Kathy Hamilton It’s been a little while since I updated you on the new and notable books in my reading pile. In fact, it’s been a little while since I shared a what I’ve been reading lately blog post with you at all. Let’s change that, I’ve missed writing and I have some great books to share with you today.
I’ve never quite settled on what to call this recurring series on my blog. Categorising by month meant that any omissions seemed glaringly obvious. That being said, I did miss the monthly opportunity to share what I’ve been reading lately with you all. So, I decided to go back to basics and categorise these posts numerically instead of by month. Let’s see how that works out!
Duplicate Death by Georgette Heyer
Inspector Hemingway has his work cut out for him. Two murders appear identical, but were they carried out by the same hand? Meanwhile, Timothy Harte’s young fiancé becomes the inspector’s prime suspect and Harte is determined to prove her innocence. But when he starts digging into her past, he finds it’s more than a little bit shady…
Over the festive period I was really in the mood for a good murder mystery. Perhaps it was because the annual Agatha Christie adaptation didn’t happen in 2019. Perhaps it’s just because dark, cold nights call for a good classic crime. Either way, when I spotted this book in Waterstones I knew it was perfect. It’s a good mystery, with some good twists and turns. You know what you’re getting with a Georgette Heyer book. Namely, a good plot and some cracking one liners. What was vastly different here is the setting. Duplicate Death takes place in the 1950s, a great deal later than Heyer’s regency romances which took a little getting used to.
Another Little Christmas Murder by Lorna Nicholl Morgan
Dilys Hughes, snowbound in the middle of a bleak and lonely stretch of Yorkshire, has no option but to accept help from passing motorist Inigo Brown, who is on his way to visit his uncle. But the couple encounters a less than warm welcome from Inigo’s aunt. Why is she so reluctant to let him see his sick uncle? As the snowstorm brings more stranded strangers to their door, Dilys starts to realise that all is not as it seems at Wintry Wold. When the morning brings news of the death of Inigo’s uncle, Dilys sets out to investigate – was it a natural death, or was it murder?
Call me a sucker for festively wrapped murder mysteries! After I finished Duplicate Death I was still in the mood for a good classic crime novel. So Another Little Christmas Murder fit the bill perfectly! Of course, just like Duplicate Death, this was festive in wrapping only. It was actually originally published under a different name, which I think is a shame. Since this book was a better crafted mystery in my opinion. I loved Dilys character, she’s like Katharine Hepburn meets Lauran Bacall, with zingy one liners, pithy asides and no nonsense attitude. The plot took a completely different direction to the one I anticipated and I finished it slightly sad to find out that it’s one of the only novels by Lorna Nicholl Morgan still in print.
Before The War by Fay Weldon
Consider Vivien in November 1922. She is twenty four, and a spinster. She wears fashionably droopy clothes, but she is plain and – worse – intelligent. At nearly six-foot-tall, she is known unkindly by her family as ‘the giantess’. Fortunately, Vivien is rich, so she can travel to London and bribe a charismatic London publisher to marry her. What he does not know is that Vivien is pregnant, and will die in childbirth in just a few months.
I feel like Before The War should have been spectacular. I loved the premise, a novel set between the World Wars, focussed on shifting social expectations and greed. and I loved the narrative style too. Although I think it’s a love it or hate it kind of deal, since the book reads like a memoir with Fay Weldon acting as an all seeing voice directing the action. However, it fell a little flat for me. After a great start it got predictable. I guessed the twist and found it hard to like any of the characters.
A Lady of Expectation by Stephanie Laurens
Jack Lester has to find a bride. But if London society discovers his hidden wealth, he’ll never find the right wife. Jack’s heart races when he first lays eyes on Sophie Winterton. She is everything he desires and more but he is caught in his own trap. Believing that Jack needs to marry into wealth, Sophie rejects all his advances, certain he would never marry a poor girl like her. As they play out a game of cat and mouse, can Jack convince her that she is the woman he wants and that he is the husband she deserves?
You could say I was a lady with expectations (sorry, had to be done!) when I spotted this book at the Library. Stephanie Laurens is a big player in the world of historical romance. However, sadly, this one really disappointed me. It was published in 1995 and I was surprised how dated it felt. An overbearing, domineering hero. A passive, almost terrified heroine. Neither of those things appeals to me, and they certainly didn’t make a compelling romance in my opinion. So, when Jack was described as ‘patriarchal’ as a positive adjective I admitted defeat. There are so many, better, romances out there. Unfortunately, another dud.
Arabella by Georgette Heyer
Arabella dreams of a new life in London. But her beauty and charm will only get her so far – and when Arabella embarks on her first London season armed with her own notoriously short temper, she quickly runs afoul of Robert Beaumaris. He’s the most eligible bachelor of the day, with a personality as strong and combative as hers – and Arabella cannot abide him thinking of her as just another pretty girl after his wealth. So she allows herself to be provoked into a game of deception – one that could have unexpected consequences.
Like I said at the start of this post, you know what you’re getting with Georgette Heyer. With two slightly disappointing books in a row, I decided to fall back on an old favourite. Arabella is one of Georgette Heyer’s most sparkling novels and it really reminded me why I enjoy her writing so much. It was everything I hoped Lady of Expectation would be, with the added bonus of a firecracker heroine and some funny hi-jinks thrown in for good measure. I also liked that you could actually root for the romantic paring in this book. Georgette Heyer isn’t without faults, but considering how jarringly out of date the previous book felt, I couldn’t help but compare how healthily balanced this couple felt in comparison.
Doctor Thorne by Anthony Trollope
Son of a bankrupt landowner, Frank Gresham is intent on marrying his beloved Mary Thorne. However, Frank’s ambitious mother and haughty aunt are set against the match and push him to save the family’s mortgaged estate by making a good marriage to a wealthy heiress. Only Mary’s loving uncle, Dr Thorne, knows the secret of her birth and the fortune she is to inherit that will make her socially acceptable in the eyes of Frank’s family – but the high-principled doctor believes she should be accepted on her own terms.
After breezing through five books relatively quickly I was in the mood for a heftier tome. I’ve been gradually working my way through Trollope’s Barset series for quite a while and was in the mood to return to that world. So I settled in and spent a whole month reading Doctor Thorne! Could I have read it faster? Sure. Am I glad that I didn’t? Definitely. What I love about Trollope’s writing is how much he packs into each page. I appreciate his wry narrative voice and I enjoy reading the machinations of his characters as they get tangled in knots of their own creation. It was a true pleasure to slow down the pace and take my time reading this book.
What Have You Been Reading Lately?
A bit of a mixed bag with what I’ve been reading lately. However, I always like to be honest with my mini-reviews and I think it’s good to show the balance of books I like and don’t like. As always, I love to hear what you’ve been reading lately too. So let me know in the comments! Also, what do you think of the new title style, shall we keep it?
