CozyWriter

Enjoyable

Revisado: 12-28-21

Easy to follow with a very good separation of the characters' voices by the reader. Overall a very good read.

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Enjoyable

Revisado: 12-28-21

Easy to follow with a very good separation of the characters' voices by the reader. Overall a very good read.

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Yet another winner!

Revisado: 06-22-21

I was a bit surprised when the two (or three) mysteries (I won't give too much away) were put away and there was still over 1 hour left in the book. Do no wince, dear reader: the hour is not wasted on mindless driveling denouement. As always happens in Kinsey's books, there might be the tiniest of threads unraveled (as it were) that must be (pardon) stitched up before the last page. And such was the case with The Fatal Flying Affair. I must admit that even after all the adventures of Lady Hardcastle and "Tiny Servant," I'm afraid I fell face-first all over the reddest of herrings in this book: if it had been a fish I would have gone hook, line, and sinker! I feel like such a noob. But at least a happy one. There is no great brain bashing or "guts and eyeballs" in these incredibly entertaining novels. If you need to give your mind a rest - or if you are simply a fan of English Country "cozy"-type mystery novels - you cannot find better than the entire Lady Hardcastle series. This novel takes place in 1911 with whisperings of ill winds to blow in the future for "wars and talks of wars" on the continent. I'm hoping that as we move closer in time to the Great War, Kinsey will keep up a lighthearted secondary theme with the villagers, locals, and generally nice characters, while at the same time giving the villains their what-for. I want to keep reading these characters as far into the 20th Century as Kinsey can bring them, happily fighting crime whilest sending up such a positive image of the independent woman of her/their time. And at the same time being a guest to their eating, boozing, and bantering their way to another sleuthing success. Bravo once more!

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Not what I expected in a VERY good way!

Revisado: 05-26-20

I was slow starting this book because I wasn't in the mood for a lite gay RomCom. After the first chapter of getting introduced to the characters, though, I was thoroughly surprised at what a well thought out novel this was, and how extra extremely fine the writing is! Even with romance - and sex a'plenty - this is no Bodice Ripper!

The best thing I found with the book was that there were multiple (I counted about five) points that the novel could have ended. This is usually a sign of over -writing and a weak editor. Yet RW&RB kept going with subsequent plot twists and plenty of royal and political chicanery to keep one's interest. Very well done and very well planned by the author. Some descriptive passages throughout the book are of a quality much higher than a "genre" novel, (think literary fiction,) and I hope to see more.

My only fault with the book was some confusion on the Prince's title and thus in which royal residence he lived: things got a but jumbled with line of succession, but that's OK. It didn't distract too much from the British side of the story. Just go with it and have a good time .

The narration was amazingly good! Especially with the fast switches in dialect between the European and Latinx characters. Excellent work, indeed! Because of his ease with switching between male and female characters and the latter not sounding "fake," I would definitely seek out other novels read by him.

Overall an extremely fine read that I went through in two very addictive sittings. Quite enjoyable, just try to avoid eating too many profiteroles: the temptation is there.

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The school of music left me feeling flat

Revisado: 10-08-19

The writer spends so much time in the book with the main character doubting how good she is or how bad she is at music or the fact that she shouldn’t be at the school at all but for a magical mixup that after a while it gets obnoxious and grating to hear her internal whining and self-flagellation that I had to stop the book and say “enough”, not every writer is JK Rowling.

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Well written, missing out on some details.

Revisado: 07-01-19

This book was quite an interesting read, except that there is one factual foible in the very first chapter that threw me out of the story, and caused me to think that the author was a bit ... unreliable.

The writing overall was above-standard for a mystery novel, almost poetic in the description of time and place, and in the recurring flashback of the two main characters, as we learn over the length of the book was a recollection of their first kiss.

However: the premise of the book seems flawed to me, when a character shows up for work in a new town (in which he grew up, moved away... returned... etc.) and yet he doesn't know who works at his new job, or doesn't know anything about the police department in which he would be working, OR (and it's a big one in this particular story line) who would be his partner on this new detective job.

I had to pause the book and scream, "Did this man not go there for a job interview and meet ... maybe ... at least the chief of police??"

The beautiful writing throughout, and the interesting/compelling plot line could not make up for that problem at the very beginning of Chapter One. I just didn't "trust" details after that. Unfortunately, this was not the only example in the book of not "working out" the natural movements/actions of the characters; it's just the biggest one worth mentioning.

Caveat Emptor.

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Very well-crafted action/mystery

Revisado: 07-01-19

With just a very few tiny exceptions on niggling details, I really enjoyed this book! Once you get used to the James Lear level of sex in his novels - or chalk that up as part of the amusement - this is a very well done mystery with plenty of twists to the plot line to keep the readers' attention, right up until the end. Actually I was surprised that I was so engrossed in the story that I lost track of time, and, sooner than I would have wanted, it was over!

Part of this too is the narration by Charles Carr, who gives us *the* perfect voice for our scarred and war-worn Col. Dan Stagg. There's just enough variation among the voices of the other characters that it's quite easy to follow who is speaking - even when Stagg is wandering the street, speaking to himself, working out the heavy parts of the story toward the end.

This book was so well done that I'm looking forward to reading more Dan Stagg novels, as I think that Lear is on to something with this guy! I won't even mention my plotting quibbles because they are so small, and not terribly distracting. I can't wait to delve into the next one!

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Continuing one of me favorite Audible series

Revisado: 06-11-19

Full of the usual repparté we've come to expect from Lady Hardcastle and her "tiny Welsh servant" and narrator, this book gives the background story of the two hard-fighting lady sleuths and how they came to have their many misadventures alluded to in the earlier books. Without hurling spoilers about, the story narrows down to being Kinsey's version of [insert name of another famous mystery novel here.]. The author's notes at the end - the first time Money has stepped out of character to explain happenings in the book- is informative (I admit I didn't catch the train for one such explanation) and heartwarming as we learn the explanation of how one character came about in the story.

I offer only one clue about this wonderful series of cozies: Pay close attention to the cover art. Let nothing pass your gaze. Let Nothing pass your gaze. Then go back and look again after finishing the book.

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An excellent performance of an unfixable book

Revisado: 06-09-18

The Washington Post described this novel as "a Hot Mess" and that might well be understatement. This story of internal redemption if not salvation, surrounding a quasi-horror story about a camp to "cure" gay kids, hidden deep in some toxic and mystical woods in Mississippi, ended up being three discrete stories, none of which were satisfactory.

The reader sits in anticipation of dark reveals to help explain the trauma these 20-something year-old adults faced at the camp as teens. As each layer of revelation is peeled away, the reader gets a shock of either, "What the heck did THAT mean?" or "THAT was it? I waited SIX HOURS and that was it?"

The book is overly long, completely muddled, and has more padding than a sumo wrestler costume. The transitions between present day and flashback are as sharp as a simple paragraph break which tends to pull the listener out of the story to figure out where we are in space and time. Causing a reader to mentally pull out of the story, to escape from the fantasy the author has constructed: that's bad.

The book could have easily ended around 6 hours, or again around 11. White has taken secondary story lines and told them in sequential order rather than sprinkling all in together to make a more enticing read.

The actions of the book: one character's obsession with dying AIDS patients as well as the severe abuses that the children in the novel suffer are placed too far away from current understanding. Even in flashback to an earlier less enlightened time, the scenes are nearly pornographic in their severe violence and hatred. It was painful to listen to and I admit hitting the fast forward button through more than one of the "bash the fag" scenes.

The worst sin off all in this book of writing NOs is that it in the last minutes, it's revealed that this is all a book about writing a book and everything we have experienced, including present-day, has happened in the flashback of a memoirist's eye.

This breaks rule #2 of creative writing 101, of never-using without good cause (surrounded by Losing your virginity (1) and It was all a dream! (3).) Unfortunately this book was no dream or it would have been better.

Next time, we hope White works with a take-no-prisoners editor who will cut out all the useless fluff. This book should have been at least 1/3 to 1/2 shorter. We hope he will write likeable characters (I found myself hating them all!) who have back story motivation for their actions (why in GOD'S name did he throw away his phone!?)

I might listen to his short story collection to see what that's like but it will be a while. My brain needs mental food after slogging through this sweaty morass of a book.

PEEFORMANCE: Five-star good! He handles every voice with aplomb. I even had to double check to make sure Crouch was the only reader in the book. He has the needed regional Southern accent down perfectly (Being from the south I can tell where someone is from - West Texas to West Virginia - by nuances of their voice.) It's correct and not TOO over done. If he narrated the New York phone book I'd buy it!

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I Hope This Isn't REALLY The Sticky End for Mitch!

Revisado: 05-05-18

I certainly hope this isn't "the sticky end" for the cast of characters in the Mitch Mitchell books. Once I got used to the over-abundance of sex in this series, I became really fond of the would-be Poirota and his many adventures through the steamier parts of London in search of answers. In this case, to solve the mystery of his very BFF "Boy" Morgan, who has been pulled in for questioning on a possible murder. But before he can solve the case, Mitch has to believe his friend is NOT the murderer everyone else seems to think he is.

As usual, Mitchell finds his way around - and finds his solution - by way of bedding nearly every man he comes in contact with, and finally - maybe way too soon for the reader who doesn't want this story to end - he finds that solution. But what of the title? I leave that to the reader to discern.

I've not fanned out into the other James Lear novels yet - he's a quite prolific author - and those are next. I want to see how he does with contemporary mystery, and with bawdy historical "costume drama" novels. Meanwhile, I also want to know who I can call at his publisher who might have a little pull with the author, to give us maybe one more of the Mitch Mitchell books. This one was a thorough delight.

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