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ClareR (5674 KP) rated Where Every Man (Inspector James Given #4) in Books

Oct 26, 2020  
Where Every Man (Inspector James Given #4)
Where Every Man (Inspector James Given #4)
Charlie Garratt | 2020 | Crime, Fiction & Poetry, Mystery
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Where Every Man by Charlie Garrett is set in rural France at the beginning of the second World War. James Given has retired from the police force back in England and has moved with his wife Rachel, to work on a farm. He seems happy with the work, and their plan is to move south with the good weather. This looks increasingly less likely as time progresses because of the approach of the German army towards France’s borders. Regardless, James and Rachel love their lives in the small French town, and consider staying anyway. Rachel teaches local students to play the violin, and it’s one of these students who draws James back in to his role as an investigator when the local librarian dies unexpectedly. The local policeman believes its merely a cycling accident, but it increasingly looks like it’s murder. When James looks further in to the accident, it appears there is a German spy in the village. Before he can do anything about it, the spy disappears. Did the spy have anything to do with the death of the librarian?

This mystery played out so well, and I loved the interactions between James and the violin student. She wants to work as a police officer when she leaves school - much to her fathers disapproval. The students role in the story was a really good way of showing how James approached the task of solving a murder.

I have to say, I read a lot of this with a feeling of mild panic, especially when James goes to visit his uncle and his family nearby. It showed the vulnerable position he and his family were in as Jews in France. Even though James and Rachel have forged passports that showed that they were Christians, there was still that worry for them and their family - and the spectre of the Nazis is hanging over this whole story.

I always enjoy these James Given books, and I’m intrigued to see what comes for him next as war approaches.

Many thanks to Sapere Books for a copy of this book to read and honestly review - I really enjoy this series (I bought books 2 and 3 myself, if that’s anything to go by!)
  
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ClareR (5674 KP) rated The Hiding Game in Books

Sep 8, 2019 (Updated Sep 9, 2019)  
The Hiding Game
The Hiding Game
Naomi Wood | 2019 | Fiction & Poetry, History & Politics
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
A completely engrossing novel about Weimar, Bauhaus and complicated relationships
The Hiding Game is set mostly in the period between the two World Wars at the Bauhaus art school. This was a time of great change in Germany, both politically and artistically. Paul Beckermann starts his study at Bauhaus in 1922, and forms one of a group of six friends. He falls in love with the unobtainable Charlotte, a young woman from Czechoslovakia, but she loves Jenö, who in turn is loved by Paul’s best friend Walter. It seems like an impossible love triangle (or even a square?!). These strong feelings lead to betrayal in a time that it was very easy to utterly destroy lives. The six friends drift apart, mainly out of necessity (Bauhaus was not liked at all by the traditionalists in the National Socialist party), but also they just couldn’t be together anymore.

Paul, as an older man living in England, looks back at this period in his life and how it went tragically wrong. Not all of the six friends were as fortunate as he was.

It’s a heartbreaking and also a suspenseful novel. Someone with only a limited knowledge of this period will know of the kind of tragedy that could befall people then. Paul’s guilt and sadness are palpable throughout the book, and I really felt for him. This isn’t really a book where the characters find some sort of forgiveness for themselves - there is none to find. Terrible things happened, and the survivors had to find a way to live with themselves afterwards.

I loved the details about Bauhaus. I did some study on it during my German degree, and it filled in some gaps in my knowledge (there are quite a few gaps to fill when you did that degree 25 years ago!), and I’m always on the lookout for books set in Germany, especially those with a good helping of history (this has it in spades!). And for me, this really didn’t disappoint. I loved it, and I’ll be recommending it to friends (ex-German degree friends as well!).

Many thanks to NetGalley and Picador for my copy of this wonderful book.
  
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Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) rated Breathless ( Scarlet Suffragette book 2) in Books

Mar 29, 2022  
B(
Breathless ( Scarlet Suffragette book 2)
Nicola Claire | 2022
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
54 of 230
Kindle
Breathless (Scarlet Suffragette book 2)
By Nicola Claire
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Nicola Claire's captivating new Gothic romance series continues with a dark and sinister London City at the end of the nineteenth century - brightened by a fearless and talented heroine and a loyal and secretive police inspector...


Determined doctor? Interfering busybody? Fearless fighter?

The London of Anna Cassidy's memories is not the London she faces today. Having proved her worth as a physician, Dr Cassidy finds herself pitted against the stolid attitude of a male-dominated society.

But it's not only society she has to contend with.

A criminal mastermind has set themselves up in London, England; chosen the dirty streets of Whitechapel and Lambeth as their stage. Competing against a devious and cunning opponent sets Anna and her closest friends off on a dire adventure, which could culminate in a loss so great Anna may never recover again.

Steadfast police inspector? Loyal guardian? Caring lover?

Anna, however, is not alone. Or, at least, she won't be once Inspector Kelly finds her. Facing the ghosts of his past, Andrew Kelly rushes to face Anna's enemies and protect the woman he loves.

But Anna is not unable to defend herself.

Proving she needs him is a task Inspector Kelly would gladly undertake. But the city of Andrew's birth is more in the grip of evil machinations than it has ever been, bringing to mind memories of a dark London, ripped to within an inch of its life by a devil known to most simply as Jack.

Andrew knows otherwise. For his secrets are unravelling and within their shadowed corners lies a murderer, a poisoner, and a villain so deceitful that nothing is what it appears to be.

A gritty, twisted, and authentic Victorian romantic suspense, sure to rip you apart... just like old Jack.
Read preview >

This was so good I love the era and the references to Jack the Ripper and Sherlock Holmes. It has fabulous characters both good and bad. The story kept you wanting to read more. I’m not one for huge relationship storylines but this I loved. Highly recommended if you like murder mystery set in a gothic Victorian era.