November Books

A Lady’s Guide to Etiquette and Murder (Countess of Harleigh Mystery #1) by Dianne Freeman

This is mainly a historical fiction. The murder part is mostly background. But I didn’t even realize it wasn’t set in the modern day until about a third of the way through it.

Lady Harleigh emerges from mourning her husband (who died of a heart attack in his mistress’s bed) and also leaves her gold-digging in-laws. They’re awful enough to want to leave them, but they’re not awful enough for her to believe they’re capable of murder or theft or whatever. Lady Harleigh is anonymously accused of murdering her husband, but there’s no evidence he was actually murdered. There’s not a real murder until half-way through the book, so I found the title somewhat misleading.

But as a historical novel, it’s well done. The events feel extremely realistic in how different things are always happening and in how things never go quite to plan, even things like going to work. It is well written and put together well; it has a great Voice. I enjoyed the various characters and felt invested in what they were doing. The police aren’t total idiots here, and Lady Harleigh doesn’t do anything too stupid such as you see often in these books. There’s a bit of flirtation but no real romance. It was SO refreshing.

Audio narrator had a very distinct voice and style; I enjoyed it.

Reader’s Choice Nominee Fall 2019

* * *

Jurassic Park (Jurassic Park #1) by Michael Crichton

Having seen the movie many times, it was impossible not to compare the two. I think the film was a good adaptation. Dr. Satler gets very little time in the book, and Lexie is very annoying. I thought I was prepared for how annoying she was because of others’ reviews, but by the end I was ready to throw her to the raptors.

This is part sci fi, part horror. The characters are rather flat, but it’s a plot-driven book, not a character-driven one. It looks like a lot of research went into creating this world. The writing is pretty simplistic. Recommended for those interested in dinosaurs or zoology and who like to see zoology strike back.

* * *

Fatal Green (Dimensions in Death #3) by the Brothers Washburn

I have enjoyed this series a lot. It’s perfect for Halloween. It’s from a small press that I think has gone out of business. It could use some good editing, but there are worse.

The first book was good party because of the mysteriousness of the mansion and giant rat. Here, there’s less mystery and more working to defeat the monsters. There’s still a lot of suspense and monster fighting. If you are looking for “clean” horror or obscure books, check out this series.

Rare mild language; creature violence; no sexual content