Celia Hayes | March 3, 2010
It is a good omen for the cover of a book intended to tell the story of the great emigrant trails across the far western frontier, to feature an illustration of a covered wagon pulled by the appropriate numbers of the appropriate draft animal. The cover art for all too many works of fiction about [...]
Celia Hayes | October 1, 2009
Being as the preface so notes, an “… account of Angelica TenBroeck’s flight from New York City during the late War of Independence, her would-be lovers, and a bluebird quilt” , “Independent Heart is as wayward as its’ title.
It begins straightforwardly enough at an elegant ball, appearing for the first couple of chapters to be [...]
PDR Lindsay | August 9, 2009
Review : Historical Mystery Novels
The Master William Falconer Mystery Series by Ian Morson.
‘Falconer and the Ritual of Death’
Ian Morson is British, currently living in Cyprus, and a popular author amongst the readers who love well written historical mysteries. His Falconer series: ‘Falconer’s Crusade’, ‘Falconer’s Judgement’, ‘Falconer and the Face of God’, ‘A Psalm for Falconer’, ‘Falconer and the Great Beast’, ‘Falconer and the Ritual of Death’ are set in 13thC Oxford. Falconer is a regent master (professor) of Oxford University and in charge of Aristotle’s Hall. He lives in the largest upper room, with ‘a dozen or so’ students in the remaining living spaces. This is the early days of the university, before the colleges were built, and so students live all over Oxford. And what an Oxford it is. We get descriptions of the narrow streets, the overcrowding, and the filth, a bit too much filth sometimes, the shops and the university.
‘Falconer and the Ritual of Death’ is the newest in the series. As usual the opening sentence of the first chapter is a real hook: ‘The girl’s body lay on the scrubbed oak surface of the battered table.’ And we are pulled into a mystery. William Falconer and his fellow regent master of science are conducting an anatomy experiment, something forbidden by the Church. The poor girl is meant to be a suicide, but is she? Only detailed examination will tell. However another body soon turns up, definitely murdered, hidden in the walls of a building being demolished to make way for the first university college. Falconer is drawn to investigate. He believes that ‘logical thought could cut through the morass that surrounded cases of murder.’ and he likes to prove this to his friend, constable Peter Bullock. Together they have to find out who the body is, for it’s headless, and a good few years old. With a mysterious stranger hovering in the background, a master builder upset at building delays, and Peter not at all his usual forthcoming self, William Falconer has plenty of problems to solve before he can find the truth about the dead girl and the body in the wall.
None of the Falconer books are heavy going, the history doesn’t get in the way of the story, which is fast paced and with plenty of plot twists. The mysteries are solved in ways which are credible and Falconer is not a misplaced 21stC forensic scientist. He seems refreshingly 13thC. Definitely books to read for readers who like a helping of well researched history with their mystery.
PDR Lindsay | June 30, 2009
‘THE CARPENTER’S CHILDREN’ by Maggie Bennett, ALLISON & Busby Ltd., April 2009, £19.99, hb, 352 pages, ISBN:9780749079895.
As a writer-reader I find sagas irritating because I want to delve more deeply into the main character’s personality and motives, but sagas cover the life and adventures of all the family members over long spaces of time, often from childhood to old age. The plot is on a grand scale and thus the writing tends to a lot of telling with far too many characters for a reader to be deeply involved with. I like depth, but a good saga is a corking good story. Maggie Bennett writes some of the best and even manages to include more in depth character studies and motivations as well as a great story.
The carpenter of this saga is Tom Munday and we find him, with wife, Violet and three children, living in the village of North Camp, southern England, in 1904. Violet Munday loves her husband and has ambitions for her children. Ernest, her eldest she hopes will be more than a master tradesman, that he will become a clerk in a bank or solicitor’s office. Isabel, beautiful Isabel, the good and kind child, she hopes will be a teacher. Violet is very class conscious and wants to se eher children rased to the middle classes. Grace, the naughty, hot tempered baby of the family she worries about, but thinks something like nursing might calm her.
As a good saga should we follow the Mundays, their friends and community, through all the radical changes that take place in the early 20th Century, particularly during the onset and years of The Great War. Poor Violet has such problems adapting to the social changes and these historical details are one of Maggie Bennett’s writing strengths. Her research is excellent and used, not as a history lesson, but to show how the social changes affect the characters.
We watch the children grow up. Grace and her friends are deeply influenced by Hollywood films and dream of being ‘discovered’ and becoming film stars. Grace is heading for trouble. Violet has problems discussing sexual matters, is horrified that her daughters learn about sex at school. She never really feels comfortable in the 20th Century. Ernest is bright but religious, he has a terrible time at school and becomes a pacifist. Isabel falls in love when fifteen, but he is a curate and much older.
Tom watches his children grow and struggle, helps when he can, and reaches his own kind of peace in 1919, but without Violet, though his daughters are near him. It’s a cosy ending with the good getting their earthly rewards and the bad receiving their just desserts. That’s what sagas do, provide a comfortable read. This is an excellent book for slow bedtime reading, one chapter a night to cheer you up, in this world gone mad
pdr lindsay
Historical Fiction Community :. Independent Authors Guild :.