when the events are, in reality, long past.
The woman who was the woman before Wallis Simpson is Thelma. For anyone who may not know, Wallis married David, the heir to the British throne who abdicated, paving the way for Elizabeth to be the current monarch. Thelma, nee Morgan, was a twin and her twin was Gloria Vanderbilt. Again, for any who may not follow such things, Gloria was involved in a dispute over the custody of “little Gloria,” her daughter, with Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney. (Little Gloria grew up to be the mother of Anderson Cooper). Thelma, herself, had an early divorce and then married Duke Furness. He introduced her to the future king with whom she had a long term affair.
The author lays out all of these events in glorious detail with characters who come to life and settings that I would love to visit. There are country estates, chapters set in Paris, London, the English country side and New York. Readers visit David’s bolt hole, Belvedere Castle, and watch it come to life.
Each of these personages tried to live their life while others tried to heavily influence their actions. This creates the conflict of the novel and real life.
I wanted each of these historical personages to find happiness and that was the gift of the author, as I knew how each of the plot lines ended. If you enjoy historical fiction, I highly recommend adding this to your TBR list.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title in exchange for an honest review.
#TheWomanBeforeWallis #NetGalley

#TheWomanBeforeWallis #NetGalley