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David McK (3576 KP) rated Fugitive in Books

May 31, 2021

Fugitive

Paul Fraser Collard | 2021 | Fiction & Poetry

7.0

(1 Ratings)

Book Rating

Entry number 9 in Paul Fraser Collard's Jack Lark series, this is an entry which - speaking personally - I very much found could be split into two main parts: the first part of the novel primarily concerns itself with the Victorian pursuit of 'slumming' (where rich toffs paid good money to see how their poorer counterparts lived in the slums and tenements of London), and the second with the Abyssinian campaign against the mad 'Gorilla King' (in modern day Ethiopia, I believe)

I'd heard, and even knew a bit, about the former. The latter? Sad to say, not so much.

So, for my part, a little new knowledge is a good thing!

As the novel begins, Jack Lark is back in England after his exploits in America (during the Civil War) and Mexico of the previous entries; back where - I feel - he belongs (ummm, speaking internationally, that is, rather than his precise circumstances!) and running Victorian slumming 'tours' (for want of a better word) for the rich who have more money than sense!

I don't *think* I'm giving anything away when I say that one such tour inevitably goes wrong, leading Jack - and a few companions - to flee the country, travelling to Ethiopia to join the expedition against the Emperor Tewodros II of Ethiopia, more concerned with what they can purloin along the way than the rights and wrongs of the situation that led to the campaign in the first place!

All in all, another solid entry in the series: I'm looking forward to where Jack ends up next!

Kudos

Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2379 KP) rated The Plot is Murder in Books

Jul 14, 2021 (Updated Jul 14, 2021)

The Plot is Murder

V.M. Burns | 2017 | Mystery

5.0

(1 Ratings)

Book Rating

Interesting Idea, but Doesn’t Quite Work

Samantha Washington is pursuing not one but two lifelong dreams. She’s opening a mystery bookstore in the town of North Harbor, Michigan. But just days before the store is supposed to open, she finds the dead body of Clayton Parker behind the store. Clayton sold her the building, but he almost sabotaged the sale. Meanwhile, she starts writing a mystery of her own set in England in 1938. Will she solve the murder? How will the real-life murder influence the fictional murder?

I’ve been intrigued by this series with the story inside the story idea for a while, and I’ve heard good things about it from many others. Sadly, it didn’t completely work for me. With two stories and two sets of characters to develop, I felt like both were a bit underdeveloped. The ending of the historical mystery was weak, and it featured some abrupt character growth. Meanwhile, the modern mystery featured lots of summaries that were told to us, keeping me outside. On the other hand, I loved both sets of characters, and I did feel the modern mystery came to a good resolution. I had no trouble keeping the different sets of characters straight once I realized how close both murder victims’ names were, and there was also an obvious break between the two stories each time we switched. I can understand why others love this series as much as they do, but I wish it had focused on one story and developed that one story better.