The Woman in the Veil by Laura Joh Rowland – Review

Tags

3.5 stars, Book Review, historical, Laura Joh Rowland, London, mystery, photographer, romance, Victorian England

About The Woman in the Veil by Laura Joh Rowland

Sarah Bain and her friends Lord Hugh Staunton and Mick O’Reilly are crime scene photographers for the Daily World newspaper. After solving a sensational murder, they’re under pressure to deliver another big story. On a foggy summer night, they’re called to the bank of the river Thames. The murder victim is an unidentified woman whose face has been slashed. But as Sarah takes photographs, she discovers that the woman is still alive.

The case of “Sleeping Beauty” becomes a public sensation, and three parties quickly come forward to identify her: a rich, sinister artist who claims she’s his wife; a mother and her two daughters who co-own a nursing home and claim she’s their stepdaughter/sister; and a precocious little girl who claims Sleeping Beauty is her mother. Which party is Sleeping Beauty’s rightful kin? Is someone among them her would-be killer?

Then Sleeping Beauty awakens–with a severe case of amnesia. She’s forgotten her name and everything else about herself. But she recognizes one of the people who’ve claimed her. Sarah is delighted to reunite a family and send Sleeping Beauty home–until one of the claimants is murdered. Suddenly, Sarah, her motley crew of friends, and her fiancé Detective Sergeant Barrett are on the wrong side of the law. Now they must identify the killer before they find themselves headed for the gallows.

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Review of The Woman in the Veil

The Woman in the Veil is an interesting tale of a newspaper photographer and her team that investigate the almost murder of an amnesiac.  Named “Sleeping Beauty” by the press, she cannot remember how she came to be at the crime scene.

Sarah Bain takes an immediate personal interest in the woman and vows to help her.  Sarah’s fiancé, Detective Barrett, is the official assigned to the case despite his work overload.  Barret’s boss, Reid, is the slave driver who does not like Barrett or Sarah or her friends Hugh and Mick.

Sarah and Barrett will be at odds during the case.  As the case develops (a murder occurs) the conflict both increases and brings them together.  These two do not seem to be a couple that belong together.  Going their own ways in the investigation, they don’t talk to each other.

In the meantime, Reid, the bastard, messes with the case.  The may be a bit of a spoiler, but his personality is clearly defined up front, so I think it is okay to say, since I’m not mentioning how he messes with the case.

While the mystery was interesting and engaged me, I had a few problems with the telling of it.  First, I felt the main character’s investigative skills are seriously lacking.  There was not enough follow up or checking of stories.  Facts seemed to come out long after they should have been discovered.  Sarah and Barrett immediately made decisions based on unsubstantiated testimony.  This is not me thinking this after I finished the book.  This is me shouting at the protagonists as the story developed.

Also, there were quite a few too vague references to the past.  I have not read books 1-3, so I needed details, especially concerning the 1888 Ripper case and Reid.

3.5 stars which will be rounded to 4 stars for review sites.  The Woman in the Veil is a great mystery, and I think these characters have potential, but the solving of the mystery lacked credibility for me.

Through Netgalley, the publisher provided a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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Skyline Series Bundle by Kennedy King – Review

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3.5 stars, Book Review, bundle, dragons, Kennedy King, military scifi, scifi

About Skyline: The Dragon Commander by Kennedy King

It’s 2350. Cold Fusion, AI nanotech cops, and the SkyLine between a dying Earth and a developing Mars are parts of life.

It’s a turbulent time to be a Major General, even one resigned to desk work. But the calm can only last so long. When tragedy strikes Precinct 117 in Shanghai, Chris Drogan and his unit are forced to gear up again. What waits for them in the heart of a robot with a beta personality matrix will change the planets on both ends of the SkyLine, mankind, and Major General Christopher Drogan forever.

About Skyline: The Captain, The Billionaire Boat, and the Dragon Crusader by Kennedy King

Dawn Redding. An Admiral of the World Crisis Committee, she stands on the threshold of the life she gave everything for. She only needs to bring in the galaxy’s first outerworld outlaw.

The astral road to him, the SkyLine, launches Dawn and the crew of the Arcadia from Mars to Neptune, and past the edge. Companions in loathing and love, they fight to level the cosmic scales. Through it all watches Alice, inside the Billionaire Boat, the Arcadia. More closely than anyone, she watches Dawn.

About Skyline: The Dogs of War by Kennedy King

With the destruction of the planet Mukurus comes the dawn of new struggles for the Worlds Crisis Committee. In the chaos, the Worlds Crisis Committee turns to the Dogs of War. This elite task force tackles two missions to keep the Milky Way from tearing itself apart. Open new trade routes. Find the Dragons and uproot them from the galaxy. The mission sounds simple to the Dogs’ Captain, Demitri “Demi” Alexander, until he sees the crew in action. He alone can reconcile the differences between siblings from the mines of Saturn’s Rings, the niece of a high-ranking WCC executive, and an M-Particle research specialist.

For better or worse, the Dogs of War cross every planet in the SkyLine. They delve deep in the Chrysum wells of Neptune and the floating city of Jupiter alike, in search of the Dragons and hope to defeat them.

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Review of Skyline

The Dragon Commander is a short enticing introduction to this interesting series where the stuff of fantasy becomes scifi aliens.  Dragons in space.  Not long enough to work up much of a plot, but just the right length to make the reader sympathize with the hero Drogan and his co-conspirator Machaeus. I was hooked as I finished part 1.

Rather than continue to follow Drogan, in The Captain, The Billionaire Boat, and the Dragon Crusader, all new characters are introduced.  While, they do cross paths with Drogan, the Dragon Commander’s part became secondary, which was disappointing to me.  Dawn Redding is the new heroine in this story of the hunt for the outlaw Dragon.  As hinted at in part 1, there is much more at stake than the adversarial relationship between Humans and Dragons.  Not clear is the intended end-game Macheaus envisions.  Drogan plays the uncomfortable roll of go-between/spy/marauder.

In The Dogs of War, yet another cast of characters is involved.  Drogan and Dawn continue to play roles while Mr. Powerful Marcus Brass sends his Pawns to root out Dragons while expanding the Skyline.  In book 3, there is another ‘D’ character: Captain Alexander Demitrius – Demi.  Brass becomes the autocrat you don’t trust.  Demi and his motley Dogs of War become their heroic bests in their attempts to defend humanity from the Dragons.  But all the while, Macheus still has his agenda.  And, if you are human, you won’t like it.  Most likely.

Skyline needs: 1) more editing.  I don’t usually comment on editing, but I was distracted enough by odd sentences, that I do bring it up this time.  2) A core set of characters.  Drogan is the singular fascinating character and books 2 and 3 would have been better if his role had been greater and more central. 3) A focus.  I say this because you think that the focus is the saving of humanity, but then Machaeus throws a major shift into the works.  Trying to avoid spoilers I will say I felt like the author sympathized with Machaeus.  If so, make him a bigger part of the story.  4) More explanation of the Skyline.  I found myself drifting without a spacesuit every time the book talked about the outside deck of a ship. 5) Less sex.  It was all pretty much gratuitous and did not lead to any happily ever afters.

Despite my critiques, I found the overall story line fascinating.  The bundle is billed as ‘the epic first half of the SkyLine Series book set’.  I would not call it epic, but I think it has the potential to be so.  Who says Dragons did not originate from another galaxy?  Maybe that is why we don’t see them on Earth these days.  The futuristic Skyline technology is an interesting space travel method, though it does seem limited.  Perhaps, the second half of the series will have humanity advancing even more.  And Machaeus, whose reach across the stars gives him a god-like persona, has the potential and inclination to re-shape the galaxy as we know it.  Will he?  Should he?

Skyline bundles three books in the series loosely tied together by the ongoing Humans Vs. Dragons plot that begins in book 1 and ends with in book 3 with some unresolved issues.  Yes, a cliffhanger.

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The Clockmaker’s Daughter by Kate Morton – Review

Tags

3.5 stars, Book Review, historical mystery, Kate Morton, multiple story lines

About The Clockmaker’s Daughter

A rich, spellbinding new novel from the author of The Lake House—the story of a love affair and a mysterious murder that cast their shadow across generations, set in England from the 1860’s until the present day.

My real name, no one remembers.
The truth about that summer, no one else knows.

In the summer of 1862, a group of young artists led by the passionate and talented Edward Radcliffe descends upon Birchwood Manor on the banks of the Upper Thames. Their plan: to spend a secluded summer month in a haze of inspiration and creativity. But by the time their stay is over, one woman has been shot dead while another has disappeared; a priceless heirloom is missing; and Edward Radcliffe’s life is in ruins.

Over one hundred and fifty years later, Elodie Winslow, a young archivist in London, uncovers a leather satchel containing two seemingly unrelated items: a sepia photograph of an arresting-looking woman in Victorian clothing, and an artist’s sketchbook containing the drawing of a twin-gabled house on the bend of a river.

Why does Birchwood Manor feel so familiar to Elodie? And who is the beautiful woman in the photograph? Will she ever give up her secrets?

Told by multiple voices across time, The Clockmaker’s Daughter is a story of murder, mystery, and thievery, of art, love and loss. And flowing through its pages like a river, is the voice of a woman who stands outside time, whose name has been forgotten by history, but who has watched it all unfold: Birdie Bell, the clockmaker’s daughter.

 

Review of The Clockmaker’s Daughter

The beginning of The Clockmaker’s Daughter hinted at the potential of a fascinating story told from the perspective of the modern woman, Elodie Winslow and the ghost, Birdie Bell. I would have been happy to see how Elodie’s research and Birdie’s recollections unveiled the truth about the events of 1862 and the people involved.

But then more viewpoints were added. And then more.

Most of the characters were well worth getting to know, each with their own impression of the mystery. They helped me piece the facts together so that I could come up with my own suspicions of what really happened in 1862. Did I guess the the truth about what happened before the author revealed it? Not exactly, but I was close.

The ghost, Birdie, is by far the main character. While the book blurb leads you to believe that Elodie is equally important, she actually disappears from the pages of the book for long passages. I really wanted more of her. I wanted her to use her research skills to uncover the personal histories, clues, and artifacts that make up the story of Birchwood Manor.

The story jumped all over the timeline, expecting the reader to keep up with the many characters and their relationships not just to the timeline, but to other characters in the story. To be honest, I found it a bit exhausting. Not everyone will agree with me and might even call me linear-minded. That’s okay.

My rating is 3.5 stars and will round to 4 for the review sites. Overall, I think The Clockmaker’s Daughter will entertain – if you have patience for this temporally challenged mystery.

Through NetGalley, the publisher provided a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

 

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