June books and flowers

 Reading and plants

The caladiums were a surprise in two ways.  Last year they were stunning but died off when we had temps below 40 F/3C.  Honestly, I thought they were gone and Doug was going to plant bushes when they were - suddenly they emerged. Also did not know they blossomed with pods.  There other photo is a Strawberry Candy Day Lily. That one was expected.

June reading was quite varied in location and genres. This month I did not have a single DNF and completed five books.  Yea!

Here's Loki, my reading buddy 🐕

📚📚   Books read  📚📚

Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson

Whale Fall by Elizabeth O'Connor 

Forgotten on Sunday by Valerie Perrin

The Road from Belhaven by Margot Livesey 👇

I enjoyed The Flight of Gemma Hardy much more than this one by Livesey

June book travel took me to New Jersey, Manhattan, England, Wales, Scotland and France.

 That's it for the June round up.   Looking forward to more good reading in July. I'd love to know what books you favored this month.  Hope life is good for you all :-)

Sharing with:

Joy's Book Blog for British Isles Friday. and Deb at Readerbuzz for Sunday Salon.

📚📚📚📚📚📚

Perfect Remains and Perfect Prey by Helen Fields {Books 1 and 2 of the DI Luc Callanach series}

Perfect Remains is the first book in the D.I. Callanach series. You are introduced to DI Luc Callanach, a French-Scottish detective newly arrived at the police department in Scotland.  His counterpart is DI Ava Turner who has been with the agency for a long time.  I love both characters and it will be interesting for me to see relationships develop from the beginning of the series.

On a remote Highland mountain is the body of a woman burning.  The killer is crafty, intelligent and mentally deranged.  If you are faint of heart be warned this is not a cozy mystery.  Edinburg experiences the abductions of more women and the race is on to find them alive.

How I discovered this author: I started with book seven titled One for Sorrow and I liked the action and character interactions. Had I noticed it was #7 in a series I might not have requested the book from Netgalley...but I'm glad I did.

Perfect Prey is book two in the series. Callanach and Turner continue to investigate murders and the support team of officers get more page time.  I like how the characters are described and I found myself hoping to learn more about officers Tripp, Lively and Salter. The author makes the characters come alive, makes them quite real for the reader.

This series of murders targets people who work in a health care setting or a position to assist those less fortunate.  There is a librarian, a pallative care nurse, a primary school teacher and a worker from the homeless shelter. The murders are well planned and quite gruesome; as I said about the first book, not for the faint of heart.  Think more of the Hannibal serial killer scenarios. It's as DI Alan Banks series meets Galbraith's ruthless killers.  

It's not all police work though - the personal lives of the detectives come into play as well.   Well written and if you like police procedurals you'll like this series.  The setting is Edinburgh Scotland.

Sharing with Joy's Book Blog for British Isles Friday.

The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell

This is a tragic story, full of twists and revelations, made all the more sad as the story’s inspiration comes from historical records. In the 1930s era women could be locked in an insane asylum just for wandering off on long walks, or for keeping their hair long. Your liberty was at the whim of your parents or husband.

The story starts in Scotland when two sisters are sitting at a dance. It’s but a glimpse of two important characters. Then the detailed background story begins in India where these same two sisters are young; you are allowed a look into their early lives and how they interact with their parents. There is a baby brother born, Hugo, and Esme loves to play with him. While Kitty is the more serious of the two and minds the rules, Esme is the polar opposite. She makes excuses to leave her tutoring session and wanders off to visit her little brother. She walks barefooted to the horror of her prim and proper mother, she won’t be molded into the quiet citizen her mother desires her to be. I like her.

The story flashes between the girl’s childhood in India, then their move to Scotland and then advances to present day with Kitty’s granddaughter Iris.

Iris is a single young woman who owns a vintage clothing shop. She is quite possibly in love with her step brother Alex. It’s not as creepy as it sounds when you read their back story. Her life turns on end when a phone call reveals there is an elderly aunt who has been housed at an asylum for over 60 years, and Iris is the family contact. She’s never heard of Esme Lennox. Iris visits her Alzheimer afflicted grandmother, Kitty Lockhart, who is in and out of hazy thought but does confirm Esme is her sister. So what does Iris do now? Move a possibly crazed old woman, a stranger, into her flat? More importantly, why was Esme’s existence kept a secret all these years.

Now we flashback to Kitty and Esme Lennox as teenagers who are being introduced to the social circle. Kitty is the older sister and all about propriety and appearance. Esme is not confined to conventional social mores and continues to upset her parents. Surprisingly, the young man they hoped would be interested in Kitty is actually besotted with Esme. Later events will change everything in Esme’s life.

 I am upset for Esme that her life was stolen from her. For no good reason she is swept out of her parents’ home at the age of 16 and then left to rot in an asylum. She is asked at one point how long it was since she had last seen her sister. Her reply: “Sixty-one years, five months and 6 days” and fact is, if the hospital had not been closing down, she would have ended her days there.

This is the second book I have read by this author and I like this one as much as the first. It’s sad and it leaves you with much to think about. I like having some things unresolved where you think about potential outcomes. Excellent writing. Well done Ms. O’Farrell.

A quote that sums up the lives of the patients…and when you ponder it, the everyday rituals we all move through.

“It is always the meaningless tasks that endure: the washing, the cooking, the clearing, the cleaning. Never anything majestic or significant, just the tiny rituals that hold together the seams of life.”

This is another paragraph I like. Esme is reflecting on Iris sitting on the beach. It’s perfect – as someone who enjoys genealogy this last part really spoke to me, thinking about my ancestors.

“From all her family – her and Kitty and Hugo and all the other babies and her parents – from all of them, there is only this girl. She is the only one left. They have all narrowed down to this black-haired girl sitting on the sand, who has no idea that her hands and her eyes and the tilt of her head and the fall of her hair belong to Esme’s mother.

We are all, Esme decides, just vessels through which identities are pass: we are lent features, gestures, habits then we hand them on. Nothing is our own. We begin the world as anagrams of our ancestors.” I think that was a marvelous bit of prose.

Sharing with

Joy's Book Blog for British Isles Friday.

Marg at The Intrepid Reader for the 2022 Historical Fiction Challenge.

Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney

 

Mr. and Mrs. Wright have a problem with their marriage. They also have secrets from each other that, I'm certain, doesn't help the issues they face in their failed relationship.

Adam and Amelia Wright have been married ten years.  Amelia works at a dog rescue organization at Battersea.  Adam is a writer and adapts books to movie scripts.  He wrote a script called Rock Paper Scissors which he hoped would be a successful screenplay but it's never made into a movie. He spends his days adapting other authors' work into films.

Adam also suffers from a condition called Prosopagosia which is also called face blindness. When I read that bit I was certain the author had made up that medical condition but sure enough, it's quite real.  Those who suffer from this condition can not recognize faces at all - their loved ones or anyone.  They cope by learning a scent, perfume or the way someone walks. This is important in developments of this thriller.

Amelia, unbeknownst to Adam, writes a letter to him every year on their anniversary where she pours her heart out about her love, her hopes and her frustrations with him being a workaholic.  She never gives him the letters but through this you get the core of their failings with one another.

Then Amelia wins a trip to a remote getaway in the wilds of Scotland.  Blackwater Chapel is so remote the phones do not work and there is absolutely nothing near them. No stores, petrol stations or homes.  It's a windy, snowy stormy night when they finally arrive, bickering most of the way.  It's the last chance to save the marriage by getting away and having time together. 

So, here is where I looked up the genre of the book because I do not like horror, at all.  It isn't.  They arrive and the chapel door is locked.  They walk around the building and when they come back, the door is open.  Creepy.  Inside there is a dust coating on the bench in the foyer. Adam gets the lights on and Amelia sees a smiley face traced in the dust on the bench.  Amelia asks Adam is he did it but he claims he did not. The lights go out after Amelia is in a wine cellar, a face appears in the frosted  stained glass window, their very clean guestroom has the exact furniture and decoration as they have in their London home.  

This is a suspenseful story which reveals the big twist very close to the end.  The chapters are titled Amelia, Adam and eventully a third perspective is introduced called Robin.  You won't know who Robin is until much later.  Again - thriller, suspenseful and you'll immerse yourself into the very cold Scottish countryside and wish you could pull that blanket a bit tighter around you as you read.

Sharing with Joy at Joy's Book Blog for British Isles Friday.

A Bit About Britain's High Days and Holidays by Mike Biles

 

This is a book any history buff and Anglophile in your family would love to receive.  As the title states this is a short narrative about the holidays celebrated in Britain.  The history behind each is explained and with some chapters a recipe is included.  

Shove Tuesday includes a recipe for pancakes from a 1920's cookbook.  The large and well written section on Christmas includes a simnel cake recipe which is on my list to try. A very interesting background about the Scottish poet Robert Burns includes current and past traditions and a menu for a Burns Day feast. 

If you'd enjoy learning about the backgrounds for St. Andrews day, St David's day, halloween and St George's day then this is the book. The Christmas section is very well detailed and I loved those chapters.  Also, the fact that the author hates Brussels sprouts being included in a Christmas feast, or any meal for that matter, makes him a kindred spirit.  Vile sprouts, ugh.

I enjoyed this book almost as much as the well written A Bit about Britain's History. Both  would make a lovely gift.

If you're interested, check out my review of Mr. Biles' historical book here.

Sharing with Joy's Book Blog for British Isles Friday.

One for Sorrow by Helen Fields {DI Luc Callenach series, book 7}

 

I have found a new crime thriller series to follow - Helen Fields' series DI Luc Callenach. The description of One for Sorrow attracted me as did the setting in Scotland. What I didn't pay attention to was the fact that this is book 7 in the series. Arrgh!  I do this all the time, start with the wrong book.

The good news is I am completely captivated by the characters DI Luc Callenach and DCI Ava Turner and plan to purchase all six previous books. The writing style is spot on, grabbed my attention and I read every time I had a chance to open my Kindle.

The plot involves a bomber in Edinburgh leaving a trail of bodies with every crime.  Revenge drives the bomber and you'll slowly see the pattern and worry about favorite characters with every threat. Ms. Fields' doesn't play it safe with the elimination of a few favored cops so you won't be able to guess who may suffer with the next target. The crimes are brilliantly described.

There is side story about a young woman named Quinn MacTavish which slowly blends into the plot line.  All of her chapters are titled Before.  Love the police procedural genre and there is a thriller element here, mental illness is certainly a factor in the plot as well.  Did I guess the identity of the bomber?  No, I did not. The ending leaves you ready for the next book but I will satisfy myself with catching up through books 1 -6 for now.

Publication date is February 17, 2022 by Avon Books U.K.  Genre: General Fiction, Mystery, Thrillers.

Thank you to Netgalley for the advanced reader's copy of this book.  I was not compensated for the review, all opinions are mine. Loved the book.

Sharing with Joy's Book Blog for British isles Friday.

The Blood Tide by Neil Lancaster

 

The Blood Tide is a wonderful followup to Dead Man's Grave where we are introduced to DS Max Craigie. After reading the first book I hoped our author would continue to add to this arresting series (pun intended).

Characters from the first book appear again here so it's recommended to start with Dead Man's Grave for character development.  I'm loving the team and Max's partner Janie Calder.  There is tension, police corruption, drug deals, organzied crime and murder packed into this novel. 

Author Neil Lancaster worked with the Metropolitan Police so the plot and scenarios are very believable about how investigations work. Write about what you know, right? There is also humor in some of the banter between officers which comes across as very believable.

If you enjoy police procedurals and good mystery with thrills, this will be a series you'll enjoy.  Additonally, fans of books set in Scotland will enjoy the beauty and isolation described in the plot.

Publication date is February 23, 2022 by HQ Digital.  Genre: General Fiction, Mystery and Thriller.

Thank you to Netgalley for the advanced reader's copy of this book.  I was not compensated for the review, all opinions are mine.

Sharing with Joy's Book Blog for Britsh Isles Friday.

Castles of Britain and Ireland

This week I am thumbing through a very old book about Castles of Britain and Ireland. I'm doing a bit of armchair traveling and reminising about some of the castles and ruins we have visited on past vacations.

This book by Plantagenet Somerset Fry lists castles in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland.  It's extremely detailed with locations, history and many photos.

This one of King John's Castle in Limerick Ireland  is where our family spent some time. I wish I could find the photo of my son on the bridge with the town in the background, a great trip for us all.

It's nice to flip though and find places you have visited and remember good times. I keep this handy where I can grab it when I want to "visit" the British Isles.

Sharing with Joy's Book Blog for British Isles Friday.

The Last Flight and A Double Life{books by Julie Clark and Flynn Berry}

Two of my library books came in at the same time. Naturally. Both have red covers and both have a main character named Claire. 

How weird is that? 

Starting with The Last Flight by Julie Clark

Claire Cook is the beautiful wife of politican Rory Cook.  He is handsome and dynamic, the son of a former senator whose shadow I suspect he lives in and never finds himself overcoming his mother's mystique.

Rory Cook is also an abusive and controlling husband. After enduring physical and mental abuse in her marriage as well as being in the public eye just about every moment of the day, Claire has the perfect plan to get away for good.

Her every movement is watched, her calender is public so she needs the perfect scenario to slip away and disappear.  With a new identity and stashed cash Claire is on her way to disappearing and becoming someone else. Months of planning are destroyed when Rory swaps the agenda and goes on the trip to Detroit where Claire's documents are waiting.  

An opportunity presents itself when a young woman offers to switch tickets with Claire at the airport.  Instead of boarding a flight for San Juan she heads to Oakland California. Eva has Claire's ticket and they both hope to start a new life elsewhere.  Lots of intrigue and you will reread the prologue when you finish the story, learning the identity of the person narrating in the beginning.

A Double Life by Flynn Berry

The story begins with Claire, a medical doctor living in London. Claire isn’t her true name as it’s been changed for her protection. About 25 years ago her father Colin attempted to murder her mother Faye.

Twenty plus years ago upper crust English gentleman Colin meets working class woman  Faye whilst on dates with other people. They leave the restaurant together and seem to hit it off. Faye finds Colin  is just a regular fellow and has no idea of his wealth or upbringing.

One evening Colin takes Faye to a friend's house for a dinner party. This is the first time she meets James and Rose. From her description it’s like arriving on a masterpiece theater or national trust property. In spite of the fact his friends are from a different social and class level than she has ever been involved in, they seem to except her and she has a good time.

Eventually Colin grows tired of Faye and leaves their home and their two children. One night, allegedly, he returns to their home armed with a pipe and beats the nanny to death then tries to murder Faye. Colin flat out disappears afterwards.  His car with blood covered searts is found abandoned near a cliff but no one can find him.

Afterwards Faye takes Claire and her infant son Robbie to Scotland to start a new life. There are hundreds of domestic violence cases and murders reported annually in the U.K. but as Colin was a Lord and policically connected, this particular murder and assault case stays in the news.  People blog about the details and wonder where Faye and her children went.  Did he do it or was it a burglar?  Naturally the family needed to disappear and start over.

So that was the backstory woven in but the focus is on how Claire and her brother Robbie handle their lives with so much tragedy in their backgrounds.  It seems to obsess Claire especially as she is contacted by police every few years with a "sighting of her father" and it dredges everything up again. The settings are London, Scotland and Coatia.

This is loosely based on a true story about Lord Lucan who disappeared in 1979 after a murder.  Same situation with an abandoned bloodied car and wrapped pipe. Hmmmm...

I loved Flynn Berry's novel Northern Spy so I thought I'd try another of her books.  I liked it better but I am now going to read her first novel Under the Harrow next.

Sharing with Joy's Book Blog for British Isles Friday.

The Enigma Game by Elizabeth Wein

The Enigma Game is a historical fiction set in the WW II time period in Scotland and England.  I read the review at Joy's Book Blog and this interested me enough to request it from the library. 

From the book jacket:

Facing a seemingly endless war, fifteen-year-old Louisa Adair wants to fight back, make a difference, do something--anything to escape the Blitz and the ghosts of her parents, who were killed by enemy action. But when she accepts a position caring for an elderly German woman in the small village of Windyedge, Scotland, it hardly seems like a meaningful contribution. Still, the war feels closer than ever in Windyedge, where Ellen McEwen, a volunteer driver with the Royal Air Force, and Jamie Beaufort-Stuart, a flight leader for the 648 Squadron, are facing a barrage of unbreakable code and enemy attacks they can't anticipate. Their paths converge when a German pilot lands in Windyedge under mysterious circumstances and plants a key that leads Louisa to an unparalleled discovery: an Enigma machine that translates German code.

I don't often quote from the jackets but this summed it up better than I could.  The characters are engaging and I loved Louisa and Ellen.  The plot development was perfect, fast paced enough to keep me turning the pages.  Also, the description of Scotland the inn where they are staying is so vivid I could see myself at a table enjoying a pint.

This is the second book by Wein which follows Code Name Verity but it can be read out of order.  Much thanks to Joy for introducing me to this author.

Sharng with Joy's Book Blog for British Isles Friday and Marg at The Intrepid Redaer for the 2021 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge

Dead Man's Grave by Neil Lancaster

Detectives Max Craigie and Janie Calder are teamed up to investigate a missing person report.  It's a delicate situation as the missing man is Tam Hardie, the now elderly but dangerous head of an organized crime network in Scotland. 

Tam Hardie is off in a remote area of Scotland looking for a particular grave in what seems to be a genealogical pursuit. The grave has a headstone reading This Grave Can Never Be Opened so I was curious about that right away.  There is something hidden in there or perhaps it a plague grave from centuries back.

Once Hardie disappears and the detectives are called in you get a glimpse of the seedy and violent underbelly of the Hardie empire.  

This police procedural has everything going for it with likeable main characters and lots of intrigue. The desciptions of Scotland immerse you into the scene and the detective work keeps you turning the pages.

This story had me instantly hooked and I look forward to many more books  in this series about DS Max Cragie and DC Janie Calder by Neil Lancaster. 

Publication date July 16, 2021 by St. Martin's Press.  Genre: Mystery, Thrillers and General Fiction.

Thank you to Netgalley for the advanced reader's copy of this book.  I was not compensated for the review, all opinions are mine.

Sharing with Joy for British Isles Friday.

Outlander revisited

 Anyone who has been a fan of the Outlander book series by Diana Gabaldon knows her next book is about to be published!  Go Tell the Bees That I am Gone is book nine in the series.  I am not certain if that is the last book to wrap up this saga but I am anxious to read it and continue the journey.

That made me want to revisit the first book - Outlander - which started it all. 

Outlander has many of the features I love to read about – time travel, a bit of romance, it’s a historical fiction, genealogy, Scotland and lots of dialogue! I read this the first time after picking up a copy from the used book section at my local library. I was hooked! In the beginning you are getting to know Claire and Frank Randall. Frank is obsessive about his genealogy and they are in Scotland checking out the area where his ancestor, Black Jack Randall, went to battle in 1745 at Culloden.

Claire was a combat nurse, separated from Frank by war and her duties. She is reunited with her husband and they went on a second honeymoon in Scotland, getting reacquainted with each other again after a long separation. During one of their outings they visit a dolman. Something special in one of the rocks at a dolman they visited attracts Claire and, upon touching the stone, she is transported back in time – same place, but 200 years earlier. Naturally she thinks she’s landed herself in a BBC production of some costume drama when she sees the Red-coated British uniforms and Scots in full kilt and sporran get up running from them.

Meeting Frank’s ancestor, Jonathan Wolverton Randall, is shocking (for obvious reasons) but to see him as the spitting image of her husband (Frank) is quite unnerving – especially since he isn’t kind and compassionate like Frank. She is saved from certain rape and interrogation by Capt. Randall by a Scot named Murtagh. He takes Claire to a cottage where she meets Jamie Fraser for the first time. The seven or so Scottish rebels are as puzzled by Claire as she is by them. They think she’s a spy for the English. Randall thinks she’s a spy for the Scots or France. Viewed by all with suspicion makes it difficult for her to escape. Claire ends up marrying Jamie so she may become a Scottish citizen and thus, untouchable by the English and protected. Still – even with her attraction to Jamie, she plans to try and get back to her own time.

There are so many interwoven story lines within this book with all the characters; I hung on to each chapter and was left hooked on these Outlander books. Happily for me, there were 4 more in print when I first started reading it so I quickly moved on to the other stories. I am awaiting the last book of this series to come out for what is promised to be a tear jerker finale.

I've only seen a few episodes of the television series and it didn't rock my world so I can only speak about the books.

Happy Reading!

Sharing with Joy's Book Blog for British Isles Friday and Marg at The Intrepid Reader for the 2021 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge.

Madam by Phoebe Wynne

The book starts with Rose Christie receiving an amazing job offer to teach at the prestigious school Caldonbrae in Scotland. The students are all female with a mostly female staff.

She explains to her mother, who is thrilled, yet Rose is hesitant. I'm not keen on her mother from the start and the few times she appears in the story I have a mixture of pity and loathing.  Rose eventually excepts the position and wonders if the distance is enough to sever ties with her mother. You don’t know what’s between them at this point but you can tell Rose is anxious to escape.

There’s something slightly Gothic  with a sinister atmosphere about Caldonbrae.  You pick up on that as soon as Rose arrives at the school. She has no one to meet her, only written apologies from the headmaster and a promise to get together the next day. (This doesn't happen for weeks).

After settling in she is required to give a speech to the students and you see right away a similarity to a Hogwarts setting. The headmaster and other teachers sit behind her as she steps up to the lectern to address the girls. There are four separate Houses (think of Gryfindor, Slytherin, etc.) and the students are placed in different ones according to their value or status. All teachers are called Sir or Madam by the students.

One of Rose's first classes is a complete disaster with all of the girls challenging her with impertinent questions and telling her they don’t wish to be bothered to learn Latin or history. They state they’ve gotten rid of the other Latin teacher and by the end the teacher didn’t care. The smells like a lord of the flies story  but with female students which could be even scarier.  As you learn more about the students and the "curriculum" you'll be applalled. Could something like this go on in this day and age?  Too scary to think it could. Feminists will be apoplectic with this book.

Publication date May 18, 2021 by St. Martin's Press.  Genre: Literary Fiction and Women's Fiction.

Thank you to Netgalley for the advanced reader's copy of this book.  I was not compensated for the review, all opinions are mine.

Sharing with Joy's Book Blog for British Isles Friday.

A Place Like Home by Rosamunde Pilcher

 

If you are a fan of Rosamund's Pilcher's previous novels and short stories you will love this collection. She is a breath of fresh air with the timeless stories and the lovely settings in Scotland, Northumberland and Cornwall.

Fifteen stories with a bit of romance, some with personal relationship conundrums and interspection.  My favorite books remain The Shell Seekers and Coming Home, I highly recommend those large books.  

Each short story is preceded by a sketch along with the title. The romance story lines are not long and complicated, rather the attractions and commitments happen quite quickly. There are stories of loneliness as well and Pilcher brings the emotions to life on the page. 

I recommend this book for a quick read and one that will take you armchair traveling to a different time period.  A gentler kinder depiction of a lifestyle in the British Isles long before a pandemic. 

Publication date is July 27, 2021 by St. Martin's Press. Genre general fiction; romance; women's fiction

Much thanks to Netgalley for the advanced copy of this book. I was not compensated for the review and all opinions expressed here are mine.

Sharing with Joy's Book Blog for British Isles Friday.

A Bit About Britain's History by Mike Biles and Clanlands by Heughan and McTavish

Starting with the best book first we have A Bit About Britain's History by Mike Biles. It seemed appropriate to use my favorite and treasured bookmark I picked up at Cheddar Gorge back in 1999. 

This isn't a comprehensive history book yet richly detailed to keep your interest.  The writing isn't dry as one might think when conjuring up ideas of our school history tomes. The delivery of the historical information is very engaging and the humor kept me turning the pages. The time periods are broken down in eight chapters starting with ancient Britain, early medieval, Tudors, Stuarts running to the modern history.  

I loved reading about the Romans and the timeline at the end of the book breaks things down, sort of a basic crash course on which period you may want to explore more.  I learned more about Britain's history and the development of government from this book and found subjects I want to know more about. Why couldn't history classes in school/college be this delightful?!

If you have a history buff or Anglophile in your family this would make a dynamite gift for birthday or Christmas.  Mike Biles has a wonderful and informative blog as well called A Bit About Britain.

 

I enjoyed this book so much that I ordered another of Mike Biles' books.  This time I selected a Kindle version. My paper copy of the history is littered with post-it bookmarks for reference.  As soon as I have access to internet again (sigh) I will download and enjoy the holidays and high days book.

 

 

Clanlands by Sam Heughen and Graham McTavish

This book starts off quite funny but it wore thin for me after several chapters. What I expected was a history and virtual tour of important Scottish sites such as Glencoe, Inverness and Culloden as well as educating me about Scotland.  Heughan and McTavish are friends having worked on the Outlander television series together for many years. This relationship is a bromance and it certainly shows in the writing.

While it was amusing to hear Sam call Graham Lady McTavish and crack on him about how much he eats and his love of latte, likewise reading how Graham cracks on Sam about his whisky comsumption and his brand he sells, the number of times he goes shirtless, etc....after a while you want to say...C'mon guys....

I enjoyed the Outlander books but didn't love the television series.  I have a feeling this book grabbed the attention of the TV fans and I would probably give the series Men in Kilts a try.....but this book couldn't keep my attention.

Sharing with Joy for British Isles Friday and Shellyrae at Book'd Out for her Nonfiction  Challenge.

Genre/category: Travel (for Clanlands)

 

The Nonfiction Reader Challenge hosted by Shelleyrae at Book'd Out.  Check out the sign up post and info HERE. The challenge runs from January 1 through December 31, 2021. You can join in anytime!

The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware

 

This is a difficult book to review.  There are so many twists  in the plot in spite of it being a slow burn of a read.  It does start off slowly, in my opinion, but you will be rewarded with the surprise ending.  

The story unfolds in the form of Rowan Caine's letters to an attorney.  She is basically begging him to help her as she is in prison for the murder of a child and she says she is innocent.  In order for her story to make sense to the attorney she must set the scene and describe how she got the job and what went on the isolated Scottish home.  It's Rowan's point of view throughout until the end.

Rowan answers an advertisement for a full time nanny.  The position comes with an amazingly generous salary and all sorts of perks.  As the home is located in an isolated part of Scotland and four previous nannys have resigned after a short period, the employer wants to be assured of a commitment for at least one year.  The rumors of the "smart house" being haunted is addressed and as Rowan doesn't believe in ghosts she accepts the position. However, there is another reason why Rowan wants this position, which will be revealed later, which changes how you view things. (Cryptic, I know, but I can't give a spoiler)

The smart house was a character of it's own with it's extensively built-in technology. The shower was programmed for former nannys in regard to spray and temperature.  The program called Happy could respond to voice commands such as stating close the curtains or turn off a light.  There were cameras everywhere and that alone was creepy.

The employers are a husband and wife team who are out of town frequently, demonstrating and designing the high tech build-ins for homes.  This means the nanny will be left for some length of time with the couple's four children.  This happens almost immeditatly and we see Rowan isn't the perfect nanny she presented herself as durng the interview. There are many secrets about Rowan;  near the 80% part of the book just about all is revealed.  

Revelations about Rowan, the children, the hired man Jack and Mr. Elincot.  Oh, the secrets explode and make so much sense....you will think back to why such and such happened.  The Ah moments.

The ending was a surprise and I have gone back and reread the last 3 chapters.  Lots of questions about what I think may have happened.  It would be a spoiler to discuss here so you would just have to judge for yourself.

Sharing with Joy for British Isles Friday.

The Missing Years by Lexie Elliott

 

An old Manse in the Scottish countryside. The mystery of a father missing for 27 years, along with a cache of diamonds from the jeweler he worked for, some “other worldly” dynamics from the house and tales of it’s haunting.  All of that grabbed me from the first chapter.

Ailsa Calder has inherited the old Manse after her mother dies.  It’s her early childhood home before her father disappeared and her mother moved them away.  The catch is Ailsa only inherited half the property.  Her missing father has the other half and she has no way to sell it without his consent.  In all the years he has been gone her mother never made time to have him declared legally dead.  She can live in it and that’s what she does for the short term.

Before each chapter there is a short story about where Ailsa’s father is living and the circumstances.  Each story is different and you realize it’s Ailsa’s theories on where her absent father ended up. She doesn’t know, no one does.

Ailsa invites her half sister Carrie to move into the old house with her while she sorts the legal process of selling it or renting it.  Ailsa is never comfortable in the house and you come to see why near the end. It’s spooky. Or corny, depending on your point of view.

There are many characters and the writing is well done, using dinna and other Outlander-type language so you feel the Scottish accents flowing in conversation.  There are many characters I liked and I honestly didn’t peg the villain character, not even when it was presented.  I would read more by Lexie Elliott.  Loved her first book The French Girl and am looking forward to more in the future.

The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley

Seven friends arrive at a lodge in Scotland to celebrate New Years Eve.  They are old friends from Oxford and get together for a well planned party.  The vacations are planned by a different member of the group, rotating the making of arrangements over the last ten years.

This year it's Emma who plans the get together, having them gather at a very isolated estate in beautiful Scotland.  The intent is to catch up with each other's lives and ring in the new year together.  All of them have little secrets.  Eventually, one is missing then found murdered. Of the seven friends, one is probably a killer. 

After university people tend to drift apart, get other interests and just move on.  It seems this gathering isn't as easy as years prior - the laughter is too loud, the comments are barbed but delivered with a smile so it's not serious, that sort of thing. 

I purposely didn't read any reviews because I love being surprised and while there was one character I hoped it might be our author kept us guessing.  You knew the missing guest and their body had been found but lack of a pronoun didn't narrow it down for us readers.  Was it one of the men or a woman? 

The story is told by alternating points of views.  Heather is the manager and arranges for the guests' comforts and provides information, such as a ships purser may do.  She holds a secret as to why she lives in this stark wilderness.  Doug is the gamekeeper and has his own secrets about a violent past.  Him I like - well, Heather also as these are the only genuine characters in this narrative.

There are many characters in this book and I had thought I may be confused by all of them when I started reading, but then it's actually easy to know them apart. There are the seven guests comprised of three couples and the single woman Katie.

The locale and weather play a signficant part, almost a character of it's own right.  The snow storm was heavy enough to block access in or out of the estate. Descriptions of the cold were frequent, so vivid you could feel it.
 Everyone was staying put whether they liked it or not.  Not a comforting thought with one person dead and killer evidently among them.

In my opinion this is a good mystery which kept me turning the pages. 
Would I read more by this author?  Oh, absolutely. I'm on the list at the library for The Guest List by Lucy Foley.