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ClareR (5885 KP) rated The Porpoise in Books

Nov 6, 2019  
The Porpoise
The Porpoise
Mark Haddon | 2019 | Crime, History & Politics, Mystery, Thriller
8
6.3 (4 Ratings)
Book Rating
The last book of Mark Haddon’s I read was The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time - and this is absolutely NOTHING like that. This novel is set in two time periods: modern day and Ancient Greece. Haddon has used the story of Apollonius and Shakespeare’s Pericles and worked them into both timelines. I hadn’t read anything about either of these stories to be honest, but after a quick look on the internet (thank you Wikipedia!) I felt a little better informed - although I do think that you would be able to read the book perfectly well without any knowledge of either Apollonius or Pericles.

This is not a comfortable read at all - abuse and incest feature strongly throughout the modern timeline (in the style of all good Greek Tragedies!). I did think about not continuing with the book at one point because I tend to avoid books with these themes, but the story really drew me in, particularly in the Greek timeline.

The way in which we initially move from modern day to Ancient Greece, using the yacht ‘The Porpoise’ to achieve this, was really cleverly done, I thought. The small parts which featured Shakespeare and his Pericles writing partner George Wilkins, seemed to be only loosely connected, but enjoyable nonetheless.

All in all, I really enjoyed this. I’m glad I stuck with it, because especially (but not exclusively!) in the case of the incest storyline, we really do see the strength of women, even though the men in their lives would want them to be cowed and obedient.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy of this book.
  
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Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2355 KP) rated Death in the Aegean in Books

Sep 10, 2022 (Updated Sep 10, 2022)  
Death in the Aegean
Death in the Aegean
M. A. Monnin | 2022 | Mystery
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Travel to Greece for this Fun Caper
Stefanie Adams is finally returning to Greece on vacation. Her trip is timed with the debut of the gold statue of the Akrotiri Snake Goddess, a new archeological find. She is on hand for its first viewing, but that event might turn out to be its last viewing since someone steals it that night. The next day, Stefanie finds the dead body of a woman she’d met the day before. With her reputation, not to mention her freedom, on the line as the police think she is tied into both of these events, Stefanie begins investigating to find out what is really happening. The only person she might be able to trust is, Thomas, a German traveler she met along the way, but a man with secrets of his own. Will she clear her name of not one but two crimes?

This is a fun debut. It’s more of a caper than a traditional mystery. The action is fast and never lets up. Capers can seem a bit chaotic to me as a genre, and that’s the case here, but all our questions are answered by the time we get to the climax. Stefanie and Thomas are wonderful main characters we can’t help but root for. The rest of the cast isn’t quite as well developed, but they work for their place in the story. The action takes place mostly on Crete, and the book does a good job of letting us play armchair tourist without slowing the action down. I’m already booking my next trip with Stefanie.