Disappearing Dimples

Flavia has competition for my favorite historical cozy. A new books shelf cruising find I enjoyed this one far more than I expected at first. It looked cute, but in reality it was well written, an unusual glance at the time period and setting, full of realistic and authentic characters, and a book about teachers that warmed the cockles of my spinster school marm heart. And you thought I never had anything nice to say about anything, didn't you?

Set in rural Georgia on the home front in 1942 it is definitely historical fiction and a mystery, and the mystery, set in war time has an element of the spy story in it. To term it Southern gothic may be a stretch, however there is a Ma and Pa Kettle aspect to the dialect and characters that sets it apart. Charlie, the heroine is a school teacher, and not exactly the detective. Miss Dimple the true spinster school marm and beloved first grade teacher goes missing right before Thanksgiving, so in-between making Pilgrim hats and bidding soldiers farewell the school staff have to figure out where she went. 

THe story is interesting because even though Charlie is the main character it jumps around a lot, changing perspective often. In a way Charlie doesn't solve the mystery, its a group effort. Like everything else the town folk all chip in to help save the day. Its very sweet, almost threatening to get saccharin sweet at times, but if you've ever lived in a small town its very true to life. These people really do exist. Interwoven are lots of details regarding the hardships of life, from rationing to sending off beloved soldiers. Charlie faces a conflict between wanting to stay loyal to her GI beau and falling for her best friend's flame. Te love story stays light and helps to relieve some of the tension. Miss Dimple herself shines as the beacon of reason and practicality, in fact her scenes are some of the funniest. I was surprised to see that many reviewers sort of slammed this one (then again they like a lot of books I loathe) most seemed to think that the author pigeon-holed herself, writing a book that appealed to only a very specific audience. I can't really say, I've never read a mystery set in that time and place before. I though it was fresh and very cute. It made me show my dimples.

Let's Hear It For The Whores

I had a buy one paperback, get one 50% off coupon at Boarders, and figured I would take advantage of their Chapter 11 status. Notorious Pleasures (A Hoyt Matey) was the first paperback (mass market, thus the cheaper of the two) and India Black (a trade paperback, and the full priced option). It was an on sight purchase, the author's first book, impulsive but when I opened the book and saw that the first line was, "My name is India Black and I am a whore." I knew then and there I would get my moneys worth.

The concept is simple, the madam of a successful high class brothel has a client die in the arms of one of her employees (in addition to his Queen Victoria outfit and switch) and has to dispose of the body. Unbeknownst to her he is an employee of her Majesty, carrying valuable information in his dispatch case about British troop movements. In return for disposing of the body one of his fellow intelligence agents, the dark and mysterious Mr. French (we can only presume an ancestor of the one from Family Affair, a pity India Black wasn't named Mrs. Beasly) blackmails India into finding the now missing case. 

Set in Victorian London the scene yo-yo's from luxury to squalor, brandy at the fireside to a sleigh ride through a blizzard. India is a hilarious guide through her misadventures, and only a portion of that humor comes from her occupation. Her role as a madam and a former whore puts her in an odd limbo and often her shifting position works to her advantage. There are a few borderline scandalous scenes, though she does warn in the Prologue that if you are prone to fits of vapors you should shove off. Its sexy and fun, not raunchy and cheap. The sexual tension between India and French (we're not yet sure of his Christian name, I'm not sure even Carol Carr knows, she states on her blog that it never occurred to her readers would be interested in her character's pasts) keeps things fresh and interesting. The sexual tension between India and the rest of the world makes for plenty of hi-jinx.

This is my pick for the new author to watch. Its a promising concept that has the potential for longevity and a wide variety of permutations in the future. While there are a growing number of Victorian mystery series on the market it stays away from either the aristocracy or the gutter, giving a rare glance at the extensive middle class that we seldom see. THink a much more vamped up Dickens. Carr explains her situations well, and never takes it too far, again a temptation. She is also not overtly politically correct, she tells it like it is without trying to backpedal on 150 years of political incorrectness. Not since Pretty Woman has being a hooker be so chic. 

Tower of Power

I was excited to move on to the next book in this series, and I have to say I enjoyed it better than the first. The pacing was better, the mystery well developed and interesting, and the characters evolved in a way that made you really relate to them. The one element that was lost from the first book was that fascinating element of our heroine Mary Quinn's Cantonese ancestry. 

The premise of the story, that Mary is going undercover as a twelve year old boy, Mark, is as old as the hills. However it remain irresistible, at least to me. I love a good cross-dressing story, from Yentyl on up. THe reversal of gender roles between Mary and her on-and-off beau James Easton also definitely turned the tales. James just returned from India has contracted malaria and is now weak and has to rely on Mary, a weak defenseless female. THe love story is satisfying without taking over the crux of the story. In a way its almost disappointing that Y. S. Lee has only planned on writing a trilogy because I feel like The Agency could have a longevity that keeps it fresh and interesting .

An Affair to Remember

I confess, I library book stalked this book. It came out yesterday, and I had already put a hold on it, so as soon as the library processed, I got a call for it. Then I read it, and no you don't have to point it out that I have no life. I know. I embrace it in fact. I have an undying devotion to Lauren Willig, she could write children's books about talking vegetables and I would still read them. I confess however that I was not particularly psyched about this one, before it came out at least. 

I can't exactly pinpoint why, but I did have the same doubts about The Mischief of the Mistletoe, the Christmas novel I read last month. In the end I loved it, laughed like silly and it put me in an appropriate holiday mood. That being said the past 2 novels in the series, The Temptation of the Night Jasmine and The Betrayal of the Blood Lily were less appealing to me than the start of the series, which may have a lot to do with this. The core players in the story, the ones that readers came to love, fell by the wayside for a large part. Some of this had to do with setting (Blood Lily took place in India) and the fact that the characters were not part of the original network of spies that the first few books centered around. The Mischief of the Mistletoe and now The Orchid Affair have returned to the fold so to speak, and I think are better for it. 

We see the famed Selwick Spy school in action, something Willig has hinted at through the previous seven books, but which we only see in action now. We also return to France, setting for the first book. Thirdly it is  strictly spy story, rather than the past three books which have been more parodies of spy novels where our unsuspecting heros and heroines stumble across clues and get sucked in. Laura Griscogne, the heroine is a trained spy in the guise of a governess, a pairing of a classic nineteenth century novel plot with a new twist. There is also an excellent double blind involving our hero Andre Jaouen. Do you like gypsies? Of course you do, and you're in luck because we also get to hitch a ride with a wandering acting troop. The romance is more of a slow simmer than a towering inferno, Willig has definitely gotten more timid as her writing matures. While I do wax nostalgic for the old school sex bonanzas, I can appreciate that she tempers the amorous activities of her characters based on situation and personality. Even when there are a lot of love scenes they're never gratuitous or tawdry. 

Its a great book, Willig will keep you involved in the past, perhaps not so much in the future. Her modern-day heroine and story teller Eloise is on a less-than-wild-ride to Paris with her boyfriend. These plots are the only real complaint I have with the story, they are a little on the flat side, you're not exactly charging through the intermediate historical chapters to find out if Eloise and Colin end up having to share a hotel room with his sister. In the end however its not important. As far as I'm concerned Lauren Willig can do whatever the hell she wants, talking vegetables or not. Oh wait, she already did that, I almost forgot about good ole Turnip Fitzhugh. I should go to the guillotine for that, its almost as bad as Augustus Whittlesby's poetry.

How Many Miles To Babylon?

The writing team of Candice Proctor and her husband Steve Harris makes me more than slightly nervous when I read them. The Babylonian Codex is the third book in their co-written series of thrillers about rogue CIA agent Jax Alexander and seriously unlucky and PTSD suffering remote viewer Tobie Guinness. I picked up the first on a whim in one of my Friends of the Library bookstore deals, for a thrifty quarter. The second I bought for a bus book, when I, in a moment of weakness agreed to chaperone my sixteen year-old cousin Madeline's sophomore field trip to New York City. Between the bus being late (by many hours) and traffic I finished it in a day. I scared the ever-loving shit out of me, I kept expecting the bus to be shot up or bombed.

As a former Army and Federal Government intelligence man, I have no doubt that Steve Harris knows where more than a few bodies are buried. I what he shares of the government's bad behavior is just the declassified stuff, can you even imagine what we don't know. Trust me you'll be paranoid too. I, despite my trepidation, bit and bought the third book and have to admit that it, in my humble opinion, is the best yet. The first book had a good concept but was a bit random. The second I found a lot slower. They're all good stories, with lots of shoot-em-up, James Bond-esque tricks, car chases, and scenarios. The cast of characters is also always large, which can make it a challenge to keep up at times, the second book set in Russia was particularly troubled in some respects. A certain amount of background in the government and military hierarchy is also necessary, otherwise you'll quickly get lost.

Like most of Candice Proctor's other stuff, romance and mystery alike, the characters are all well developed, and have a complete and fascinating backstory. The idea of remote viewing is a fascinating one, and in their author notes copious references are given (all very welcome and informative) including the push to read The Men Who Stare At Goats (they also insist, book not movie, which I greatly admire). It's the idea of remote viewing, the ability for a person, through meditation and focus to see the location of a target in a sealed opaque envelope, that lead me to classify this as Fantasy. Tobie is a crack remote viewer, reliable almost all the time, a rarity in itself. Even the book admits that reliable remote viewers typically are about are common as lightening striking twice, but the act that she also has some kind of weird force field which disrupts electrical gadgets in close range of her crosses from the unusual to improbable. 

The book leaves on a good note, of course all entries in a series do. I'll keep an open mind however because I think that the relationship between Tobie and Jax, while completely platonic, has reached an interesting juncture. Their associating is cementing, so the books no longer seem like random meetings or forced acquaintance, and Jax has also started to overcome his prejudice towards remote viewing, which seems promising. He also wrecks cars like most people use Kleenex, which I confess i really enjoy. 

A Visit To The Agency

The Agency: A Spy In The House is an interesting book for a couple of reasons. First I think it explores a cultural niche not often referenced in Victorian, or most literature, the Asian subculture. Mary Lang Quinn, the heroine of the novel is the daughter of an Irish woman and a Cantonese sailor. Her appearance and the roots of the culture are often the topic of speculation, however Quinn is interesting because she assimilates so well into the Caucasian culture around her. The Sarah Woolson mysteries by Shirley Tallman go deep into Chinatown in 1880s San Francisco, however it is mainly used to hi-light the dichotomy between the haves and the have nots. The sub-story in The Agency goes beyond that to weave together the plot-lines.

The second intriguing thing about the story is that the author is open about the fact that this all female spy agency, which takes in the untouchables of the London streets, free of charge, educates them, and sends them out to investigate the rich and powerful, is completely fanciful. Too often, period pieces write revisionist history, where everything is picturesque and the plot lines totally out of joint with the happenings and mores of the time. Lee takes as much of actual history as possible, and when she integrates the more fanciful and incongruous elements, makes it plausible.

Overall it was a fast-paced, well-developed, mystery that kept me guessing. The romantic entanglements didn't interfere too badly with the central plot, and the segue into the next two books of the trilogy was smoothly done. No complaints from me.