from Mary Saums
Holy moly, who turned off the heat? Usually we get a little snow in winter, like maybe one day. Today makes seven days straight of bone-chilling temps and one form or another of icky precipitation. Oy, the streets. I don't know how our Femmes and friends up north manage in the winter. I'd be Full Squirrelly and bouncing off the walls, no lie. Let's hope they get a weather break soon!
DEATH CLOUD by Andrew Lane is 1st in a YA series starring a very young Sherlock Holmes. He's a student at a boarding school for boys and is looking forward to returning home for summer vacation. However, Mycroft has other plans for him. Since their father is on his way to India, and their mother "needs rest" due to an implied mental illness, arrangements have been made for Sherlock to stay with an aunt and uncle whom he's never met.
Sherlock begs to stay with Mycroft in London instead. But Mycroft's new job with the government leaves him little time to properly attend to him. Instead he hires an unusual tutor to continue Sherlock's education during his summer in the countryside.
I liked this story and believe both YA and adult readers would enjoy it. More complex than a Hardy Boy mystery, lots of action, relatives who are a little koo-koo, a strange housekeeper reminiscent of Mrs. Danvers, a great mad villain and just a shade of pre-steampunkery.
WHEN GODS DIE by C.S. Harris
Oh how I LOVE LOVE LOVE this series. For a long time, I didn't think I'd like books set in the early 1800's. No problem with ancient, medieval, Elizabethans, nor with late 1800's to present. That 1700 to 1800-ish period though just didn't ring any chimes.
But then, I ran out of books that met my British historical requirements. So began the search else-when. Whatever other time period I tried, the book still had to be a mystery, still had to have a strong lead character, still had to be well-written.
Thank goodness for C.S. Harris and her fantastic Sebastian St. Cyr novels. In WHEN GODS DIE, King George has finally gone mad enough to convince the government that his son should become Prince Regent in his stead. The Prince decides to celebrate with a huge party in Brighton. There, he receives a note from a particularly beautiful lady he fancies, asking him to meet her secretly in another room. When he arrives, he finds her dead and knows he's in trouble.
Wonderful characters, beautiful solid writing, lots of surprises throughout this book and the series.
LONDON: A SHORT HISTORY OF THE GREATEST CITY IN THE WESTERN WORLD was a fantastic audiobook from The Great Courses series. It contains 24 lectures by history professor Dr. Robert Bucholz of Loyola University.
I can't say enough good things about this one. Dr. Bucholz does a great job of telling the story of London's history, from pre-Roman conquest to today. I enjoyed the way he described what the city might look like by taking a historical figure and imagining what he might see on entering the city during his own time.
Highly recommended for everybody. :)
So what are you reading these days? If you have a good recommendation, please share.
Stay warm out there!
Absolutely agree on the C.S. Harris series. I'm also liking the new Lindsay Davis series, a spin off from the Falco books with his adopted daughter as the sleuth.
Kathy/Kaitlyn
Posted by: Kathy Lynn Emerson | February 21, 2015 at 05:18 AM
Kathy, I haven't tried the spin-off yet. Thank you. I'm putting it on my list.
With C.S. Harris, up until now I'd read several but out of order. So now I'm starting at the beginning and really loving all the details about the characters' lives I'd missed. :) Great stuff.
Posted by: Mary S. | February 21, 2015 at 05:49 PM
Yes, it's been pretty bleak around here! Yesterday we saw the sun--amazing. Hope you all are cozy and safe.
C.S. Harris is new to me--thank you!
Posted by: Hank Phillippi Ryan | February 23, 2015 at 04:33 AM
I always love your booklists!
Posted by: Hank Phillippi Ryan | February 23, 2015 at 04:33 AM
I have had that first YA Sherlock book on the shelf for what seems like forever. I really do need to read that one. Thanks for the reminder.
Posted by: Kristopher | February 23, 2015 at 06:50 AM
Hank, I'm so glad y'all are getting some sun! I hope all that snow clears away very soon.
Posted by: Mary S. | February 23, 2015 at 04:08 PM
Kristopher, usually a new Sherlock story gets top priority when It's released. Somehow this one slipped out of my one brain cell and I forgot all about it until seeing the cover again online recently. It was released in 2010. Ahem. Looks like I need to work on my la-a-a-a-g. :)
Posted by: Mary S. | February 23, 2015 at 04:18 PM