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Fruit Bat (42 KP) rated The Strange Case of Caroline Maxwell in Books
Mar 1, 2018
Recommended reading "The Strange Case of Caroline Maxwell "Paperback – 12 Sep 2014 by Amanda Harvey Purse.
This book has all the ingredients that makes a great mystery novel. The question is what is there not to love history mixed with fiction, Sherlock Holmes, Jack the Ripper with a great references to Agatha Christie and a famous little Belgian detective.
Amanda's book deserves so much more then the twos reviews it has on Amazon .
The book is truly well researched and comes across as a great labour of love , I loved spotting the historical cases that where mixed among the fiction. If you have the opportunity to read this book I recommend you do it's not to be missed.
Amanda I loved this book from start to finish thank you for the opportunity to read it I hope to see more of this wonderful character
This book has all the ingredients that makes a great mystery novel. The question is what is there not to love history mixed with fiction, Sherlock Holmes, Jack the Ripper with a great references to Agatha Christie and a famous little Belgian detective.
Amanda's book deserves so much more then the twos reviews it has on Amazon .
The book is truly well researched and comes across as a great labour of love , I loved spotting the historical cases that where mixed among the fiction. If you have the opportunity to read this book I recommend you do it's not to be missed.
Amanda I loved this book from start to finish thank you for the opportunity to read it I hope to see more of this wonderful character
Christine A. (965 KP) rated Truth and Lies (DI Amy Winter, #1) in Books
Dec 9, 2018
Quick Read (1 more)
Didn't want to put it down
Book #1 in Caroline Winter’s DI Amy Winter’s series
I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book so I could give an honest review.
“Truth and Lies” captured my attention from the very beginning. I frequently read mysteries and suspense books and, while I enjoy them, am not usually surprised by them. This novel included twists and turns that kept me hanging on every page. After I sat down to read it, my eyes starting hurt from reading the first 16 chapters without taking a break!
While dealing with the death of her father, a fellow police officer, DI Amy Winter receives a letter from Lillian Grimes, one half of a notorious serial killing team, her father’s most famous case. Grimes said she is Amy’s biological mother and would reveal the location of her victims were if Amy follows Grimes’s demands. Amy’s world is turned upside down trying to deal with her father’s death, Grimes’s allegations, and the kidnapping of a young girl. The incidents seem to be related, but can Amy trust herself to handle everything with everything that’s happening?
It was refreshing to have such a fully rounded, well developed, strong female character who is portrayed as a police officer and human and have the two so mingled together. “Truth and Lies” is the first in Caroline Winter’s DI Amy Winter’s series.
“Truth and Lies” captured my attention from the very beginning. I frequently read mysteries and suspense books and, while I enjoy them, am not usually surprised by them. This novel included twists and turns that kept me hanging on every page. After I sat down to read it, my eyes starting hurt from reading the first 16 chapters without taking a break!
While dealing with the death of her father, a fellow police officer, DI Amy Winter receives a letter from Lillian Grimes, one half of a notorious serial killing team, her father’s most famous case. Grimes said she is Amy’s biological mother and would reveal the location of her victims were if Amy follows Grimes’s demands. Amy’s world is turned upside down trying to deal with her father’s death, Grimes’s allegations, and the kidnapping of a young girl. The incidents seem to be related, but can Amy trust herself to handle everything with everything that’s happening?
It was refreshing to have such a fully rounded, well developed, strong female character who is portrayed as a police officer and human and have the two so mingled together. “Truth and Lies” is the first in Caroline Winter’s DI Amy Winter’s series.
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Darren (1599 KP) rated Manhattan Night (Manhattan Nocturne) (2016) in Movies
Nov 7, 2019
Characters – Porter Wren is a well-respected journalist in New York, he has a comfortable job in his paper because of his reputation for telling people’s stories. His latest case however will get him looking into the murder mystery that will push himself to the limits when he gets involved with the victim’s wife. He narrates a lot of this which is the films way of trying to have a dig a modern society. Caroline is the wife whose husband has been killed, she seduces Porter, which plays her out to be a siren, only she soon feels like a victim with this character get caught in the middle we never know which side she is meant to be, one that gets what she wants or just a victims. Simon is the husband that has been murdered meaning we only see him in flashback of how the two were married. Lisa is the wife of Porter, she is doctor and from how Porter tells the story they don’t get along as they once did.
Performances – Adrien Brody does well in the leading role in the film even if he doesn’t make his character feel much different than any others from the similar genre. Yvonne Strahovski fits the seductive side to her character, though without being the strongest in the serious side of the story. Campbell Scott and Jennifer Beals just don’t get enough time to show their skills off in this film.
Story – The story here follows an investigation into an unsolved murder which brings the investigative reporter into a series of cover ups and conspiracy in true noir style. Using the noir style is clear here, the execution of the noir style doesn’t quite come off though because the siren doesn’t feel like a siren and by the end you will be left wondering just why the investigation wasn’t solved by the police in the first place, let alone why the reporter is even asked to investigate it. Nothing really comes out of solving the case which is the biggest disappointment from everything we are getting invested in.
Crime/Mystery – The crime side of this mystery does involve a murder that hasn’t been solved, it does have other crime elements involved too which just confuse the simply plot.
Settings – The film is set in New York and uses a secret house to show a place of peace in this busy city and how people can meet and connect through life.
Scene of the Movie – The truth.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – The case felt pointless to solve.
Final Thoughts – This is a noir styled crime mystery that gives us a case that almost doesn’t need to be solved in the end.
Overall: Mystery that didn’t need solving.
Performances – Adrien Brody does well in the leading role in the film even if he doesn’t make his character feel much different than any others from the similar genre. Yvonne Strahovski fits the seductive side to her character, though without being the strongest in the serious side of the story. Campbell Scott and Jennifer Beals just don’t get enough time to show their skills off in this film.
Story – The story here follows an investigation into an unsolved murder which brings the investigative reporter into a series of cover ups and conspiracy in true noir style. Using the noir style is clear here, the execution of the noir style doesn’t quite come off though because the siren doesn’t feel like a siren and by the end you will be left wondering just why the investigation wasn’t solved by the police in the first place, let alone why the reporter is even asked to investigate it. Nothing really comes out of solving the case which is the biggest disappointment from everything we are getting invested in.
Crime/Mystery – The crime side of this mystery does involve a murder that hasn’t been solved, it does have other crime elements involved too which just confuse the simply plot.
Settings – The film is set in New York and uses a secret house to show a place of peace in this busy city and how people can meet and connect through life.
Scene of the Movie – The truth.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – The case felt pointless to solve.
Final Thoughts – This is a noir styled crime mystery that gives us a case that almost doesn’t need to be solved in the end.
Overall: Mystery that didn’t need solving.
Christine A. (965 KP) rated Flesh and Blood (DI Amy Winter #4) in Books
May 5, 2021
I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book so I could give an honest review. The opinions are entirely my own, and any quotes are taken from the ARC and may be different in the final published copy.
Not until reading the 4th book in Caroline Mitchell's DI Amy Winter series did I figure out how to read the series without losing sleep. I started reading it first thing in the morning. Her novels are brilliantly written police procedurals, full of exciting characters and backstories, that are hard to put down.
As with the prior three installments, Flesh and Blood, focuses on Amy Winter's professional life and personal life. This time her team is tasked with investigating a wave of apparent suicides at several seaside resorts. The main reason her team travels to Clacton is it is Winter's boss’s, DCI Donovan, a prior partner who is the latest apparent suicide victim.
After the team's last case and ensuing news coverage, their profile has gone up, and they are under the microscope by the press, public, and their higherups. Their presence and help are not welcomed in Clacton, but Amy, as usual, plows on and is determined to find the truth...no matter where or who they need to investigate.
Mitchell has established a well-formed world around DI WInter's childhood, biological and adoptive parents, work, and personal life. It would be remiss to not read the series from the beginning.
This 200-word review will be published on Philomathinphila.com.
Not until reading the 4th book in Caroline Mitchell's DI Amy Winter series did I figure out how to read the series without losing sleep. I started reading it first thing in the morning. Her novels are brilliantly written police procedurals, full of exciting characters and backstories, that are hard to put down.
As with the prior three installments, Flesh and Blood, focuses on Amy Winter's professional life and personal life. This time her team is tasked with investigating a wave of apparent suicides at several seaside resorts. The main reason her team travels to Clacton is it is Winter's boss’s, DCI Donovan, a prior partner who is the latest apparent suicide victim.
After the team's last case and ensuing news coverage, their profile has gone up, and they are under the microscope by the press, public, and their higherups. Their presence and help are not welcomed in Clacton, but Amy, as usual, plows on and is determined to find the truth...no matter where or who they need to investigate.
Mitchell has established a well-formed world around DI WInter's childhood, biological and adoptive parents, work, and personal life. It would be remiss to not read the series from the beginning.
This 200-word review will be published on Philomathinphila.com.
Bookapotamus (289 KP) rated Providence: A Novel in Books
Jun 23, 2018
Super Fun Read!
Wow! This was my first Caroline Kepnes book and let me tell you - it will NOT be my last! I loved this book, I flew through it and did not want it to end, and what a fun and unique story! I'm a HUGE Stranger Things fan, and this reminded me a bit of that - part sci-fi/fantasy/horror, but also part mystery/detective thriller - so many things I love all mixed in to one really clever tale. In the end, it's really a fun journey across time between two star crossed lovers - desperate to be together in a masterfully crafted journey of horrible circumstances that may forever keep them apart.
You get sucked in right away... Jon and Chloe are high school teens, the best of friends, and you assume, in time, they'll be together forever as you can see how much they love one another. Then, one morning Jon gets kidnapped and everything changes. Something happened to him and we might never be able to see if him and Chloe will that next step and spend their lives together. The things that have happened to him, may keep them apart forever.
The coming-of-age part is really interesting here, because Jon misses so much he's forced to grow up when his body has already done so. And the duality of good vs. evil comes into play a lot - and what a struggle it is to keep the two separate, when their pull is almost beyond control. We also follow the story of Eggs, who is a pretty darn smart detective, obsessed with a case that haunts him. And we follow his own life, his struggle with family, and how he tries to put the pieces of his own life back together while it falls apart around him - as he tries to solve a really strange mystery.
There is a lot of HP Lovecraft reference in this book, including a yearly Lovecraft convention (he was from Providence). I've heard him referenced in several novels before but have never actually read his work. I think I just might have to check it out now. BUT it did not hinder the story at all if you aren't familiar with his work. I am not familiar, and I loved every minute of the book!
This book was so much fun - a bit peculiar in parts but seriously, a fun ride from start to finish. Thanks to NetGalley and Caroline Kepnes and Random House Publishing Group for the advanced copy to review.
You get sucked in right away... Jon and Chloe are high school teens, the best of friends, and you assume, in time, they'll be together forever as you can see how much they love one another. Then, one morning Jon gets kidnapped and everything changes. Something happened to him and we might never be able to see if him and Chloe will that next step and spend their lives together. The things that have happened to him, may keep them apart forever.
The coming-of-age part is really interesting here, because Jon misses so much he's forced to grow up when his body has already done so. And the duality of good vs. evil comes into play a lot - and what a struggle it is to keep the two separate, when their pull is almost beyond control. We also follow the story of Eggs, who is a pretty darn smart detective, obsessed with a case that haunts him. And we follow his own life, his struggle with family, and how he tries to put the pieces of his own life back together while it falls apart around him - as he tries to solve a really strange mystery.
There is a lot of HP Lovecraft reference in this book, including a yearly Lovecraft convention (he was from Providence). I've heard him referenced in several novels before but have never actually read his work. I think I just might have to check it out now. BUT it did not hinder the story at all if you aren't familiar with his work. I am not familiar, and I loved every minute of the book!
This book was so much fun - a bit peculiar in parts but seriously, a fun ride from start to finish. Thanks to NetGalley and Caroline Kepnes and Random House Publishing Group for the advanced copy to review.
Chris Sawin (602 KP) rated The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) in Movies
Jun 19, 2019
Caroline is visiting her mother, Daisy, in the hospital while her mom is basically on her deathbed. We are in New Orleans and Katrina is well on its way to making landfall in the next few hours. Daisy tells Caroline to get a book out of the bag she brought to the hospital. This book winds up being the diary of a man named Benjamin Button; a man with an unusual condition of aging backwards. This is the extraordinary story of a man who wasn't expected to live to see his childhood, the people he met and grew to love, the challenging obstacles he had to face, his eventual adulthood, and beyond.
This was my favorite film of 2008. I found it fascinating from the very first frame. It has a running length of two hours and forty eight minutes, but it certainly doesn't feel that long. There were a few times when I wanted to look to see how long the movie had been going, but I'd put it off and then wind up forgetting about it. The film length is not a factor as the events that unfold go by rather quickly.
This film is magic. I don't mean that in the hocus pocus kind of sense. It made me feel things I wasn't aware could be felt after seeing a film. I almost cried. More than once. That's rare in itself, but on more than one occasion during the same film is pretty much unheard of for me. It was the first film I had ever seen that had made me feel better about myself after the credits rolled. On the way home, I wound up not turning the radio on or anything just so I could reflect on the movie for that much longer and keep this rare, warm, fuzzy feeling for as long as I could.
This is arguably Brad Pitt's best role, at least from the films of his I've seen. Making something like having the mind of a seven year old while having the body of an eighty year old man believable is probably not an easy task, but he pulls it off rather flawlessly. The make-up effects are something to behold, as well. The way these effects are used to show people aging in this film is just remarkable.
I've heard a lot of people compare The Curious Case of Benjamin Button to Forrest Gump. The truth of the matter is that other than both films being told in a narrative style and that characters sit on a bench at some point in both films during the time this story is being told, there really isn't much the two films have in common. I for one prefer Benjamin Button over Forrest Gump, but I'm not taking anything away from either film.
As superb of a film this is, its one downside is its length. That will probably turn a lot of people off. I was a bit weary when I first realized how long it was, but once I was finally in the theater watching the film, it all went by so quickly. My eyes were literally glued to the screen the entire time. The story is sad overall, but it moved me in ways no film has ever done before in the past. It's well worth whatever price you pay for the ticket and it's well worth sitting through the close to three hour duration. I wouldn't tell you it was the best movie of 2008 if I meant otherwise.
This was my favorite film of 2008. I found it fascinating from the very first frame. It has a running length of two hours and forty eight minutes, but it certainly doesn't feel that long. There were a few times when I wanted to look to see how long the movie had been going, but I'd put it off and then wind up forgetting about it. The film length is not a factor as the events that unfold go by rather quickly.
This film is magic. I don't mean that in the hocus pocus kind of sense. It made me feel things I wasn't aware could be felt after seeing a film. I almost cried. More than once. That's rare in itself, but on more than one occasion during the same film is pretty much unheard of for me. It was the first film I had ever seen that had made me feel better about myself after the credits rolled. On the way home, I wound up not turning the radio on or anything just so I could reflect on the movie for that much longer and keep this rare, warm, fuzzy feeling for as long as I could.
This is arguably Brad Pitt's best role, at least from the films of his I've seen. Making something like having the mind of a seven year old while having the body of an eighty year old man believable is probably not an easy task, but he pulls it off rather flawlessly. The make-up effects are something to behold, as well. The way these effects are used to show people aging in this film is just remarkable.
I've heard a lot of people compare The Curious Case of Benjamin Button to Forrest Gump. The truth of the matter is that other than both films being told in a narrative style and that characters sit on a bench at some point in both films during the time this story is being told, there really isn't much the two films have in common. I for one prefer Benjamin Button over Forrest Gump, but I'm not taking anything away from either film.
As superb of a film this is, its one downside is its length. That will probably turn a lot of people off. I was a bit weary when I first realized how long it was, but once I was finally in the theater watching the film, it all went by so quickly. My eyes were literally glued to the screen the entire time. The story is sad overall, but it moved me in ways no film has ever done before in the past. It's well worth whatever price you pay for the ticket and it's well worth sitting through the close to three hour duration. I wouldn't tell you it was the best movie of 2008 if I meant otherwise.
Deborah (162 KP) rated Murder at Mansfield Park (Charles Maddox #1) in Books
Dec 21, 2018
The Austen sequel or entertainment is an not uncommon beast these days, even if Pride & Prejudice is more usually the chosen book. As the title might give you a clue - this one relates more to Mansfield Park.
The major characters from the Austen novel are all there in name, but characters and relationships have been seriously altered. The first third of the book is mainly made up of recycled dialogue and narrative from Mansfield Park, but not necesarily in the same order. Mr Rushworth's character is changed to be more like Henry Crawford (and he is given the 'black and plain' description belonging to him in the novel) crossed with Robert Ferrars, so it seems odd when he is given dialogue beloning to the Mr Rushworth of the original novel, although not perhaps as strange when Mrs Norris is found spouting his lines.....
Fanny Price moves to become a rich heiress and the eldest of the female cousins; her character is more like the Maria of the book crossed with Lucy Steele and Caroline Bingley! Maria becomes more like the Julia of the book and Julia becomes more like the Fanny of the novel crossed with Marianne Dashwood - got that yet?! Henry Crawford here I don't really know - I'm not sure we got a proper description, so he does seem a bit of a cipher.
It's not a bad book, but with the murders I found it all rather unpleasant - I prefer such things to be more about the solving of the mystery than the incident itself, and here we have so few characters who could have committed the crime I didn't feel like I was waiting with baited breath for the conclusion (it's not Pug, in case you were worried.....). some characters were so underdeveloped it was rather obvious that they wouldn't have been involved. I do feel that having made so many changes, Lynn Shepherd would have been better off writing her own, original novel; one can't help but feel she has used Austen just to sell her book whereas her original dialogue does suggest that she could allow her writing to stand on its own merits.
The major characters from the Austen novel are all there in name, but characters and relationships have been seriously altered. The first third of the book is mainly made up of recycled dialogue and narrative from Mansfield Park, but not necesarily in the same order. Mr Rushworth's character is changed to be more like Henry Crawford (and he is given the 'black and plain' description belonging to him in the novel) crossed with Robert Ferrars, so it seems odd when he is given dialogue beloning to the Mr Rushworth of the original novel, although not perhaps as strange when Mrs Norris is found spouting his lines.....
Fanny Price moves to become a rich heiress and the eldest of the female cousins; her character is more like the Maria of the book crossed with Lucy Steele and Caroline Bingley! Maria becomes more like the Julia of the book and Julia becomes more like the Fanny of the novel crossed with Marianne Dashwood - got that yet?! Henry Crawford here I don't really know - I'm not sure we got a proper description, so he does seem a bit of a cipher.
It's not a bad book, but with the murders I found it all rather unpleasant - I prefer such things to be more about the solving of the mystery than the incident itself, and here we have so few characters who could have committed the crime I didn't feel like I was waiting with baited breath for the conclusion (it's not Pug, in case you were worried.....). some characters were so underdeveloped it was rather obvious that they wouldn't have been involved. I do feel that having made so many changes, Lynn Shepherd would have been better off writing her own, original novel; one can't help but feel she has used Austen just to sell her book whereas her original dialogue does suggest that she could allow her writing to stand on its own merits.