A Burial at Sea by Charles Finch

Book Five. As much as I like reading about Charles' usual cohorts (Graham, Thomas, Toto, Edmund, Jane), I really enjoyed this book. It might actually be my favorite one to date. Adventures at sea are always interesting, especially when murder is involved. It was nice to get out of London for a change of pace as well.

So, Charles & Jane have already been married for three years now and they are pregnant with their first child. Charles is asked by Edmund to go on a secret mission to Egypt. A British traitor has given the French a list of names of British spies. Five of the eight men on the list have been murdered. Charles' mission is to negotiate with a French contact in Egypt and see if the French have plans to go to war against Britain. Charles' is also supposed to work with the French for continued access to the Suez Canal, which is profitable for moving goods & merchandise. So this is the premise for Charles boarding the ship, the Lucy, and sailing to Egypt.

Most of the book, and most of the story, is actually the events that occur as Charles is sailing to Egypt however. The night after the Lucy leaves England, one of the Lieutenants, Halifax, is found murdered. Halifax, by all accounts, is a well-liked man. The Captain of the Lucy, Martin, asks Charles to figure out who murdered Halifax, and Charles cannot decline of course. He misses his detective work. After the first murder, there is a storm, a rumor of a mutiny on board, another murder, and Charles' life is put at risk yet again, which ends in his near-death. How many lives does Charles Lenox have? ;) There are some interesting characters on the Lucy, and I definitely had a couple of "favorites". One thing I keep forgetting to mention about these books is that at times they are laugh-out-loud funny. I think the more developed the characters become, and the better the reader gets to know the characters, the funnier the comments are.

Charles solves the murder, but still has to have this secret meeting in Egypt, which doesn't go exactly as planned. Does it ever? But he manages to complete his mission and sail the Lucy back to England, sans another murder. Whew! I really enjoyed this adventure and I hope Charles leaves London again in the future!

Wendy's Rating: ****

A Stranger in Mayfair by Charles Finch

This is Book Four of the Charles Lenox detective series. Charles is now married to Lady Jane and has been elected to Parliament. Charles & Jane have also combined their two homes into one large home and combined their households. Lots of change for each of them. There is definitely an adjustment period for sure. Charles & Jane have a difficult time sharing their feelings with each other, which doesn't help either of them.

Toto & Thomas have a child, Grace Georgianna, whom they call "George". George's arrival on the scene changes the lives - and marriage - of Toto & Thomas, who are besotted with their baby daughter. (That's the perfect word!) But of course, their insane happiness brings sadness to Charles & Jane. (Oh, if only they would talk to each other!!) Neither Charles or Jane will admit that they do or don't want a child themselves. (But they both do; they just can't admit it.)

With the combining of households, Charles & Jane have two butlers. One has to go. Thankfully, Charles needs a Secretary for Parliament and thankfully, Graham accepts this new unlikely position. He is perfect for the position and Charles, with his constant distractions, should be eternally grateful that Graham keeps him on track! Charles, once again, is completely intrigued by the death of a footman and can't help but investigate this murder which he has been asked to stay out of several times by several people.

Charles is very self-introspective in this book. He is trying to figure out what he wants out of life. He feels a huge responsibility to be in Parliament, but he discovers that it's less exciting than expected and he has less influence than he would like. Plus, he can't seem to give up being a detective. It's really his passion. Unfortunately, even though he is making name for himself with his sleuthing abilities, it's still not a "accepted" line of work in society. So he pretty much agonizes about these two things. And he also spends quite a bit of time feeling depressed about his marriage since they can't seem to talk about the important things.

He does manage to find the time to figure out who murdered the footman, and I thought it was cleverly unveiled. I really didn't know who had murdered him until Charles figured it out. I liked how the story unfolded to a reasonable and plausible ending.

So, moving on to Book Five!

Wendy's Rating: ****

The Fleet Street Murders by Charles Finch

Book three of the Charles Lenox detective series begins with the murders of two journalists. One journalist is corrupt; the other is squeaky clean. Charles can't help but be intrigued, even though he also has other things on his mind in this book. First of all, he is engaged to be married to the love of his life, Lady Jane Grey, and he was asked to run for Parliament for the Liberal Party in a by-election in Stirrington. So, his interests are split three ways for the entire book, which certainly caused some stress in his life.

Charles feels a family responsibility to be in Parliament, and he really wants to fulfill this dream of his. At the same time, he acknowledges that he can't seem to stop playing amateur detective, which is a profession looked down upon in his level of society. He just can't help himself though. So, even though he travels to Stirrington to campaign (he only has two weeks to sway all the local voters away from his opponent who was born and raised in Stirrington), he manages to sneak back to London for some detective work on the side, much to everyone's dismay on the campaign trail.

In addition to all of this, Charles & Jane's best friends, Toto & Thomas, suffer a miscarriage months into Toto's pregnancy. One thing about this time period - or maybe it's the British way - but couples do not communicate very effectively!!  Toto & Thomas have always had their share of marriage troubles, and this is no exception. Toto always relies on Jane for comfort, rather than Thomas, who always turns to drink. It's very frustrating. With the miscarriage, comes a bump in the road for Charles & Jane's pending marriage. Jane wants to slow things down, which sends Charles' into an emotional tailspin. Eventually, they do talk. Thankfully.

I love how Charles' life moves forward in this series. He doesn't just "solve murder mysteries". He lives his life and manages to solve murders in the in-between time of personal events in his life. He is nearly 40 years old, but he is still "finding himself". I guess when you are born wealthy, you are allowed to take your time with that! Ha! One of my favorite characters is Graham, Charles' butler. Graham is so incredibly helpful and smart and loyal. Nothing fazes him in the slightest. Charles is very "eccentric" for his level of society and Graham just goes with the flow, offering his advice in the most respectful way.

I enjoy this series. It's such an incredibly different way of living (wealthy London in the 1800's vs middle-class America in 2021), but I guess that's what I find fascinating. Plus, I love the characters.

Wendy's Rating: ****

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

This book was nothing like I expected. At one point, quite late in the book, I was definitely thinking to myself, "What???" At that point, if someone had asked me if I liked it, I would have hesitated before answering. Did I like it? Well, thanks to the last 70 pages or so, I guess I can say yes. It's an odd and confusing story at times though.

I liked the protagonist, Noemi Taboada, a lot. She was intelligent, funny, spirited and confident. Of course it is these same characteristics that caused her "life plan" to veer off course. Noemi is sent to High Place (basically an "English Mansion" in the countryside in Mexico) by her father to check on her cousin, Catalina, who recently married Virgil and moved to High Place. Noemi's father had received a distressing letter from Catalina asking for help. So Noemi travels to High Place, which ends up being an extremely old, cold, dark and inhospitable mansion. No one visits except for the family doctor. No one talks at dinner. Catalina appears delirious and ill most of the time, and it's difficult for Noemi to even spend time with her.

Noemi tries to seek help for her cousin's condition from a local doctor. She also visits a local medicine woman on behalf of Catalina to get a vial of a "sleep remedy" that Catalina had secretly tried previously. Catalina has been diagnosed with tuberculosis by the family doctor, although she doesn't have symptoms of it and Noemi suspects she would be better served by seeing a psychiatrist. Catalina is disturbed by the walls of the house talking to her; nightmares; something in the cemetery, etc. Noemi quickly experiences the same things.

Virgil is extremely strong, healthy & handsome. Noemi can't decide if he can be trusted. He is charming and kind at times; and appears deceitful and evil at other times. The servants are all cold and uncommunicative. The only person who truly treats Noemi with consistent kindness is Francis, who comes across as weak and unattractive, especially compared to Virgil. The most disgusting family member of all is the patriarch, who is dying. He has black boils all of over his body and he reeks of decay.

Noemi finally asks Francis if the house is haunted - and she receives a non-answer. It's hard to know if the house is haunted, or the food/drink served them is tainted with an hallucination-causing drug, or if the mold growing everywhere is making them sick. It is at this point that things get really weird (over 200 pages into the book)! I certainly don't mind "supernatural" stories, but this one goes way outside my normal supernatural box!

The ending is a bit ambiguous as to what happens in the future, but I hope the best for the survivors of this living nightmare.

Wendy's Rating: ***3/4 

Troubled Blood by Robert Galbraith

Wow! This 5th installment of the Cormoran Strike/Robin Ellacott series is phenomenal. At a whopping 927 pages, which is long for any book much less a detective novel, it expands our knowledge of both Cormoran and Robin's personal histories, provides development of the personal relationship between them, as well as lays out an intricate, multi-character, astrologically-based 40 year old cold-case of the disappearance of a young female doctor that Cormoran and Robin are hired to solve. Of course this cold case, which they are given one year to solve, is certainly not their only case, so we are on the journey of their other cases as well. It continues to astound me how talented JK Rowling/Robert Galbraith is as a writer. I can't even begin to think where she comes up with her ideas - and how long it takes her to lay out the details of each of her stories so that they weave together into a fascinating exploration of human nature at its worst.

Not only does the original detective in this 40 year old case use astrology to try to solve the case, using horoscopes, astrological symbols and stars, but he expands his thought process to include Steven Schmidt's 14-sign zodiac (advocated in 1970). The detective has some mental health issues (of course!), so he is obsessed with fitting all his suspects into the zodiac. Cormoran and Robin spend many hours trying to dissect his astrology ramblings (he left a notebook with his musings and drawings) to help them understand if there is any merit to his discoveries pertaining to the case when he first interviewed all of the interested parties 40 years previously.

In addition to working many, many hours at their agency, Cormoran is also spending time with his dying aunt Joan (who was really more of a mother to him) and coming to terms with the pending loss; intensely avoiding his half-siblings who want Cormoran to join them and their famous Rockstar father, Jonny Rokeby, for a "family photo"; still feeling responsible for Charlotte's mental health and trying to manage his feelings for her; and trying to come to terms with his true feelings for Robin. It's a lot for any man, especially one who doesn't express himself very well - or very often.

Robin is also dealing with a lot. Matthew continues to drag out their divorce proceedings; she has to deal with Matthew & Sarah "sitings" while still trying to absorb their betrayal against her; her own history of being a victim of rape/assault; clients always assuming that she is Cormoran's assistant instead of his partner in the agency; and her own feelings for Cormoran.

There is SO much more than all I mentioned above as well! And I loved every single word of it. In fact, as I neared the end I slowed down my reading because I didn't want it to end. I love that JKR/RG doesn't spell everything out for the reader. Sometimes, she gives you the means to find the information, and then the reader has to work to find it.

So now I wait for the 6th book of this series. "People" are predicting it will be published in 2022 or so. Apparently she was already writing it in Spring of 2020. I have to wonder how long it will be! Ha! Anyway, love, love, love this author.

Wendy's Rating: *****