Tuesday Book Review on Wednesday

Four-star review of Death on the Downs Fethering Mysteries Book 2 by Simon Brett

 

Carole Seddon finds a wrapped pile of bones in an abandoned barn on the downs when she takes shelter from a storm. So starts another murder mystery for her neighbor Jude and her to explore. The two women are so different but their skills are complimentary. As always in this series, there are a number of suspects that allow the typical small town gossip and suspicions to shine as the women, separately and together, investigate. I enjoyed this as much as the first in the series although parts of the story were more predictable. 

Tuesday Book Review on Wednesday

Four-star review of The Body on the Beach Fethering Mysteries Book 1 by Simon Brett

 Carole Seddon, a recent divorcee and former Home Office employee, and her neighbor Jude, with a mysterious past she won’t talk about, become an unlikely team of amateur sleuths in this, the first in a series of murder mysteries set on the south coast of England. In this one, they investigate the disappearance of a body Carole found on the Fethering beach while she walked her dog. Typical of small English villages filled with more deaths than inhabitants, we’re introduced to an assortment of both eccentric and typical characters. Touches of British humor are combined with examples of the social strata that seem to still exist in Britain. This was a quite enjoyable solid murder mystery made better by the growing friendship between the two protagonists. 

Tuesday Book review on Wednesday

Four-star review of The Prophet of Yonwood: The Third Book of Ember by Jeanne duPrau

 

This is actually a prequel to the other Ember books, a story about a girl dealing with the impending sale of a family house against the background of an impending war. The story is well-written but not as engaging as the others in the series. Eleven year-old Nickie travels to Yonwood, North Carolina with her aunt after the death of her grandfather to see to the sale of his home. She has three goals that summer: to keep the house from being sold, to meet her true love, and to do something to help the world. Meanwhile, the people of the town follow the so-called prophet’s mutterings as interpreted incorrectly by one zealous woman whose proclamations lead to such actions as banishing all dogs to the forests surrounding the town, and that includes the one Nickie has adopted unbeknownst to her aunt. Although the story doesn’t lead directly into the other Ember books, there are several interesting characters.