If you’re a fan of British cozy mystery author Elly Griffiths, you’ll know that she’s been writing one Ruth Galloway archaeological mystery each year for over a decade. This is book fourteen. When the pandemic hit, she had to make a decision. Do I set this story in the current reality or not? It’s a decision many authors faced and will continue to face as we move through history. As no-nonsense as Ruth, Griffiths decided to not only to set it during the pandemic but to make it a kind of homage to plagues and isolation. I admit that I found bits triggering at times as I followed the characters through the horror and hassle of the opening weeks of the plague in Britain, February 2020.
Ten-year-old Kate is home, bored, doing school online. Nelson’s wife and young son are away looking after her mother. There are pandemic references: the evening clanging cheer to front-line workers, masking or not, grocery cues, empty shelves and the stocking of staples including toilet paper, lockdown laws, social distancing, two-metre walks out-of-doors, office staff on rotation and working from home, learning to Zoom, teaching from home, loved ones taken away to hospital and the grief of those quarantined and left behind who are not permitted to visit, references to plagues past, and the feeling of never being able to escape the fear and isolation it conjures.
Griffith’s strength is her ability to weave in these facts in a kind of matter-of-fact way, so they never overpower the mystery, which concerns healthy women who appear to be suddenly committing suicide. One woman is even found in her bedroom with the door locked from the outside.
Griffiths’ books are always gently packed with tidbits and meaningful symbols. The title signifies, not only the isolation of plagues in general, but how our “killer” operates, locking victims in total darkness. As is always the case, Nelson and Ruth end up tangled in dangerous climatic scenes of discovery.
Nelson, who’s living alone while his wife’s away, comes calling on Ruth until his grown daughter arrives home, needs her daddy, and he goes running off. That’s Nelson, protector of all and burly man of guilt. Ruth takes it all in her stride, even the discovery of her mother’s lifelong secret—a secret that will come to affect her present moment in a big way.
One thing that bothered me: I came away not understanding the killer’s motivation. He had the means and opportunity but the motive seemed lacking. Perhaps I missed something.
One thing I loved: the “Who’s Who” character pages at the end of the book. My favourite character is Cathbad and, true to form, the druid shaman embraces the pandemic by offering Zoom yoga classes every morning to his children and friends.
Don’t let the pandemic setting deter you. Just be aware that if you start fretting about going out in public, you’re likely triggered. We live in a different time now and this too shall pass.
Can you believe it? I found this book sitting on the very end of the free shelf at my local library this morning. I’d checked it out and returned it last week, which means, that I was the last person to read it. How do libraries decide what ends up in the slush pile? I don’t understand. I mean, this series is amazing. Blue’s story is the focus of book three–this book. I actually finished The Raven King, which is book four, and realized I’d forgotten to write anything about this book. So, it’s come back to me. You see how that works? It’s not that I don’t have anything to say about it; in fact, I was so tucked into the characters, I didn’t really realize what was happening plot-wise. Urban fantasy doesn’t really work like that. It’s more about characters and emotions. And these characters are some of the best characters you’ll ever meet. So, what do I remember about Blue Lily, Lily Blue?
-the illicit love between Blue and Gansey. Illicit only because Blue kind of had a hand-holding thing with Adam to begin with and, Gansey and Adam are best friends, and well, there’s a social rule being broken
-her funky home with her psychic mother and aunts
-something tasty evolving between Ronan and Adam
-a ton of angst occurring at Gansey’s political mansion in Washington, DC. This is not the best space for trailer-park-son-of-an-abusive-father Adam. Or maybe it is.
-the elusive Cabeswater . . . What the hell is it, anyway? And when they finally get there, will Gansey find his Immortal Welsh King? And why a Welsh King? Is this the orphaned child of a real mythological legend? Damn. I wish I’d thought of this.
-details of Gansey’s horrific hornet experience. Have you ever been bitten by vicious meat-eating hornets with giant stingers and long, wispy legs? I have. When I was seven or eight, I climbed into my father’s old black pick-up truck. We started rumbling down the road. The hornets had build a nest under the bench seat on my side. Before we hit Dixie and Finch, they flew up my pant legs. I went so ballistic, my father pulled over, dragged me out of the truck, and ripped off my pants. I was horrifically embarrassed—I mean, there I was standing on the side of the road in my white cotton undies in front of my father. Now, I think, how did he have the presence of mind to do that? I mean . . . child-eating hornets? Did he get stung?
-something horrible happening at 300 Fox Way which I will not divulge
-some nasty-pants villains developing, of course.
Do I recommend this series? Yes. In fact, it’s in my Amazon Wishlist. Just sayin’. There may come a day when I pass this hardcover on to a little library somewhere in the world. Oh Maggie, what have you done?
If you’re unfamiliar with JP McLean’s award-winning supernatural crime novels, you should investigate her Dark Dreams series from the beginning. The first two books, Blood Mark and Ghost Mark, are narrated by a gnarly and lovable trio: Jane Walker, protagonist, dreamer, and bearer of magical marks; Jane’s boyfriend, Ethan Bryce, swaggering manager of the Riptide bar in Vancouver; and Jane’s loyal sidekick, former foster child, and high-class escort, Sadie Prescott. In Scorch Mark, the narration expands to include Sadie’s love interest, undercover Vancouver cop Dylan O’Brien.
In Blood Mark, we learn that the scarlet marks snaking around Jane’s body were gifted to her in an ancient Incan ritual to protect her from death. Now, McLean reveals that anyone who tries to kill Jane will end up dead themselves, and this threat has been proven true. Jane also suffers from lucid dreams in which she appears as a shadowy figure whose actions can affect history. In Ghost Mark, the blood marks transform, and she appears in her dreams dressed in whatever she wore when she fell asleep. Since she’s visible, you can imagine the problems this presents. Jane also discovers a vivid white “escape valve” on the back of her hand that rewinds a dream if she turns it counterclockwise and jumps her out of the dream if she moves it clockwise. The spectral marks remain in Scorch Mark, but in a clever stake-raising move, McLean introduces a villainous group of cowboy thugs who intend to use the marks for their own evil purposes. She also reveals much more about the old Peruvian families, the old silver offering bowl, and the Incan ritual itself.
McLean deftly intertwines three plots in Scorch Mark. In one, the psychologist who abducted Jane in Blood Mark goes on trial, and we await the verdict with bated breath. Will the defence attorneys create enough reasonable doubt for the jury to allow him and his accomplice to go free? And how will the attorneys twist Jane’s story? As is typical of courtroom drama, it’s a fist-squeezing, jaw-grinding experience for the reader. Meanwhile, Detective Dylan O’Brien is investigating “ghost guns” — a shipment of illegal firearms that have been produced using a three-D printer, and Jane is dreaming about the evil producers. Interspersed are Jane’s dangerous dreams, where she must act as a witness without being caught by the villains who are changing history. Tension anyone?
Wickedly clever, original, suspenseful, and action-packed, McLean’s impeccable writing and razor-sharp plotting will draw you in and keep you riveted. Scorch Mark is glamour and grit, spliced with a magical sense of the macabre, and wildly Canadian. Detailed, descriptive scenes of the Vancouver Law Courts will have you sitting tensely beside Jane as she watches her attacker from the gallery through thick, bulletproof glass. Then it’s a race across the country to a 12,000-acre Alberta ranch and a massive criminal takedown.
JP McLean is a bestselling author of urban fantasy and supernatural thrillers. She’s been the recipient of numerous honours for the Dark Dreams series and her six-book Gift Legacy series. Among them are a Global Book Award, CIBA and Page Turner Award, the National Indie Excellence Awards, the UK Wishing Shelf Book Awards, and the Whistler independent Book Awards.
Book II of Magie Stiefvater’s “Raven Cycle” series brings us closer to Ronan Lynch and his family secrets. We learn more about his homelife and gifts, his mother’s condition, and his father’s murder. Ronan is an eccentric character. Traumatized by finding his father murdered, he seems violent, yet he has a caring side that is revealed in various ways throughout the series.
Imagine being able to design an object in your dream and bring it back to your waking life and into this physical reality. This is Ronan’s gift—his secret. Chainsaw, the strange raven creature that travels on his shoulder is one of his dream creations. Knowing that he can create living creatures raises the stakes, and we wonder who or what else he has created in his dreams. Are there other dreamers like him? Is this a gift or a curse? Ronan is the Greywaren.
A new character appears—Joseph Kavinski—as Ronan’s antagonist. I hate Kavinski . . . just sayin.
Blue Sargent has become one of the Raven Boys, and the group continues to search the magical Cabeswater for the dead Welsh king, Glendower, as emotions spiral. Blue’s psychic mother, Maura, and the mysterious Gray Man grow closer while Blue tries to sort out her feelings. Does she love Adam Parrish or Gansey? And how can she be with either of them when both obviously have feelings for her, are best friends, and are part of the same group? And then there’s that whole prophecy about her killing her first kiss. This is typical teenage trauma with a supernatural twist.
We also learn more about Richard Campbell Gansey III in this book as we attend one of his mother’s political soirees at their Washington, DC mansion. Lowly Adam Parrish attends with Gansey and disappears (but that’s another story.)
I know I’ll come back to these books time and again. Why hasn’t someone made them into a TV series yet?
Ronan is the subject of various fan art. His obsessive personality lends itself to that.
How did I miss this series? The paperback I borrowed from my local library was published in 2012. Eleven years of pale paws, nightly consumption, suspenseful reading in stairwells, and skipping class to find out what happens, have rendered it as gnarly as the boys themselves—as beat-up as Adam, as etheric as Noah, as violent as Ronan, as intelligent as Gansey, and as powerful as Blue.
I remember seeing the covers when I googled urban fantasy series in 2020 while searching for inspiration in the hallways of YA mysticism. I wanted to read it then but life happened. And now I’ve begun I can’t stop. Thankfully, there are four.
It’s not always possible to explain why a particular author or story grabs you and holds on. Sometimes, it’s a crosshatch—the author’s voice, characters drawn as friends, language that casts a spell, surprises, unexpected emotions, intrigue, a tale so leisurely mystical it could be real. As I read book one, other stories came to mind: The Lord of the Flies, Stand by Me—ensemble casts assembled to unearth teenage truths and show the remarkable strength in friendship.
Blue’s mother is a psychic who lives with two other psychics. They’ve always warned Blue that when she kisses her true love he will die. This year, she hears two more prophesies: this year she will fall in love and this year Gansey will die.
The rich, handsome, and charismatic Gansey is on a quest to find the body of Welsh king, Owain Glyndŵr, (1354-1415) descendent of Llewelyn the Great, and nationalist rebel who fought the usurping English King Henry IV. Glyndŵr was eventually defeated and his castles taken by the English. He became a wanted outlaw and eventually died though his body was never found. Gansey believes that Owain Glyndŵr’s men brought his body to Virginia, where this story is set, and entombed him along a particular ley line (a place of great mystical energy). According to Welsh legend, he lies in wait and will arise again when Wales is in need. Gansey is determined to awaken the ley line and find the sleeping Welsh king, Glyndŵr. The notion of ley lines is a whole other phenomenon worthy of research.
When Blue and the Raven Boys discover that one among them has been murdered, they’re determined to bring the killer to justice. The to-the-death-and-beyond camaraderie between them raises the emotional stakes. Set against the backdrop of a prestigious private boys’ school called Aglionby, the mash-up of contemporary life, mystical phenomenon, myth, and murder, rocketed this book to fame. Check out Maggie Stiefvater’s site for more. How did I miss this?
#1 NYT Bestselling Series
Over 1 million copies in print
Published in over 28 languages
Most starred reviews from literary journals (18) of any young adult series ever published
One of Rolling Stones top 40 YA novels
American Library Association Best Books for Young Adults
“Two dozen unexplained wreaths over the past year?”
When a mysterious undertaker is seen delivering floral funerary wreaths to families of the deceased BEFORE the death occurs, the WISE women spring into action in Ace’s latest cozy mystery. The police won’t touch it with a “bargepole” as the deaths aren’t suspicious. And yet, how can this undertaker know who’s going to die unless he’s been killing them? Meanwhile, using her nursing background, no-nonsense Mavis goes undercover to investigate some Suspicious Sisters, when it’s noted that narcotics belonging to recently deceased patients are disappearing in a certain hospital. A morbid aura shadows the idyllic village of Anwen-by-Wye, in the eighth installment of Ace’s WISE Enquiries series, and the bodies pile up.
By the way, WISE is an acronym for the origins of the four women who’ve teamed up to answer enquiries and solve these bizarre crimes: Carol from Wales, Christine from Ireland, Scottish Mavis, and English Annie. These bizarre crimes can only originate in the unrelenting mind of Cathy Ace. Averaging two books a year, the woman is unstoppable.
The jury’s still out on Ace’s view of the Welsh aristocracy. In this book, more than others, we see the colossal power held by Henry Twyst, the eighth Duke of Chellingworth, and his eccentric dowager mother, Althea. By the end of this book, they own it all, and though we applaud their generosity as patrons, the reader can’t help but notice the power imbalance. “At least we keep the village hall looking tidy. Which pleases both Their Graces,” quips one lowly villager. “Indeed, while “Their Graces” quibble over family issues, they continue to generate a rental income from the villagers and more from tours of Chellingworth Hall. Yet, Ace’s satirizing of the octogenarian dowager’s bizarre wardrobe choices, and her daughter Clementine’s plans to wed “at dawn on the summer solstice at the base of Queen Hatshepsut’s obelisk at the temple of Karnak” in Egypt, give us pause. Do I detect a mutinous murmur beneath a witty veneer?
A master of social satire, Ace presents this wry romp, slathered in details, and peppered with Welsh gems. Some favourites? The chief inspector “knew his onions when it came to his job” and “she’ll have my guts for garters.” Or this cringeworthy favourite: “Sugar was better than bile.” Annie’s “Gordon Bennett!” sent me running to Google. Ace’s dialects sparkle, her sensory descriptions wrap you in the best of the season, and her satirizing will make you smile.
Ace’s strength is in writing what she knows and doing so flawlessly. It’s clear she genuinely loves her characters and her birth country, as her prose oozes with colloquialisms. Ace emigrated from Swansea, Wales to British Columbia at age forty, and often visits home. A longtime fan of Nancy Drew and Agatha Christie, she comes naturally to the cozy murder mystery genre and is a storyteller extraordinaire. Her standalone novel, The Wrong Boy, and her Cait Morgan Mysteries have been optioned for TV by UK producers Free@LastTV. One can only hope, the WISE Enquiries follow in their wake.
Ace has been country-hopping this year, presenting at events like Gŵyl Crime Cymru (Wales’ first international crime literature festival), Calgary’s When Words Collide, and Boucheron (an annual world mystery convention). Catch her where you can and in the meantime, check out her two long-running cozy mystery series: The WISE Enquiries Agency Mysteries and Cait Morgan Mysteries.
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