Book Review: CHURCH OF MARVELS BY LESLIE PARRY (Historical Fiction)

CHURCH OF MARVELS

BY

LESLIE PARRY

Published:  May 2015 by Two Roads

NEW YORK CITY, 1895.

From the sideshows of Coney Island to the tenements and opium dens of the Lower East Side, to an asylum on Blackwell's Island, follow the adventures of two sisters, an enigmatic orphan, a mortician's bride, an assortment of freaks, and a newborn baby, as they come together in the Church of Marvels.....

First Line:

"I haven't been able to speak since I was seventeen years old."

What a compelling first sentence!  This is just the start of what turns out to be an amazing, shocking, fascinating, hugely entertaining story of some of the weirdest characters I've ever had the pleasure to meet.

The story is told through the eyes of three people: Sylvan, 19, a night soiler, who has the unenviable job of emptying the privies behind the tenement houses.  He has 'the skin of a gypsy, hair of a negro, build of a German, nose of a Jew' .... he didn't belong to anyone.  One evening he finds a baby girl discarded among the muck and decides to take her home and try to find the mother.

Then there is Alphie (my favourite character) who has just arrived in a lunatic asylum, she believes her mother in law has put her there without her husband (the undertaker's) knowledge.  She had been on the street since she was 14, is wordly wise and has no intention of staying in the asylum.

Lastly we meet Odile, who's mother used to have a touring sideshow with a wonderful assortment of oddities.  But when a fire breaks out with tragic circumstances her sister disappears to New York and Odile travels to find her from Coney Island, where nearly every person she comes into contact with has a strange affliction.

Bringing New York to life, the seedy lives, tenement blocks, theatres, gambling parlors and opium dens, the terrible brutality of the asylum, this is a tale rich in strangeness with a dark underbelly.

As the story unfolded their lives intertwined with twists and turns that I never saw coming.

The writing is incredibly descriptive and lyrical, with characters so unbelievable but so life like.  The story is unlike anything I've read before, and I absolutely loved it!  I would recommend the marvellous Church of Marvels if you enjoy historical fiction with dark elements and dark secrets.

Thanks to Bookbridgr for giving me the opportunity to read this novel.

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Available from Amazon UK - Amazon US - Book Depository.

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About the Author

Leslie Parry is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Her short stories have appeared inVQR, The Missouri Review, The Cincinnati Review, The PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories, and elsewhere. Church of Marvels is her first novel. She currently lives in Chicago.

She can be found at her website - on twitter

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Book Review: THE RED BOOK OF PRIMROSE HOUSE BY MARTY WINGATE (Cozy Mystery)

THE RED BOOK OF PRIMROSE HOUSE (2nd in the Potting Shed mystery series)

BY

MARTY WINGATE

Publised:  November 2014

Pru Parke has her dream job:  head gardener at an 18th century manor house in Sussex.  The landscape for Primrose House was laid out in 1806 by renowned designer Humphrey Repton in one of his meticulously illustrated Red Books, and the new owners want Pru to restore the estate to its former glory quickly - as they're planning to showcase it in less than a year at a summer party.

But life gets in the way of the best laid plans.

When not being happily distracted by the romantic attentions of the handsome Inspector Christopher Pearse, Pru is digging into the mystery of her own British roots.

Then one of her workers is found murdered among the yews.  The police have a suspect, but Pru is certain they're wrong.  Once again, Pru finds herself entangled in a thicket of evil intentions - and her, without a hatchet.

Texan Pru Parke's second outing is every bit as entertaining as her first: The Garden Plot which was the first book in this new Potting Shed cozy mystery series.

Pru has her hands full at her new job at Primrose House trying to clear the derelict garden and have it all designed and planted by the summer: only six months away.  But when vandals destroy some plants in the greenhouse, start a fire in the potting shed, and then her gardener, Ned, is found murdered, her plans for a beautiful garden start to look shaky.

She believes the wrong man has been arrested and is determined to try and clear his name while also trying to discover who the murderer is.  

With Pru trying to find her English roots, her relationship with the lovely DCI Christopher Pearse getting serious, vague online threats against her, this was an enjoyable cozy mystery. I enjoyed getting to know Pru more and loved her nosiness!

If you like British cozy mysteries centred around gardening this is the perfect read for you.

Thanks to NetGalley for supplying me with a review copy.

I'm looking forward to the next in the series:  Between a Rock and a Hard Place

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About the Author

Marty Wingate is a Seattle-based writer and speaker who shares her love of Britain in her two mystery series. The Potting Shed books feature Pru Parke, a middle-aged American gardener transplanted from Texas to England, and Birds of a Feather follows Julia Lanchester, bird lover, who runs a tourist office in a Suffolk village. Marty writes garden articles for magazines including Country Gardens and theAmerican Gardener. She is a member of the Royal Horticultural Society, Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and the Crime Writers Association. She leads garden tours to England, Scotland and Ireland, spending free moments deep in research for her books. Or in pubs.

Book Review: THE LAST OF THE BOWMANS BY J PAUL HENDERSON

THE LAST OF THE BOWMANS

BY

J PAUL HENDERSON

Published:  Jan 2016

After an absence of some seven years, Greg Bowman returns from America to find his father lying in a bamboo coffin, his estranged brother Billy stalking a woman with no feet and his seventy-nine-year-old Uncle Frank planning to rob a bank.  While renovating the family house he is unexpectedly visited by the presence of his dead father and charged with the task of 'fixing' the family.  In the course of his reluctant investigations, Greg discovers not only the secrets behind the strange behaviour of his brother and uncle but also an unsettling secret of his father's, and one that brings him face to face with the unintended consequences of his own past.

The Last of the Bowmans is the story of a family on the run from itself in a city with no place to go.

The story starts when 83 year old Lyle Bowman walks into the path of a bus and is run over.  Not very funny in itself but J Paul Henderson had me chuckling from the beginning with his one-liners. 

This story is about families, their ups and downs, disagreements, loyalties, dislikes and why they are like they are.  

Before Greg left for America he fell out with his brother Billy and they hadn't spoken again until their father's funeral.  Over the course of this book we discover lots of family secrets and grudges that had been long hidden, Greg finds out what sort of person he really was growing up, life always came easy to him - exams, girls, work, but not so easy for his brother.

My favourite character was elderly Uncle Frank, he was so serious but I found him quite endearing:

".... I'm a bachelor, yes; but I'm not a bachelor by choice.  My hat's always been in the ring, it's just that no woman's ever bothered to bend down and pick it up.  I don't think women find me all that attractive if you want to know the truth.  Jean's mother refers to me as a goblin - did you know that?"

I really enjoyed this story, some of it had me laughing, some of it made me sad and tearful, it was touching at times.

The scenes where Greg's deceased father appears to him and asks him to mend his family were the most memorable and touching for me.  Lyle was a dour husband and father who always tried to do his best for his family and didn't want them to fight and argue.  He wanted to pass on to another life knowing that they were okay again.

I liked the writing, the quirky storyline with quirky characters, it was definitely different to any other book I've read, but it's also a book that I'll remember for some time.

Thanks to Real Readers for giving me the opportunity to read such an unusual book.

Spotlight on DEBT BY RACHEL DUNNING (New Adult Romance / Sports Romance)

DEBT

By Rachel Dunning

Expected Release Date:

March 30, 2016

What’s it about?

The Debt Collector

I pay my debts, and I expect others to.

I was raised in the slums of London, I knew nothing of privilege. My father was murdered when I was seventeen. Morty figured my father's passing meant I would automatically take on dad's debts. I refused.

And I paid for that refusal.

So did my sister.

So now I fight. All I know how to do is fight. The best cash is in the states, so that's where I am now. A big fish called Vito came along offering me a "favor" when I arrived.

Another debt.

I paid for that one too.

I knew Kyla Hensley would be trouble when I met her. But I wanted her. I could see through the falsehood of her wannabe-slutty clothes and her sexy legs. So I chased her.

Besides, trouble is my middle name.

Kyla Hensley

I was brought up in privilege, but I lacked everything else. My father is a business tycoon who buys and sells and doesn't care who gets rolled over in the process.

I never knew my mother, and all I have of her is a photo with a note scrawled on the back in French saying "I'm sorry." The only Female Figure I had growing up is my dad's wife who is a bleach blond with seven boob jobs. We never bonded.

I drink. I party. I meet guys.

But I wasn't always like that.

I've had a string of lovers in the last few years, the worst and most recent of which was Vince Somerset. My best friend Vera was dating a guy called Rory Cansoom who is the opposite of Vince in so many ways, and yet so the same.

She and I hit the road for the summer, getting away from the two college psychos and just trying to have some fun.

But there's a funny thing about trouble, the more you run from it, the more it finds you.

Which is when I met the Debt Collector.

It was only supposed to be sex. He made that clear. I made that clear.

That's all it was supposed to be.

I never expected to fall in love. I never expected to fall so deeply, madly, uncomfortably in love with a man who is wrong, so wrong for me.

And yet...so unbelievably right.

Content Warning

Not intended for readers under the age of seventeen.

Genres:
New-Adult Romance
Sports Romance

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Excerpts

~Logan~

I have no desire to settle down.

I have no desire to make Kyla be the last woman I’m ever with.

But, damn it, I’d like to be given a chance to do those things. Does she even feel anything for me?

I know I do.

I feel something.

Not love. Something else.

Like I need her.

Like I’d stop breathing without her.

Like the sun would stop being so bright or the sounds of the world so sweet if she disappeared.

~Kyla~

“Tell me for real,” I say. “Tell me what I didn’t guess about you.”

Logan doesn’t answer, and already I’m regretting the question. I know something hurt him, but who am I to ask him about it so soon? I’m breaking my rule, I want to know him, I want to know everything about him.

He shifts his arm so that my head is no longer resting on it, leans forward.

I did overstep it, but I don’t care. Maybe this is the last time I’ll ever see him again, and I want to get everything I can out of it, not only the sex I’ll demand later.

He looks down at his feet, then at me.

He inhales a deep breath, and then he says something to me that will forever change the way I think about the world. He tells me a story that puts my own life in perspective, and makes me question what I’ve held dear, and what’s really important in life.

He tells me about how he lost his father. And his mother.

And why he fights.

And why he continues to fight. And what he really sees when he’s in that cage, the hate, the fury, the pain.

By the end of it all, my world is shattered, the floor is shaking, I have no stability.

By the end of it, I know one thing, and I know it to my core, my very fiber. And I don’t care if it’s too soon, I believe in intuition, I believe in it more now than ever.

The thing I know is this:

I love this man. I love him irrevocably. I love him more than I’ve ever loved anyone.

And I know I will lose him.

I know it. More intuition.

But I love his very soul.

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Links:

Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01A02LNLC

Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01A02LNLC

Amazon Canada: http://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01A02LNLC

Amazon Australia: http://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B01A02LNLC

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/debt/id1071559413?mt=11
Nook / B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/debt-rachel-dunning/1123196983?ean=2940152548570

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/603988

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28400056-debt

About Rachel

Rachel Dunning hit the scene in August 2013 and is the author of the highly praised Naive Mistakes Series, Truthful Lies Trilogy, Johnny Series and the paranormal romance series, Mind Games.

A prolific writer, she sticks to stories where Alpha Males aren’t pricks and where women have guts.

She’s lived on two different continents, speaks three different languages, and met the love of her life on the internet. In other words, romance is in her blood.

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Book Review: DEATH OF AN AVID READER BY FRANCES BRODY

DEATH OF AN AVID READER

(The sixth book in the Kate Shackleton series)

BY

FRANCES BRODY

Published:  Oct 2014

A lady with a secret

Kate Shackleton's sterling reputation for courageous sleuthing attracts the attention of the venerable Lady Coulton.  Hidden in her past is a daughter, born out of wedlock and given up to a different family.  Now, Lady Coulton is determined to find her and puts Kate on the case.

A mysterious killing in the library's basement

But as Kate delves deeper into Lady Coulton's past, she soon finds herself thrust into a scandal much closer to home.  When the body of the respected Horatio Potter is found in the Leeds library basement, the quiet literary community is suddenly turned upside down with suspicions, accusations and - much to Kate's surprise - the appearance of a particularly intelligent Capuchin monkey!

The most puzzling case in Kate's sleuthing history yet

Convinced an innocent man has been blames, Kate sets out to discover the truth.  Who would want Dr. Potter dead?  Does Lady Coulton's missing daughter hold a vital clue?  As the stories start to emerge in the seemingly quiet Leeds library, Kate is learning fast that in this case, she can't judge a book by its cover ......

The year is now 1925 and amateur detective Kate is once more tasked with a tricky case to solve.  

Narrated by Kate, she is summoned to London from her home in Yorkshire to meet Lady Coulton, who wants her to find the daughter she had to give up over twenty years ago.  Not an easy case but, with the help of former policeman, Mr Sykes, she is determined the find her daughter and bring some peace to Lady Coulton.

But, as they start digging for clues, Kate's local library has a murder mystery that she becomes involved in as well.  So now she's looking for the truth about a murder, a missing daughter, a library book thief, and a wronged young woman ....... there is so much going on that the story never gets boring, it's fully of quirky, interesting characters, elusive ghosts in the basement, the organ grinder's monkey, all in all this is an entertaining read with period detail on every page.

People trust Kate, they talk to her and she never misses a chance to question anyone even when buying a paper from the newspaper seller on the street corner or purchasing hot chestnuts from the chestnut seller on cold, foggy Yorkshire evenings.  

I love these quirky mysteries - this is the fourth book in the series I've read and I've thoroughly enjoyed them all -  this is probably my favourite story.  The plot kept me guessing, I didn't have a clue who the murderer was, I kept changing my mind throughout as Frances Brody kept up the twists and turns.

If you haven't discovered this series yet, this can be read as a standalone, but I'd recommend you read them all, as they do follow on in years.  Whichever one you read first I'm sure you'll love it if you love cozy mysteries.

Here's what I thought of the other books in the series:

Dying in the Wool
A Medal for Murder
Murder on a Summer's Day

Website of Frances Brody
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