The Summer Before the War: A Novel by Helen Simonson

The Summer Before the War: A Novel.  Helen Simonson. Random House Publishing Group. March 2016. 496 pp.  ISBN#: 9780812993103.

Rye, East Sussex, is a lovely, quiet English town in 1914.  Beatrice Nash arrives to teach Latin at a small local school.  That wouldn’t shock anyone in contemporary times but it was highly unusual for a woman to teach, especially Latin. But Beatrice is being sponsored by a locally highbrow lady, Agatha Kent, a leader of the community who is of course always vying with other women for authority in all community affairs. 

Beatrice is desperate for this job as her academic father died, leaving her with no money.  But Beatrice’s got grit and peddles around on her bicycle, loving the country air and believing she can make a difference in the lives of the poor children she will be instructing.  It’s a huge charity move but her presence could make all the difference in the world for one or two lads with intelligence.  The rest of the community, however, doesn’t see past their own ego-inflated goodness in sponsoring this school.

The reader is just starting to get to know the people of Rye well.  Their beliefs are quite stringent, against anything that smacks of modernity like feminism, homosexuality, pregnancy of unwed mothers, and moving out of one’s class.  One of two brothers, Dan and Hugh, is increasingly attracted to Beatrice.  The one brother Hugh is submerged in his future career of medicine, and the other brother Dan is a poet who wonders what his future holds. Such a blasé attitude to life is about to undergo a shocking shift as World War I looms in the near horizon.

The remainder of the novel concerns how these village residents with petty concerns are brought up short by the war and quickly are stripped of their pride to do their part for the war.  There are more shocks to come, a little romance, and tenderness within each connection to grip the reader until the very last page.

The Summer Before the War… is lovely historical fiction which this reviewer highly recommends.

Rain Dogs: A Detective Sean Duffy Novel by Adrian McKinty

Rain Dogs: A Detective Sean Duffy Novel. Adrian McKinty. Seventh Street Books/Prometheus Books. March 2016. 315 pp.  ISBN#: 9781633881303.

Sean Duffy has nothing going right these days.  He’s just been dumped by his girlfriend, Beth, who is ten years younger than he is.  He’s just been assigned to the protective unit for a Muhammed Ali visit to Ireland. 

The story takes place in Carrickfergus which is close to Belfast.  It’s the time of the Irish Troubles when the IRA is dropping bombs left and right as a protest method to gain Irish independence.  It’s a bit of a far stretch to imagine how these bombs could be an asset in their goal but for now it is what it is.  So for now Detectives like Duffy check under their cars for bombs every time they set out to travel somewhere.  Ali during his tour actually turns around and confronts protestors, winning them over with his charm and panache.

But the day isn’t done before there are two problems, one minor and one major.  A Finnish delegation has come to the area to check it out as a potential site for a large new business and of course the town officials want and English government want everything to proceed ultra-smoothly.  However, one of the Finnish delegation member’s wallet is declared missing and a young woman is found dead from a possible suicide in Carrickfergus Castle. The first is a joke; the second turns out to be a complex mystery.  Why did this young journalist kill herself?  Why did the night guard not know she was still in the Castle after closing hours? 

The plot becomes quite complex when it turns out that the Finnish delegation was not as innocent as it appeared to the public.  Add to that another policeman is killed from a bomb under the car and of course everyone assumes it’s just another IRA plot, nothing new.  It turns out that’s not so either.

Duffy for a long time keeps receiving false leads but if it’s one thing Duffy has a reputation for, it’s persistence, relentless.

Rain Dogs… has many other twists and turns that keep the reader flipping the pages and rapidly reading.  This is my first Sean Duffy mystery, and I am looking forward to read the other novels in which he is the sleuth solving crimes in tumultuous Ireland!  Very nicely done, Adrian McKinty and recommended reading for all who love a good mystery!

Deadly Alliance by Kathleen Rowland

Deadly Alliance. Kathleen Rowland. Tirgearr Publishing/Smashwords. February 2016. 180 pp. ISBN# 9781310588310.  

Amy Kintyre has a chance to design her own clothes, has interviewed with someone to carry her label but needs time to finish her full presentation.  So she’s planning on quitting her taxi cab job and applies as a bookkeeper for Finbar Donahue, ex-Army Ranger.  Amy’s not in the hunt for a date these days as she’s got enough on her plate; but when she meets with Finn, all bets are off and it’s instant hot zone trying to tone down.  It won’t be long until both are doing the same and more.

Finn’s got a huge problem, however.  His partner has been killed but it seems his partner or someone else was siphoning funds out of the business.  It’s not so easy to track which makes it all smell like some very shady money laundering. So Finn’s asked for some police help and the case becomes a larger nightmare when it appears that the local Irish Mafia is tangled up with some ISIS fundraisers assisted by some ragtag Mexican hoods.  When Finn’s account is frozen, all hell breaks out!

Deadly Alliance is a crime thriller and serious hot and heavy romance novel.  Rowland’s plot is complex enough to keep the reader engaged with wondering how it will all end. At the same time, the sparks are flying between Finn and Amy and Finn’s former skittishness around women appears to be undergoing a very gradual transformation.  Amy, a woman who knows her own mind and has no need for a dependent relationship, is a feisty character who may ramp up Finn’s testosterone but knows how to cool his fiery temper and Army Ranger force that doesn’t want to wait for someone else to handle what he clearly sees is family betrayal.

Very good read and highly recommended for romance and thriller fans!

The Killing in the Cafe: A Fethering Mystery by Simon Brett

The Killing in the Cafe: A Fethering Mystery. Severn House Publishers. March 2016. 192 pp.  ISBN#: 9781780290812.

Polly’s Cake Shop is a village bakery shop that is pure delectable muffins and pastries and a comforting place to spend some time with several cups of tea and one of the desserts.  It now appears it’s up for sale and it’s owner is the epitome of apathy when it comes to the sale of the shop, seeing it as time to end the financial venture and get out with as much money as she can get from the sale. 

The end of this business winds up compelling many residents of the town to form an action committee to save the shop, lest a commercial Starbucks wind up replacing the cozy little restaurant.  It’s a bizarre bunch of characters comprising this venture, but their goal is to have a group of volunteers take over running the same cake shop business as a community venture.  As members vie for control, the committee and other town residents are shocked to find a murder has occurred in their village.  Jude winds up being snagged to run the shop and Carole has mixed feelings about the whole affair.  This is the 17^th mystery that Jude and Carole, two friends of opposite character types, set out to solve.

Rather coincidentally, along comes an unknown business entrepreneur who volunteers to cash the renovation necessary for the project.  At first, the murdered man with a bullet in his temple is unknown but very quickly is identified and our two heroines begin to explore his background, as well as the original owner of the cake shop and some other connected characters.

The Killing in the Café… is an old-fashioned, clever mystery that keeps the reader guessing all the way to the end.  The quirkiness of the characters lends to the intrigue of it all and the who-done-it, eerie quality remains to the very surprising end.  Relationships run awry motivate the crime and provide a satisfying end that is ironic indeed! This is a stand-alone story but will make many readers want to read the other mystery novels in this series! Nicely plotted, Simon Brett.

Into the Dim by Janet B. Taylor

Into the Dim.  Janet B. Taylor. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. March 2016. 432 pp.  ISBN#: 9780544602007.

Hope Walton up to now has lived a very controlled life.  Her mother insists Hope be home-schooled as she has a photographic mind, remembering absolutely everything she reads.  Now, however, her mother has been gone for six months, believed to have died in a terrible earthquake.  Hope’s father has quickly remarried and it’s quite clear his new bride indicates it would be better to lose the burden of a grieving, angry daughter.  Hope therefore reluctantly accepts the invitation to visit her mother’s family in Scotland.  The shocking details she receives soon after arrival there plummet her into a phenomenal journey that will challenge everything she thinks she knows.

Hope’s Scottish family call themselves the Viators, those who have the ability and materials to travel backward in time.  Hope discovers this fact by accident when she is wandering throughout her aunt’s home and finds basement rooms full of clothing, jewelry, weapons and other artifacts from the 12^th Century.  Hope will be shocked beyond words to learn a secret that compels her to travel back to that time of King Henry II and Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine.  She and her relatives who travel with her have two quests to complete – to find a certain person and to secure an ancient stone with extremely special powers. 

To no surprise, another family member, who is a sworn enemy of Hope’s aunt, heads another group with the same purposes but with questionable purposes, ends that could literally change the entire history of mankind if successfully completed.

Before she left on the terrifying journey back in time, Hope had met a young teen who seemed the only person on earth to treat her as a friend.  Now she will meet him in the 12^th Century and is quite unsure whether he is friend or foe.

In the court of Henry and Elizabeth, Hope will win both support and starkly hostile opposition.  Who prevails in this war is what drives the complex plot of this time travel novel that reflects a personal and historical war.  Plenty of fierce action, dialogue and description pack these pages and keep the reader riveted until the last surprising pages!  Even a few obviously contrived scenes won’t stop the reader’s total engagement and desire to see how this tale unfolds.  There’s an indication as well that this is only the first novel in what will be a series! Nice!

The Promise of Forgiveness: A Novel by Marin Thomas

The Promise of Forgiveness: A Novel.  Marin Thomas. Penguin Group (USA). March 2016. 352 pp.  ISBN#: 9780451476296.

Ruby, now aged 31, seems to be a natural magnet for loser men.  As a result her daughter Mia is one angry teenager convinced her mother is totally selfish and has never given one thought to what Mia thinks or feels about their unstable life.  Her plan was to move to Kansas for a fresh start where she could focus specifically on her daughter’s upbringing. However, now Ruby has received a lawyer’s note telling her to come to see her real father, Hank McArthur, in the town of Unforgiven, Oklahoma.  The town’s name is obviously contrived but clearly appropriately named.  Ruby is distressed as she resents that her natural parents gave her up for adoption.  Meeting Hank, Ruby is determined to give him no easy way to her heart.

Little does Ruby or any reader, for that matter, realize that little by little, Mia and Hank begin to form a natural grandfather and granddaughter relationship.  Both are tart of tongue and Mia seems seriously concerned about the poor state of Hank’s health.  Hank would like Ruby to inherit his oil ranch but it seems someone else has different plans as different “accidents” start happening.  Mia is the smart one who senses someone else with devious ideas is orchestrating the mishaps.

Joe, a ranch hand, and Ruby begin to hit it off, but both have past stories that need to be released before they can let go to care for each other.  Mia, on the other hand, has Hank’s passionate love for horses.  He begins to teach Mia how to train them and care for them as the precious possessions these horses are.  This is really the highlight of this beautiful novel, filled with tender, funny and poignant moments the reader will love!

The Promise of Forgiveness is wonderful, contemporary fiction that is more than pleasing reading and memorable for the evolution of love that gradually but potently emerges! Very nicely done, Ms. Thomas!

The Changing Season: A Novel by Steven Manchester

The Changing Season: A Novel. Steven Manchester. The Story Plant. February 2016. 276 pp.  ISBN#: 9781611882261.

Billy was a typical Senior in high school, about to graduate, planning to go to college but totally oblivious as to what he was to study or do with the rest of his life.  His one obsessive love is his elderly dog, Jimmy, with whom he shares camping and other adventures.  Billy and his friends, Charlie and Mark get together frequently in Billy’s smelly, unkempt bedroom to play video games.  They are quite content.  Charlie and Mark have college plans for the future and are thinking of careers.  Billy seems totally out of the loop – at first!

The night of graduation, the key note speaker insists that the students will have to face the responsibility and consequences of their actions and decisions; Billy heard it all as more “blah, blah, blah,” never realizing his world was about to change.

Billy accepts a job as an assistant in a dog shelter which he enjoys due to the help and conversations he has with a mentor there. She’s realistic without being preachy which clears the way for Billy to truly “listen.”  On the other hand, Billy’s friend, Charlie, isn’t listening to anyone and he really needs to take advice.  In a fit of rage and jealousy, he acts out a rash action which shatters the world of a family.  Rather than tell the truth, Charlie buries himself in self-pity and fear.  While that happens, Billy finally meets a girl, Vicki, with whom he wholeheartedly falls in love.  She changes his world over the summer, but Billy is broken when an act of omission on his part makes Vicki drop him like a hot potato.

One could say more, but this is too amazing a story to ruin by dropping plot snippets.  Suffice to say, this is, like all of Steven Manchester’s novels, a terrific read.  While there is a somewhat contrived quality to the story, one still roots for the major and minor characters and is always deeply moved by the challenges and outcomes therein. Readers will love and recommend this story of love, loyalty, betrayal and truth!