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Discover more from Oh! Murder
Your TBR pile will now explode!
Part 2 of my spring and summer reading reviews
And now: all the mysteries I read through July
The past couple of weeks were quite the adventure, with me attempting a cycle holiday (who knew a pasty bookish creature was unfit for such a task? I should have, but I did not, reader).
I also finished three weeks of antibiotics in a crash landing post holiday and then leapt into preparing a training, which I gave August 11 on novel planning and preserving your energy level. (I know — the irony!)
There will be a product version of the training soon. (You can get notified here, if that strikes your fancy.)
But let’s get to the reading! The heat is back in Berlin, likely for the rest of August, so we want you on your beach lounger with something scintillating. Here are even more options.
Part two of Spring + Summer Reads begins:
The Decagon House Murders, Yukito Ayatsuji
Fear in the Sunlight, Nicola Upson
One by One, Ruth Ware
How Can I Help You, Laura Sims
The Christie Affair, Nina de Gramont
Murder on the Mauretania, Edward Marston
The Decagon House Murders: How could I not be seduced by this cover? The ultramarine and the fuschia? I was a goner. I’d picked this one off the shelf a few times before committing. The second that’s recently been released has a similarly delicious cover, but I wanted to begin with the first in the series.
This one reads like a cult classic. It’s clever, but at the expense of character development. Ironically, this one could have just as easily been titled “One by one” like the Ruth Ware I review below.
Since the conceit of the book is former university mystery club visiting the site of a brutal murder, which just happens to be an island with no option to leave, you can see where this is going pretty quickly.
I didn’t have time to connect with the characters enough to care about their fate, but the puzzle element was enjoyable. I’d say this works well as a quick beach read. Looking back, my impression is more positive. The tone has a 1950s Japan cinematic vibe. There is definitely a mood to this book, but if you want a deep psychological study, this is not that.
I’d say this ticks the boxes for those looking to escape to an island in Japan and figure out whodunnit.
Fear in the Sunlight: You must have realized by now that I have quite the soft spot for this series. I love the characters, the time period, the thoughtful plots, and the psychology of these.
Even having loved all the books in the series so far, I loved this one even more. Perhaps it was the addition of Alfred and Alma Hitchcock as characters, hoping to convince Josephine to allow them to license her novel, A Shilling for Candles, for a film, that enchanted me so much.
The depiction of the Hitchcocks, prior to their move to America, felt human and believable, likely because Upson doesn’t sugar-coat the less pleasant aspects of Hitchcock’s character, such as his love of practical jokes. These were often over the line, and it’s easy to see this book’s Hitchcock pushing someone too far.
The mystery is compelling, the setting a character in its own right, and I was completely sucked in. This is the first of the series to mention Tey’s death at a young age, which added a gravitas that suited the story.
I am trying very hard to go slowly through these, but every time I finish one I rush to make sure the next two in the series are in the house so I can snatch them up in a few months (or weeks).
One by One: Despite having seen Ruth Ware’s name lauded on shelves for ages, this was the first of hers I’d read. I was drawn in by the locked house conceit and characters who are isolated from the rest of the world in a dangerous situation, a feature my mystery shares.
I enjoyed the use of two narrators switching back and forth, both outsiders to the central characters. One, staff at the luxury resort where a tech company is having their retreat. The other, a former assistant who has just enough shares in the company to snag an invite.
This ability to present the circumstances through different eyes allowed me to draw my own conclusions, which I enjoyed. Ware is skilled at ending her often-short chapters with tension so you want to keep reading.
Ultimately, I did enjoy the book. It had good humor and excellent tech company farce elements and nice twists. Most of the characters, however, were irritating to me and I was just as happy to see them chucked out the window.
This goes with the territory when writing about ultra-wealthy start-up founders, I suspect, so Ware was wise to choose her narrators outside that circle. But I needed to be a little more sympathetic to the characters to get truly engrossed.
Regardless, this would absolutely entertain you through a flight, or on the beach.
How Can I Help You: This was great fun. Of course I had to read it, as it features dueling librarians in a murderous thriller. And the cover — need I say more?
This is a quick read, well-written, and includes characters with real complexity. Again, we have dual POV between the two librarians, each with ulterior motives. Sims makes some exciting choices with this story, and doesn’t get distracted with obvious cliched choices.
I also love this one for writers, as one character is a writer and portrayed in an often cringingly relatable way. The only criticism I have for this one is that I would have gladly spent more time with these characters. It’s a short, fast read, but one that has lingered with me. Do report back if you give this one a go.
The Christie Affair: A second book with a historical figure as character, this one covers the time of Agatha Christie’s appearance and does a fantastic job filling it with rich backstory and intrigue.
As with most historical novels I’ve enjoyed, de Gramont creates a satisfying fictional character to hold the story together. The main character and narrator, tells us the story from her point of view, but also from a retrospective future point, so we have some information about the future, but not all.
de Gramont is very skilled at knowing when to reveal and how much to uncover at a time. I plowed through this one, invested all the way through.
I wasn’t sure if I could call this a murder mystery, but… there is a murder in the book and Agatha Christie is a main character, so I’ve decided that it not only counts, but that you’d enjoy it, too.
Murder on the Mauretania: I do love a cruise story, and this series is evolving nicely, with the two main characters a male and female sleuth pair handling different sections of the ship.
These series are also a fun history lesson in the differences between various ocean liners of the era. Aspects I particularly enjoyed in this installment: a ship cat featuring prominently in the case, following not just a murder, but the other sorts of petty crime that occur on a ship of this size, and the deft handling of a large cast.
This was good inspiration for my own novel aboard a ship, albeit on a smaller one in a more modern era.
Still, this was a treat for anyone needing a light summer read with a dose of history. Future books promise to evolve the relationship between the two main characters and provide more entertaining characters aboard.
Summer reading approved!
I hope you’ve enjoyed this edition of my recent mystery reads. We’ll be returning to monthly updates going forward so these don’t stack up quite as much. I’ve already read a few fun books in August and have more in the queue, so I look forward to sharing soon!
Speaking of which, if you have mystery readers and writers in your life, I’d be so grateful if you’d share Oh! Murder with them.