Now You See Them

Book Review: Now You See Them by Elly Griffiths (Stephens and Mephisto #5)

I adore Griffiths’ Ruth Galloway book series and also loved her recent standalone The Stranger Diaries but, on a whole, I will admit I have not enjoyed the Stephens/Mephisto (or as it is advertised on the US cover, The Magic Men) series quite as much. The trend continues with Now You See Them.

For this, the fifth book in the series, Griffiths has skipped ten years, thus the post war 50s has morphed into the swinging 60s. I really enjoy books set in the 50s, where PTSD from WW2 is so prevalent and am less interested in the 60s as I find the era is just a bit overused generally in books, movies, television etc.

The book opens with my favourite character of the series, the Great Diablo, having passed away, bringing everyone back to Brighton for the funeral. Edgar is now the Super and is married to Emma who, as such, has had to resign from the police force. With three children, she is kept busy but largely dissatisfied with her housewife/mother status. Max is married to a famous Hollywood actress and Ruby is the star of her own tv series. Their reunion is disrupted when a young girl from the local boarding school (which Emma attended) goes missing.

The crime itself is satisfying enough, there are a lot of red herrings and, as Max would say, misdirection, meaning I was not really sure whodunnit. I did guess a couple of key points, however and, as per usual, I would have preferred Edgar to be more involved. He takes the backseat yet again though and it’s Emma who is the focus of this installment.

I have been a bit indifferent towards Emma’s character until now and I’m still not feeling the love completely. I understand Griffiths is using her to highlight some important points, especially when it comes to feminism (as she also does with the introduction of another female police officer, Meg) but sometimes I think writers need to just show the readers misogyny in a more organic way instead of pushing it straight down our throats.

Classism and racism are also themes of the book and again, it feels heavy handed. Maybe writers need to remember not every reader is too stupid to understand subtlety.

Max’s lovelife is another thing I’m starting to feel indifferent about. Although he turns up married in this book, it’s glaringly obvious he will soon be taking up with yet another different woman and Griffiths will work in yet another love triangle into one of her books. *sigh* Unlike Edgar though, at least Max does get to do some sleuthing, which is a bonus.

With the new 60s setting, Griffiths took the opportunity to include the Brighton riot/clash between the Mods and Rockers. This real life historical gang war is always interesting (and so very English!).

Out of all the books of the series I thought this one felt much more ‘cosy mystery’ than the others and I recommend it to fans of that genre that are looking for a decent story. Now You See Them is very standalone too. I think new readers will pick up on most of the previous plot points fairly easily.

The Zig Zag Girl is still the best of the series but I think there are worse books you could pick up than this and I will probably keep going with the series in the future.

4 out of 5

Crosstalk

Book Review: Crosstalk by Connie Willis

Crosstalk is a story about Briddey who decides to have (is pressured into having actually) an EED, which is a device implanted in your brain to make you more emotionally connected with your other half. Obviously sticking anything into your brain just to be trendy is a bad idea and things don’t go to plan. (If you’re feeling all superior, thinking you would never do such a thing, get over it; no one heeds any warnings about mobile or airpod use). Briddey’s other half, Trent, is a complete dick (I think it’s pretty obvious from the first chapter so I won’t say that’s a spoiler) who is more worried about his job than Briddey’s welfare. So, to the rescue comes CB, a techno whiz who works at the same mobile phone company as Briddey and Trent.

I would say Crosstalk, out of everything Connie Willis has written, is probably her most mainstream offering. Definitely in Australia it’s the only one of her titles I’ve seen readily available in paperback format. (I bought the Oxford Time Travel series in book form after listening to them on audible and I had to get them from overseas.) And, unlike her other books which only have a hint of romance, it’s probably one which could almost be catergorised as a straight up romance. Or if I was getting technical, a scifi romantic comedy.

Although mainstream, it is still a very trademark Connie Willis book. Yes, Crosstalk is my sixth Connie Willis book and, as such, I am now very familiar with her style. Actually, I would say there is no other writer that I can think of (certainly none I’ve read of late) that has such a distinctive and familiar style.

She always includes communication issues for the characters. Here she has characters who can’t get through to others due to lack of mobile coverage, or phones not being turned on, or phones being taken off their owners for one reason or another. This is all rather ironic in Crosstalk as much of the plot is centred on Briddey’s phone company (a rival to Apple) wanting to expand into a world where communication with others would be even more instantaneous and all encompassing. For those of you who have conspiracy theories regarding mobile phone usage, this is the book for you! (Or not, depending on the state of your nerves.)

The other Connie Willis ‘must have’ is characters being unable to do something because of their physical constraints. In Passage, for example, it was a confusing hospital layout which had the lead characters stuck in stairwells etc. In Crosstalk, Willis takes on a corporate office. Priddey has to divert her mission on many occasions because of the physical layout of her office building including (my favourite) avoiding people by diving into the claustrophobic photocopy room without knowing if it is already occupied by someone else she should be avoiding.

Another popular Willis theme which pops up again is marental love and its various issues. This time, it was a mother with helicopter syndrome. Priddey’s sister has terrible anxiety when it comes to her only child and she hovers and monitors everything nine year old Maeve does. Maeve, not surprisingly, rebels and Willis manages to make this into a dramedy of sorts. Maeve reminded me a lot of Maisie from The Passage, although I do much prefer the latter, not to mention Colin from Doomsday Book and Binnie and Alf from Blackout/All Clear. Those young characters really tugged at all my heartstrings and, although one of the major plot points of Crosstalk was the need to protect Maeve, I didn’t find all this so convincing. Maeve, for starters seemed a little too clever for her age and I guessed almost all of the twists surrounding her plot which was disappointing.

Actually, I guessed quite a lot of the plot points in Crosstalk. Willis usually throws such curveballs and I kept waiting for one that I’d missed which was going to smack me in the head. There were a couple of surprises, but no shocks, if that makes sense.

I think Willis’s book fall into the love them or hate them category and I definitely love them. In fact, I have a weird almost unhealthy passion for her books. However, unfortunately, out of all the ones I’ve read so far, Crosstalk is my least favourite.

I’ve thought about this and I think my main issue is that I was expecting more. As I said, it seems to be her most commercially successful and I was expecting pure sweet and funny and romantic. I got that but I also got predictable now and then and I’ve never really had that feeling with her other books.

Unlike Willis’s other books, there isn’t much tragedy in Crosstalk and, if I’m honest, I really think it needed something to give it that extra punch Willis usually throws my way. There was an attempt of tragedy/drama but unfortunately I never really felt scared or sad for our characters. Oh, there were a couple ‘how-are-they-going-to-get-out-of-this’ moments but never that huge knot of tension in my guts I felt as I read the Oxford series and The Passage.

I also never fell completely and utterly in love with Priddey or CB. I liked them but I wasn’t in love with them like I am with Mr Dunworthy and Mary Ahrens and Merope, for instance.

Another thing Willis also adds to every book that didn’t work as well for me in Crosstalk was her pop culture references. She’s used Agatha Christie books and the Titanic disaster, for example. In To Say Nothing of the Dog she uses my beloved Harriet and Lord Peter from Dorothy Sayers. In this one it’s show tunes. Ugh. I hate musicals with a passion, so this just didn’t work for me at all. She also uses a couple of poems but they’re very American and I had never heard of them, so again, I think I felt a little cheated in this arena. (I will say I liked the library references though and, as I assume everything Willis tells us about it is true, found it nuts as well as fascinating.)

If I had to compare this to a normal book, I’d easily give it 5 out of 5. But comparing it to other Willis books, I have to rank it lower even though that breaks my heart. 4 1/2 out of 5 (I know, you’re saying half a measly star – but if I could, I’d give all her other books 100 out of 5, so that half a mark is actually a big deal.)

His Christmas Feast

Book Review: His Christmas Feast by Nora James (Rainbow Cove Christmas #1)

I wanted to like this and it did start promising, however, it went downhill pretty quickly. Emily of the sad Christmas back story lives next door to French chef, Christophe. And apparently her sad Christmas back story is an excuse for her to be a total bitch to a guy who pretty much should be the perfect neighbour. (No dogs or all night parties or any other reason is really given as to Emily’s issues – there was the wonky fence which resulted in him seeing through it to her in her pjs in the backyard, I guess. This doesn’t seem enough for her bitter attitude.)

Look, I *love* the old hate-to-love trope, but this one just took things a step too far. Emily is just plain rude. I mean, not to spoil, but one of her things is deliberately calling Christophe ‘Christopher’ even though she knows this is the incorrect pronunciation. That’s not funny or quirky or sexy! It might even be classed as slightly racist.

Instead of UST simmering between the characters, there’s a case for an AVO, or at least a Dispute Resolution Officer coming out to sort out their arguments!

What do I know though because despite all this the characters constantly think about how hot the other is. This *really* started to annoy me (can you tell?). Gods forbid if a romance was based on someone’s personality or intellect or similar likes or ability to make someone laugh. All those people who love Love Island might understand this whole ‘even though she’s spewing out constant vitriol, she’s hot’ mentality but it’s not for me. I need my characters, especially my heroines, to have some redeeming features and I’m afraid Emily has zero. Everyone has a sad story, this doesn’t give you an excuse to be the rudest person on earth.

Couldn’t go on after about 70%.

1 1/2 out of 5

PS The 1 1/2 comes from the food porn (Christophe is a chef after all) and the fact that it is truly a Christmas book with a Christmas setting.

A Texas Kind of Christmas

Book Review: A Texas Kind of Christmas by Jodi Thomas, Celia Bonaduce and Rachael Miles

A Texas Kind of Christmas is three separate stories by three different authors, published in the one book. They all have the same time and place setting, St Nicholas Hotel in Dallas 1859. Each story also uses the grand ball which is held on Christmas Eve at the hotel. Unfortunately, however, this is the limit of the Christmas theme.

I think I whinge about this every time I read what is marketed as a Christmas themed book – the fact that there is usually a tenuous connection to the season. And here I am saying it again. These stories could have been set any time during the year. There is no real Christmas feel to them at all.

Anyway… The first is One Night at the St Nicholas by Jodi Thomas which started with much promise. Thomas’s writing was really a cut above the average romantic writer’s I’ve read of late. There was an interesting mistaken identity mixed with a Cinderella vibe plotline and I was pretty much engrossed right up to about chapter six. From there, Thomas faded. The plot became a little ridiculous (too much love at first sight maybe?) and the charm disappeared. Average, despite the strong start. (I would probably try another of her books though because her style definitely held me captive there for a while.)

I then went on to Birdie’s Flight by Celia Bonaduce which actually had the same basic premise as the first story. That is, this installment, like the first, had two sets of potential pairings which led to a bit of mistaken identity/identity swap situation. One of the leading females was again in a servant position, meaning it also had that Cinderella feel to it. (I was assuming the writers did this deliberately but was then thrown when the third story was completely different.) I did think it was a little odd that neither story overlapped. I mean, there is two incidents involving police etc in the same motel at the same time but no character mentions the other? Seems unrealistic. I think the plot overall was a little stronger with this story. The ending was a little rushed but that might have been more to do with the short format. Overall, this was my favourite out of the three stories.

The third story was Spirit of Texas by Rachael Miles. This time most of the story took place as the leads travelled to Dallas. They talked about books and native Americans and slavery and storms. (I need an American to let me know if Texas could really have twisters and hail storms in winter. I mean, in Aus, such things would only occur during the summer and I baulked at this plot point.) A lot of the plot was glaringly obvious and cliched, including the obligatory sad back stories, but my biggest issue with this one was the weak conflict. The reason the leads can’t be together could have been sorted in two seconds. This one did mention some of the plotline from the earlier stories, but only briefly. Out of the three this was probably my least favourite.

All the stories are sweet enough I guess. Definitely not a lot to do with Christmas though. Maybe 3 out of 5 overall.

Head On

Book Review: Head On by John Scalzi (Lock In #2)

This is the second book which features Chris Shane, an FBI agent who suffers from Haden’s, a disease which keeps its sufferers completely immobile or ‘locked in’. To allow Hadens to interact with able bodied humans, a network is placed in their brain and they then communicate via a couple of options, the most common using a robot-like body called a Threep.

This book has Shane and his partner, Leslie Vann, investigating a death during a new sport invented for Hadens called Hilketa. Hilketa reads like a mixture between American football and a Roman Gladiator battle. The game involves one team protecting the Goat (a player supposedly chosen at random) whilst the opposition tries to rip off the Goat’s head to use as a ball (which will subsequently be punted through goal posts to score). The title, therefore, becomes pretty clever — keep your head on to win, face the danger head on etc.

Although still a police procedural at heart, there’s probably more action scenes in this installment, especially more featuring Threeps. There’s scenes featuring Tank Threeps which are Hulk-like ramming robots created especially for the purposes of Hilketa. There’s inert Threeps coming to life (I found this particularly creepy actually) and also the opposite situation, ie Hadens leaving an empty shell of a Threep after they’ve committed a crime. I won’t, however, go into the whole sex model Threeps which feature (LOL!).

Actually, I will go into the sex models slightly… They do strengthen the whole argument I’ve read on the internet regarding several characters, including Shane, never having their gender and/or sexuality really specified (pretty much every character has a non-gender specific name – Leslie, Chris, Taylor etc). A lot of readers say it’s a bit of a social experiment as to how you ‘see’ the characters but, as I listened to Wil Wheaton’s narration via Audible, I must admit I probably failed some sort of feminist test and think of Chris as male.

Talking of Wheaton, his narration again is superb. He has great comic timing. I literally laughed out loud at Shane and Vann’s witty back and forth banter. (Vann’s cranky old lady act will never get old.) There’s also some very funny scenes involving a cat. (This reminded me a lot of Connie Willis’s To Say Nothing of the Dog, so if you’re a fan of that book, I suggest you grab this one and give it a go.)

I must admit some of the passages explaining the politics and money and business interests surrounding the game got a little boring and, dare I say, a little American. Not enough to annoy me though.

I do recommend that you read Lock In before you attempt Head On. Although the mystery/crime plots are completely separate, I think you’d need to read the first book in the series to fully appreciate and understand Head On.

This is an instant 5 out of 5 favourite and I hope Scalzi comes back to this universe soon. In the meantime, I will give some of his other books a go.