REVIEW: The Vagabond Clown by Edward Marston

I'd never read any books by this author before this one, but apparently this book is 12th in a series. Irregardless, it was easy enough to start here with this one because you are introduced to the characters, and don't seem to be missing much. There are hints at what may have happened in previous books, but not to the extent that it ruins much, I don't think.

I came across this book several years ago in one of those chapter-a-week Emails, and I was so engrosed in the story that I put it on my TBR list, and haven't ever forgotten it. Well, here I needed a "V" title for Alphabet Readers, and so this book came to mind. ;o)

Westfield's Men is a theatre troupe that usually plays in London, England. But, when a murder takes place during one of their plays at their normal innyard, the troupe is forced to go out traveling on the road earlier than expected. They are also forced to hire a stand-in replacement clown, as their own Barnaby Gill was injured (broken leg) during an affray that led to the murder.

Along the way, they run into mishap after mishap, and their book holder, Nicholas Bracewell, tries to learn the secrets of why the murder was committed, and who did it -- as well as who is still trying to keep Westfield's Men from playing!

Very well written, and I'll be seeking out other books in this series! :)

Rated: A-

REVIEW: The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde

Took me a long while to get to this book... mind you, I'd tried to several years back, but just couldn't get into it then. This time, though, I did, and I found it to be an enjoyable read (save for the coarse language here & there, and the one character's name being somewhat along those lines, too).

I did find it pretty amusing that the characters had such quirky names, though. Mr. "Braxton Hicks" had me cracking right up! LOL. :-P

Rated: B-

REVIEW: Wearing the Spider by Susan Schaab

I think this was the author's first attempt, so for that, I have to say she did a very good job. BUT, there were some things I couldn't overlook.

This book would've gotten an A+ rating from me, as I couldn't put the book down! But, I didn't like that, in a lot of instances, the characters' actions were a tad unbelievable. And, there were times where the author would change who was speaking, but didn't indicate the change with a new paragraph... so I got confused as to who was "speaking". A couple of times I had to stop, go back a couple of pages, and figure out where the change had happened in order to make more sense of what I'd read. :-?

Otherwise, though, the book kept me wondering. You kind of *know* whodunnit from the beginning, but the author did a good enough job of throwing suspicion on other characters to keep you guessing. And, the pace was pretty intense. ;o)

Here's the blurb about the book (from the first part of the inside front-cover):

"It starts with a simple, unwanted kiss and evolves into a labyrinthine traile of forgery & illusion, a hijacked identity, a corruption scandal involving a U.S. Senator accused of channeling illegal benefits to a shady South American firm, even kidnapping and murder."

I found this book here:
http://www.habitualreader.com/index.html

I'd still recommend this, despite the flaws. They were minimal enough. ;o)

Rated: B+

REVIEW: Deja Dead by Kathy Reichs

This is the first book in the "Temperance Brennan" series (from which the "Bones" TV show is based), and I had it on my TBR list for years, because I'd heard Reichs was a good author.

Well, whoever told me that was correct -- I had a really hard time putting this book down! I really enjoyed the mystery, and didn't have it figured out until I was about 100 pages from the end...and even then I wasn't *fully* sure I had it right. ;o)

Now I'm no longer worried about having bought most of the books in the series... I'm glad I did! LOL. I've been collecting them ever since I heard about Reichs being a good author to read if you like mystery/suspense. I have all but the latest 2. LOL.

Recommended.

Rated: A-