Book Reviews

A Return Look at 3 Authors of Fiction

Because they merit further comments

I could not resist going back to three authors and three of the series they have written that have recently provided me with reading enjoyment.

Here they are:

The Rose Simpson Mysteries by Margaret Addison.

https://www.amazon.com/Rose-Simpson-Mysteries-9-Book/dp/B07ZKVQ7BT

     There are now 10 books in this series. They are exactly what the covers imply; a female British sleuth solving murders in the always popular English setting. The time period is 1930ish.  In this case you can judge a book by it's cover.

You'll like Rose; she's clever and personable, upbeat and kind, yet fallible too.

But there are issues here. The grammar can drive you crazy, the author loves commas! (And I thought I liked commas too much.) The stories can get bogged down at times, the scenarios are often lacking in  detail. As in any mystery series that has produced this many stories, some are simply better than others.

A likeable heroine cannot alone compensate for these deficiencies. What does? Other great character development, including Rose's friend Lavinia and her brother Cedric. Addison has a great knack for getting into the minds and attitudes of the people that will be crucial to what occurs in every book.

But best of all are the plots. Yes they do drag sometimes, but at least in my case I simply could not stop reading because by then I was hooked. How does it all come together? Who did commit the murder?

Usually I'm wrong, or if not it beats me exactly how they managed it.

With Margaret Addison's talent for creating a good story and a clever plot, Rose Simpson mysteries are a good buy. $2.99 in the kindle store on Amazon.

Healthcliff Lennox mysteries, by Karen Baugh Menuhin

     There are four of these to date.  Everyone has been a good read for anyone who enjoys a new author with a new main character and a little different flair for the bulging cozy mystery market.

https://www.amazon.com/Murder-Melrose-Court-Country-Heathcliff-ebook/dp/B07L3YWSM4

Yes, once again the backdrop is British. In this case the time period goes back to right after the first world war. Heathcliff's personality and his background are a little reminiscent of Lord Peter Wimsey. Like Lord Peter he is also a veteran of the war, who needs time to readjust to civilian life and getting past the trauma of that horrific time.

Menuhin's stories are not so complex as Dorothy Sayers were. But they have a level of depth and a charm of their own. She gives her main character a great sense of humor and backs him up with some colorful supporting cast characters, most notably his butler. Who can resist the first book when the first sentence is an announcement by Greggs to his employer - as in the manner you might announce tea is served - there is a body lying at the front door?

Don't stay with my comparison to Peter Wimsey. Heathcliff is a very unique character, and he grows on you. These are also $2.99 in the kindle store on Amazon

The Pendragon Cycle by Stephen R. Lawhead

Several months ago I recommended another series by this author, The Sons of Albion.  Lawhead has been prolific over a long writing career, and his venue is not mysteries per say, but fantasy. And he loves Celtic history. 

https://www.amazon.com/The-Pendragon-Cycle/dp/B0841Y2GBR

     And so it came to be he wrote the PendragonCycle. I have recently read book 5 and knew I just had to bring these books to your attention.  I cannot describe it any better than what is written under the series' description:

"It is the remarkable adventure of Charis—the courageous princess from Atlantis who escapes the terrible devastation of her land—and of the fabled seer and druid prince Taliesin, singer at the dawn of the age. A story of an incomparable love that joins two astonishing worlds amid the fires of chaos, and spawns the miracles of Merlin . . . and Arthur the king!"

I rarely read fantasy - Tolkien, that's about it otherwise. But these are wonderful. Lawhead presents these legends as you have never seen them before. He describes evil as the destructive force it always is. He describes the source of all life and hope and love for what it really is. As in all good stories, legends or otherwise, the battle of one over the other is complex. 

The author is a remarkable story teller. The Pendragon Cycle is a wonderful escape into Celtic legend.