Review of DEATH ON THE ISLAND by Eliza Reid (New Release)

 3 Stars

I was interested in reading this debut novel written by a Canadian who served as First Lady of Iceland for eight years. Unfortunately, I was disappointed because it very much has the hallmarks of a debut.

The novel is set on Heimaey, the only inhabited island of the Westman Islands archipelago off the south coast of Iceland. Kavita Banerjee, the deputy ambassador of Canada, is killed at a dinner party. Everyone present becomes a suspect, including Graeme Shearer, the Canadian ambassador. His wife Jane decides to investigate.

This is described as a locked room mystery because everyone is stranded on the island when a storm prevents the ferry from operating. Some suspense is created in Part II which begins with Chapter 15 entitled “Thirty-Seven Hours Before He Dies”; this foreshadows a second death, though the reader knows only that the second victim will be a male.

My problem with the novel is that there are a lot of events that are not credible. First of all, as the author mentions, “Canada’s real embassy in Iceland is so small it doesn’t have a deputy ambassador or someone serving at that level. In fact, Canada has very few embassies with a position of deputy ambassador.” So why give Kavita this position? There’s a refugee subplot and, again, the author acknowledges that this is an “unlikely scenario” which requires the reader to suspend disbelief. So why not devise a more logical subplot?

Also in the Acknowledgments, Ms. Reid mentions that “of course there would be more officers on duty on Vestmannaeyjar than I have allowed the story to have.” The use of the incompetent/inexperienced policeman trope is carried to an extreme. When senior officers return to the island, why is Jónas allowed to remain in charge, especially because he makes such basic errors like allowing suspects to leave the scene so everyone has “’ample time to get stories straight and destroy anything incriminating’”? He doesn’t even question suspects individually, letting other suspects listen!

There are other plot issues. A man would allow virtual strangers to go through the personal papers of his recently deceased husband? A random person knows all the details of the dinner party and has even heard the initial medical findings? Then there are the unbelievable coincidences like Jane impulsively stealing some random papers which prove to be of utmost importance. And, finally, how can someone find a manuscript and know that there are two more books or that a short passage from another manuscript proves that it is “’clearly meant to be the third part of a trilogy’”?!

Because there are so many implausible actions, astute readers will be left less than impressed. In addition, the characters feel flat. They are really only sketched, not fully developed. What differentiates the characters is their occupations or pre-occupations more than their personalities. This is even the case with Jane whose perspective is presented the most.

For me the strongest element is the Icelandic setting. Though I’ve visited Iceland, I’ve not been to the Westman Islands so I enjoyed the descriptions and the historical information.

In an interview, the author mentioned that there will be another book featuring many of the characters from this story. I hope its plot will be less meandering with a faster pace, more tension, and fewer implausibilities.

Note: I received an eARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

Review of FOG AND FURY by Rachel Howzell Hall (New Release)

3.5 Stars 

Sonny Rush, after 10 years with the LAPD, takes a job as a private investigator with her godfather’s firm in Haven, California. Her first case is to find Figgy, a missing goldendoodle. Figgy’s case is brought by Mackenzie Sutton and her mother, London Sutton. The twist is that London is married to Cooper Sutton, Sonny’s long-term lover, who had told her that he was getting a divorce. Around the same time, the body of Xander Munroe, a gifted teenager, is found, and Sonny offers to help his family because she fears that because they are Black, Xander’s death will not be investigated thoroughly. It does not take long for Sonny to realize that Haven is not the idyllic place that it may initially seem to be.

This is obviously the first of a series because at the end there is a cliffhanger ending and a lot of unanswered questions. I dislike such endings. Though I understand the desire to entice people to read the next book in the series, I think that creating a relatable protagonist and developing a suspenseful plot are usually sufficient to hook readers into following a series. In this case, the ending just seems manipulative.

Sonny is certainly the strong and feisty main character. Her determination is what stands out; she’s “ready to burn through the heavenly veneer of this charming seaside town and expose the truths lurking beneath.” She has a vulnerable side and personal demons. Sonny has to care for her mother who is experiencing memory issues, and events in Los Angeles have left her with self-doubts and “addicted to guilt.” In many ways, her world has been turned upside down. I loved Sonny’s sarcasm but for some reason I had difficulty connecting with her.

What is emphasized about Haven is that it’s a community with a lot of tensions, especially between long-term residents and newcomers. Cooper, the wealthiest man in the town, wants to renovate the town and create it into a tourist destination. The town is predominantly white; Sonny mentions that the “only obvious diversity was the flavors of Gatorade in their bottles.” She is one of only a handful of Black residents in the town. Because of her colour, she is an outsider and she becomes even more of one when she starts investigating Xander’s death with more seriousness than the police who definitely have a racial bias.

I guessed the villain because there are a lot of clues; it’s actually difficult to believe that Sonny doesn’t see the obvious. I didn’t guess the twist at the end but even there I suspected someone because of the vagueness that surrounds that character.

The title is perfect. Both fog and fury play significant roles. Fog almost becomes a character; it is ever present, emphasizing Haven’s hidden secrets and adding danger and thereby heightening tension.

I can’t say that the novel offers anything exceptional; it is like so many other crime fiction novels. I will probably pick up the next installment in the series, but I can’t say that I’ll be anxiously awaiting its arrival.

Note:  I received an eARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

Review of WATCHING YOU WITHOUT ME by Lynn Coady

 3.5 Stars

I discovered that I’d missed this novel by Lynn Coady when it was released in 2019 so decided I’d catch up.

In her mid-forties, Karen Petrie returns to Nova Scotia after her mother’s death. Aside from dealing with grief and guilt at virtually abandoning her mother for years, Karen also becomes the caregiver for her older sister Kelli who has a developmental disability. Trevor, a home care worker, arrives to take Kelli for walks but quickly begins to insert himself into their lives. Though uneasy with his overbearing personality, Karen gives in to Trevor’s eagerness to help and allows him to go “above and beyond his designated role” as she struggles with achieving balance in her life so care for Kelli doesn’t take over her life as she feels it did her mother’s.

The increasingly dangerous situation with Trevor frames the narrative, but it is also very much a story about Karen’s relationship with her mother and her sister. Karen comes to realize how selfish and self-centred she was in her younger years and comes to understand her mother and her motivations. I enjoyed seeing her personal growth in this regard; however, her unwillingness or inability to see the danger Trevor poses is unbelievable.

From the beginning, Trevor’s behaviour is creepy. He goes from being manipulative to vaguely threatening. Karen’s mother had apparently given him a key and he uses it to make unexpected visits to the house. He becomes upset when Karen makes unilateral decisions and steers her away from what seem like sensible decisions about Kelli’s care.

Other people like a neighbour, another care worker, and Karen’s friend Jessica see Trevor’s problem with boundaries. Even Karen makes observations like “he sometimes took things weirdly personally and had kind of bullied my sister and me into accepting various acts of kindness on his part” and he was “a little pushy. He could be bossy, and moody when he didn’t get his way. But most of all, he was presumptuous.” Nonetheless, she ignores warnings and makes excuses for his behaviour. Karen is middle-aged and well-educated, “holder of two advanced degrees” – a lawyer working as a legal consultant – yet she doesn’t recognize obvious warning signs? She’s basically a doormat, allowing herself to be bullied and emotionally manipulated. She is dealing with a lot of heavy emotions but surely that doesn’t mean all critical thinking skills are turned off.

Karen is the narrator and she speaks in a conversational tone. It’s obvious that she is telling a story because she makes comments like “What was wrong with you, friends always ask when I get to this part of the story” and “What was I planning on doing, exactly? People always stop me, when I get to this part of the story, to ask that question, because I can never quite articulate what it is I had in mind” and “To this day I shake my head at those instincts. I shake it right along with all the people I tell this story to.” Besides emphasizing Karen’s poor judgment, these comments weaken suspense because it’s obvious that in the end all will work out. This is a problem for a book described as a suspense novel.

This is not a bad novel, but it didn’t grab and hold my attention as I expected.

Review of THE LOTUS SHOES by Jane Yang

 4 Stars

This historical novel, set in 19th-century China, has two narrators, Little Flower and Linjing, from very different backgrounds whose lives become intertwined.

When she is six years old, Little Flower is sold as a maidservant to Linjing, the daughter of the prominent Fong family. Little Flower is an unusual servant: she has bound feet, a sign of her good character, which should also improve her chances of a good marriage. She is also extraordinarily gifted at embroidery, a skill associated with the highest class. Little Flower hopes her bound feet (golden lilies) and her skill might lead her out of slavery, but Linjing does all she can to keep her by her side. When scandal strikes the Fong family, Little Flower sees opportunities to improve her status, but Linjing is determined to prevent her chances of advancement.

The reader will learn a great deal about Chinese culture in the 1800s. For example, foot binding, the importance of marriage and child-bearing for women, social hierarchy, and filial responsibilities are detailed. What is also significant is that Christianity and Westernization are making inroads so there is a clash between Chinese traditions and Western ideas and values.

Little Flower is a likeable character. She is intelligent and compassionate and determined. She wants freedom but her attempts are thwarted by Linjing so Little Flower learns that “promises from the genteel class were not to be relied upon if my safety clashed with their self-interest.” Linjing is less likeable. She’s a privileged girl whose father spoils her so she is accustomed to getting what she wants. Selfishness is her dominant trait; Little Flower’s comment that Linjing’s selfishness “had cost me everything” is definitely not exaggeration. Linjing becomes jealous of Little Flower’s embroidery talent and so treats her cruelly. She sees Little Flower not as a person but as her property.

Linjing, because of her upbringing, has difficulty growing and changing. For instance, though she pretends to be Little Flower’s friend, Linjing admits, “I couldn’t alter my sentiment, but I would change my conduct: outwardly. I would treat her as an equal – surely the latter mattered more.” Only much later does she acknowledge her flaws: “I had been too attached to privilege to stand on my own feet. All my life, I had enjoyed these advantages of class without sparing a thought for the women who had forfeited their freedom, and often their dignity, to serve ladies like me.”

Little Flower describes the difference between her status and that of Linjing: “She lived in a world of boundless streams and rivers, each waterway feeding into another until they converged in a vast ocean of opportunity. I inhabited a shallow, fenced-in pond.” Later, however, Little Flower comes to understand that “in this world only men had the freedom to act, to roam, to live.” Linjing also realizes “we lived in a hierarchy that favored men” because, though she is of high status, her life is shaped by the decisions of men like her father.

The novel explores the complexities of female relationships in a male-dominated society. Women are often cruel to each other but that behaviour is understandable given women’s constrained lives. Linjing mentions, “Women, be it peasant or lady, first wife or minor wives, were pitched against each other, fighting among themselves for scraps of power and security.”

I enjoyed this novel, quickly becoming emotionally invested in Little Flower’s fate. The pace is sometimes slow, but my interest was maintained. I recommend the book to those who enjoy the novels of Lisa See, especially her Snow Flower and the Secret Fan.

Review of THE WINEMAKER'S WIFE by Kristin Harmel

 2.5 Stars

Three years ago, I read Kristin Harmel’s The Book of Lost Names and I was not impressed. The Winemaker’s Wife is a bit better but has similar flaws.

There is a dual timeline, both focused on the Champagne region near Reims, France. One plot is set during World War II, and the perspectives of two women, Inès Chauveau and Céline Laurent, are given. The other timeline is 2019; the perspective of Liv Thierry Kent is provided.

Michel Chauveau owns a winery specializing in champagnes which he manages with the help of his winemaker, Theo Laurent. Theo’s wife Céline ably assists the men. Michel’s younger wife Inès tries to help but she is new to the business, unlike the other three, and she feels useless. When the Germans invade and occupy northern France, lives for the four change. Michel becomes involved in the Resistance. Theo’s sole focus is wine-making, despite his wife becoming increasingly worried because she is half Jewish. Like Theo, Inès tends to be dismissive of the seriousness of the actions of the German occupiers.

In the modern timeline, Liv, a woman in her forties who has recently divorced, is taken by Edith, her 99-year-old grandmother, to Paris and eventually to Reims where she says she has some business. There, Liv meets Julien, the grandson of her grandmother’s longtime lawyer. Liv eventually comes to realize that her grandmother wants her to know about events that happened during the German occupation, events involving her family members that changed the futures of many.

The novel requires some suspension of disbelief. Edith is 99 years old, but shows little evidence of her advanced age. Is it really necessary for her to fly from Paris to New York just to pick up Liv and fly back to Paris a few hours later? Edith’s reluctance to speak of her past is understandable to some extent, but given that she delayed too long to tell David, wouldn’t she be anxious to tell Liv before time runs out?  And if Edith is 99, how old is the person who shows up at the end?!

There are other problematic events. Liv and Julien’s relationship happens so quickly, and does there really have to be that mix-up about Julien’s marital status? There’s certainly a lot of coincidence, especially in the current timeline. I could certainly have done without that scene where a character is welcomed into heaven. And the number of characters who are thought dead but are actually not dead stretches credibility.

There are events which are supposed to be a surprise, but I anticipated many of them. For instance, the title would not be appropriate if the eponymous character were dead. Then there’s the vagueness about the fates of at least a couple of the characters. When Liv gives a newspaper interview, it would be impossible not to guess who will appear. And the ending tying up everything ever so conveniently is predictable.

Most of the characters are unlikeable. Though her youth is obviously a factor, Inès is so immature, selfish, shallow, and naive. She doesn’t like being dismissed or thought of as stupid, but then makes stupid, reckless choices that endanger everyone. We are to believe that growth does happen, but I wasn’t convinced. Edith, at 99, has learned some important lessons, but her comments to Liv sometimes seem almost cruel. And Liv believes that “her grandmother had never really stopped being the naive girl from Lille.” Liv herself just seems oblivious most of the time. And Céline’s choices do not cast her in a positive light.

And the men are no better. Michel chooses a younger wife but then is surprised and frustrated when she behaves like a young woman who does not have his worldly knowledge or experience. He’s so patronizing and impatient. Theo’s treatment of Céline is hard to excuse; he makes no effort to understand her situation.

This novel is less historical fiction and more historical romance, light on history and heavy on the romance. Historical details are glossed over. The focus is on love triangles and extra-marital affairs. The motivation for many events is who loves whom or who cheats on whom or who is jealous of whom.

This book is entertaining, provided the reader is willing to ignore the plot holes and coincidences and enjoys a predictable, sentimental narrative about not particularly sympathetic characters. Learning about the making of champagne was the highlight for me.

Review of DANGEROUS by Essie Fox (New Release)

4 Stars 

Because I majored in English literature, it is no surprise that I enjoy novels which use English writers as main characters. In Dangerous, a gothic thriller, Lord Byron, one of the major figures of the Romantic movement, is the protagonist.

Lord Byron, famous poet and infamous philanderer, has taken refuge in Venice. When two women with wounds on their throats are found dead, rumours spread that Byron may be the killer. The recent publication of a novel entitled The Vampyre, written in a style similar to Byron’s, has people speculating that the book is autobiographical. When his own life and that of his daughter are threatened, he has to play detective to find out who is behind the crimes.

The novel employs many of the common plot elements of gothic fiction. There’s violent death, vengeful persecution, and imprisonment. Gothic literature often uses a framing device, a story within a story to create mystery and suspense; in Dangerous, manuscripts are discovered in a crypt.

The novel is so rich in gothic atmosphere. Byron lives in an old, decaying palazzo where some rooms smell of rot and damp. Byron’s valet is convinced there are ghosts in the palazzo. When it is hot, the canals stink. Rats from the canals are known to invade buildings. And “So many villains with stilettos crept through Venice, sleek as rats. The sort of men who’d stab a man then push him into a canal without the slightest pang of guilt.” Byron spends some time in a prison where he becomes inured to his surroundings, “barely noticing the tickle of [rats’] whiskers, or the needle sting of pain when, now and then, one tried nibbling his toes. The same with the bats roosting in rafters overhead, or the swarming buzz of flies hatched from maggots in the buckets full of slops and excrement.”

And then many of the events take place at night or in the shadows. I love these descriptions: “Now holding the lamp, the woman’s trembling hands caused its light to throw black shadows juddering around the walls. The dizzying effect left Byron feeling nauseous” and “Here, their shadows were distorted, two elongated silhouettes taking the form of freakish monsters, one of them more erect, his movements swift and elegant, whereas the other lagged behind, his sliding gait as sinister as some predatory beast” and “their shadows looked like phantoms trapped by the bars of cage.”

Byron was a flamboyant figure famous for his unconventional lifestyle. He was handsome but moody and irritable but also possessed a magnetic and affable personality. The author of this novel captures his many-faceted nature, portraying both his positive and negative traits. A friend tells him, “’you have always been a slave to your passions. I’ve often found your hedonistic tendencies to be offensive. But, deep down, inside your soul, I know you are an honest man.’” Byron is self-aware, acknowledging his life of dissipation, self-indulgence, and fitful passions. He has a sense of humour: he dismisses killing himself when he thinks of the resulting gore staining the boat’s upholstery and “Worse still, to imagine the pleasure it would bring to his mother-in-law.” He treats his servants well, admitting he has been fortunate to be born not just a man but a man of wealth: “As a man of wealth and fame, the rules were always in his favour with little consequence or danger, whereas for her – one careless night, and a young woman was abandoned to a world of pain and sorrow.” His personal life was full of scandal but there is a possible explanation for his behaviour because of what happened to him as a young boy.

Gothic fiction is not a genre I love, but I loved Essie Fox’s The Fascination (https://schatjesshelves.blogspot.com/2023/07/review-of-fascination-by-essie-fox.html) and this novel does not disappoint either. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Review of THE RETURN OF ELLIE BLACK by Emiko Jean

 3 Stars

Ellie Black is found after having gone missing two years earlier. Detective Chelsey Calhoun wants to find where Ellie was held, especially when it is discovered that other girls may be at risk. Ellie, deeply traumatized, refuses to co-operate with the investigation, but Chelsey is very invested in continuing; the death of Lydia, her sister, 20 years earlier destroyed her family, and she wants to help other families from suffering as hers did.

The novel provides Chelsey’s perspective but also that of Ellie. In Ellie’s sections, the reader learns about her abduction and imprisonment. As a consequence of this narrative approach, we sometimes know more than Chelsey does. Of course the name changes mean the reader doesn’t guess identities too quickly, and there is also some plot manipulation in not having Ellie reveal too much about her escape.

I found the characters, including the protagonist, flat. The death of Lydia and subsequent events in her family obviously affected Chelsey; most of her actions can be attributed to that trauma. Otherwise, there’s little of her personality developed. Intelligence is expected of a detective, but there’s little evidence of that because most of her discoveries are by luck or chance, not skill.

The book focuses on misogyny and does so in a heavy-handed way. There are statements like, “I wish this wasn’t what it means to be female – it is not a matter of if something bad will happen, but when” and “the most dangerous thing in the world . . . is unremarkable men with beautiful smiles and even bigger promises” and “When will it be enough? How society accepts women dying at the hands of men.” Then the ending suggests a simplistic explanation: misogyny is caused by family breakdown.

I had real issues with the later parts of the novel. The identity of the guilty is implausible but even more so of a problem is the reason for the behaviour. The motive for kidnapping, torture, rape, and murder is something that many people experience in their lives, yet in this novel three men react so extremely?! And the specific trigger for each kidnapping is also weak. The final twist is also not fair play because readers are misled about the fate of a character. This last soap opera turn of events cheapens the novel.

What’s with the name changes? I understand that they are used to obfuscate and keep the reader guessing as to characters’ real identities. But is there supposed to be significance behind the names (Hope, Charity, and Grace) with their religious overtones?

This is a quick read, but readers are expected to turn off their critical thinking at the end.