East of the Sun

Books

Rin Tin Tin by

The life and legend of the world’s most famous dog While serving during World War I serviceman Lee Duncan came across a little of new born German Shepherd puppies. He took...

21 April 2012
Books

The Snow Child by

Mabel and Jack have left home and family behind and travelled to Alaska, to the edge of the world, trying to turn the wilderness into a farm that will support them....

19 March 2012
Books

The god of the hive by

Book 10 in the Mary Russell & Sherlock Holmes mysteries. I really wish that I had gone back and reread the previous book in this series before starting this. The language...

14 September 2010
Books

The devil in the flesh by

by Raymond Radiguet translated by Christopher Moncrieff

Although the 1930’s mini challenge has come to an end, when I spotted this book at work I thought it might fit, and wanted to read more books of that time. Of course then I read the details and discovered that it was actually written earlier than that… Oh well :)

The devil in the flesh created quite a bit of a scandal when it was published, semi-autobiographical, the author wrote it from the age of sixteen to eighteen, after his own affair with a married woman. And that, my dears, is the central theme to this book. In fact, it is the end all and the be all of everything in this book. Our 15/16 year old narrator’s affair with a married woman. And I found that incredibly off-putting.

20 August 2010
Books

Whose body? by

The body of a stout man is found in a bathroom, naked but for a gold pince-nez. At the same time, a prominent banker goes missing. Is the dead man the missing Mr. Levy? And if so, how did he manage to end up in Mr. Thipps’ bathroom? And was he murdered?

This is the first book Sayers wrote to feature Lord Peter Wimsey. He is the second son of an ancient English house, his elder brother is the Duke of Denver. And his hobby is criminology. Already he has solved the case of some missing emeralds, now he is on two cases at once; to find the missing Levy & to figure out the who, why and where concerning the mystery body.

2 April 2010
Books

The game by

Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes have returned home to Sussex in order to enjoy the new year, but soon enough they travel to London to visit Holmes’ brother, Mycroft, whose health is not the best. While there he suggests that perhaps they might look into a case for him. A possibly-missing person. In India.

Of course they head off, and the person they are looking for, none other than Kimball O’Hara, known to many from Rudyard Kipling’s Kim.

28 March 2010
Books

Justice Hall by

I do love these books.

This the sixth in the series returns our heroes to their present after the flashback that was O Jerusalem. That sentence doesn’t really make much sense, but figure it out, think of it as a challenge :) Holmes & Russell have just returned from The Moor and are settling back in at home when their comes a disturbance at their door. Ali Hazr has shown up, with a head wound and wanting their assistance. He needs their help with Mahmoud, his “brother”. Of course Holmes had already pointed out that neither of the two arabs they were travelling with were actually from that region, but it is, nevertheless, a surprise to learn where they come from and just what an aristocratic name both bear.

23 March 2010
Books

The moor by

Author: Mary Russell
If you’ve read my reviews of the other books in this series you’ll already know that I really love them. If you haven’t here’s a quick recap; Sherlock Holmes, a real historical figure retired to Sussex in order to tend to his bees. While there he met Mary Russell; a somewhat moody, if quite brilliant, teenager and took her under his wing. She became his apprentice and later his wife. Errr, spoiler alert! In this, the fourth in the series, Sherlock sends Russell a telegram summoning her to Dartmoor and the moor that was the setting for The Hound of the Baskervilles. There are reports of another ghostly beast roaming the countryside and an old friend of Holmes would like him to investigate. Especially when a man is found dead on the moor.

22 February 2010
Books

A letter of Mary by

The more I read of this series the more I come to love the characters, and indeed the whole set-up. Mary Russell is such a believable character, and King’s Holmes is just perfect.

The mystery at the heart of this novel concerns the death of Dorothy Ruskin. An archaeologist working in Jerusalem, she met up with Russell and Holmes when they travelled the area back in book one. In this book she comes to visit them, bringing with her an exquisite wooden box which contains a parchment on which is written a letter, from Mary of Magdala to her sister. Was it really written by the infamous Mary Magdalen? And was the car accident that killed her really an accident?

15 February 2010
Books

A monstrous regiment of women by

Author: Laurie R. King
A Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes mystery #2

I’ve enjoyed the other books in this series that I’ve read, but this one I loved. Totally loved it.

It is 1921 and our hero, Mary Russell, has finished her undergraduate course at Oxford. She is also about to come into her inheritance. Her life on the brink of being totally her own. No longer a ward of her aunt’s; she will be able to live as she chooses. But how will she choose, and what does she want to do with her life? Will she pursue an academic career with her interest in theology? Or does her future lie with Holmes and the life of a detective?

2 February 2010
Books

East of the Sun by

by Julia Gregson

I wasn’t too sure about this book when I first started to read it. It didn’t quite grab my attention, and I wasn’t sure that I’d like any of the three main characters. But I persevered. And came to really quite enjoy it. The story is set in 1928, and our heroes are off to India. One to start a new life with her fiancée whom she really doesn’t know. One to serve as bridesmaid but really part of the “Fishing Fleet” off looking for a husband. And the third is looking for independence and a new life in an old home.

4 January 2010
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