Tag: historical mystery

Book Review of Legacy of the Lynx by Clio Gray

whatcathyreadnext

About the Book

legacy

1798. Three people, two brutal murders, one promise…

Golo Eck is searching for the fabled lost library of The Lynx, Europe’s first scientific society, founded in 1603.

Fergus, his friend and fellow adventurer, is on the trail of the legend in Ireland when he becomes embroiled in the uprising of the United Irish against English rule. His only hope of escape is Greta, a courageous messenger for the United Irish cause. Following the bloody battles of New Ross and Vinegar Hill, Fergus is missing, and Greta is on the run. 

Golo meanwhile suspects other forces are on the trail of the Lynx, and he heads to Holland in pursuit. When Golo’s ship founders and he disappears, his ward Ruan is left to fend for himself, a stranger in a strange land.  Can Ruan pursue the trail to the lost library? Will Golo and Fergus be found? Can Greta escape Ireland with her very life? And will the truth of the Legacy of the Lynx finally be revealed?

Format: ebook (268 pages) Publisher: Urbane
Publication date: 3rd November 2016 Genre: Historical Fiction

Find Legacy of the Lynx on Goodreads

Purchase Legacy of the Lynx from Amazon

My Review

I love my historical fiction, particularly with a mystery element, so I was immediately drawn to this book both by the cover and the description.  However, despite having a large and imaginative cast of characters and lots of action, the novel just didn’t work for me.  

The author is particularly ruthless with her characters, many shortly after they have been introduced, and one of the main characters, Ruan Peat, comes across as a stroppy teenager who is difficult to warm to or care about.  Although there are lots of action scenes, a large section of the book is based around events in the Irish Rebellion which seemed extraneous to the main plot, the search for the lost library. 

Throughout the book, I found myself waiting for more information about the history of The Lynx but when some colourful details were eventually given these were recounted very briefly by a minor character.  This is clearly a well-researched book inspired by historical fact and most of the writing evokes the period in which it is set.  However, there were some modern phrases that jarred (such as “keeping his mouth zipped”, “plonked himself down”, “split early doors”).   I felt the book did pick up towards the end as the individual threads were woven together.

About the Author

Clio Gray was born in Yorkshire, and, after a childhood spent first in Saltburn-by-the-Sea and then Devon, she went to London to study philosophy, then Leeds, where she completed a degree in the History of Art. Finally she took a Post Grad Dip Lib, and went into the public library service, where she remains now, after upping sticks to settle in the Highlands of Scotland. 

A life-long lover of books, she kept on in her established career in libraries, and now works in Tain Library in Easter Ross. Inspired by the Highlands and its unique Nordic connections, she finally settled down to write, beginning with the short story circuit, before moving on to novels. Since then she has won a number of prestigious awards and competitions, including the Harry Bowling First Novel Award in 2004 and The Scotsman Orange Short Story Competition in 2006, nominated for the Man Booker in 2015 and longlisted for the Bailey’s Fiction Prize 2016.

Clio is the founder of HISSAC, the Highlands and Islands Short Story Association and is Chair of the Judges of HISSAC’s Annual Open Short Story and Flash Fiction Competitions. She also sat on the founding committee of Bloody Scotland, the first International Crime Writing Festival of Scotland. (Photo/bio: Author website)

Connect with Clio
Website | Facebook | X/Twitter

Book Review – Miss Treadway and the Field of Stars by Miranda Emmerson

whatcathyreadnext1 Comment

About the Book

miss-treadway

Soho. 1965, When an American actress disappears from the Galaxy Theatre, her young dresser, Anna Treadway is determined to find out what happened to her.

Anna’s search will lead her through a London she barely knew existed: a city of reggae clubs and back street doctors, of dangerous prejudice and unexpected allies. She is aided by a disparate group of émigrés, each carrying secrets of their own.

But before she can discover the truth about Iolanthe, Anna will need to open herself – to her past, her present and the possibility of love.

Format: ebook (306 pages) Publisher: 4th Estate
Publication date: 12th January 2017 Genre: Historical Fiction

Find Miss Treadway and the Field of Stars on Goodreads

Purchase Miss Treadway and the Field of Stars from Amazon

My Review

This was a great read that would keep you entertained for hours on a train or plane journey.  At first, it seems like it’s going to be a straightforward period detective mystery but there are a number of elements that, as you read on, raise it to another level. 

Firstly, the authentic feel of the period setting.  This is the England of homes without central heating, smoke-filled bars and buses, seedy clubs, drugs, awful coffee, backstreet abortions and, most shockingly, homophobia and overt racism against black people, Irish people and basically anyone who is perceived as an outsider. 

Secondly, Miranda Emmerson has created such a great cast of supplementary characters, including Ottmar, the Turkish café owner, and Aloysius, the Jamaican accountant.   It is no accident that the characters who help Anna in her search for Iolanthe are all outsiders and perhaps it’s the fact that Iolanthe is also an outsider that makes them care so much for her fate. 

Lastly, this is such a multi-layered novel because underneath the simple mystery narrative are questions of identity and reinvention.   All the characters have either reinvented themselves, wish to reinvent themselves or are struggling to play a part they haven’t quite come to terms with.  There’s Anna, who admits “I tried to be someone and I failed” and is drawn to starting over anew; Sergeant Brennan Hayes, who changes his Christian name and accent to disguise his Irish origins (“His new voice commanded more respect, his new name spoke of privileged beginnings.  He didn’t belong anywhere, he was aware of this, but he looked like he belonged, sounded like he belonged”); his wife, Orla, who empathises with Iolanthe’s determination that “one part of your life needs to end and another to begin” when she realises that Brennan “just wasn’t who I thought he was at all”;  and Aloysius, who has moved to London because he is “in love with the idea of England” but the England of Dickens, which turns out to be a far cry from reality he experiences.   

I was really impressed with this book.  At the end, there are questions unanswered but I’d like to think these were not unintended loose ends but deliberate on the part of the author or (even better) threads to be woven into a future book.

I received an advance review copy courtesy 4th Estate via NetGalley.

In three words: Authentic, engaging, satisfying

About the Author

Miranda is a novelist, playwright and academic. Originally from London she now lives in South Wales where she watches the fairground at Barry Island spin and whirl from her desk.

Before she started writing novels she wrote drama for BBC Radio 4, adapting books and writing original dystopian science fiction. And before that she was a secretary, a copy writer, a receptionist, a sale assistant and all the others things writers do to get by. Before all those things she was a reader, an only child who lost herself in books and loved the worlds they allowed her to explore.

Connect with Miranda
Website | X/Twitter | Bluesky