Review: Death of a Dowager by Joanna Campbell Slan

Blurb: In her classic tale, Charlotte Brontë introduced readers to the strong-willed and intelligent Jane Eyre. The Jane Eyre Chronicles pick up where Brontë left off, with Jane married to her beloved Edward Rochester and mother to a young son. But Jane soons finds herself having to protect those she loves…

While extensive repairs are being made to Ferndean, their rural home, Jane and Edward accept an invitation from their friend Lucy Brayton to stay with her in London. Jane is reluctant to abandon their peaceful life in the countryside, but Edward’s damaged vision has grown worse. She hopes that time in the capital will buoy his spirits and give him the chance to receive treatment from an ocular specialist.

Once in London, the Rochesters accompany Lucy to the Italian Opera House. But there is more drama in the audience than on stage—Jane not only unexpectedly finds herself in the presence of King George and his mistress, Lady Conygham, she also encounters an old nemesis in the form of Lady Ingram (whose daughter, Blanche, once hoped to wed Edward herself). The aging dowager deals both Jane and Lucy a very public snub; hoping to mitigate the social damage caused by this, Lucy insists on visiting the Ingrams the next day. The visit goes poorly from the start—and ends with Lady Ingram dropping dead in the midst of taking tea. It soon becomes clear that the dowager’s death was an unnatural one, and Jane must set her considerable intelligence to the problem of solving it—and why the throne appears to have an interest …

My Review: I'm ashamed to admit that I've never read Jane Eyre. I also haven't read the first book in Joanna Campbell Slan's Jane Eyre Chronicles, but that didn't keep me from instantly being drawn into early 1800s England and becoming completely immersed in the lives of Jane, Edward, and Lucy. This is a smart, sophisticated, compelling read that is a must read for lovers of historical mysteries.

Circumstances have forced Jane and Edward to vacate their country home for the summer, and they accept the invitation of their friend Lucy to stay at her London home. Jane isn't eager to live in the city, but as Edward's eyesight gets worse and he has the chance to see an ocular specialist, she agrees it's for the best. They also plan to interview a new doctor for their village and prepare Lucy for the arrival of her husband's illegitimate child whom she plans to raise.

Once in London a visit to the Opera brings Jane into contact with King George and his mistress, as well as Lady Ingram and her two daughters, one of whom had hoped to marry Edward. A public snub requires Jane and Lucy to take tea with the difficult threesome the next day, during which the dowager dies after sipping her coffee. A death at first attributed to a weak heart moments later appears to be murder when a dog dies after licking the spilled coffee.

I enjoyed the pacing of this story; the dowager's death came just far enough into the book for the reader to have time to get to know her and really dislike her! Clues to the killer, as well as the secondary story of political intrigue involving King George IV, are cleverly laid out making this an absorbing novel. A wonderful escape for those of us who love to visit England via the pages of a book.

I received a copy of this book from the author with the request for a review.

About Joanna Campbell Slan:
Joanna Campbell Slan was born in Jacksonville, Florida, but she grew up in a small town in Indiana. After graduating from Ball State University with a degree in journalism, she worked as a newspaper reporter, a newspaper ad salesperson, a television talk show host, a college teacher, a public relations professional, and a motivational speaker. In that capacity, she was named by Sharing Ideas Magazine as “one of the top 25 speakers in the world.”

When her son, Michael, got his driver’s license, Joanna was freed from carpool duty and finally able to pursue her dream of writing full time. She has since written eighteen books, eleven non-fiction and seven fiction.

Joanna’s newest series—The Jane Eyre Chronicles—began with Death of a Schoolgirl (Berkley) and continues with the release of Death of a Dowager. The series features Charlotte Brontë’s classic heroine Jane Eyre as an amateur sleuth.

Purchase from Amazon.

Connect with Joanne Campbell Slan: Website | Twitter | Facebook

Show more

Show less

Review: Catnapped (A Klepto Cat Mystery) by Patricia Fry

Blurb: When Savannah Jordan agrees to help her aunt while she recovers from a broken foot, she doesn’t expect to walk into a mystery, become part of a not-quite-legal surveillance team, be kidnapped by a deranged stranger and meet a steaming hot veterinarian. Beloved neighborhood cats are missing—the community can only guess at their fate—and Aunt Margaret’s life is being threatened. Is it because she has a clue to the missing cats or is it something more sinister?

If you like light mysteries with only a little terror, if you’re infatuated by interesting cats and if you love a love story, you must read this book.

My Review: When I saw this book show up on Amazon last week I couldn't add it to my wish list fast enough...could a book be more perfect for me? So you can imagine my delight when I got an email from the author the very next day asking if I would be interested in reviewing it. I set everything else aside and dove into this little gem that very night.

A veterinarian who is currently working as a vet tech in LA, Savannah and her klepto cat Rags have temporarily moved into her Aunt Margaret's home after auntie broke her foot in her yard under somewhat mysterious circumstances. She immediately ingratiates herself with the Cat Alliance that her aunt belongs to and is shocked to learn that neighborhood cats are disappearing and her aunt's life is being threatened. Savannah, Margaret, and the rest of the Alliance find themselves in some pretty "hairy" situations as they go into full investigation mode and are stunned by the criminal activity taking place in their little town. The role that Rags plays (via his thieving ways) in nabbing the bad guys is priceless.

Catnapped is as much a romance as it is a light cozy, as sparks fly between Margaret and her neighbor Max, a fellow cat rescuer, as well as between Savannah and the hunky local vet Michael. I was crazy about the "love at first sight" angle between the latter and am so glad that we weren't left hanging as to the future of their relationship.

This book is a cat lover's dream, and the author told me that two additional books are planned for this year as well...I couldn't be happier!!!

Buy Link

Source: I received a copy of this book from the author with the request for a review.

Review: The Cat, the Mill and the Murder by Leann Sweeney

Blurb: When cat lover and quilter Jillian Hart volunteers to help a local animal shelter relocate a colony of feral cats living in an abandoned textile mill, she never expects to find a woman living there, too. Jeannie went missing from Mercy, South Carolina, a decade ago, after her own daughter’s disappearance.

Jeannie refuses to leave the mill or abandon Boots, her cat who died years ago. After all, she and Boots feel the need to protect the premises from “creepers” who come in the night. After Jeannie is hurt in an accident and is taken away, those who’ve come to town to help repurpose the mill uncover a terrible discovery.. As the wheels start turning in Jillian’s mind, a mysterious new feline friend aids in her quest to unearth a long-kept and dark secret.

My Review: Leann Sweeney's adoration of cats shines through in every line she writes of the Cats in Trouble mystery series.

This fifth book in the series finds Jillian volunteering to relocate feral cats from an old textile mill so the space can be renovated (the end result is still in dispute). Everyone is shocked to find a homeless woman, Jeannie, living there with her long dead cat Boots, as they protect the "holy place" from "creepers". It was widely assumed that she disappeared years ago searching for her "missing" daughter Kay Ellen, but when a skeleton is found stuffed in a fireplace, Jillian finds herself immersed in a tangled web of secrets long thought buried.

I enjoyed learning more about the history of the textile industry and was surprised by the social barriers between the mill people and the town people. I also loved how feral cats were integrated in the story. There is much misconception about these kitties and I thought it was well explained how they are different from the typical homeless cat.

Jeannie is a character that my heart really went out to, but of course my favorite character was the precious little ghost cat Boots. (Meet Boots here!) I firmly believe that our beloved pets are always with us after they've crossed the Rainbow Bridge, but how comforting it would be to actually be able to still see them! The fact that Jillian is also able to see him shows the powerful connection she has with all cats, and it was wonderful to see Boots lend a paw in solving the murder of his mistress so many years ago.

It's easy to see why this is a New York Times bestselling series; I just hope readers don't have to endure another year-long wait for book #6!

 

 

SOURCE: Review copy courtesy of the publisher.

The Sunday Post #46

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer ~ It's a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead.

Happy Father's Day!!!

* This week I added an About tab to the blog in place of the blurb on my sidebar. I think it reflects who I am and what my blog is all about...a fusion of my 2 passions in life, books and cats. Let me know what you think!

* Winner of Mayhem at the Orient Express: Anita Yancey

* Winner of A Cookbook Conspiracy: Lindy Gervin

Last week on Mochas, Mysteries and More:

* Character Interview with Sophie Winston from The Diva Frosts a Cupcake by Krista Davis

* Bathing Beauties, Booze & Bullets with Ellen Mansoor Collier Book Tour

* Meet Jerry Garcia from Kylie Logan's Mayhem at the Orient Express Review/Giveaway

* Tara Thursday: Rain, Rain Go Away

* The Final Arrangement Book Tour with Annie Adams

* Fido Feature: Smoky the Yorkie Doodle Dandy

NetGalley:

 

For Review:

 

Bought:

    

Fido Feature: Smoky the Yorkie Doodle Dandy

Even though I'm a certified cat lady of the highest order, I also adore dogs and enjoy giving them equal time on my blog. (Just don't tell Tara.) Over the weekend I was watching a show called Monumental Mysteries on the Travel Channel and was introduced to a famous Yorkshire Terrier named Smoky. This little four-legged war hero's story so touched my heart I immediately googled her and was thrilled to discover a book has been written about her!

For those of you (like me) who had never heard of the Yorkie Doodle Dandy, here's a little more about her:

Smoky, a Yorkshire Terrier, was a famous war dog who served in World War II. She weighed only four pounds and stood seven inches tall. Smoky is credited with beginning a renewal of interest in the once obscure Yorkshire Terrier breed.

In February 1944, Smoky was found by an American soldier in an abandoned foxhole in the New Guinea jungle. She was already a young adult Yorkie (fully grown). The soldiers initially thought the small dog belonged to the Japanese, but after taking her to a nearby prisoner-of-war camp they realized she did not understand commands in Japanese or English. Another GI then sold Smoky to Corporal William A. Wynne of Cleveland, Ohio, for two Australian pounds (equal to $6.44 at that time)—the price paid to the seller so he could return to his poker game.

For the next two years, Smoky back-packed through the rest of the war and accompanied Wynne on combat flights in the Pacific. She faced adverse circumstances, living in the New Guinea jungle and Rock Islands, suffering the primitive conditions of tents in equatorial heat and humidity. Throughout her service, Smoky slept in Wynne's tent on a blanket made from a green felt card table cover; she shared Wynne's C-rations and an occasional can of Spam. Unlike the “official” war dogs of World War II, Smoky had neither medical care nor a balanced diet formulated especially for dogs. In spite of this, Smoky was never ill. She even ran on coral for four months without developing any of the paw ailments that plagued some war dogs.

As described by Wynne, "Smoky Served in the South Pacific with the 5th Air Force, 26th Photo Recon Squadron [and] flew 12 air/sea rescue and photo reconnaissance missions." On those flights, Smoky spent long hours dangling in a soldier's pack near machine guns used to ward off enemy fighters. Smoky was credited with twelve combat missions and awarded eight battle stars. She survived 150 air raids on New Guinea and made it through a typhoon at Okinawa. Smoky even jumped from a 30-foot tower with a specially made parachute. Wynne credited Smoky with saving his life by warning him of incoming shells on an LST (transport ship), calling her an "angel from a foxhole." As the ship deck was booming and vibrating from anti-aircraft gunnery, Smoky guided Wynne to duck the fire that hit 8 men standing next to them.

In the down time, Smoky learned numerous tricks, which she performed for the entertainment of troops with Special Services and in hospitals from Australia to Korea. According to Wynne, Smoky taught him as much as he taught her, and she developed a repertoire beyond that of any dog of her day. In 1944, Yank Down Under magazine named Smoky the "Champion Mascot in the Southwest Pacific Area."

Smoky's tricks enabled her to become a hero in her own right by helping engineers to build an airbase at Lingayen Gulf, Luzon, a crucial airfield for Allied war planes. Early in the Luzon campaign, the Signal Corps needed to run a telegraph wire through a 70-foot long pipe that was eight inches in diameter. Soil had sifted through the corrugated sections at the pipe joining, filling as much as half of the pipe, giving Smoky only four inches of headway in some places.

Smoky’s work prevented the need to move 40 United States fighter and reconnaissance planes while a construction detail dug up the taxiway, which would have placed them in peril of destruction by enemy bombings. What would have been a three-day digging task to place the wire was instead completed by this little dog in minutes.

At the end of World War II, Wynne brought Smoky back to Cleveland to live with his family. For the long flight to the United States, Smoky was hidden in an altered flight oxygen mask carrying case. Upon their return, Wynne and Smoky were featured in a page one story with photographs, in the Cleveland Press on December 7, 1945.

Smoky soon became a national sensation. Over the next 10 years Smoky and Wynne traveled to Hollywood and all over the world to perform demonstrations of her remarkable skills, which included walking a tightrope -- while blindfolded! She appeared with Wynne on some of the earliest TV shows in the Cleveland area, including a show of their own on Cleveland's WKYC Channel 3 called Castles in the Air, featuring some of Smoky’s unbelievable tricks. Smoky performed in 42 live-television shows without ever repeating a trick. Smoky and Wynne were also very popular entertainers at the veterans' hospitals. On February 21, 1957, "Corporal" Smoky died unexpectedly at the approximate age of 14.

 

* Biography courtesy of Wikipedia and photos are copyrighted by Smoky's owner, Wm. A. Wynne.

The Final Arrangement Book Tour with Annie Adams

As it turns out, my relationship with the mortuary is what you might call strained.  Actually, I’ve been banished.  I couldn’t tell you why.  What I know is that I used to go into the viewing room, place the flowers on the casket, making sure nothing had been broken or damaged in transport, and then leave with the contentment that comes with a job complete.

Since my banishment, I’ve learned to close my eyes rather than watch a rotund attendant with short arms try to cram himself and my flowers through the same doorway, using as much caution as a rhino charging through the grass.

One time, in the good old days, a customer ordered an arrangement out of a picture book. The arrangement was made with springeri—sometimes called asparagus fern.  Asparagus fern is made of lots of tiny, beautiful green fingers that make an arrangement look soft and delicate.  Those little green fingers also shed like crazy!  I had discouraged the customer from the design because it looked more like a floral garland that trailed up and over the top of the open lid of the casket—which would potentially be very messy.  The customer insisted, so I obliged. 

I carried the garland in to the viewing room, coiled in my arms like a python.  I cautiously placed the garland at the foot of the casket, where it dangled, gracefully off the end.  Then, I maneuvered the rest as carefully as I could, across the top of the open lid.  As I reached up and over Mrs. Oleson’s head, my shirt came untucked. I instinctually grabbed for it, to cover my immodest display.  As I moved, a shower of tiny green leaves exploded—like a firework—all over the face, hair, shirt and hands of Mrs. Oleson. 

I was instantly ill.  I looked around frantically to see if anyone had witnessed my blunder, but the coast was clear. 

So I did what I had to do. 

The thing about those tiny green fingers is that they are incredibly sticky in places where you don’t want them to be, and yet they’re slippery too, especially against the silk shirt of a woman nestled into her final satin linens.  I tried to pinch my fingers as tight as I could, to pick the tiny leaves off of her face and out of her hair.  Suddenly, I heard voices, growing louder.  The new funeral director, who I didn’t know, came into to see if I was finished yet.  He told me the woman’s son was here to see his mother before everyone else came.  The young funeral director told me the son was very picky, and that he had an extremely short fuse and that he had already yelled at the secretary on the phone before he’d arrived.

“Oh no,” I said.  “You have to see what happened.  I tried to fix it but, I can’t pick up these tiny leaves.  It will take hours!”

The funeral director’s face flushed and he looked back toward the hallway.  “He’s out there right now.  I told him I wasn’t sure if we were ready yet.  Wait here.  I’ll get something to pick up the leaves while the secretary stalls him with paperwork.”

After what seemed like several minutes he returned.  With a Shop-Vac.

“What will I do with this?” I said.  “I thought you would have some special mortician’s tool or tweezers or something.”

“This is the best I can do.  I’ve got to go.”

A florist is called on to do many different things.  You want me to suspend a piano covered with flowers from a ceiling?  I can do that.  You want me to make a floating centerpiece with a volcano erupting out of the center?  No problem.  But Shop-Vac a dignified woman’s face?  Of course. A florist has to do what a florist has to do.

I took a deep breath, and switched the machine on, hoping it wouldn’t be too loud.

Apparently Mrs. Oleson had the best wigmaker on the planet.  Because until I reached the area above her shoulders, I had no idea she was wearing a piece. 

As it happens, a Shop-Vac makes a really weird sound when you suck a wig into its hose. 

You know, now that I think about it, it was right around that time that I was banished to flower room only deliveries, and that about sums up my relationship with the mortuary.

               

About The Final Arrangement:
The Vulture is dead.

The body of Quincy McKay’s nemesis and biggest competitor in the floral business has just been discovered in a casket at the mortuary, complete with flowers on the lid.

Derrick Gibbons, aka The Vulture, stole all of Quincy’s funeral business, and now she’s on a mission to get it back. But there’s a problem—Quincy is now the main suspect in The Vulture’s murder.

Armed with only her Zombie delivery van, good intentions, and the business card of a handsome cop named Alex, she must find the killer, save the flower shop, and keep from ending up in the next casket. If she can dodge burning bushes, the plague of a polygamist ex, and her mother’s Mormon Mafia Spy Network, her life with Alex and her shop could become the perfect arrangement.


About Annie Adams:
Annie Adams is the author of THE FINAL ARRANGEMENT, book one in The Flower Shop Mystery series. She lives with her husband, two giant dogs, and two too giant cats in Northern Utah at the foot of the Wasatch Mountains. When not writing she can be found arranging flowers or delivering them in her own Zombie Delivery Van.

Purchase from Amazon.

Connect with Annie Adams: Website | Twitter | Facebook

Tara Thursday: Rain, Rain Go Away

Hey everybody, Tara here! I'm not a big fan of summer...I have a thick coat and it's just way too hot. Mommy picks up all of my blankies and we can't cuddle. That being said, I still like to lay in sunny patches (my tortie coat is soooo beautiful when the sun hits it!), but lately it just won't stop raining!!!

Will we ever see the sun again Mommy???