When a wing companion ends up dying miserably in dire circumstances, try to hold onto the memories of when they were in their prime – fine, bright-scaled and bold. And whatever you do, when speaking of them after they’re gone, don’t use the epithet ‘Poor’ before their name.
Castellan the Black, mighty dragon warrior, features in my Picky Eaters series. All proceeds for the duration of the publishing life of Picky Eaters, first book in the series, are donated to mental health charities. The second book, Flame & Blame, and the third book, Trouble With Dwarves, are now available.
It was the spiffy art deco cover that caught my attention, as well as the title. And the fact it was featured by one of my book blogging friends – I’m so sorry, I have the memory of a goldfish so I cannot recall who. But once I read the premise I immediately nicked across to Netgalley to see if I could grab a copy.
BLURB: Agatha Christie’s latest book, The Seven Dials, has set the literary world alight. With a new marriage to Max Mallowan and a honeymoon cruise down the Nile ahead, she’s looking forward to the trip of a lifetime. But the publication has also drawn the attention of the Secret Service, who have spotted strange coincidences within its pages.
When Eliza Baker, assistant to the secretary of the Detection Club, is asked to accompany Agatha Christie and her husband, she reluctantly agrees, determined to help clear her friend’s name. Yet her attention soon shifts to fellow passengers, the Hardwicke family, who are celebrating a daughter’s birthday aboard. And when a guest is found dead in his cabin, the idyllic voyage takes a deadly turn.
As the steamer drifts upriver, Eliza and Theo must sift through polite smiles and private grievances to find the truth. Can Eliza and Theo uncover the truth before the Nile claims its next victim? REVIEW: This turned out to be a thoroughly enjoyable read. Though it took me a while to bond with the main protagonists, and I was slightly scrambling to work out what was going on – which was when I clocked that this is actually the fifth book in a series. No wonder I was slightly floundering. However, once the story got going, I quickly realised who was doing what to whom.
Oliver is good at depicting settings, giving us a full sensory experience. I could smell and taste the experience of being on the River Nile, as well as clearly visualise it. This was nicely complemented by the experience of a stately home in winter during a funeral, which was also fully described without breaking the narrative flow – not the easy task Oliver makes it look.
As for the murder mystery, it was as cosily familiar as a cup of hot chocolate. The victim was rich, ruthless, and very controlling. And had managed to stack up an impressive list of enemies, relations, and acquaintances with strong reasons to thoroughly resent and maybe want to murder him.
Theo and Eliza are kept busy on board the boat, not only trying to track down the variety of clues and red herrings, but also initially avoiding Agatha Christie, who is now honeymooning on the boat with her new husband, Max. Initially, they’d been instructed to keep out of her way, as she is also being suspected by the British Secret Service of being a spy, and Eliza has been tasked, unwillingly, to keep her under surveillance.
Another major plot line running alongside the murder mystery is the ongoing relationship between Eliza and Theo. I have to say, by the end, this was the one I cared most about. The reasons why they’d hit a brick wall within their relationship also made sense.
Any niggles? While I appreciate that anyone daft enough to start a series at book 5 is going to flounder just a tad at the beginning, I do feel there needs to be a strong bonding moment for the protagonists, in order to reintroduce them to fans of the series and allow newbies like me to learn about them and properly care before the story really gets going. It did take a couple of chapters before I was fully invested in the story.
Overall, however, this is a joy and thoroughly recommended for fans of historical murder mysteries, particularly those who are familiar with Agatha Christie’s Death on the Nile and The Seven Dials. While I obtained an arc of The Case of the Christie Honeymoon Murder from the publisher via Netgalley, the opinions I have expressed are unbiased and my own. 8/10
Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings, to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they’re books that have yet to be released. It’s based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous Jill at Breaking the Spine.
The Case of the Christie Honeymoon Murder – Book 5 of The Detection Club series by Kelly Oliver
Release date for the ebook – 26th September, 2026
BLURB: Agatha Christie’s latest book, The Seven Dials, has set the literary world alight. With a new marriage to Max Mallowan and a honeymoon cruise down the Nile ahead, she’s looking forward to the trip of a lifetime. But the publication has also drawn the attention of the Secret Service, who have spotted strange coincidences within its pages.
When Eliza Baker, assistant to the secretary of the Detection Club, is asked to accompany Agatha Christie and her husband, she reluctantly agrees, determined to help clear her friend’s name. Yet her attention soon shifts to fellow passengers, the Hardwicke family, who are celebrating a daughter’s birthday aboard. And when a guest is found dead in his cabin, the idyllic voyage takes a deadly turn.
As the steamer drifts upriver, Eliza and Theo must sift through polite smiles and private grievances to find the truth. Can Eliza and Theo uncover the truth before the Nile claims its next victim?
I love the sound of this one! It’s giving me Death on the Nile vibes, which is one of my all-time Christie favourite reads.
Of course it was the quirky title that caught my attention. I was looking for something with plenty of action and a generous splash of humour in my fantasy adventure tale – although funny is highly objective and isn’t easy to write well. Would this deliver?
BLURB: As the laboratory assistant to the brilliant but demanding Doctor, Igor spends his nights robbing graves, stitching together body parts, and ensuring that his master doesn’t electrocute himself (too badly). It’s thankless work, but Igor knows it’ll all be worth it once they finally succeed in the Doctor’s all-encompassing quest to create new life from dead flesh.
When a mob of peasants wielding torches and pitchforks drives them out of town (again), Igor and the Doctor relocate to the isolated Ravenwald Manor to resume their experiments. But Igor and the Doctor are not the only ones seeking refuge within the walls of Ravenwald. The manor is already home to a vampiric Count and his highly dissatisfied bride, Cornelia—and an enigmatic witch and her feline familiar, Grimalkin, intend to use it as the site of a magical ritual.
At Igor’s suggestion, the three pairs come to an uneasy agreement to cohabitate in Ravenwald, lest they attract the suspicion of the nearby village. In the wake of this truce, Igor, Cornelia, and Grimalkin soon begin to realize that they might have more common with one another than their respective masters. When the trio discovers that they’ve been unwitting participants in a horrible plan to destroy the world as they know it, they must work together to stop their masters from bringing on armageddon… and stop the increasingly suspicious villagers from reaching for their pitchforks and torches.
REVIEW: I’ll be honest – my expectations weren’t particularly high at the start of this one. I thoroughly enjoy humorous fantasy, but it’s a combination that is very tricky to successfully achieve. I wish I had a pound for every hilarious fantasy/sci fi adventure I’ve abandoned with disgust a few pages in.
However, it didn’t take long for dear Igor to completely win my heart. Moore allowed the humour to come through the situation, rather than try to tell jokes which I thoroughly appreciated. It was the interaction between Igor and the Doctor that often provided the sniggers. Moore nicely plays with our expectations of the Frankenstein meme, before adding in the generic cold-hearted vampire Count and crazed witch. All, of course, need sidekicks to do their fetching and carrying. I loved the backstories of each of these henchpeople – using the term ‘people’ very loosely. For Grim, the cat familiar of the wicked witch isn’t actually a cat, or anything remotely human.
The story hangs together well and I enjoyed the growing tension as the stakes continue to rise and the underlings become increasingly unhappy with the behaviour of their high-handed superiors. But I hadn’t expected to become so emotionally invested. This is a tale that wears its heart on its sleeve. While it’s about Igor, Grim and Cornelia trying to deal with difficult lives, where they are routinely bullied and controlled – it’s also about finding self respect and confidence. It’s about relationships in difficult situations. It’s about not judging people by their appearances, but instead seeing who they really are and what they do when the body fluids hit the fan.
I would say that while this isn’t a particularly creepy or scary tale – there is a fair amount of gore and body parts. While it didn’t bother me, if you do find detailed descriptions of stitching bodies together make you queasy, or at all triggering – then give this one a miss.
All in all, this is an excellent tale of underdogs that could have easily devolved into a self-pitying whine, or a lot of gross punning jokes. Marshall demonstrates his experience and class as a writer by deftly avoiding all those traps and temptations and instead provides an amusing, engrossing tale that also has a strong message at a time when physical appearance seems to be so very important. Very highly recommended for fans of humorous fantasy with a bit of gore. While I obtained an arc of The Henchperson’s Guide to Unionizing from the publisher via Netgalley, the opinions I have expressed are unbiased and my own. 9/10
This is part of the weekly, or fortnightly meme over at the Caffeinated Reviewer, where book bloggers can share the books they’ve read and share what they have got up to during the last week.
We were hoping to have had the final major home improvement project of the year completed by now, but the company fitting the cupboards in the garden room needed to push back their starting date by a week. So it will be starting tomorrow – which is much better because Himself will be here to ensure his vision for what he wants is carried out. The last fortnight has passed in something of a blur. Oscar is now attending Sixth Form College in Hove and getting to grips with a train journey on either end of his learning day. Ethan is applying for jobs and I seem to be rushing around in circles and not achieving very much. Annoyingly, I haven’t written or edited very much since the month started and my sleep patterns have gone to Hell in a handbasket. Hopefully, the coming fortnight will see an improvement. I keep waiting for this boring middle/elderly age I was promised to begin!
Last Sunday, we travelled up to Ringwood to see Mum and Dad, as well as my nephews and great-nephew, little Stanley. Everyone is keeping well and Mum is finding life much easier now the brutal heat has abated. I couldn’t get over how much Stanley has changed, now running around and starting to talk. Where does the time go?
We celebrated our 31st wedding anniversary last week by going to see Coyote vs Acme, recommended by Ethan, who came with us. I’m glad we went, as it was so much fun and brought back many happy memories of watching Loony Tunes as a girl. We had lunch at Wagamamas afterwards, which we thoroughly enjoyed and later in the week, we went out for a meal together at The Highdown Hotel, which is a favourite of ours. The pics this week are of the Himself and me, Himself at The Highdown Hotel and our family get-togther. I’ve also included some of Amari as she’s become far livelier now the weather is cooler. She also caught and killed her first mouse – though that was out in the garden, thank goodness.
Since my last Sunday Post, I’ve read, or listened to:-
Tethered – Book 3 of the Splintered World series by Brian Moyer The territory-holders are broken. The talisman network that caged the basin is ash. For the first time since the splintering began, the Unbound of Delaney Rim are free to build something no one in either world has seen: a community held together by teaching instead of tether.
Freedom, it turns out, has teeth.
Winter comes down on the rim like a verdict, and with it come the creatures — dire wolves, mammoths, bears that watch with eyes that promise memory — driven south from Yellowstone by something older and stranger than hunger. At the heart of their migration lies a thermal pool that should not be aware, and is. Esah, carrying three capabilities that shouldn’t coexist, must hold a scattered alliance of settlements together through siege, starvation, and the first murder the new world has ever had to judge. Hoda, the teacher who once held a wall alone, discovers that the stone itself has begun to answer him. And above the frozen basin, a raven with a mind like a blade begins speaking back. From the winter siege of Horse Trap Canyon to the trial that will decide whether the Unbound become something better Another slice in the adventure of a portal world where humans have magical powers and life is brutal in an unforgiving landscape. I continue to enjoy this readable adventure and am looking forward to getting hold of the next book in the series. 9/10
The Henchperson’s Guide to Unionizing by Marshall J. Moore As the laboratory assistant to the brilliant but demanding Doctor, Igor spends his nights robbing graves, stitching together body parts, and ensuring that his master doesn’t electrocute himself (too badly). It’s thankless work, but Igor knows it’ll all be worth it once they finally succeed in the Doctor’s all-encompassing quest to create new life from dead flesh.
When a mob of peasants wielding torches and pitchforks drives them out of town (again), Igor and the Doctor relocate to the isolated Ravenwald Manor to resume their experiments. But Igor and the Doctor are not the only ones seeking refuge within the walls of Ravenwald. The manor is already home to a vampiric Count and his highly dissatisfied bride, Cornelia—and an enigmatic witch and her feline familiar, Grimalkin, intend to use it as the site of a magical ritual.
At Igor’s suggestion, the three pairs come to an uneasy agreement to cohabitate in Ravenwald, lest they attract the suspicion of the nearby village. In the wake of this truce, Igor, Cornelia, and Grimalkin soon begin to realize that they might have more common with one another than their respective masters. When the trio discovers that they’ve been unwitting participants in a horrible plan to destroy the world as they know it, they must work together to stop their masters from bringing on armageddon… and stop the increasingly suspicious villagers from reaching for their pitchforks and torches. This gothic horror is told from the viewpoint of the underlings – wry and funny with a mix of some gore and spookiness. Review to follow.
AUDIOBOOK Winter Solstice – Book 4 of The Wandering Inn series by Pirateaba Home. It is time to go home, but home changes.
Erin Solstice is going home, but everyone else seems to be leaving. The Goblin Lord is following Rags and Garen Redfang to the mountain of Goblins where the Great Chieftain, Tremborag waits.
Ceria and Pisces are far from home, the home of [Mages] where they once met. Wistram Academy. Under winter’s umbrella, the two meet, and explore how they were first friends, and enemies in Wistram Days, as well as what forced the two apart.
Ryoka Griffin runs north, and her travels lead her to meet possible allies, or at least…another friend from home. The first winter of innworld comes with strange meetings, reunions, and Christmas cheer…and perhaps too much snow. I’m aware that this series is looong – and so is each book, but I’ve become very fond of the two main characters, along with the huge cast of minor players in this sprawling epic portal fantasy tale. 9/10
Pride, Prejudice and Peril – Book 2 of the Miss Austen Investigates series by Jessica Bull Jane Austen is preparing for the social season.
As guests of their wealthy relatives Mr and Mrs Leigh-Perrot, Jane and her sister Cassandra will be holidaying in Bath Spa – the world-famous health resort, and more importantly, the epicentre of the marriage mart.
For many, the summer will be spent hunting husbands. But for Jane, when a series of murders breaks out across the city, she must chase down a killer instead.
With her beloved sister by her side, Jane is determined to bring the murderer to justice. Can she stop this villain from taking any more victims, before the summer ends? Or will her only dance of the season be with death… The pages flew by – see my review.
AUDIOBOOK – Daggerbound – Book 2 of the Swordheart series by T.J. Kingfisher Learned Edmund, a disillusioned scholar, is transporting yet another precious relic from one stuffy temple to a different stuffy temple. Another great adventure for the ages…
But when Edmund is set upon by bandits, in desperation, he breaks the cardinal rule and grabs for the relic, an ancient sword. To his surprise, instead of unsheathing a rusty, ancient weapon, an alarmingly handsome man appears, wielding daggers of blue steel and cutting the thieves down.
This man is the Dervish, an immortal warrior who’s been trapped for centuries in a sword of enchanted steel, and is angry as hell about it. He hates the curse that put him there, and he wants to hate Edmund, just as he has hated every wielder before him.
But the damned scholar is just so sweet and clever and kind. And while the Dervish may be able to protect Edmund from bandits, cultists, dragons, and strange inhuman diplomats, he may find it much harder to protect his own heart. Swordheart is one of my favourite books from this talented, prolific author, so I was delighted to get hold of the audiobook of this one. Full of adventure, humour and charm, it was my favourite book of the fortnight in which I enjoyed some lovely reads. 10/10
There’s a lot of nonsense gusted these days, mostly by overweight lords, about how it only takes a single hard-working mated pair to raise a hatchling. It doesn’t. It takes a team of at least three, preferably four or five, dedicated, experienced adults working night and day to get a newly hatched dragonet to the point where they’re no longer a feral eating machine.
Castellan the Black, mighty dragon warrior, features in my Picky Eaters series. All proceeds for the duration of the publishing life of Picky Eaters, first book in the series, are donated to mental health charities. The second book, Flame & Blame, and the third book, Trouble With Dwarves, are now available.
I enjoyed the first book in this entertaining series – Miss Austen Investigates: The Hapless Milliner – would this next slice of Miss Austen’s adventures be as much fun? e and Prejudice had me excited. Would this one live up to my expectations?
BLURB: Jane Austen is preparing for the social season.
As guests of their wealthy relatives Mr and Mrs Leigh-Perrot, Jane and her sister Cassandra will be holidaying in Bath Spa – the world-famous health resort, and more importantly, the epicentre of the marriage mart. For many, the summer will be spent hunting husbands. But for Jane, when a series of murders breaks out across the city, she must chase down a killer instead.
With her beloved sister by her side, Jane is determined to bring the murderer to justice. Can she stop this villain from taking any more victims, before the summer ends? Or will her only dance of the season be with death…
REVIEW: I enjoyed the first book in this series – Miss Austen Investigates, but for the fact that I found Bull’s depiction of Jane rather scatterbrained and giddy. This time around, the version of Jane that is presented is far calmer and more sensible.
Jane and her sister Cassandra have been invited to Bath by wealthy relatives Mr and Mrs Leigh-Perrot. Cassandra is in mourning for her fiancé, who died of yellow fever whilst accompanying troops in the Napoleonic War as their curate. The family, worried about Cassandra’s low mood, have urged the sisters to accept their kind invitation. However, disaster strikes. A member of the family is facing disgrace, while one of their new acquaintances is discovered drowned. Whilst his death is formally announced as a tragic accident, Jane has her doubts.
The murder mystery and the issue regarding the Austen’s hapless relative give this book plenty of suspense. I was interested to discover that Cassandra Austen did, indeed lose a much-loved fiancé – and the relative did actually suffer the event described in the book at Bath. No wonder Jane Austen didn’t like Bath all that much! However, the murders are all fictional which doesn’t prevent them creating a cracking story that works really well.
For me, the highlight of the book – other than the murder mystery and Mrs Leigh-Perrot’s ordeal – is the close relationship between Jane and Cassandra. Which doesn’t mean it’s all sweetness and light. The two have a bad quarrel at one stage, which gave a nice realistic tone. Sisters living so closely and under such strain are liable to give each other a hard time. That didn’t prevent this being a loving and deeply moving relationship. I also very much appreciated how Cassandra’s calmer more considered approach tones down Jane’s more excitable behaviour.
All in all, this turned into a thoroughly engrossing page-turner that had me staying up far later than I’d planned to discover what happens next. Highly recommended for fans of historical murder mysteries set in the Regency period, especially those who enjoy Jane Austenesque stories. While I obtained an arc of Pride Prejudice and Peril from the publisher via Netgalley, the opinions I have expressed are unbiased and my own. 9/10
Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings, to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they’re books that have yet to be released. It’s based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous Jill at Breaking the Spine.
BLURB:Jane Austen is preparing for the summer season. As guests of their wealthy relatives Mr and Mrs Leigh-Perrot, Jane and her sister Cassandra will be holidaying in Bath Spa – the world-famous health resort, and more importantly, the epicentre of the marriage mart.
For many, the summer will be spent hunting husbands. But for Jane, when a series of murders breaks out across the city, she must chase down a killer instead.
With her beloved sister by her side, Jane is determined to bring the murderer to justice. Can she stop this villain from taking any more victims, before the summer ends? Or will her only dance of the season be with death… I’ve read and reviewed Miss Austen Investigates and while I’d had some misgivings regarding the depiction of the main character, I’d largely enjoyed the story. So when this one came up, I immediately requested a copy as I’ve visited Bath and drunk the spa water. So I am looking forward to reading a murder mystery featuring this setting.
I’m a huge fan of any Jane Austen retelling – and the notion of reading what has happened to both Kitty and Mary from Pride and Prejudice had me excited. Would this one live up to my expectations?
BLURB: Elizabeth married Mr Darcy; Jane married Mr Bingley; Lydia married Mr Wickham. But what happened to the forgotten Bennet sisters?
Six months after Pride and Prejudice, Mary is stuck at home with her parents. So, when an opportunity arises that will take her to far away India, Mary jumps at the chance for independence and adventure.
Meanwhile, Kitty has been flitting between the estates of her sisters, searching for a suitable husband at every ball and dinner. When Mary sets off to India, Kitty’s disappointment at returning home is tempered by the revelation that a new tenant has come to Netherfield Park – handsome poet Mr Whittaker. He seems like the perfect husband for Kitty, but will he end up being everything she hoped?
Through letters and journals we learn to understand and love the forgotten Bennet sisters. REVIEW: This is an epistolary novel, made up of letters and journal entries between Mary and Kitty, who have formed an unexpectedly close relationship since Lizzy and Jane got married. Though Kitty is shuttling between Lizzy and Jane’s households as she attempts to find a suitable husband amongst her sisters’ new friends as they settle into married life, while poor Mary is stuck at home with Mrs Bennet and her ailments.
This retelling could so easily have gone astray. Austen’s acerbic humour could have been over or underplayed… the characters could have been transformed into young women fans of Pride and Prejudice wouldn’t have recognised… the historical details could have been completely wrong… the pacing could have drooped – after all, relaying everything through letters and diary entries doesn’t exactly give us a ringside seat… Fortunately none of the above came to pass. This is a pitch-perfect rendering of an interesting period.
I loved how Mary suddenly finds herself swept off to India, at the behest of the formidable Lady Catherine de Bourgh, to accompany a young woman whose reputation has been compromised. We get to see how Mary responds to a difficult sea voyage and all the new adventures that assail her in a land full of colour and excitement. And how the British colonists ensure that their social circle doesn’t connect or interact with anyone other than those of their own race and class.
Meanwhile, we also get glimpses into the lives of Jane and Elizabeth as a new addition to the Bennet clan is born. The pages flew by all too quickly as I inhaled this one, thoroughly relishing the skill with which Gray and Russell Williams evoke the time and characters. I’d love to think they were working on a sequel. In the meantime, this offering comes very highly recommended to fans of Jane Austen retellings. While I obtained an arc of Kitty & Mary from the publisher via Netgalley, the opinions I have expressed are unbiased and my own. 10/10
If you threaten to take the matter up into the sky with flame and claw, be prepared to do so. Your reputation will plummet faster than stone wings if you get a name for backing down under pressure.
Castellan the Black, mighty dragon warrior, features in my Picky Eaters series. All proceeds for the duration of the publishing life of Picky Eaters, first book in the series, are donated to mental health charities. The second book, Flame & Blame, and the third book, Trouble With Dwarves, are now available.
