This is the first time I've delved into a Bay Tanner Mystery by Kathryn Wall. In fact, I can't recall reading a Wall mystery before, and I can't understand how I've missed her. I enjoy her characters, her settings and her writing style, so I'm headed for the shelves to locate her previous titles.
The setting is Hilton Head and Beaufort, South Carolina, where Bay Tanner is a sometime private investigator. She finds herself trying to solve the mysteries of a runaway wife and the origins of a dead newborn. Solving these two mysteries takes the readers into the secretive black community of Sanctuary Hill, into the languid life of an Old South plantation, into the tourist community of modern day Hilton Head, and into the coastal boating community along the shores of northern Florida and Georgia.
This series is well worth going back to catch up on the life and times of Bay Tanner.
Liz Nichols
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Rhys Bowen's "Her Royal Spyness"
When I got home from Florida I made a beeline for my favorite book spot, the Iowa City Public Library. That's where I am even as I type as I still substitute at the Childrens Room desk several years after I retired from my permanent job here.
I'm back to my old familiar territory in another way. Back to the mystery shelves for finding my usual weekly reading fare.
I really enjoyed "Her Royal Spyness." It's a cozy in a very drafty castle, so to speak. Bowen's new heroine is Victoria Georgiana Charlotte Eugenie, daughter of the Duke of Glen Garry and Rannoch and 30 something in line for the throne. Georgie's brother is the heir of the minor Scottish dukedom, and like many royals during the Great Depression era, he can't afford to keep the castle heated or pay his younger sister a stipend. She decides to go-it alone in London, camping out at the family's city digs without a maid, a butler or a sou to her name. This is Georgie's maiden voyage as a sleuth, and a very endearing one she is.
It's amusing to see how she solves her financial problems by covertly opening a city house air-out service for those members of the aristocracy who are coming back to the city for a rendezvous, shopping spree or for "the season." Of course, Georgie must avoid being recognized because it just wouldn't do for an aristocratic 22 year old woman to hold a real job, even if they are living on canned beans.
Along the way we meet a number of colorful figures who can be expected to grace later books in this series-- an Irish playboy named Darcy O'Mara with a good heart and an obvious love interest in Georgie; Georgie's stuffy brother and sister-in-law, Binky and Fig; and Georgie's plucky maternal grandfather, the retired police officer.
I'm looking forward to enjoying this new series as much, or more, than Bowen's venerable Constable Evans series.
Liz Nichols
I'm back to my old familiar territory in another way. Back to the mystery shelves for finding my usual weekly reading fare.
I really enjoyed "Her Royal Spyness." It's a cozy in a very drafty castle, so to speak. Bowen's new heroine is Victoria Georgiana Charlotte Eugenie, daughter of the Duke of Glen Garry and Rannoch and 30 something in line for the throne. Georgie's brother is the heir of the minor Scottish dukedom, and like many royals during the Great Depression era, he can't afford to keep the castle heated or pay his younger sister a stipend. She decides to go-it alone in London, camping out at the family's city digs without a maid, a butler or a sou to her name. This is Georgie's maiden voyage as a sleuth, and a very endearing one she is.
It's amusing to see how she solves her financial problems by covertly opening a city house air-out service for those members of the aristocracy who are coming back to the city for a rendezvous, shopping spree or for "the season." Of course, Georgie must avoid being recognized because it just wouldn't do for an aristocratic 22 year old woman to hold a real job, even if they are living on canned beans.
Along the way we meet a number of colorful figures who can be expected to grace later books in this series-- an Irish playboy named Darcy O'Mara with a good heart and an obvious love interest in Georgie; Georgie's stuffy brother and sister-in-law, Binky and Fig; and Georgie's plucky maternal grandfather, the retired police officer.
I'm looking forward to enjoying this new series as much, or more, than Bowen's venerable Constable Evans series.
Liz Nichols
My Winter Reading
I spent mid-January through mid-March in Cape Coral, Florida attending to business. The atmosphere was not conducive to reading all the books I brought along from my home in Iowa City. It was not a working vacation; it was more like work...
Most of my winter reading has been accomplished in the two weeks since I returned to Iowa. I'm back to my book a week routine.
I just posted a review of the book I finished in Florida, Metaxas' "Amazing Grace," posted by accident at my other blog. You can see it at: http://liznichols.blogspot.com.
Liz Nichols
Most of my winter reading has been accomplished in the two weeks since I returned to Iowa. I'm back to my book a week routine.
I just posted a review of the book I finished in Florida, Metaxas' "Amazing Grace," posted by accident at my other blog. You can see it at: http://liznichols.blogspot.com.
Liz Nichols
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
