C.S. Harris, When Gods Die
A beautiful young woman is found dead in the arms of the Prince Regent, and Sebastian St. Cyr is called upon to investigate—and hopefully divert suspicion away from the prince. At first Sebastian wants nothing to do with the case, but he changes his mind when he sees the corpse wearing a rare and ancient necklace that once belonged to Sebastian’s mother—who was supposedly wearing it the day she died in a boating accident. How did the dead woman obtain the necklace, and was she involved in a conspiracy against the House of Hanover? This is a solid second installment of the Sebastian St. Cyr series. Once again his investigation takes him through the darkest, most sordid parts of London as he uncovers both personal and political motives for the murder. The book feels quite similar to the first in the series, which isn’t a bad thing, as I liked the first book a lot! But I will probably need to space out my reading of this series so that I don’t get bored with the formula. Still looking forward to book three, though!
Laura Wood, Under Your Spell
Clementine Moore is having a rough time; she’s recently become both single and unemployed. Her sister, who works for a music label, gets her a job as an assistant/housekeeper to rock star Theo Eliott, who’s having trouble writing his new album and needs supervision. But Clemmie has no interest in Theo or his world due to her rocky relationship with her father, also a famous musician. Nevertheless, she takes the job out of desperation—and is chagrined to discover that she finds Theo wildly attractive. Even worse, she actually likes him. But can romance blossom between two people from such different worlds? I really enjoyed this contemporary romance, which delivers the best-case scenario of the “dating a rock star” fantasy. Theo is dreamy and almost too good to be true, but a few genuine flaws save him from being too perfect. The book also made me laugh several times, and Clemmie’s narrative voice is a lot of fun. I’ve already read the sequel, Let’s Make a Scene, and liked it a lot also, so I will definitely keep an eye out for Laura Wood’s next book!
Agatha Christie, The Moving Finger
After being injured in a plane crash, Jerry Burton moves with his sister Joanna to the quiet village of Lymstock to recover. But instead of the sleepy, tranquil interlude they expect, they soon become embroiled in a “poison pen” mystery that results in suicide and murder. This is one of my favorite Agatha Christies, combining a solid mystery with excellent characterization and a perfect village setting. There’s also a bit of romance and a fair amount of social comedy, which I always enjoy! Earlier this year I discovered that my edition of this book, based on the original American edition, is shorter than the British version, which has several additional chapters! So of course I had to read the British version this time. I think most of the “extra” material is near the beginning; more time is spent on Jerry’s backstory and on introducing Lymstock. It was fun to reread a novel I enjoy while also in a sense reading it for the first time!
