Fugitive Telemetry (The Murderbot Diaries, #6) by Martha Wells – Review

Tags

3.5 stars, AI, artificial intelligence, Book Review, humor, Martha Wells, mystery, robot, scifi, series, space opera

About Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells

No, I didn’t kill the dead human. If I had, I wouldn’t dump the body in the station mall.

When Murderbot discovers a dead body on Preservation Station, it knows it is going to have to assist station security to determine who the body is (was), how they were killed (that should be relatively straightforward, at least), and why (because apparently that matters to a lot of people—who knew?)

Yes, the unthinkable is about to happen: Murderbot must voluntarily speak to humans!

Again!

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Review of Fugitive Telemetry

SecUnit is still anti-social and full of snark,  And smarter than everyone else.  That doesn’t mean SecUnit has all the answers.  If that was true, there would be no story.

Is this book scifi?  A little.   Fugitive Telemetry is actually murder mystery.  Sure, SecUnit has superior technology and logical thinking abilities.  But a murder mystery is a murder mystery.  A space setting does not change that.

I enjoyed the first installments of SecUnit’s story (1-5). In previous books, the I felt SecUnit’s emphasis was on protecting humans. In Fugitive Telemetry it’s emphasis was on solving a crime, which made SecUnit seem self-absorbed.  Or maybe SecUnit is just more comfortable being itself – becoming more of an individual.  Time will tell.

I missed ART, the AI from previous books. ART is a friend and that is what our favorite SecUnit needs.

I’m pretty sure that Murderbot fans are going to love this book even if I did not.  Fugitive Telemetry is entertaining, but is my least favorite of the series.

Thanks to the publisher who provided a copy through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

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A Lethal Lesson (Lane Winslow, #8) by Iona Whishaw – Review

Tags

5 stars, Book Review, Canada, favorite series, historical mystery, Iona Whishaw, mystery, series

About A Lethal Lesson by Iona Whishaw

Back home in the Kootenays after her Arizona honeymoon, Lane offers her assistance when neither the outgoing teacher, Rose, nor her replacement, Wendy, show up at the local schoolhouse one blizzardy Monday in December. But when she finds the teachers’ cottage ransacked with Rose unconscious and bleeding, and Wendy missing, Lane delivers Rose to the hospital in Nelson and turns the case over to her exasperated husband, Inspector Darling, and his capable colleagues, Sergeant Ames and Constable Terrell.

Never one to leave a post unmanned, Lane enlists as substitute teacher for the final two weeks before the Christmas holidays, during which time she discovers a threatening note in the teachers’ desk and a revolver in the supply cupboard. But these clues only convolute the case further. Who has been tormenting these women, and where has Wendy gone?

Meanwhile, Darling finds the body of a hit-and-run victim in a snowbank miles outside of Nelson, the residents of King’s Cove are preoccupied by the possibility of a new neighbour, and Sergeant Ames is as confused as ever by the inimitable Tina Van Eyck.

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Review of A Lethal Lesson

There are so many good historical mystery series out there, it may be hard to choose which to read.  Lane Winslow is a great series to try. It is one of my favorites in historical fiction. 

Lane Winslow was a WWII spy but has now settled in a small Canadian town.  Having married the local police Inspector Darling, the couple is now trying to settle down to marriage bliss. 

There must be something about a former spy and police inspector couple that draws trouble to the small town.  A ransacked house with an injured school teacher, a missing teacher, a hit-and-run victim, a mysterious new neighbor, and an abandoned child are all part of the multitude of mysteries that Lane will try to solve in A Lethal Lesson. 

As the substitute teacher, Lane should not be getting into any trouble.  Right?  Hmmph.  Readers of this series know that is not possible.  Readers of this series know that the question is, are all the troubles going on in the community connected and if so, how?

There is a lot of jumping back and forth in time that sometimes left me spinning and having to go back to the beginning of the chapter to figure out the date. But other than that, I enjoyed this story very much.

Familiar characters with all their unique traits enrich the story and add to all the speculation behind the troubles.  With each book, the characters evolve.  And getting to know them, with each book, the town gets smaller. 

A Lethal Lesson has the charm of a cozy mystery and the suspense of a murder mystery.  Mystery lover’s will not go wrong with Lane Winslow.

Thanks to the publisher who provided a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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A Wicked Conceit (Lady Darby Mystery, #9) by Anna Lee Huber – Review

Tags

5 stars, Anna Lee Huber, Book Review, favorite series, historical, mystery, series

About A Wicked Conceit by Anna Lee Huber

Edinburgh, Scotland. March 1832. Kiera and Gage have been eagerly awaiting their bundle of joy but trouble has been brewing in the form of the roguish criminal Bonnie Brock Kincaid. A new book and subsequent play features some of Kincaid’s daringly heinous exploits, although he swears he had nothing to do with it or the characters which are obvious representations of Kiera and Gage. While the scoundrel’s fury seems genuine, as well as his determined quest to uncover the real identity of the author, the Gages still hold doubts about his innocence.

A rash of crimes break out across the city, seemingly inspired by the play and book. When the publisher is found brutally murdered–in an imitation of a gruesome scene–the finger not only points to Bonnie Brock as the possible culprit, but also the Gages, who have been outspoken in their condemnation of the tale. Now, the Gages are on a hunt to unmask the killer. Between the infamy garnered by the play, the cholera outbreak still wreaking havoc throughout the city, and the impending birth of their child, they will need all the resources they can garner.

But family quarrels and the revelation of a secret Kiera has been keeping from Sebastian threaten to undermine everything they have overcome. When they find themselves in the crosshairs of the killer, trapped in the squalid underground vaults of the city, they will soon discover that the truth does not always set you free, and death can lurk around any corner.

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Review of A Wicked Conceit

Can a very pregnant woman, once shunned because of her late husband’s activities, now married to a handsome and charming lord of the realm, unmask a killer during a plague and surrounded by fictionalized accounts of her life?

Well, if you have read any of the Lady Darby mysteries, you already know the answer to that.  If A Wicked Conceit is your introduction to this series, prepare to dive into a rich historical mystery, saturated with atmosphere and emotion.

Kiera is very pregnant. Her sister, Alana, berates her for continuing to get into trouble going mystery-solving when she is about to give birth.  And I must say, in a way I agree with Alana.  But Kiera is stubborn and won’t be left out, especially since she and Gage may be suspects in a terrible murder case.

Another suspect, Bonnie Brock Kincaid, is also pushing Kiera and Gage make sure the true killer is found.  While many readers of the series have turned Kincaid into a favorite character, I am of the opinion that his selfish and threatening manners make him less than the ideal partner in crime solving.

While this is going on, Kiera is keeping a secret from her husband because of a promise she made.  The secret is pretty big and will most likely cause pain.

While I recommend the entire series, each book can be read as a standalone. Without bogging down the story with too many details, the author provides the perfect amount of backstory.  After 9 books, there are so many characters that Kiera has encountered, but A Wicked Conceit keeps number of characters to a manageable minimum.

A Wicked Conceit has all the right stuff.  It starts with an intelligent heroine, a clever hero, and personable secondary characters, all with their own lives, emotions, conflicts and victories. Then comes a great mystery with lots of suspects and seemingly unrelated clues.  And finally, historical details and actual events are expertly mixed into the story.  (Be sure to read the author’s notes.)

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

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