Huntington Public Library Adult Reading Challenge

  I enjoyed this first in a fairly new detective series which takes place in 1920s Bombay. I was hooked in by the deft interweaving of the present, with the heroine, Perveen, now working as an attorney with her father, and the past, which describes her first love and first marriage. In fact, I almost found this story more gripping and affecting than the mystery of the Widows of Malabar Hill, although there was plenty of suspense there too. Great summer read and very well done. Just borrowed number 2 in the series "The Satapur Moonstone".

  This is one of a series set in a sleepy English village, featuring school friends who have reconnected as adults in post-WWI England. Both are in need of friendship, and they also reflect the impact of women's changing roles in England. Beryl is an American adventurer and free spirit, Edwina a proper and respectable Englishwoman of very straightened circumstances. Together they have formed an "enquiry agency," aided by the gardener Simpkins, who also is faced with a changing role when he inherits money. There's a satisfying glimpse of a bygone village way of life, and an unexpected twist at the end.

  Many authors have taken a stab at writing a “new” Sherlock Holmes story. Bonnie MacBird succeeds. Art in the Blood follows Holmes and his faithful companion, Dr. John Watson, as they travel from London to Paris to Lancashire on the northwest coast of England in search of a missing child. Meanwhile, brother Mycroft has set Holmes the task of recovering a valuable statue that has disappeared and is being tracked by a dangerous French detective with secrets of his own. MacBird captures the essence of Conan Doyle’s iconic detective and the unique sense of time and place that was Victorian England, while writing a gripping, edge-of-your-seat mystery. Highly recommended for all Holmes aficionados. The first in a series I’ll be reading soon.

ShinJu is the first in a long series, and for me, it was a fantastic read--a great introduction to the "detective" Sano who continues to solve crimes in feudal Japan for many more books. By chance, the first one I read was #17 or #16--but this first one was stronger and really set the scene and tone.  

  This is the second in the Sano Ichiro mysteries that take place in feudal Japan. I read the first one, Shinju, and another one that was number 16 I think, and now I am hooked. Well-plotted and nice descriptions. I also enjoy that the author has created a creepy antagonist for the noble hero and detective, Sano, as well as a good supporting cast of characters who I hope will continue to reappear. There are usually one or two parts that get a bit dark for me, but all in all, I'm in.