Tag: Reading Challenges

#BookReview #BlogTour The Black Crescent by Jane Johnson @HoZ_Books #TheBlackCrescent

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Welcome to the opening day of the blog tour for The Black Crescent by Jane Johnson which will be published on 3rd August and is available for pre-order now. My thanks to Poppy at Ransom PR for inviting me to take part in the tour and to Head of Zeus for my review copy. Do check out the post by my tour buddy for today, Sarah at A Cottage Full of Books.

You can listen to Jane talking about the book here.

About the Book

Hamou Badi is born in a mountain village with the magical signs of the zouhry on his hands. In Morocco, the zouhry is a figure of legend, a child of both humans and djinns, capable of finding all manner of lost objects, hidden water.

But instead, Hamou finds a body.

This unsolved murder instils in Hamou a deep desire for order and he trains as an officer of the law, working for the French in Casablanca. But the city is trapped in the turmoil of the nationalist uprising, and soon he will be forced to choose between all he knows and all he loves…

Format: Hardback (400 pages) Publisher: Head of Zeus
Publication date: 3rd August 2023 Genre: Historical Fiction

Find The Black Crescent on Goodreads

Purchase links 
Bookshop.org 
Disclosure: If you buy a book via the above link, I may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookshops

Hive | Amazon UK 
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My Review

In her Author Note, Jane Johnson writes, ‘I love to learn when I write fiction, and I hope readers will enjoy learning alongside me.’ I certainly did. Although I was aware of a French influence in the history of Morocco, I knew nothing about the extent of French control over the country and, in particular, the period of unrest that followed the exile of the Sultan of Morocco in 1953. Nor was I aware of the brutal actions taken by the French authorities to suppress the independence movement, some parts of which (like the fictional Black Crescent of the title) turned to increasingly violent measures.

Hamou Badi is our witness to these events, events he views with increasing horror. ‘Violent deaths became a daily occurrence. Regime collaborators killed by nationalists. Nationalists executed by the authorities. Moroccan activists killed by settlers. Settlers murdered by terrorists.’ He struggles with a growing sense of complicity; he joined the French police force out of a desire to do good but finds his integrity increasingly compromised.

Hamou comes to epitomise a person caught between two worlds and two identities. As he observes, ‘There it was, he was alone again, stranded in that no-man’s land between the rock of the French regime and the hard place inhabited by his own people.’ That there will come a breaking point seems unavoidable and when it does, it has devastating consequences.

Hamou is a solitary, self-effacing person making him an entirely sympathetic character. His innate sense of justice and humanity shines through everything he does. For instance, the kindness he shows towards Didi, a young beggar. And his instinctive desire to help those in trouble will reap rewards at crucial points.

Although there are brutal scenes at some points in the story, there’s also humour particularly towards the end of the book as Hamou takes up a new role and is presented with some tricky problems to solve. There was even a laugh out loud moment, which rarely happens for me.

The author’s love for Morocco, its people and its culture is evident throughout the book. (You can read about her very special – and romantic – connection with the country on her website.) In particular, there are wonderful (and mouth-watering) descriptions of the food of Morocco but also of its landscape, architecture, traditions, social and religious customs and rich history. The strong sense of community in which ties of blood are of particular importance is exemplified by Hamou’s family. But there is also a sense of change in the air, a transition from old ways to more modern ways, with some things lost in the process but others gained.

I’ve enjoyed all the books I’ve read by Jane Johnson – Court of Lions, The Sea Gate and The White Hare – but I think The Black Crescent is her best yet. It had everything I look for in historical fiction: a fascinating period setting, an engaging central character and a compelling story line that transported me to a different time and place. And, for me, it had the perfect ending.

In three words: Immersive, powerful, assured

About the Author

Jane Johnson is a British novelist, historian and publisher. She is the UK publisher of many bestselling authors, including George R.R. Martin. She has written for both adults and children, including the bestselling novels The Tenth Gift and The Salt Road. Jane is married to a Berber chef she met while climbing in Morocco. She divides her time between London, Cornwall and the Anti-Atlas Mountains.

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#BookReview A Stranger in My Grave by Margaret Millar

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About the Book

A nightmare is haunting Daisy Harker.

Night after night she walks a strange cemetery in her dreams, until she comes to a grave that stops her in her tracks. It’s Daisy’s own, and according to the dates on the gravestone she’s been dead for four years.

What can this nightmare mean, and why is Daisy’s husband so insistent that she forget it? Driven to desperation, she hires a private investigator to reconstruct the day of her dream death. But as she pieces her past together, her present begins to fall apart…

Format: Paperback (320 pages) Publisher: Pushkin Vertigo
Publication date: 4th July 2019 Genre: Crime

Find A Stranger In My Grave on Goodreads

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Disclosure: If you buy a book via the above link, I may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookshops

Hive | Amazon UK 
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My Review

I was introduced to the crime novels of Margaret Millar when Pushkin Press kindly sent me copies of three new editions of her books issued by their Pushkin Vertigo imprint. I read the first two of them, The Listening Walls and Vanish in an Instant in 2019 and 2021 respectively (links from each title will take you to me review) but this one has been gathering dust – literally – on my bookshelf until now. A determination to finally read it was the motivation to put it on my list for the 20 Books of Summer 2023 reading challenge.

Like her other novels, A Stranger in my Grave is tightly-plotted and based on an intriguing premise: Daisy’s recurring dream about a gravestone with her name inscribed on it along with the date of her death. But she is very much alive. Dismissed by her husband and mother as nothing more than a strange nightmare, Daisy cannot rest until she has discovered the meaning behind the dream. A chance encounter brings her into contact with bondsman and private investigator Stevens Pinata. Grudgingly he agrees to help Daisy try to piece together the events of her ‘deathday’. It sets off a chain of events that means Daisy has to rethink everything she thought she knew and reveals some long-buried secrets.

There’s a strong theme of parentage that runs through the book. For example, Pinata is a foundling given his name by the religious institution that took him in. Whereas Daisy is unable to have children, a source of disappointment to her and her husband, Jim. Similarly, racial identity plays a part in the plot.

I really liked Pinata as a character perhaps because, alongside the reader, he’s trying to piece together the bits of the puzzle. And the occasional allusions to some things about his life make him a sympathetic figure. Unlike most of the other characters, he comes across as trustworthy although sometimes his instincts let him down and, as the author warns us, he has failed to see he’s being taken in or has missed something important.

Margaret Millar has been described as ‘a genius of plot twists’ and in the other two books I’ve read I could see the evidence for that accolade. Unfortunately, in this case, less so. Although A Stranger in My Grave is a taut, well-crafted mystery and there a number of surprises along the way I was disappointed in the motive when it was eventually divulged and although there is the final page reveal that is the author’s trademark, I had already worked it out.

I received a review copy courtesy of Pushkin Press.

In three words: Clever, assured, intriguing

About the Author

Margaret Millar (1915-1994) was the author of 27 books and a masterful pioneer of psychological mysteries and thrillers. Born in Kitchener, Ontario, she spent most of her life in Santa Barbara, California, with her husband Ken Millar, who is better known by his nom de plume of Ross Macdonald. Her 1956 novel Beast in View won the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Novel. In 1965 Millar was the recipient of the Los Angeles Times Woman of the Year Award and in 1983 the Mystery Writers of America awarded her the Grand Master Award for Lifetime Achievement. Millar’s cutting wit and superb plotting have left her an enduring legacy as one of the most important crime writers of both her own and subsequent generations. (Photo: Goodreads author page)