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Renaissance Artists of Venice – Part 1

For the A-Z Challenge three years ago, I presented Renaissance artists. I was heavily into Renaissance art when I was an undergraduate at Mount Holyoke College; my professor loved Florence and emphasized the Florentine artists, so I jumped at the chance to see an exhibit of the Venetian Renaissance artists when it came to the North Carolina Museum of Art. (We saw it at the same time as the Ansel Adams exhibit, about which I posted a few weeks ago.) For this first of two posts, let me give you a little background… The main differences between the artists of Florence and Venice are the times during which they worked and the media they used. Florence is considered the birthplace of Renaissance art (late 14th century), while Venice figured largely in the late or high Renaissance, during the later 15th and early 16th centuries. The artists of Florence first worked in tempera or fresco. Fresco is a technique for mural painting involving the application of pigment to a wall covered with fresh plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the pigment to merge with the plaster, and when the plaster sets, the painting becomes part of the wall. The area to be painted was first covered with an under layer of plaster named the arriccio. Often the artists would sketch their compositions on this under layer in a red pigment called sinopia. The artist could not make changes in the composition of the painting and had only the drying time of the plaster in which to complete his work (about 8 or 9 hours). Fresco colors are flat. Tempera is created when pigment is mixed with egg to produce a durable paint. The types of colors that painters could achieve with tempera was limited, but it was the medium of choice for most artists working in Italy until the advent of oil paints. A far greater variety of pigments can be used in tempera painting, tempera paint can be applied to any substance, such as dry plaster, wood, stone, terracotta, vellum, and paper. Because it isn’t applied to wet plaster, the pigments are not degraded by the caustic action of wet lime. Tempura colors are somewhat flat. Because of the relatively fast drying time, artists using fresco or tempura sketched their paintings before creating them in their media. Thus we have surviving sketches by some of the most famous Florentine artists. Oils, by contrast, have a slow drying time, which allows for corrections and changes to the painting directly on the canvas. Their application is easy, as is the blending of colors. Oil allows for deep rich colors, subtle gradation, and the application of paint in layers. Oils were first used in Venice because the damp climate was less suited to fresco and tempura, but their use spread to Florence. In my next post, I’ll show you some of the paintings I saw at the NC Museum of Art. 0 0

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Book Review: Henry – Book Three of the Tudor Trilogy by Tony Riches @tonyriches #RBRT #historical fiction

I have read parts one and two of this trilogy (Owen and Jasper) and enjoyed both books very much. I learned quite a lot about the War of the Roses and with book three had the opportunity to learn more about Henry VII, who for centuries has been overshadowed by his much more famous and flamboyant son. After victory over King Richard III at the battle of Bosworth Field, Henry Tudor becomes King of England. Henry is related to Owen Tudor, who was first a servant and then husband to a Queen of England, and Jasper, his son, who continued the fight to make his nephew Henry the rightful King. Uniting the houses of Lancaster and York with his marriage to Elizabeth of York is not an easy task, and Henry must now deal with rebels and a series of pretenders plotting to take his throne. Different from books one and two, which were filled with swash and buckling, this third book is a sedate waltz through a quagmire of barons and earls whom Henry fears to trust. His mother, the doughty Lady Margaret Beaufort, is the only person in whom he has the confidence to help him keep peace and ensure the survival of his family. It is also the love story of Henry and his beautiful Plantagenet wife. Thus this volume has a slower pace but is rampant with intrigue. Few probably recognize that Henry VII maintained peace for 28 years, married his daughters to a King of Scotland and an Emperor of Rome, and betrothed his oldest son Arthur, to Catherine of Aragon, thus setting in motion the tumultuous reign of Henry VIII and the magnificent times of Elizabeth I.  Henry was a hazy, cold impression in my mind, but Tony Riches fills him out, gives him intelligence, compassion, human frailty, and a consuming love of country, and I ended the book with great admiration for this man. As always with this author’s books, the historical detail is fascinating and complex. I think it is very fitting this book emerges on the heels of the discovery and reburial of the bones of Henry’s great adversary, Richard III. Although my favorite book in the trilogy is the first one, Owen, this is a solid and compelling ending to the Tudor Trilogy and I recommend it highly to anyone with an interest in British history, or even just history. About the author Tony Riches was born in Pembrokeshire, West Wales, and spent part of his childhood in Kenya. He gained a BA degree in Psychology and an MBA from Cardiff University and worked as a Management Consultant, followed by senior roles in the Welsh NHS and Local Government. After writing several successful non-fiction books, Tony decided to turn to novel writing. His real interest is in the history of the fifteenth century, and now his focus is on writing historical fiction about the lives of key figures of the period. His novels Warwick, The Man Behind the Wars of the Roses and The Secret Diary of Eleanor Cobham have both become Amazon best sellers. Today Tony has returned to Pembrokeshire, an area full of inspiration for his writing, where he lives with his wife. In his spare time he enjoys sailing and sea kayaking. Visit Tony online at www.tonyriches.co.uk, Tony Riches Author on Facebook and follow him on Twitter @tonyriches. You can find Henry on Amazon and Kindle: 0 0

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Book Review: Clash of Empires – The Mallory Saga by Paul Bennett #RBRT #historical fiction #family saga

I chose to read this book for Rosie’s book review team because my knowledge of the French and Indian Wars is limited to what I learned reading The Last of the Mohegans by James Fennimore Cooper and Northwest Passage by a Maine author I revere: Kenneth Roberts. I hoped to increase my knowledge with Clash of Empires and the book did not disappoint. This first book, The Mallory Saga, is modestly described as follow: “In 1750, the Mallory family moved to the western Pennsylvania frontier, seeking a home and a future. Clash of Empires reveals the harrowing experiences of a colonial family drawn into the seven-year conflict between the British and French for control of the continent – the French and Indian War.” What an understatement this blurb is! The book is so much more, populated by three-dimensional characters, embedded in a story that has you on the edge of your seat wondering when the next tomahawk will fall, and (at least for me) stimulating me to do more reading on the various historical events. By 1754, both the British and the French were well established in the ‘New World,’ and families from England were encouraged to go there for a better life, with the promise of land. Both France and Britain ignored the fact this land was already inhabited by many Native American tribes, treating them more or less like wayward children, plying them with gifts or promises never kept to pay them for their land. The Mallory family from Ireland is already established in Eastern Pennsylvania when Thomas decided to move his family to the western frontier. At this time the frontier is just west of the Allegheny mountains and in French- controlled territory. They establish a trading post on the Kiskiminetas River, a tributary of the Allegheny River in western Pennsylvania. Hard to think of western Pennsylvania as wilderness! Mallory brings friends with him, all of them interesting, and the author draws the reader into the harshness of life on the frontier, especially with rumors swirling of raids by the French and their allies, the Shawnee, to destroy British forts and English settlements. The Mallory family – daughter Liza and sons Daniel and Liam – each have a story line that winds in and out of strategic events that mark this period. There are losses of people along the way to the brutality of war at that time, and I found myself grieving right along with the other characters. The main story line concerns Liam, a wanderer by nature, who is adopted by a Mohawk tribe and marries the chief’s daughter. He acquires two mortal enemies amongst the Shawnee, much like Hawkeye’s deadly enemy Magua in The Last of the Mohegans, and his story is one of anger and revenge. From this novel comes a comprehension of the vast and different tribes of Native Americans and one can’t help but wonder how different the story might have been if there had been any respect and understanding of their cultures. The reader also gets the sense of the early beginnings of this country, and the courage of settlers to put their lives on the line for the promise of a better life for their families. The history is excellent, weaving in the events of the war and historical figures – such as the young George Washington, Daniel Boone, and the British Generals Braddock and Munro – to create a real world, worth visiting. I very much look forward to the next novel in this series. About the author Paul Bennett focused more on his interest in history during his education, not just the rote version of names and dates but the causes. He studied Classical Civilization at Wayne State University with a smattering of Physical Anthropology thrown in for good measure. He spent four decades working in large, multi-platform data centers, and is considered in the industry as a bona fide IBM Mainframe dinosaur heading for extinction. He currently resides in the quaint New England town of Salem, Massachusetts with his wife, Daryl. The three children have all grown, in the process turning Paul’s beard gray, and have now provided four grandchildren; the author is now going bald. You can find Paul On Facebook:   https://www.facebook.com/Clash-of-Empires-1115407281808508 On Twitter: @hooverbkreview And email: mallorysaga@gmail.com 0 0

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Book Review: This Parody of Death by William Savage @penandpension #RBRT #Georgian Mystery

This is the third book in the Ashmole Foxe series, about a Georgian dandy, bookseller, and occasional unofficial investigator. I reviewed both of the previous books and like this character. Of the three, this book is my favorite. Ashmole Foxe, a man about town and known for his foppish ways, moves easily through Georgian Norwich because of his ownership of a popular bookstore. He has also developed something of a nose for investigation. When a miserly, curmudgeonly undertaker and bell ringer is found with his throat cut, Foxe is sought out by the local grocer, Foxe’s friend Captain Brock, and Alderman Halloran to find the killer. There are more tracks to follow in the investigation than a dog has fleas: a group committed to a secret heresy, a son who betrayed his father, a house with deep and deadly secrets, a woman determined to protect the great passion of her life, a daughter scorned, and a group of bell ringers with axes to grind.  Foxe has to unwind a web of lies, false leads, and decades-old deceits to find the killer. There were no giveaway hints in this book, and I was kept guessing almost to the end. The characters are wonderfully individual, from the urchin whom Foxe befriended, with his own army of street minions, the widow who runs his store, to the seafaring Captain Brock, who may soon be landlocked by a woman. The Georgian world created by the author is authentic to minuscule details, and the reader is immediately immersed in its colorful activity. What I liked most about This Parody of Death was the growth of Foxe. He engages in serious self-examination about the nature of his life, his over-the-top fashion, and possible goals for the future. This character is truly three dimensional and real. There are a few drawbacks I have noted before: some repetition, over-long discussions between characters and Foxe’s lengthy considerations. However, these are minor compared to the enjoyment of this read. Who knew I would learn about the mathematical patterns of the change-ringing of church bells? I recommend this book as a great read, as are all of William Savage’s books. About the author: William Savage grew up in Hereford, on the border with Wales and too his degree at Cambridge. After a career in various managerial and executive roles, he retired to Norfolk, where he volunteers at a National Trust property. His life-long interest has been history, which led to research and writing about the eighteenth century.  But his is not just a superficial interest in history, but a real desire to understand and transmit the daily experience of living in turbulent times. You can find This Parody of Death on Amazon: William Savage’s blog is Pen and Pension:  http://penandpension.com/author/bluebrdz1946/ 0 0

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What To do on a Rainy Day

It’s been raining non-stop for two days and the critters are getting antsy. Elijah Moon just had to go out today, but decided he didn’t like being wet. So he just sat here. Then he came in and went back to zzzzing. Our squirrels are quite pathetic in the rain. Their tails get bedraggled and since I need to fill the bird feeders, which they have somehow learned to draw down (even though they were advertised as being squirrel proof), they are happily chawing on the hot pepper suet. Also supposed to be squirrel proof. Here is the one I named Robert (yes, he is male), approaching the feeder and then getting his lunch.        As for me, I am writing ! No outside distractions…well, except for Elijah and the squirrels. 0 0

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I COULD HAVE DANCED ALL NIGHT…

Last week, Hubs and I went to a production of My Fair Lady by Playmakers Theater, the oldest theater that is part of a university (UNC). This production did not have the glitz and glam of a Broadway play – with two pianos in place of a full orchestra, a horseshoe- shaped stage, and an audience of 200 – but the story is ageless, the voices were excellent, and I fell in love with Alfred P. Doolittle all over again. Most of you know that the musical My Fair Lady is based on a play by George Bernard Shaw called Pygmalion, first performed in 1914. Pygmalion is, of course, the story told by the Roman poet Ovid of a celibate sculptor who creates and falls in love with a statue of Galatea. Galatea is brought to life by Venus, and Ovid created a love-conquers-all sentimental finish. A lifelong champion of progressive causes and a reformist crusader on a host of fronts, Shaw used the stage to engage and confront the world, a venue for a clash of ideas. My Fair Lady is the story of an increasingly combustible relationship between a humorless, goal driven teacher (Pygmalion) and a lively, intelligent female pupil of the lowest class (Galatea), a pointed critique of the class system in England. In1912, Shaw was experiencing the decline of Victorian moralities, the rise of women in society as embodied by suffragists, shifts in politics that led to the destabilization of Europe and ultimately WWI. Shaw loathed the adaptation of plays to musicals, as a result of what he saw as a terrible transposition of his play Arms and the Man to a operetta, The Chocolate Soldier. He stated “nothing will ever induce me to allow any other play of mine to be… set to any music..” The first step in the creation of My Fair Lady occurred because Shaw held the cinema in slightly less contempt. Hungarian filmmaker Gabriel Pasqual charmed Shaw into giving him the film rights to Major Barbara, Androcles and the Lion, Caesar and Cleopatra, and…Pygmalion. Shaw insisted that no happy ending be given to his play, even though actors knew this is what audiences wanted. Nevertheless, Pascal’s film ends with the implication of a love match for Eliza and Henry Higgens. Pascal’s film studio retained its licensing to Shaw’s plays, and after Shaw’s death in 1950 at the age of 94, Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe signed on to reinvent Pygmalion as a musical, with the creation of My Fair Lady. My Fair Lady, as described in our program notes by Gregory Kable, is a delightful marriage of contraries in the stage and screen version, and captures the tensions Shaw wanted to portray. The perfection of Lerner and Loewe’s musical adaption of Pygmalion is such that six decades later, audiences still experience the context of the original play – the tension,  the beauty, the humanity, and now the soaring lyrics – of which even Shaw would approve. PS Some trivia Rex Harrison, who played ‘enry ‘iggens in both the stage and movie version of MFL, was very disappointed when Audrey Hepburn was cast as Eliza, since he felt she was miscast and had hoped to work with Julie Andrews, who had played Eliza on stage. He told an interviewer, “Eliza Doolittle is supposed to be ill at ease in European ballrooms. Bloody Audrey has never spent a day in her life out of European ballrooms.” Nevertheless, when Harrison was once later asked to identify his favorite leading lady, he replied without hesitation, he replied, “Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady.“ Although playing a 19-year-old, Audrey Hepburn was actually 35 in real life. Jeremy Brett was cast as 20-year-old Freddie so Hepburn would not seem too old in comparison. Most, but not all, of Audrey Hepburn’s singing was dubbed by Marni Nixon (who also dubbed for Deborah Kerr in The King and I and  Natalie Wood in West Side Story), despite Hepburn’s lengthy vocal preparation for the role. A dubber was required because Eliza Doolittle’s songs could not be transposed down to Hepburn’s lower vocal range. 0 0

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RAVE REVIEWS SPRINGTIME BOOK & BLOG BLOCK PARTY.

Hi and a huge welcome to Rave Reviews Book Club’s BOOK & BLOG BLOCK PARTY at Watch Nonnie Write!  Location:  Chicago, Illinois, the City of the Big Shoulders, which just happens to be where I used to live. *** Here’s What I’m Giving Away Today: One autographed paperback copy of Death in a Red Canvas Chair One autographed paperback copy of Death in a Dacron Sail One autographed paperback copy of Death by Pumpkin  So there will be three winners! ***** Let me introduce myself to anyone new to Saylingaway: I’m a Professor Emerita at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine. After forty years of research and teaching undergraduates and medical students, I decided to turn my knowledge of human anatomy to the craft of mystery writing. I’m still learning my craft! In addition to the Rhe Brewster mystery series, I have written for Death South and Sea Level magazines and the Bella Online Literary Review. I live with my husband, a cat who blogs, and a hyperactive dog in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and spend a portion of every summer in Maine, researching new ideas for my books and eating lobster. I’ve written three books in the Rhe Brewster Mystery Series so far, the fourth – Death in a Mudflat – will be out by the end of this year. There’s no end to the deadly mischief my protagonist can get into… DEATH IN A RED CANVAS CHAIR On a warm fall afternoon, the sweet odor of decay distracts Rhe Brewster from the noise and fury of her son’s soccer game. She’s a tall, attractive emergency room nurse with a type A personality, a nose for investigation and a yen for adrenalin. This time her nose leads her to the wet, decaying body of a young woman, sitting in a red canvas chair at the far end of the soccer field. Following her discovery that the victim is a student at the local college, her investigation is thwarted by an old frenemy, Bitsy Wellington, the Dean of Students and Will, Rhe’s husband, who resents her involvement in anything other than being a wife and mother. Rhe’s interviews of college students leads her to a young woman who had been recruited to be an escort on a Caribbean cruise ship, and Rhe trails her to a high class brothel at a local seaside estate. The man behind the escort services is the owner of a chain of mortuaries and is related to the dead student. When Rhe becomes too much of a threat to the owner’s multiple enterprises, he takes steps to eliminate her. Can she survive being kidnapped and locked in a refrigerator with the dead? In this first in the Rhe Brewster Mystery Series, Rhe more than holds her own, but can she figure out why the body was placed in the chair on the soccer field? ***** DEATH IN A DACRON SAIL On an icy February morning, Rhe Brewster, an emergency room nurse with an unstoppable yen for investigation, is called to a dock in the harbor of the small coastal town of Pequod, Maine. A consultant to the Pequod Police Department, Rhe is responding to a discovery by one of the local lobstermen: a finger caught in one of his traps. The subsequent finding of the body of a young girl, wrapped in a sail and without a finger, sends the investigation into high gear and reveals the existence of three other missing girls of the same age, plus a childhood friend of Rhe’s. Battered by increasingly vitriolic objections from her husband, the pregnant Rhe continues her search, dealing with unexpected obstacles and ultimately facing the challenge of crossing an enormous frozen bog to save herself. Will she survive? Is the kidnapper someone she knows? In Death in a Dacron Sail, the second book in the Rhe Brewster Mystery Series, Rhe’s nerves and endurance are put to the test as the kidnapper’s action hits closer to home. ***** DEATH BY PUMPKIN   At the annual Pumpkin Festival in the coastal town of Pequod, Maine, Rhe Brewster, an ER nurse and Police Department consultant, responds to screams at the site of the Pumpkin Drop. Racing to the scene, where a one-ton pumpkin was dropped from a crane to crush an old car, Rhe and her brother-in-law, Sam, Pequod’s Chief of Police, discover the car contains the smashed remains of a man’s body. After the police confirm the death as a homicide, Rhe embarks on a statewide search to identify the victim and find the killer. During the course of the emotional investigation, she survives an attempt on her life at 10,000 feet, endures the trauma of witnessing the murder of an old flame, and escapes an arson attack on her family’s home. There is clearly a sociopath on the loose who is gunning for Rhe and leaving bodies behind. With Sam unable to offer his usual support due to an election recall and a needy new girlfriend, Rhe realizes that the only way to stop the insanity is to risk it all and play the killer’s game. Maine’s most tenacious sleuth is back, this time to confront a menace that threatens to destroy her life and those closest to her ***** This is the first blog block party I’ve joined. I hope you’ll come back to visit my blog. It’s very eclectic – I never know what I will post (so far book reviews, historical pieces about the Pilgrims, art, short stories, interviews), whatever floats my boat each week. You can find me here and On Twitter: @rhebrewster And on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/noelle.a.granger And:  https://www.facebook.com/search/str/n.a.+granger+-+the+rhe+brewster+mysteries/keywords_top Hope you are enjoying the book and block party! 0 0

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Book Review: The First Blast of the Trumpet by Marie MacPherson @MGMacpherson #rbrt #historical fiction #John Knox #history of Scotland

The book is the first of a trilogy about John Knox, a Scottish minister, theologian, and writer who was a leader of the Reformation and the founder of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland, marking the 500th anniversary of his birth. In this first book, Knox plays a minor role to the two main characters: Elizabeth Hepburn, a feisty woman who becomes the Prioress of a convent, and David Lindsey, her one-time lover, who is the long-time tutor and confidant of King James V of Scotland. The story opens with a charming scene that reminded me of Little Women, where Betsy, the nanny to the three Hepburn daughter, herbalist and possible witch, divines the girls’ fates from the tossing of nuts into a blazing fire. The three girls are completely different in character and although the book traces the fate of little Meg and the voluptuous and fiery Kate, it is the strong-willed Elizabeth who drives the story. This is a meticulously researched historical novel, right down to the immediate inclusion of a Scots dialect with the English. I must admit this put me off at first, because there were many words I didn’t know and I hardly wanted to take time to look them up. However, as the chapters passed it became clear what the words meant, much like reading English with words represented by only a few letters. The amount of detail, intertwined plots, religious conflicts, monarchical rivalries, and interpersonal connections are too much for this reviewer to detail, but if a sense of time and place drive your interest in history, and especially Scottish history, you will be in pig heaven. Ms. Macpherson’s main characters shine with description like bright pennies – the gluttonous and painted Dame Janet, Prioress before Elizabeth; Maryoth, the nun covetous of being prioress, evil and conniving against Elizabeth; John, Elizabeth’s uncle and Prior of St. Mary’s, greedy and eager to have Elizabeth replace Janet, his sister, to keep the rich convent in the family; and Davie Lindsey, Elizabeth’s young lover, who proves feckless and sacrifices Elizabeth more than once to serve his king.  If there was any downside to the many characters, it was the number of them, but the author includes family trees and a complete cast of characters for the challenged! There are no lusty love scenes, although rape and sex abound, so this is not a romantic barn-burner. The author, however, does a great job educating the reader about the social mores of sex, courtship, marriage and child-bearing. John Knox comes into the tale rather late, as the apparent son of a poor woman, into whose lungs Elizabeth breathes life, then adopts as her godson. He will be a major character in the next two books. This volume lays down the considerable history of the time from Margaret Tudor, sister to Henry VIII and wife of James IV, to the birth and early years of Mary, Queen of Scots, and sets the stage for Mary’s contentious relationship with Knox. All in all, a challenging and intellectual but satisfying read, which I recommend – but not to the casual reader. About the author Marie Macpherson was born in the Honest Toun of Musselburgh, six miles from the Scottish capital, Edinburgh. After earning an Honours Degree in Russian and English, she spent a year in Moscow and Leningrad to research her PhD thesis on the work of the 19th century Russian writer, Lermontov, said to be descended from the Scottish poet and seer, Thomas the Rhymer. The rich history of East Lothian – especially the Reformation period – provides the inspiration for her first fictional work, based on the early life of the Scottish reformer, John Knox. Ms.Macpherson is the winner of the Martha Hamilton Prize for Creative Writing from Edinburgh University and was awarded the title ‘Writer of the Year 2011’ by Tyne & Esk Writers. You can find her on Twitter: @MGMacpherson Her blog:  https://mariemacpherson.wordpress.com/ And on Facebook:   https://www.facebook.com/Marie-Macpherson-218696288265954/ 0 0

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Book Review: The Curse of Arundel Hall by J. New #RBRT #Vintage Murder Mystery

The Curse of Arundel Hall is a cozy, the second in the Yellow Cottage Vintage Mystery series. There is a lot to like about this book, but it does have its drawbacks. Ella, following the death of her husband is given the strong suggestion by his boss, the British Home Secretary, that she forget about hIm and move away. She has decides to live on Linhay Island and take up residence in a refurbished cottage that was once a part of the Arundel Hall estate. There is a ghost living in a secret dining room that Ella discovers behind the kitchen, and she visits her friend, Harriet, the local librarian to find out more about her cottage and its history in relation to Arundel Hall. Her friend tells her a curse was placed on the hall by its first owner. Ella discovers a secret stairway from the hidden dining room to the cottage’s upper floors, and a centuries-old skeleton of a woman at the bottom of the stairs. The skeleton gives evidence she was murdered. Ella is invited to the manor hall for a celebration dinner of the engagement of the elderly owner to a much younger woman who claims to have been a stage actress. The evening takes a shocking turn when one member of the dinner party is murdered. Ella again joins forces with Scotland Yard’s Police Commissioner, her uncle, to find and catch the killer(s). The author creates a colorful world in Linhay Island, with wonderful, well-drawn characters, and after I got into the book, I found it very entertaining. Her descriptions convey the life on an island, the charm of Ella’s cottage and the menace and gloom of Arundel Hall exceedingly well. The main problem I encountered derives from the fact I hadn’t read the first book. I had no idea that Ella could really see ghosts and that Phantom, which I thought was her cat, was also a ghost. This was compounded by a substantial first chapter going into great detail – although beautifully written — about Ella’s childhood. I had to wait until midway through the second chapter to be introduced to the woman’s ghost. I also did not realize the era of the mystery until I took a close look at the stylish cover. More confusion derived from Ella’s traveling back and forth from the city to Linhay Island by car and train. Was there a bridge or a ferry? Finally, the book needs the hand of a copy editor. There were a sufficient number of errors to detract from the enjoyment I derived from the book. Now that I have become acquainted with Ella and her abilities, and despite the shortcomings, I do look forward to Ms. New’s next book in this series. About the author: J. New has been a voracious reader and writer all her life. She took her first foray into publishing in 2013 with An Accidental Murder, the first in her Yellow Cottage Vintage Mystery series. Originally from a small picturesque town in Yorkshire, she relocated in 2007 and currently resides with her partner and an ever-expanding family of rescue animals. She particularly loves murder mysteries set in past times, where steam trains, house staff and afternoon tea abound, and surmises she was born in the wrong era. She also has an impossible bucket list: to travel on the Orient Express with Hercule Poirot, shop in Diagon Alley with Sirius Black, laze around The Shire with Bilbo and Gandalf, explore Pico Mundo with Odd Thomas and have Tea at the Ritz with Miss Marple. J. New can be found at https://www.jnewwrites.com and on her blog https://www.jnewwrites.com/Blog.php 0 0

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