“The mirror crack’d from side to side, ‘The curse has come upon me cried the Lady of Shalott.’” Much has changed in St. Mary Mead since we first met Miss Marple. The village is expanding, and there is a bunch of new development. In fact, the new neighborhoods that are being added are collectively called “The Development” by the original locals. Miss Marple goes for a walk there one day, and takes a spill in front of the Badcock’s house. Heather Badcock helps Miss Marple, […]
Murder Solved by Nursery Rhyme
Wealthy mogul Rex Forsythe dies at work of poisoning from an obscure toxin found in the berries of the yew tree. There’s some grain in his coat pocket, which turns out to be rye. The Scotland Yard detective is intrigued by this. Rex had two sons and a daughter, and a younger second wife (don’t they all?), all of whom would benefit from his death. He was also kind of a jerk that no one would really miss. Also in the Forsythe house (Yewtree Lodge) […]
Ms. Kleypas returns to historical romance
3.5 stars Devon Ravenel, along with his younger brother West, are the last of a long line of rakish Ravenels. When their cousin, who neither of the brothers could stand dies, Devon unexpectedly inherits an earldom and the accompanying town house, estate and lands. The brothers show up to survey the inheritance when they discover that their cousin had only been married for three days when he managed to get himself thrown off a high-spirited horse in a fit of the legendary Ravenel temper. He […]
A delightful fantasy debut
4.5 stars Bought and liberated as a child, and later adopted by the esteemed Sorcerer Royal, Sir Stephen Whyte, Zacharias Whyt now has the honour of being the first dark-skinned Sorcerer Royal of England. In a time when English magic is waning due to some mysterious restrictions from the Faerie courts and the country is still facing threats from Napoleon on the Continent, Zacharias is also facing personal challenges, with a seeming majority of the members of the Royal Society of Unnatural Philosophers (gentleman magicians) […]