Category: Classic Mystery

Author Interview | Conversing with Mary F. Burns and proving how sophisticated the ‘Cosy Historical’ mystery has become!

Posted Tuesday, 2 December, 2014 by jorielov John Singer Sargent | Violet Paget mysteries, Lady Darby Mysteries, Mary F. Burns, The Spoils of Avalon 5 Comments

Whilst I was participating on The Spoils of Avalon blog tour on behalf of the Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours, I was meant to post this lovely conversation I had with Ms. Burns on behalf of her series and the genre at large. It sparked a conversational thread as well, which I have included below our main conversation as I had not realised no one was addressing the parallels and the changes within the Mystery & Suspense genre as I have started to observe a Renaissance of a new style emerging out of the gate when there is such an overflow of lighter cosies being marketed in today’s fiction.

I personally applaud the authors, who like Ms. Burns are taking the extra step towards ensuing the legacy of Agatha Christie and others like her; who are not only upheld in voice or style but are carried forward — where they are seeking out new timescapes inside the historical past to carve out their own cosy niche and elevate the cosy to a new level of immersion. I love sophisticated comedies and dramas, but this also parlays into my appreciation for a sophisticate cosy!

Cosy to me, first and foremost references the direct correlation between the crime itself and the level of intensity of the nature of the crime; either through descriptive narrative or through visceral imagery. I may watch certain hard-boiled crime dramas on television (the ones most addictive by far have been NCIS and Castle) but when it comes to curating a list of next reads and favourite cosies in print — alas! This is where I become quite particular in my choices and my penchant for a well-conceived mystery and/or suspense within the pages is put centerpoint. If I can help bridge the gap between where the cosies of the past and the cosies of the modern world are merging and re-defining themselves, then I consider myself blessed to be a book blogger who can showcase the differences.

Secondary to the first declaration on behalf of cosies, for me, are the realism of character, setting, era, and the plausible circumstances stitched around the mystery itself. I even like a light suspension of reality if bits and bobbles of fantasy elements are explored (those based on mythology, lore, or fable); but truly what I am seeking is a well-conceived idea which sparks such a joy to devour the story itself, I lose myself in the pages and never notice fully the dissolvementof time off the clock!

The death of a humble clergyman in 1877 leads amateur sleuths Violet Paget and John Singer Sargent into a medieval world of saints and kings—including the legendary Arthur—as they follow a trail of relics and antiquities lost since the destruction of Glastonbury Abbey in 1539. Written in alternating chapters between the two time periods, The Spoils of Avalon creates a sparkling, magical mystery that bridges the gap between two worlds that could hardly be more different—the industrialized, Darwinian, materialistic Victorian Age and the agricultural, faith-infused life of a medieval abbey on the brink of violent change at the hands of Henry VIII and Thomas Cromwell.

First in a new series of historical mysteries, <em>The Spoils of Avalon</em> introduces two unlikely detectives and life-long friends—beginning as young people on the verge of making their names famous for the next several decades throughout Europe and America: the brilliant and brittle Violet Paget, known as the writer Vernon Lee, and the talented, genial portrait painter John Singer Sargent.

Friends from the age of ten, Paget and Sargent frequently met in the popular European watering places and capitals, frequenting the same salons and drawing rooms in London, Rome, Paris, Florence, Venice, Vienna and Madrid. Both were possessed of keen minds and bohemian tendencies, unorthodox educations and outsized egos (especially Paget). Their instant, natural bonding led them to address each other as “Twin”, and they corresponded frequently when they were apart.

Henry James once described Violet Paget as having “the most formidable mind” of their times, and he was an active fan and patron of John Sargent, introducing him to London society and his own inner circles of literary and artistic genius.

I agree with what you revealed about taking an cosy historical mystery arc of narrative and fusing it directly into the heart of a well-respected historical figure by presenting the person and the era of the series setting in a believable series of circumstances that honour the person. What originally led you to realising you had a golden opportunity to bring forward John Singer Sargent & Violet Paget as crime solving partners?

Burns responds: I am a long-time fan of ‘historical’ amateur detectives (Oscar Wilde, Jane Austen) as well as purely fictional ones (Max Liebermann, Charles DuLuc), and have written some mysteries long ago. However, I had fallen so much in love with both Sargent and Paget while I was writing my “regular” historical Portraits of an Artist that I simply couldn’t let go of them, and I wanted readers to see how fun and interesting they are. I struggled with the challenge that Sargent isn’t all that well-known and that Violet Paget (aka Vernon Lee) is completely obscure these days, so who would want to read about them? But I decided it was worth the risk—I would write them so well that people would love them as I do! It seemed to me that the historical mystery genre was the perfect medium to bring out their mischievous and interesting characters, both serious and humorous at the same time. Read More

Posted Tuesday, 2 December, 2014 by jorielov in #IndieWriterMonth, 16th Century, 19th Century, Arthurian Legend, Blog Tour Host, Bookish Discussions, British Literature, Classic Mystery, Cosy Historical Mystery, Cosy Mystery, Debut Author, Historical Fiction, Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours, Indie Author, Jorie Loves A Story Features, Reader Submitted Author Interview

tCC (the Classics Club) | The #Classics Spin #8 eek! too wicked awesome for words! my first tCC Spin!

Posted Friday, 7 November, 2014 by jorielov A Fire Upon the Deep, A Tree Grows in Brookyln, Aimee Bender, Anna Karenina, Anne Bronte, Arthur C. Clarke, Betty Smith, Brideshead Revisited, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, Cranford, Daphne du Maurier, Daughters of the Witching Hill, Edgar Allan Poe, Elizabeth Gaskell, Emily of New Moon, Erin Morgenstern, Evelyn Waugh, H.G. Wells, Katherine Howe, Kim Stanley Robinson, L.M. Montgomery, Leo Tolstoy, Mary Sharratt, Neal Stephenson, Rebecca, Red Mars, Rendezvous with Rama, Rhonda Riley, Sarah Addison Allen, The Diamond Age, The Enchanted Life of Adam Hope, The Mistress of Spices, The Murders of the Rue Morgue, The Night Circus, The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane, The Sugar Queen, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, The Time Machine, Vernor Vinge 11 Comments

Official Blurb & Rules:

It’s time for another Classics Spin for any who are interested. What is the spin?

It’s easy. At your blog, by next Monday, November 10, list your choice of any twenty books you’ve left to read from your Classics Club list — in a separate post.

This is your Spin List. You have to read one of these twenty books in November & December. (Details follow.) So, try to challenge yourself. For example, you could list five Classics Club books you are dreading/hesitant to read, five you can’t WAIT to read, five you are neutral about, and five free choice (favorite author, rereads, ancients — whatever you choose.)

Next Monday, we’ll post a number from 1 through 20. The challenge is to read whatever book falls under that number on your Spin List, by January 5, 2015. We’ll have a check in here in January, to see who made it the whole way and finished the spin book.

Try to challenge yourself: list five you are dreading/hesitant to read, five you can’t WAIT to read, five you are neutral about, and five free choice (favorite author, rereads, ancients — whatever you choose.)

5 Choices to Celebrate my participation in Sci Fi November: (SPIN 1-5)

The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge
The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson
Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson
Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke

5 Choices of Novels I am trepideriously curious about reading: (SPIN 6-10)

The Murders of the Rue Morgue by Edgar Allan Poe
Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë
Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

10 Novels I am wicked happy about Reading Next: (SPIN 11-20)

Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe (Lucky 13!)
Daughters of the Witching Hill by Mary Sharratt
The Enchanted Life of Adam Hope by Rhonda Riley
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender
Emily of New Moon by L.M. Montgomery
The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen
The Mistress of Spices by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

I honestly haven’t had the proper chance to participate too much in The Classics Club for the first year I am a tenure in the club! I felt for sure I’d be visiting a heap of lovely clubbers throughout the book blogosphere, whilst participating in all the wicked fun activities that the club puts together for us to enjoy! However, 2014 proved to be a bit more unique as time went forward and thus, I have found myself on the fringes of being in the tCC rather than being directly apart of the community itself! So much so, that I honestly only remember joining in for ONE (oy vie!) club check-in and recently and I only recently published my thoughts on a collection of ghost stories by Edith Wharton (one review in twelvemonths? ohh, dear!)!

I even lost the hours to join in the wicked joy of being a part of Austen in August — whilst reminding myself that Austen can be appreciated any month of the year, and this year, I am picking *December!* as my Austen in Reading month! I am going to be blogging my visits within the joy of my first readings of the following:

Mansfield Park | Northanger Abbey | Persuasion

And, if I hadn’t been tweeting about the ghost stories by Wharton, I never would have had the beautifully lovely convo with the Wharton enthused ladies I met who have inspired me to combine my readings of Austen with Wharton between December & January respectively! (shared the convo on my interview with Marcia DeSanctis) I am going to put together a bit of an official RAL for the authors, and encourage anyone who wants to join me to do so! Especially the ladies who were involved with the tweeting!

I read the tCC updates by email subscription, as when I first read about the Spin this time round, I misunderstood the deadline completely and therefore, when Lost Generation Reader sent out this tweet:

Here is my list for The Classics Club Spin #8 http://t.co/e3mymbUOHR #ccspin @ourclassicsclub

— Jenna Miller (@lostgenreader) November 7, 2014

I had the happy-go-lucky moment of realising I could FINALLY play the SPIN! It was a wicked sweet moment, truly! And, now without further adieu I wanted to explain my choices!

The Time Machine by H.G. Wells | One of my focus tracks during SFN is a continuation of exploring “Time Travel”, and as I had declared last year, I have never had the honour of reading the one book I always felt set the stage for the stories published after it’s release; The Time Machine is simply a classic on a lot of different levels! To read my thoughts on Time Travel as a Focus Track, please visit the post I wrote for SFN 2013 which will become expanded for SFN 2014 this weekend!

A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge | One of my favourite branches of science fiction in tv series & motion picture is Space Opera, except when I stop to consider how much I’ve honestly read within this sub-genre I come up short each time I try to set a list to mind. This is one of my choices to branch into a beloved section of the genre and to seek out stories that take place in the cosmos and beyond our share of the universe.

The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson | One of my favourite characters in the world of Star Trek is “Seven of Nine” who embraced the technology of nanos as much as giving credit to how a character you once would have feared has a way of transitioning into a character you are quite attached to rallying behind. This novel explores nanotechnology & artificial intelligence in a way that I felt befit exploring and taking a step outside the world of Trek.

Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson | Ever since I was quite young scientists have been attempting to sort out ‘the next planet’ where man can continue to thrive within the range of planets outside our obit. Mars was always on the top level of choices and somewhere within the race to settle ourselves on Mars and the pursuit of seeing how far we have gone to create a plausible way to move there; I became quite enthralled in the science articles and non-fiction works which defended the choice. Robinson’s series was found whilst I was caught up in the race for Mars.

Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke | Quite literally one of my regrets as a letter-writer was not reaching out by pen and paper to Mr Clarke who passed before I found the courage to draft a letter to him. The Rama series has been on my list of ‘next reads’ long before I discovered the online bookish culture and world of book bloggers; it felt fitting to include this on my first SPIN!

The Murders of the Rue Morgue by Edgar Allan Poe | Although I established a newfound respect and admiration for Poe whilst reading Mrs. Poe on a blog tour earlier this year, I am still curiously cautious about reading his collective works! If any book would put me betwixt and between knowing whether or not I wanted to read it, this surely qualifies!

Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh | Quite happily I found the newest adaption for this classic novel on dvd earlier in the year, and soon after I had joined tCC officially! It was one of two dvd collections based on classic novels I had hoped would not only encourage me to expand my tCC List but encourage me forward towards reading the classics on a more regularly basis! Clearly I sidestepped a bit from that goal, but there was always a twitch of anxiety to begin this one for me.

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë | My only attachment to the Brontë’ sisters is my readings of Jane Eyre which began during the Septemb-Eyre RAL in 2013; a RAL I had meant to continue forward with in step with the reading pace of my classically passionate friend Maggie (previously of ‘An American in France’ thus redefined as ‘Macarons & Paperbacks’) — yet haven’t yet found the hours to pick up from whence I left off! This includes an attempt to read Eyre during Horror October! Oy vie. I have had my eyes on her sisters for awhile and felt it was a fitting time to include one of them on this list; yet a bit daunting too, as I know their styles are entirely different from one another!

Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell | I am personally a champion & enthused reader of Gaskell without ever once reading one of her novels! I had an instant connection to Gaskell first and foremost as a fellow writer (the appreciation I am referencing here also applies to Austen) and then shifted into the merriment of a reader who was discovering the breadth of her work whilst researching the life she lived. This was actually a purchase request I turnt in at my local library whereupon they acquired a beautiful hardback copy of the novel and the BBC/Masterpiece PBS adaptation of the novel at the same time. In hindsight, I wanted to read the novel prior to seeing the mini-series yet I ended up seeing Part 1 of the mini-series and as I was left emotionally shattered I never picked up the book! I have since spoilt myself on spoilers and learnt at least that I can handle what happens in Part 2! Only just barely! Hence why this is under the 5 novels I’m a bit unsure if whether or not I’m ready to read them!

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy | I recently felt re-inspired to start reading War and Peace due to my recent visit with #LitChat where I had the pleasure of talking about the novel I have been attempting to read since February! In fact, my War and Peace main post will finally publish on my blog this weekend as I simply haven’t had the proper chance to conclude my thoughts on how I want to read it and why I felt 2014 was the right year to tackle the breadth that is Tolstoy! Therefore, this is an obvious choice for me to include under the thread of a ‘daunting’ read, as who tackles War and Peace followed by Anna Karenina!

Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier | A lot of the books I want to read follow in sequence after reading Rebecca; within the last year alone I have stumbled across sequel authors and/or continuations of the story Du Maurier inspired from her original work. It is a novel I have wanted to start for a long time but I felt it might be the interesting to see if it comes up in the SPIN.

The Night Circus by Erin Morganstern | Of all the different start times I’ve tried to get into The Night Circus, it was last Christmas (2013) when I nearly found myself able to stay with the story! I heard a bit about this prior to becoming curious about reading it myself — but to be honest, I found it through my local library before anyone started to talk about it exclusively one way or the other. It is what I read on the opening pages that has kept my attention for nearly a full year! I want to know more of this story and perhaps now I can!?

The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe | This was one of my personal gifts to myself for one of my birthdays, where I wanted to try to find a new author who was writing an incredible novel set in an era that either I had an interest to dig into more and/or was a new thread of story that held my attention as soon as I read the premise. Deliverance Dane fit that part of history where witch hunts and prejudice against people who were living a different life were running rampant against the truth of who they actually were.

Daughters of the Witching Hill by Mary Sharratt | Prior to reading Illuminations, I enjoyed learning more about the author via her website where I found a bit of a back-story on why she wrote Daughters of the Witching Hill and the measure of truth her own research yielded to become revealed on the historical women she rooted her story to focus on. It was such a captivating premise within an enriched part of the historical past that is not always given a focus in modern literature. I originally foresaw reading this alongside Deliverance Dane and will do so if one of them pops up in the SPIN!

The Enchanted Life of Adam Hope by Rhonda Riley | Even before one of the Mods for #LitChat approached me about conversing about reading this novel, I had already earmarked myself to read this particular title! This is another classic example of the beautiful books I discover through browsing my local library’s card catalogue! I get excited seeing which books are being added to the collection as a whole and which new authors are penning stories who write outside the regular releases to wink at you to read!

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith | Earlier in 2014 or late in 2013, I had the pleasure of seeing a motion picture adaptation of this on Turner Classic Movies (TCM), although at the time I hadn’t been aware of that fact! There was a turning point in the film where I sort of put the pieces together for myself, to where I realised the title of the film and the fact it was a film based off a novel I had already thought to add to my tCC List! As even back in 2013, I was planning the books I would include on the list once I had my blog set-up to where I could join!

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender | A library find I was uncertain at first if I truly wanted to read because it was such a clever story that steps outside it’s own shelving spot! I like stories which push themselves out of a ‘genre’ designation because at the end of the day, I thrive on the craft of stories and the gift of story-telling; to me a story’s genre selection is not as important as the story within the pages of the novel! As I was setting up this list I saw the title on my tCC List and felt, “Why not?”

Emily of New Moon by L.M. Montgomery | I honestly attempted to borrow this from a local library attached to a church I was attending in 2013 but the hours were not in my favour as the borrow time was limited. What fascinated me the most is there was a whole new series of novels by Montgomery I hadn’t discovered when I was younger! I am not sure how I missed Emily of New Moon when I devourted Anne of Green Gables!?

The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen + The Mistress of Spices by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni| For my last two selections I wanted to take a bit of a magical diversion in my reading selections as both The Sugar Queen & The Mistress of Spices are selections I made for reading more “Magical Realism”. They are not the only ones I choose to focus on for this SPIN either, but these two particular novels have enchanted me since I first breathed in their book synopsises and/or since I saw the film adaptation! There is a beautifully eloquent Bollywood inspired film for The Mistress of Spices (of which I have blogged about in the past) whose dream sequences, musical interludes, and the setting of the story at a spice market left me bewitched! I have wanted to read the novel ever since I first saw Aishwarya Rai on screen for the first time!

Reader Interactive Question:

Are any of my SPIN choices a novel that interests you?

Have you previously read one of them? IF so, include a link in your comment!

How do you curate your SPIN lists for tCC?

UPDATE: 10th Monday, November 2014

Ooh, this is seriously beyond exciting!! Not only did I get a book I had put on my ‘short list’ of hopefuls to come out of the SPIN *but!* the tCC SPIN # is my LUCKY 13! I am over the moon in wicked sweet joy for this tCC SPIN READ! Ooh, boy! I’m simply bursting! Talk about a book I’ve been wanting to read for half an age and never could get myself motivated to pick it up!? Ooh, boy!

Lest I mention the tCC published a stellar survey for members!

Monday this week simply ROCKS!

For three key reasons:

My SPIN # Choice is bang-on brilliant!
I’m blogging & sharing my thoughts on book 2 of
Piercing the Veil this evening!
A new fun-loving survey about *books!* & my admiration for the *classics!*

How’s your Classic SPIN Monday going!?

The first 5 Classic Science Fiction Book Selections are part of my contribution of:

{SOURCE: Wildlife photography by Jorie of Jorie Loves A Story, badge edited & created in PicMonkey by Jorie. Sci Fi Month badge created by Jorie in Canva.Post dividers badge by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination.}

Posted Friday, 7 November, 2014 by jorielov in Blogosphere Events & Happenings, Bookish Discussions, British Literature, Children's Classics, Children's Literature, Classic Horror, Classic Mystery, Classic Science Fiction, Classical Literature, Crime Fiction, Gothic Literature, Historical Fiction, Library Catalogues & Databases, Library Find, Literary Fiction, Literature of India, Local Libraries | Research Libraries, RALs | Thons via Blogs, Reading Challenges, Sci-Fi November, Science Fiction, tCC The Classics Club, tCC The Classics Club SPIN, Time Travel

Book Review | “The Ghost Stories of Edith Wharton” an anthology collection of ghost stories writ with a Victorian era curiosity on specters and parapsychological stories #OTBHorrorOctober

Posted Tuesday, 28 October, 2014 by jorielov Charles Scribner's Sons, Edith Wharton, The Ghost Stories of Edith Wharton 2 Comments

The Ghost Stories of Edith Wharton

Borrowed Book By:

After I compiled my reading list for Horror October (of which I blogged about on my post about being a Cosy Horror Girl), I knew that I wanted to borrow this particular collection from my local library. The best resource I have always enjoyed in my life are local libraries, as they have a beautiful outreach for materials outside their collection through the ILL services they provide with other libraries. (I shorten “inter-library loan” to ILL) In my particular case, my local library is part of a consortium of libraries from a portion of the libraries within my state. This means that I can draw books out of collections from larger cities as well as from University libraries. I borrowed “The Ghost Stories of Edith Wharton” and elected to blog my ruminations without any obligation to do so. The hardback edition arrived to me via a Community College library within the consortium via ILL.

Encouraged to Read By:

This was one of the novels that was compiled on the List I asked (Mr.) Gregory Fisher @ Riffle Horror to curate for me as a way for me to seek out the cosier side of the Horror genre. I have always had a pure fascination for ghost stories, as there is always such a curious route the individual writer can take as they yield to the supernatural and the presence of each ghost they bring to life on the written page. I personally have a preference for spunky & cheeky ghosts as much as spirits of the recently deceased who are in seek of help from living persons who can either aide them towards finding peace, redemption, and/or justice as a way to transition forward in peace. (I spoke more about this on my review of Lost in Thought)

I have been wanting to read more Classics since 2014 began, as I had all these wicked happy ideas of where I could soak inside the works of the writers’ who not only championed the cause for well-written fiction but who were dedicated to the craft of writing in such a way as to illicit immediate respect and admiration. When I was finally able to join tCC (the Classics Club : my List), I thought for sure each month I’d be reading at least two classic novels! Clearly my year did not pan out as I had forethought it would but that doesn’t discount the fact I knew during Horror October I could finally introduce myself to the writing style of Edith Wharton! As Wharton is already listed on my Classics TBR List due to my interactions with an after canon author during a 2013 blog tour!

The Ghost Stories of Edith Wharton
by Edith Wharton
Illustrator/Cover Designer: Laszlo Kubinyi
Source: Borrowed from local library

The Ghost Stories of Edith Wharton are a collection of Gothic Literature Shorts set around the parapsychological phenomenon of hauntings by way of ghosts & spirits who are attached to either physical properties, (i.e. houses) or living persons of whom the ghostly spirit has found an attachment. Each of the short stories transcends what is popularly disbelieved and unwilling to become accepted as bonefide fact that there are experiences past our vision of acceptance where the supernatural lies just outside the stretch of the living soul's observational mirror.

The setting of choice for Wharton to place these stories was inside three distinctly different locales: England, Normandy, & America. Her preference was for the inclusion of a family estate to be the central focus of where her characters not only interacted with the ghosts but where the action of the story itself takes place.

Illustrative plates are included per short story to help the reader fuse directly into the heart of where Wharton hoped to take her readers with the vision of the supernatural she wished to convey.

The following short stories are included in this collection:

The Lady's Maid Bell

The Eyes

Afterward

Kerfol

The Triumph of the Night

Miss Mary Pash

Bewitched

Mr. Jones

Pomegrante Seed

The Looking Glass

All Souls'

Other Works by Wharton listed inside the collection are:

The Moose Marathon

The Mudslipper (Children's Lit)

Mistress & Other Creative Takeoffs (Short Stories)
with Desmond Sim & Kwan Loh

This summary of a synopsis was written & composed by Jorie @ Jorie Loves A Story.

Genres: Anthology Collection of Short Stories and/or Essays, Ghost Story, Gothic Literature, Historical Fiction, Suspense

Places to find the book:

Borrow from a Public Library

Add to LibraryThing

Published by Charles Scribner's Sons

on 1973

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 276

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

Horror October Bingo
tCC | the Classics Club 2018/23

Posted Tuesday, 28 October, 2014 by jorielov in #HorrorOctober, 19th Century, Anthology Collection of Stories, Blogosphere Events & Happenings, Bookish Discussions, British Literature, Classic Mystery, Classical Literature, Clever Turns of Phrase, Cliffhanger Ending, Death, Sorrow, and Loss, England, Ghost Story, Ghosts & the Supernatural, Gothic Literature, Gothic Mystery, Haunting & Ethereal, Historical Fiction, Historical Mystery, Library Find, Literary Fiction, Local Libraries | Research Libraries, Mental Health, Motion Picture Adaptation, Parapsychological Suspense, Philosophical Intuitiveness, Reading Challenges, Short Stories or Essays, Speculative Fiction, Supernatural Fiction, Suspense, tCC The Classics Club, the Victorian era, Writing Style & Voice

Blog Book Tour | “The Monogram Murders” by Sophie Hannah, the next #Poirot #cosy authorised by the Christie estate!

Posted Friday, 10 October, 2014 by jorielov Agatha Christie, HarperCollins Publishers, Hercule Poirot, Sophie Hannah, The Monogram Murders, William Morrow 2 Comments

Published By: William Morrow (@WmMorrowBks),
an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers (@HarperCollins)
Official Authors Websites: Agatha Christie: Site | @QueenOfCrime | Facebook
Sophie Hannah: Site | @sophiehannahCB1

Available Formats: Hardback, Audiobook

Official Page from the Christie Estate: The Monogram Murders

Converse via: #MonogramMurders, #AgathaChristie, #Poirot, & #CosyMystery

Acquired Book By:

I was selected to be a tour stop on the “The Monogram Murders” virtual book tour through TLC Book Tours. I received a complimentary copy of the book direct from the publisher William Morrow, in exchange for an honest review. This is the first blog tour whereupon a book I was scheduled to review underwent an ’embargo’ and this led me to realising something about the book industry I hadn’t yet known about beforehand! Certain books have a high expectation of popularity by readers around the time of release, and this is when publishers initiate an ’embargo’ on the book, to hug the reviews & criticisms of a release closer to or shortly after the release date. My journey as a book blogger is constantly expanding my understanding & knowledge of the inter-workings of the publishing industry; for which I am keenly aware and always full of gratitude. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

Passionately & Affectionately an Admirer of Agatha Christie:

It is quite curious re-entering a world of Agatha Christie after spending a near full-life away from the pages of her collective works, as I recollect the first time I had sat down with her stories I was quite a young girl. I always was piqued with a rapt fascination for sociological suspense and the mystery of crime. I spent a considerable amount of my elementary years wrapped up in the pages of a mystery of some shape or form; yet whilst I was still consuming Nancy Drew & Hardy Boy mysteries, I had a curious notion of expanding my world view of the genre. I was always a bit open with my leanings in literature with my parents, and imagine my plumb surprise in finding hardback editions of Agatha Christie as gifts the very same year I brought it to their attention I wanted something ‘a bit more I could chew on’ than the regular Nancy Drew? Nothing too mature mind you, but something with a bit more depth? Not that my parents would have given me anything overly brutal to read (as murder, wells, murder is murder you see!) but they knew the time had come along for me to read Christie all the same.

Curling into The Monogram Murders felt as though time had stopped and picked up where I had left off during those curious years where my mind furrowed itself around the angst of the human psyche and the methodologies of investigators who elicited themselves fanciful to understand the criminal mind. I loved the intellectualism of the Christie’s novels and how her main characters were always rather charmingly observant. Keenly aware of their surroundings and picking up on the slightest detail — it is no wonder at all I would come to belove the mysteries of Columbo! I cut my teeth on this formative style of the craft by warming myself to Miss Marple; Poirot was always the odd duck out to me, as it would take a longer expanse of time for me to entertain his genius.

I think perhaps it was due to the fact I had a close attachment to my great-grandmother and a healthy connection to my grandparents; Miss Marple simply fit into my family as though she were always meant to be there. Decades would go past before I would meet Mr. Monk (of the series Monk), Detective Goren (of the series Law & Order: Criminal Intent), Jesse Stone (of the series Jesse Stone), and Sherlock (of the BBC serial Sherlock) whose attributes extend out of my love of how Doyle and Christie curate their mysteries for the enlightenment of the reader. No, I had Columbo, Jessica Fletcher (of the series Murder, She Wrote) and the Harts (of the series Hart to Hart) to keep me satisfied outside of my Miss Marple stories. There are a heap of other television detectives and mysteries I have enjoyed over the years, but I was attempting to reveal the origins of my love for them rather than chronicle the entire circle of what I have admired.

The electric excitement of being given a new collection of Marple stories or wondering what will befall next for all the lovely characters per each story I was beginning to read – there was a developed passion for Christie’s innate ability to draw out a measure of joy for psychological suspense that parlayed on the human condition and the joy of seeing justice win out over crime.

The Monogram Murders

The bestselling novelist of all time.
The world’s most famous detective.
The literary event of the year—an all-new mystery featuring Agatha Christie’s legendary hero Hercule Poirot.

Since the publication of her first novel in 1920, more than two billion copies of Agatha Christie’s books have been sold around the globe. Now, for the first time ever, the guardians of her legacy have approved a brand new novel featuring Dame Agatha’s most beloved creation, Hercule Poirot.

‘I’m a dead woman, or I shall be soon…’

Hercule Poirot’s quiet supper in a London coffeehouse is interrupted when a young woman confides to him that she is about to be murdered. She is terrified – but begs Poirot not to find and punish her killer. Once she is dead, she insists, justice will have been done.

Later that night, Poirot learns that three guests at a fashionable London Hotel have been murdered, and a cufflink has been placed in each one’s mouth. Could there be a connection with the frightened woman? While Poirot struggles to put together the bizarre pieces of the puzzle, the murderer prepares another hotel bedroom for a fourth victim…

Places to find the book:

Series: ,

on 9th September, 2014

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 320

The Monogram Cover Reveal via HarperFiction

Inspired to Share: The music alone makes me feel as giddy as a Cheshire cat who has a secret needing to be shared as joy is always doubled when given freely to another! The graphic designer alone should be commended for giving us such a special treat! Oh, I dare not spoilt it for you, dear heart, you must ‘click!’ play & see for yourself! Yes, click – now! Before you read my ruminations of the story itself – champion the moment! Click!

Note to Self: I must secure a British edition of this novel! I fancy the cover art to much not to find a way to acquire a hardback edition that sports it in all it’s glory! Lovely, most lovely I think! And, most decidedly ‘wicked’!

Authors Biographies:

Dame Agatha Christie

Agatha Christie is the most widely published author of all time, outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare. Her books have sold more than a billion copies in English and another billion in a hundred foreign languages. She died in 1976.

Internationally bestselling author Sophie Hannah breathes new life into the incomparable detective. In this thrilling tale, Poirot plunges into a mystery set in 1920s London—a diabolically clever puzzle that will test his brilliant skills and baffle and delight longtime Christie fans and new generations of readers discovering him for the first time. Authorized by Christie’s family, and featuring the most iconic detective of all time, this instant Christie classic is sure to be celebrated by mystery lovers the world over.

Listen to an Excerpt of Chapter 1:

The Monogram Murders by Sophie Hannah via HarperAudio_US

Note on the Narrator: I found the rhythmic manner of voicing Poirot to be quite bang-on brilliant in this particular clip from Chapter 1! The manner in which I associated Poirot to ‘sound’ in my own mind’s eye comes across quite smashing as he is fully explored through the narrator’s voice and inclination towards bringing him forward through sound. I even liked how he elected to voice the secondary characters, and etched into this audiobook a tone of story that I felt myself was present all along in the print edition! How wicked it shall be one day to listen to the audiobook whilst re-reading the novel at the very same time! How electric! Champion! I hope you find the same felicity of joy in listening to this excerpt as I had myself!

On the continuance of Hercules Poirot & the legacy of Agatha Christie therein:

There is a signature of tradition with Agatha Christie novels, as they are the monarch butterfly of eloquence and excellence inside the Cosy Mystery genre – inflecting such a deeply etched prominence as to become beloved by each reader who soaks into her collective works. I, for one, have already revealed how much I am deeply attached to her canon, yet if I were to draw any measure of concern about this after canon prior to reading it, it would have been the same concern I voiced on behalf of Sherlock Holmes. I only wanted to seek out a writer who not only understood the full scope of the written voice of the original writer but could carry forward the principle character in such a way as to be a mirror of reflection infused with new insight, curiosity, and probable continuity.

I am a particular reader of ‘after canons’ as I soak inside certain authors tomes of creative voice outside the original texts yet I shirk away from others. To me, it is simply a question of how I feel whilst I alight in the next continuance of the story that has already formulated such a stronghold in my conscience and heart. There are story-tellers who endear us at such a young age (for me this echoes my passion for Christie) they transform our reasoning to attach ourselves to someone who comes along next. Reading is such a unique sensory experience – we become tangibly connected through the book held in our hands, we viscerally insert ourselves into the footprints of the characters, and we envision the writer’s legacy as the words lift off the page and play out through our imaginations. To me to be passionately connected to the craft of stories and to be open as a reader to encourage new voices to step forward from a generation outside of the original era of the canon, is what endeavours me forward as I wander through literature as a whole.

The little instances of knowing your wrapped inside the comfy cosy world of a Christie novel came thundering back to me as I reached page 2 of The Monogram Murders, as Christie has such a knack for giving us a level of suspense and sense of place that bespoke to a different era. I loved curling inside her stories for this one particular reason because she was lamenting her observational narratives in such a traditional voice of fiction, it begged to become an addiction. Read More

Posted Friday, 10 October, 2014 by jorielov in After the Canon, Audiobook Excerpt, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, Book | Novel Extract, Book Trailer, Bookish Films, Classic Mystery, Classical Literature, Cosy Mystery, Crime Fiction, Death, Sorrow, and Loss, Debut in United States, Detective Fiction, Fly in the Ointment, French Literature, Historical Fiction, Inspired By Author OR Book, Library Love, London, Sequel Authors, Sociological Behavior, Soundcloud, Story in Diary-Style Format, TLC Book Tours, Writing Style & Voice

+Live Author Event+ Friday Reading Series: No.2 with #Steampunk Author S.C. Barrus “Discovering Aberration”, Chapters 3 & 4!

Posted Friday, 11 July, 2014 by jorielov Away & Away Publishing, Discovering Aberration, S.C. Barrus, Self Published 4 Comments

Feeling good pic.twitter.com/vNQaSXQi6y

— S.C. Barrus (@SCBarrus) July 12, 2014

I must confess, I have been on absolute pins to listen to the next chapters of “Discovering Aberration” as this is seriously the first time I have listened to a novel and become enraptured with an itch to know what comes next! Mind you, if I were to be fully truthful I have only listened to bits of an audiobook in the past, but I never could lay the story out in my mind’s eye properly to continue listening. I had a bit of a disconnect then that I do not appear to be experiencing now; except to say, that as I jot down the thoughts & notes as I listen to Mr. Barrus narrating the chapters, I find myself picking up on things I first feared I might not be able to catch! I am quite sure that if one day I go to sit down with a print copy of this novel, my impressions will eclipse and the entirety of the world will fuse together. I’m still a newbie to ‘audiobook reading’ and I welcome the challenge and the joy to carry-on forward ‘listening’ and seeking out a ‘story’ in a medium I have not yet had the pleasure to experience in length. Besides who wouldn’t want to listen to a dapper author reading his very own work of fiction!? He has a wicked style, no?!

About the Novel:

Discovering Aberration by S.C. Barrus

Published By: Away & Away Publishing (author owned), 26 March, 2014

Official Author Websites: Site | Twitter | Facebook

Available Formats: Hardcover (limited), Softcover, & Ebook Page Count: 434

Authors of Inspiration:

Robert Louis Stevenson, Edgar Allan Poe, Jules Verne, Arthur Conan Doyle, & H.P. Lovecraft

Converse on Twitter: #DiscoveringAberration & #Steampunk

Book Synopsis:

An ancient map stolen. A lost civilization discovered. A terrible secret unleashed.

Thaddeus Lumpen’s archaeology career is near collapse, thanks to the machinations of rivals who would kill to claim a discovery for themselves. In desperation he turns to Freddy Fitzgerald, a rebellious writer who still maintains connections from his days as a street hooligan. For Lumpen to get ahead of his even less scrupulous competitors he must steal an ancient map and forge a path to an island where a lost civilization waits to be found. For Freddy, it’s a chance to sell the story of a lifetime.

But nothing is as simple as it appears from halfway across the world. Old acquaintances become enemies, professional rivalries turn violent, and a notorious gang lord wants his map back. The island itself holds dangers that Freddy and Lumpen couldn’t have prepared to face–and horrifying secrets that might be better left buried. Beset by wild beasts, cutthroat competitors, and dangers darker still, the two men fight not for glory, but their own survival… before the island pushes them past the brink of insanity.

Author Biography:

S.C. Barrus | Photo Credit: Mle Jayne Photography http://www.mlejaynephotography.com Photo Credit: Mle Jayne Photography http://www.mlejaynephotography.com

S.C. Barrus writes strange and thrilling literary adventures including the novel Discovering Aberration, a steampunk adventure novel. Born in Canada, he grew up in the Pacific North West where he skipped school in favor of swimming in the local rivers.

Raised on a hefty selection of books, video games and movies, he grew to love story telling from a young age. He received his degree in creative writing from the University of Washington and began writing fiction in 2011.

Throughout the years, S.C. Barrus has been inspired by a wide range of authors and genres. A fan of literary fiction, speculative fiction, fantasy and sci-fi. But perhaps the easiest influences to identify in his writing comes from authors such as Edgar Allen Poe, Jules Verne, H.P. Lovecraft and Robert Louis Stephenson.

Posted Friday, 11 July, 2014 by jorielov in 19th Century, Audiobook, Bookish Discussions, Classic Adventure, Classic Horror, Classic Mystery, Classic Science Fiction, Debut Author, Debut Novel, Friday Night Reading Series, Genre-bender, Indie Author, Indie Book Trade, Inspired by Stories, Jorie Loves A Story Features, Kickstarter Project, Live Author Event, Self-Published Author, the Victorian era, The Writers Life, Vulgarity in Literature, Writing Style & Voice