Two of the Dread Penny Society Series by Sarah M. Eden

This is a series by Sarah M. Eden, each featuring a different member of the Dread Penny Society: a secret men's club made up of penny dreadful authors with a strong social conscience, who rescue children and women from the streets.  Eden alternates between the point of view of the two protagonists, and includes her own short stories as penny dreadfuls written by series characters.

The Lady and the Highwayman 
2019 
3/5 stars

Headmistress Elizabeth Black is the clandestine author of penny dreadful serials written as Mr, King. Top-selling author and Dread Penny Society member, Fletcher Walker, has his income threatened by Mr. King's success, so he sets out to uncover King's identity.  When Fletcher and Elizabeth meet by chance, they find an unlikely mutual spark that becomes something stronger the more they are together -- but Elizabeth must protect her hidden identity even from him, for the sake of her school.

First off, this is not my typical genre, as I don't generally enjoy romance novels. In addition, I'm coming to it with a background of extensive reading of Victorian sensational novels, and of having an above-the-average knowledge of Victorian England.  Due to that, I seem to be a harsher critic than most of the reviewers on Goodreads and Audible.

The Lady and the Highwayman is a sweet and clean light romance with a bit of adventure, and faux penny dreadful novels thrown in the mix.  The historical atmosphere was not convincing, and the combination of two greatly overused tropes (Victorian-lady-with-modern-views and Victorian-people-with-a-21st-century-amount-of-social-conscience) was trying. Eden's penny dreadful stories lacked a lot of the typical characteristics, so didn't feel authentic.  I waded through situations highly improbable in Victorian society, complicatedly contrived occasions for meeting, decisions that made no sense, and plot lines that eventually led nowhere (all with an audio book narrator I don't care for), because the DPS appealed to me on many levels, and I was curious where the story would go.  I wasn't fully satisfied by the ending, nor did I feel, given the social circumstances, that the romance would be possible for Elizabeth, yet. . . I did -- inexplicably -- rather enjoy this book.  Enough that I will give the second volume of the series a chance. 

The Gentleman and the Thief 
2020
Did Not Finish

I had the exact same problems as I did with The Lady and the Highwayman but, unfortunately, this one was so bland that I couldn't finish it.  As I said above, it's not to my regular taste anyway, so it's shouldn't be much of a surprise that it didn't grab me. 

October 2022 Wrap-Up

Still no physical books this month.

On a side note -- I somehow managed to read only female mystery authors writing about female sleuths! 

Audio Books Completed:

Silhouette in Scarlet by Elizabeth Peters (1983)  3/5 stars

In this adventure, art historian Vicky Bliss visits Sweden, following clues to a potential cache of hidden ancient treasure.  While not as good as the first two of the series, it's still a fun, if improbable, story, fast moving and generally well written, with a few twists and a good ending.

Trojan Gold by Elizabeth Peters (1987)  4/5 stars

In this mystery-adventure, American art historian Vicky Bliss follows an anonymously sent clue to Bavaria to search for a missing treasure.  This novel is full of good dialogue, humorous situations, and likable characters.  The fast-moving, sometimes suspenseful plot is, while implausible, certainly entertaining and engrossing, and a great deal of fun. 

Elizabeth Peters

Night Train to Memphis by Elizabeth Peters (1994)  4/5 stars

In this adventure, American art historian Vicky Bliss is persuaded to take an Egyptian cruise in order to uncover a known thief.  This is the longest and most complex of Vicky's adventures, and is more suspenseful than the generally lighthearted previous ones.  The engrossing plot is quite good, with lots of twists, and the characters are as likable as always.  It does lack the humor prevalent earlier in the series, and I couldn't call it "fun" as I have those others, but it was still an engaging, absorbing novel.

The Jackal's Head by Elizabeth Peters (1968)  3/5 stars

American tourist Althea returns to Egypt after ten years, reawakening memories that could unlock clues to valuable secrets.  This was a fun adventure, for the most part, but the casual violence by one of the main characters toward Althea was appalling, as was the attitude toward rape.  Otherwise, it was entertaining, though light and thin.

The Experiences of Loveday Brooke by C.L. Pirkis (1894)  3/5 stars (my review here)

The Golden Slipper, and Other Problems for Violet Strange by Anna Katharine Green (1915) 3/5 stars (my review here)

The Dead Sea Cipher by Elizabeth Peters  (1970)  3/5 stars

While in a Lebanese hotel, American tourist Dinah overhears a cry for help from the next room.  Her response unwittingly involves her in a murder investigation.  When she leaves Beirut for a tour of Israel, she becomes further enmeshed, this time with spies, archeological treasures, and romance.  This is a typical Peters' adventure, with an intelligent heroine, historical interests, and improbable but fun action.  Peters was talented at making interesting plots and likable characters and, while this novel is not as good as others by her, I was entertained throughout.  

The Seventh Sinner by Elizabeth Peters (1972)  4/5 stars  (my review here)

The Murders of Richard III by Elizabeth Peters (1974)  4/5 stars (my review here)

The Circular Staircase by Mary Roberts Rinehart (1908)  5/5 stars

New York society spinster Rachel Innes rents a summer home for herself and her adult niece and nephew.  While there, they experience mystery, deception, murder, and more.  This is a well-written, wonderfully convoluted, completely engrossing, and thoroughly entertaining story. It has some laugh out loud moments, likable characters, and many twists.  While not perfect, it's close enough to earn five stars from me.

Did Not Finish:

The Laughter of Dead Kings by Elizabeth Peters

This is the sixth and final Vicky Bliss novel, and it was a terrible disappointment. It was written fourteen years after the fifth of the series (Night Train to Memphis) and in that time Peters seems to have lost her talent for sparkling prose, likable characters, and interesting plots. 

Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death by M.C. Beaton

This was my second time trying this extremely popular series, but I heartily dislike Agatha.  I'll not try again.

Death in a Family Way by Gwendolyn Southin

I tried, I really did -- I made it an hour into the audio book but, whew, this one was a real cliché-filled stinkeroo!  

Dating Dead Men by Harley Jane Kozak

Just put it down as "not my sense of humor".  

Die for Love by Elizabeth Peters

This is the third in the Jacqueline Kirby series, written in 1984, and takes place at a NYC romance-writer's conference.  Peters' style doesn't work as well when she tries to draw upon the culture and character of the 80s, so it didn't have the personality of the previous books.  As there were no exotic locations or interesting history discussed (as is typical with Peters and a great draw for me), I didn't force myself to finish a book that didn't grab me at the beginning.

Naked Once More by Elizabeth Peters

This is the fourth and final book of the Jacqueline Kirby series, taking place in a small Southern US town with Jacqueline as a romance novelist hired to finish a popular series. My complaint is exactly the same as above. 

Two Featuring Jacqueline Kirby

The Seventh Sinner by Elizabeth Peters (1972)  4/5 stars
This is the first book featuring Jacqueline Kirby, a forty-something American librarian. She is visiting Rome, and while there she makes friends with a clique of seven international students.  The book focuses on Jean, one of the group, who discovers a fellow scholar -- disliked by all -- dying from a slit throat, and finds her life in danger as a result.    

While Jaqueline isn't as fully likable as other Peters' heroines, she's an interesting  and well-written character.  The Seventh Sinner is typical of Peters' entertaining style, with an intelligent, twisty, and attention-holding plot.

The Murders of Richard III by Elizabeth Peters (1974)  4/5 stars

In the second of the Jacqueline Kirby series, she and her friend Thomas attend a house party with Richard III apologists.  The story follows Thomas' point of view as various tricks are played, resembling the supposed murders committed by Richard III.  Jacqueline becomes convinced that more serious plans are in the works, but as she doesn't share all of her deductions with Thomas, he and the reader are left to discover the culprit without her aid.

This novel may not appeal to those who are not historians (professional or armchair), as there is much rehashing of the theories surround that King.  I doubt that such dedicated Ricardians would continue to go over the same ground again and again at a meeting, but despite that, I still found the plot, mystery, and characters well-written, attention-holding, and entertaining.

Two Early Female Detectives

Loveday Brooke, illustrated by Bernard Higden

The Experiences of Loveday Brooke, Lady Detective

C. L. (Catherine Louisa) Pirkis

1894

3/5 stars

This is a set of short stories, originally a magazine serial, featuring Miss Loveday Brooke, who works for a detective agency in London.  Her services are much in demand, as her employer recognizes in Loveday's intelligence and gentility the traits of a valuable agent, and she is quick to repay his regard with success after success.

Pirkis (1841-1910) is a contemporary of Arthur Conan Doyle, publishing her stories and novels during some of the same decades, and her plot formula is quite similar.  Loveday, like Holmes, assesses and solves the situation quickly, reaching the right conclusion based on information rarely given to the reader.  She then points out the malefactor, is shown to be right, and, finally, explains to an admiring audience how she solved the case.  

The seven stories in this collection are generally interesting, some quite so, but they would have been  much better if the clues had been provided for the reader.  There is another reason, however, that Loveday -- unlike Holmes -- has been mostly forgotten: Loveday has no life, no personality, and the stories are equally emotionally flat.

The Loveday tales are important in their own way, though, as they are among the earliest written by a woman about a female detective.  Given that, they would be worth reading to those interested in the history of crime fiction.  Otherwise, I don't particularly recommend Loveday's experiences, even to fans of Victorian melodrama and mystery.

Illustration from "the Grotto Specter"

The Golden Slipper, and Other Problems for Violet Strange

Anna Katharine Green

1915

3/5 stars

(note: audiobook produced by Tantor Audio as Mystery Stories of Violet Strange)

Violet Strange is a popular, pretty, sparkling society belle of America's Gilded Age.  Secretly, however, she is an agent for a private investigator, willing to use her intelligence and powers of observation to do work she finds unpleasant for a salary that she doesn't appear to need.  Her secret is revealed slowly in a larger story arc that surrounds the nine stories of her cases.

Green (1846-1935), justly popular at the time and one of my favorite American authors, was among the first authors of the modern "detective story". Violet is often credited as the first "girl detective".  

Tantor Audio does a disservice to the stories by referring to them as "mystery stories"; they are in fact, her adventures or experiences or, in some cases, just stories that Violet appears in as a more minor character.  Expecting them to be mysteries will cause unfulfilled expectations in the reader, making the book less enjoyable.

As mentioned above, these stories are not really detective stories; they are, as Green's original title states, "problems".  In some, Violet sets up a trap so that whoever the malefactor is, they will give themselves away.  In others, her intelligence and powers of observation serve her to find a missing object or see an obscure element of the case.  In one instance, she doesn't come to the right conclusion at all.  They are still good tales, though, as Green was good at interesting plots and surprising solutions.  The main flaw in this collection is that Violet is shoehorned into them all even though it's a stretch to do so, and there are times when she doesn't fit in at all.  If Green had written them without Violet and with no connection to each other, this would have been a four star -- if not five -- collection of intriguing puzzles.  

I still recommend them, for those who enjoy mysteries from this time period, as long as the reader takes the above into consideration.

September 2022 Wrap-Up

Books Read:
No physical books were read this month, as I only played and cross stitched in my spare time.

Audio Books Completed:

The Duke's Children by Anthony Trollope (1880)  5/5 stars

This is the final book of Trollope's Palliser series and, in my opinion, the best. Despite it's length (21 hours/525 pages), I was engrossed throughout.  It is well-written, insightful, often humorous, and completely entertaining.  I was sorry to see it -- and the series -- end.

The Warden by Anthony Trollope (1855)  3/5 stars (my review here)

Elizabeth von Arnim

Daddy-Long-Legs by Jean Webster (1912)  4/5 stars

This novel is made up of the chatty letters of Jerusha ("Judy") Abbott, an orphan who is sent to college by an anonymous donor.  It's charming and humorous and, while light and short, is quite entertaining.  

Elizabeth and Her German Garden by Elizabeth von Arnim

(1898)  4/5 stars

This charming semi-autobiographical novel follows the titular Elizabeth over the course of a year as she journals about her garden, her family, her friends, and her daily life.  It's often funny, with a slyly tongue-in-cheek humor, which caused me to laugh out loud several times.  Though short, it's  engagingly written, memorable, and enjoyable.

Parnassus on Wheels by Christopher Morley (1917)  4/5 stars

Spinster housewife Helen McGill buys a traveling bookstore -- wagon, horse, and dog included -- from the owner, Roger Mifflin, who is planning to retire to author a memoir.  Told in the first person by Helen, this short tale of her adventure is a charming, feel-good ode to books and readers. Despite the brevity and lightness, it's filled with vibrant characters and an engaging plot.  I absolutely loved  this little gem, from beginning to end. 

False Dawn by Edith Wharton (1924)   3/5 stars

This is the first novella in Wharton's "Old New York" series.  It's a rather dull story with flat characters and, while well-penned in other ways, is forgettable.

The Old Maid by Edith Wharton (1922)  3/5 stars

Though written first, this is the second novella in the "Old New York" series, and the best known/most popular. Wharton does portray the emotions and thoughts well, but the characters were cardboard and the plot predictable.  I found it underwhelming and disappointing, especially considering how highly lauded it is. (There are two more in the series, but I dreaded the thought of continuing.)

Legend in Green Velvet by Elizabeth Peters (1976)  3/5 stars

This escapade is illogical and unbelievable, but still a good deal of fun.  As is typical of Peters' adventure novels, it features a strong female protagonist with lots of history discussed; this one focused on Scottish history, and was quite interesting.  Overall, while it's just an average read, if one isn't expecting anything other than light enjoyment, it doesn't disappoint.

Elizabeth Peters

The Camelot Caper by Elizabeth Peters (1969)  3/5 stars

Jessica makes her first visit to England to meet her estranged grandfather, but finds herself involved in a dangerous mystery. This story is light, implausible, and not as well-written as Peters' later novels, yet it's easy to ignore the absurd and just enjoy the adventure.

Borrower of the Night by Elizabeth Peters (1973)  4/5 stars

This is the first of a series featuring American art historian Vicky Bliss, and finds her following medieval clues to a potential lost masterpiece.  It's a fun and sometimes suspenseful adventure, with snappy dialogue, likable characters, and an entertaining, if improbable, plot.

Street of the Five Moons by Elizabeth Peters (1978)  4/5 stars

This is the second Vicky Bliss adventure, and she follows an excellent forgery to Rome in hopes of finding the culprit.  Again, it's a fun,  humorous and witty mystery-suspense, with likable characters and a fully entertaining, though not fully believable, plot.

Did Not Finish:
Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope (1887)

I loved Trollope's Palliser series -- every one was a five-star book to my mind -- and yet the Barsetshire series has not grabbed me.  This is the second in the series (see above for book one) and I listened to several hours, but was simply not interested in story of the characters.  Maybe it is too soon after the Palliser books; maybe if I try again in a few years, I be struck by the Barsetshire novels.  For right now, though, I am extremely disappointed.

The Haunted Bookshop by Christopher Morley

I absolutely loved Parnassus on Wheels (review above) and was excited to read this, the sequel.  Unfortunately, in the time lapsed between novels, Morley seems to have forgotten how he described his characters, for they lack many of their previous qualities and all of their dynamic personality.  I listened to a few hours, but could not care for anyone in the story, nor about the plot.  Such a disappointment.

The Warden by Anthony Trollope

The Warden 
Anthony Trollope
1855 
3/5 stars

Septimius Harding is an upright clergyman who is the devoted warden of a local charity.  John Bold, his young friend (and his daughter's suitor), becomes convinced that the charity is not being managed according the original intents, and involves Mr. Harding in the agony of a public debate.  

This, the first of the Chronicles of Barsetshire,  deals with a hot contemporary topic, and Trollope handles the subject well.  However, had this been the first novel I had read by him, it would probably have been my last.  Happily, I read the Palliser novels first (all six of which were five star reads for me), so I know what gems Trollope can write.  As it is, The Warden lacks the sparkle, humor, and charm of the Palliser books, and while still well-written, is not compelling.  Despite this, I will continue the series, in anticipation of great things to come.

Read as part of the Classics Club.  My explanation is here.

August 2022 Wrap Up

Florence L. Barclay

Thanks to more extremely long audio books, I don't have much to show for August.

Books Read:

The Rosary by Florence L. Barclay (1909)  4/5 stars

This Edwardian romance was a best seller in it's day and is an excellent example of the genre.  It will seem silly by today's standards, but I have read it several times and enjoyed the writing, the story, and melodrama.  

Audio Books Completed:

Phineas Redux by Anthony Trollope (1874)  5/5 stars 

(24 hours/658 pages)

and

The Prime Minister by Anthony Trollope (1876)  5/5 stars 

(26 hours/700 pages)

These are books four and five of Trolllope's Palliser series.  As with the previous three, they are excellent: well-written, engrossing, and completely entertaining.