Book & Audio Review: The Art of Detection by Laurie R. King

The Art of Detection
Author: Laurie R. King
Narrator: Alyssa Bresnahan & Robert Ian Mackenzie
Series: A Kate Martinelli Mystery (Book 5)
Publication: Bantam (May 30, 2006); Recorded Books (June 6, 2008)
Length: 528 p.; 13 hours and 38 minutes

Description: In this thrilling new crime novel that ingeniously bridges Laurie R. King’s Edgar and Creasey Awards—winning Kate Martinelli series and her bestselling series starring Mary Russell, San Francisco homicide detective Kate Martinelli crosses paths with Sherlock Holmes–in a spellbinding dual mystery that could come only from the “intelligent, witty, and complex” mind of New York Times bestselling author Laurie R. King….

Kate Martinelli has seen her share of peculiar things as a San Francisco cop, but never anything quite like this: an ornate Victorian sitting room straight out of a Sherlock Holmes story–complete with violin, tobacco-filled Persian slipper, and gunshots in the wallpaper that spell out the initials of the late queen.

Philip Gilbert was a true Holmes fanatic, from his antiquated décor to his vintage wardrobe. And no mere fan of fiction’s great detective, but a leading expert with a collection of priceless memorabilia–a collection some would kill for.

And perhaps someone did: In his collection is a century-old manuscript purportedly written by Holmes himself–a manuscript that eerily echoes details of Gilbert’s own murder.

Now, with the help of her partner, Al Hawkin, Kate must follow the convoluted trail of a killer–one who may have trained at the feet of the greatest mind of all times.

My Thoughts: Kate Martenelli, an 18-year veteran of the San Francisco Homicide Department, has worked on a number of odd cases in her career. This one might be the oddest.

It begins when she and her partner Al Hawkins are sent to the Golden Gate National Recreation Area to see a body. The GGNRA is a crazy quilt of jurisdictions, but it looks like a body dump and not a murder scene, and the victim Philip Gilbert was a resident of San Francisco. 

Their first stop is a visit to his home in San Francisco where they discover that he was a very devoted fan of Sherlock Holmes and Arthur Conan Doyle. His home recreates Sherlock Holmes's rooms including gas lighting and bullet holes in the wall patterned to look like VR for Victoria Regina. Gilbert was a noted collector and also wrote books on Sherlock Holmes and Arthur Conan Doyle. It is possible that he was murdered over possession of a typed manuscript that may have been written by Conan Doyle while he was visiting San Franciso in the 1920s.

The manuscript is included in this book and tells the story of an investigation conducted by a nameless narrator. The story concerns a missing person, transvestites, prostitutes, a murder, and the 1920s version of "don't ask, don't tell." If it is authentic, it could be worth more than $1 million at auction.

As Kate and Al dig into Philip's life, they learn a lot about the obsessions of collectors and devotees of Sherlock Holmes and Arthur Conan Doyle. They also learn that Gilbert had few friends beyond the nine other people who were part of his dinner club. They are all more than casual fans too and they are all potential suspects for his murder.

This was a great story. I liked Kate's relationship with her partner Lee and their daughter Nora. There was a great deal of contrast between gay life in San Francisco in 2004 as opposed to the 1920s. Though there are still some holdovers to old attitudes. 

The narration was well done. I especially enjoyed Robert Ian Mackenzie's narration of the long-long and newly discovered story that is the centerpiece of this book. Alyssa Bresnahan did an excellent job with the characters in the contemporary story.

Now I want to go back and read the earlier Kate Martinelli stories. 

Favorite Quote:

"A friend described Sherlock Holmes as a self-medicating bipolar with obsessive tendencies," Kate told them. After a startled moment, everyone in the room began to laugh excessively, as if relieved to break the personal direction the talk had been taking.

I bought this one. You can buy your copy here.

Friday Memes: The Art of Detection by Laurie R. King

Happy Friday everybody!

Book Beginnings on Friday is hosted by Rose City Reader. The Friday 56 is hosted at Freda's Voice. Check out the links above for the rules and for the posts of the participants each week. Don’t dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

Beginning:

Kate Martinelli had been in any number of weird places during her years as a cop. She'd seen the dens of paranoid schizophrenics and the bare, polished surfaces by obsessive compulsives; she'd seen homeless shelters under a bridge and one-room apartments inhabited by families of twelve, crack houses that stank of bodily secretions and designer kitchens with blood spatter up the walls, suburban bedrooms full of sex toys, libraries filled with books on death, and once an actual, velvet-lined bordello.

Friday 56:

She closed the phone, looking distractedly at a framed photograph of Philip Gilbert with a television actor who had payed Sherlock Holmes: Gilbert was a head taller, thinner of nose and sparser of hair, and looked mote the character than the professional did.

This week I am spotlighting a recent arrival on my TBR Mountain. The Art of Detection by Laurie R. King was a recent (March 23, 2022) daily deal from Chirp. I also added the Kindle copy to my collection. Here is the description from Amazon:

In this thrilling new crime novel that ingeniously bridges Laurie R. King’s Edgar and Creasey Awards—winning Kate Martinelli series and her bestselling series starring Mary Russell, San Francisco homicide detective Kate Martinelli crosses paths with Sherlock Holmes–in a spellbinding dual mystery that could come only from the “intelligent, witty, and complex” mind of New York Times bestselling author Laurie R. King….

Kate Martinelli has seen her share of peculiar things as a San Francisco cop, but never anything quite like this: an ornate Victorian sitting room straight out of a Sherlock Holmes story–complete with violin, tobacco-filled Persian slipper, and gunshots in the wallpaper that spell out the initials of the late queen.

Philip Gilbert was a true Holmes fanatic, from his antiquated décor to his vintage wardrobe. And no mere fan of fiction’s great detective, but a leading expert with a collection of priceless memorabilia–a collection some would kill for.

And perhaps someone did: In his collection is a century-old manuscript purportedly written by Holmes himself–a manuscript that eerily echoes details of Gilbert’s own murder.

Now, with the help of her partner, Al Hawkin, Kate must follow the convoluted trail of a killer–one who may have trained at the feet of the greatest mind of all times.

Audiobook Review: Rescued by David Rosenfelt

Rescued
Author: David Rosenfelt
Narrator: Grover Gardner
Series: An Andy Carpenter Mystery (Book 17)
Publication: Macmillan Audio (July 17, 2018)
Length: 6 hours and 57 minutes

Description: In Rescued, David Rosenfelt again delights listeners with the charm and wit they’ve come to expect. Even the most fervent fans of the sardonic Andy Carpenter and his team will be enthralled by this latest case, where the stakes have never been higher.

Defense lawyer Andy Carpenter is reluctant to take on any more cases. He’d much rather spend his time working for his dog rescue organization, the Tara Foundation, than find himself back in a courtroom. However, when a truck carrying more than 70 dogs from the South to the rescue-friendly Northeast turns up with a murdered driver, Andy can’t help but get involved.

Of course Andy is eager to help the dogs, many of whom come to the Tara Foundation while awaiting forever homes - it’s the man accused of murder who he has a problem defending. The accused just happens to be his wife Laurie’s ex-fiancé; her tall, good looking, ex-Marine ex-fiancé. Even though he acknowledges having argued with the victim, he swears that he is not a killer, and though he would rather not, Andy has to admit he believes he's telling the truth.

For Andy, even with dozens of successful cases behind him, this case that his wife insists he take may prove to be his most difficult.

My Thoughts: This was another interesting case for reluctant defense lawyer Andy Carpenter. He'd be quite content to remain retired, work in dog rescue, and hang out with his wife and son. But when his wife Laurie asks him to defend her ex-fiance, Andy takes the case.

Kramer doesn't dispute that he killed Zimmer. But he claims it was self-defense since Zimmer came at him with a knife. However, video evidence of the crime which happened at a New Jersey rest area only shows Kramer entering and leaving the truck -- and no knife is found at the crime scene.

Andy first gets involved because Zimmer was transporting rescue dogs from the South to more pet-friendly New England. He spends a lot of time trying to discover where Zimmer had intended to take the dogs and has little success.

As Andy and his crack team of investigators, including a bunch of Jewish Senior Citizens, look into things, they find that there is a large conspiracy which includes conspirators named for NFL Quarterbacks with plans to manipulate the stock market and detonate weapons of mass destruction. Now all Andy has to do is convince a jury that Kramer was a victim of this conspiracy - without any particular evidence.

Snarky comments, cute dogs, and intriguing characters make this another fine entry into the Andy Carpenter series. Grover Gardner does a great job with the voices and emotions of this fast-paced story. 

I bought this one from Chirp. You can buy your copy here.

ARC Review: A Perilous Perspective by Anna Lee Huber

A Perilous Perspective
Author: Anna Lee Huber
Series: Lady Darby Mystery (Book 10)
Publication: Berkley (April 19, 2022)

Description: An all-new historical mystery in this USA Today bestselling series featuring beloved inquiry agents Lady Kiera Darby and her dashing husband, Sebastian Gage.

Argyll, Scotland. July 1832. After a trying few months in Edinburgh, Kiera and her husband and investigative partner, Sebastian Gage, are eager to escape to the Highlands with their three-month-old child. Kiera is overjoyed for her cousin Rye and her detractor-turned-friend Charlotte who are being wed in a private ceremony at the estate of Rye’s great-uncle, the Marquess of Barbreck, in what seems to be the perfect wedding party.

But when Kiera is invited to peruse Barbreck’s extensive art collection, she is disturbed to discover that one of his most priceless paintings seems to be a forgery. The marquess’s furious reaction when she dares to mention it leaves her shaken and the entire house shocked. For it turns out that this is not the first time the word forgery has been uttered in connection with the Barbreck household.

Matters turn more ominous when a maid from a neighboring estate is found murdered where the forged painting hangs. Is her death connected to the forgeries, perhaps a grisly warning of what awaits those who dare to probe deeper? With unknown entities aligned against them, Kiera and Gage are forced to confront the fact that they may have underestimated their opponent. For they are swiftly made to realize that Charlotte’s and Rye’s future happiness is not the only issue at stake, and this stealthy game of cat and mouse could prove to have deadly consequences.

My Thoughts: Keira Gage, her husband Sebastian, her three-month-old daughter Emma and their staff are at the estate of the Marquess of Barbreck for the wedding her Keira's cousin Rye and her friend Charlotte. The Marquess has a notable art collection and Keira is eager to explore it. 

When Keira discovers that a few of the works of art are forgeries, she is eager to discover what happened. Unfortunately, Barbreck is not eager to help her. He is convinced that the forgeries are the work of his near neighbors the Campbells. There has been bad blood between them since his engagement to Miss Campbell was broken more than fifty years earlier over allegations that they were trying to foist forgeries on the Campbells. 

Keira and Gage do look into the history of the paintings allegedly purchase by Barbreck's younger brother for his collection. They aren't having much luck and feel they won't find out much since the forgeries could have happened anytime in the last fifty years. But when a maid from the Campbell's home is found dead in front of one of the paintings in question, Keira and Gage know that someone still wants to cover up the crime. The maid was poisoned using a substance unknown to Keira. When the maid's father also dies from the same cause, and when Keira's maid Bree is also poisoned but survives, the pressure is on to find the murderer.

Keira also learns more about the mother who died when she was eight. Someone is trying to upset her emotional balance by leaving a miniature of her mother on her pillow and stealing the Amythest pendant that was her mother's last gift to her. She is surprised to learn that her mother was once unhappily married to a nephew of the Campbell women.

This was another excellent entry into the Lady Darby series. It has interesting characters and a fast-paced plot with enough twists and turns to keep the reader guessing. 

Favorite Quote:

My hands fisted in my lap as I began to grow frustrated with the marquess's lack of information. I couldn't tell whether he was being deliberately obstructive--determined to have the finger of blame point at Miss Campbell--or he truly didn't know. "But surely you must have at least asked your brother where he acquired that purported Titian? After Sir James's allegations, you must have discussed it."

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.

ARC Review: Go Hex Yourself by Jessica Clare

Go Hex Yourself
Author: Jessica Clare
Publication: Berkley (April 19, 2022)

Description: It’s one hex of an attraction in this romantic comedy from New York Times bestselling author Jessica Clare.

When Reggie Johnson answers a job ad in the paper, she’s astonished to find that she’s not applying to work at her favorite card game, Spellcraft: The Magicking. Instead, she’s applying to be an actual familiar for an actual witch. As in, real magic.

The new job has a few perks - great room and board, excellent pay, and she's apprenticing to a powerful witch. Sure, the witch is a bit eccentric. And sure, there was that issue with the black cat Reggie would prefer to forget about. The biggest problem, however, is warlock Ben Magnus, her employer's nephew and the most arrogant, insufferable, maddening man to ever cast a spell.

Reggie absolutely hates him. He's handsome, but he's also bossy and irritating and orders her around. Ben's butt might look great in a crystal ball vision, but that's as far as it goes. But when someone with a vendetta targets the household, she finds herself working with Ben to break a deadly curse. Apparently, when they're not fighting like cats and dogs, things get downright...bewitching.

My Thoughts: Reggie Johnson has had a number of jobs which she has lost due to compulsive organizing. When she sees an ad in the paper which makes her think she'll be working on her favorite game Spellcraft: The Magicking, she has to apply.

Reggie is surprised to find that she will be working for an actual witch and actually helping her do spells. At first, Reggie believes that the woman is delusional. After all, there is no such thing as magic. It takes a while and some odd occurrences before she begins to believe that magic is real. 

She enjoys her new boss's eccentricities, but she doesn't like her boss's nephew Ben Magnus at all. The feelings are returned, since Ben is sure that Reggie is the wrong familiar for his aunt. Of course, that doesn't stop Ben from being intrigued by Reggie. 

When her boss is cursed, it is up to Ben and Reggie to find out who cast the curse and also how to remove it before her boss dies. 

I liked the characters in this story. Reggie has had a very difficult childhood since her parents are grifters who use her. She's stuck paying off their debts and keeping them from opening credit card accounts in her name. She keeps wanting to see the best in them but can't because there is no best to be found. Ben also had a difficult childhood - five hundred years earlier - since he was emotionally abandoned by his selfish parents. Both of them are very lonely people who have good reason not to trust others. I liked the way their relationship grew.

This was a fun romance for fans of paranormal romances. 

Favorite Quote:

I know what it feels like to see the world moving around you and to feel like you're not part of it. Like you don't belong to anything. 

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.

Book & Audio Review: The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsley

The Rose Garden
Author: Susanna Kearsley
Narrator: Nicola Barber
Publication: Sourcebooks Landmark (October 4, 2011); Audible Studios (October 4, 2011)
Length: 448 p,; 12 hours

Description: A riveting and romantic journey through time, The Rose Garden drops a modern woman into the middle of a historical fiction novel when she's thrown back to 18th century Cornwall—only to find that might just be where she belongs.

After the death of her sister, Eva Ward leaves Hollywood and all its celebrities behind to return to the only place she feels she truly belongs, the old house on the coast of Cornwall, England. She's seeking comfort in memories of childhood summers, but what she finds is mysterious voices and hidden pathways that sweep her not only into the past, but also into the arms of a man who is not of her time.

Soon Eva discovers that the man, Daniel Butler, is very, very real and he draws her into a world of intrigue, treason, and love. Inside the old British house, begins to question her place in the present, she realizes she must decide where she really belongs: in the life she knows or the past she feels so drawn towards.

A brilliant escape that gives one woman the chance to time-travel and find her place in British history, The Rose Garden presents Susanna Kearsley's signature combination of romance and fascinating historical fiction at its very best.

My Thoughts: This was another engaging time travel romance by an author who is a star in the genre. Eva Wells is rather lost after her beloved sister dies. She is determined to take her ashes to a place where they were both happy. She ends up in Cornwall with people who made her childhood happy.

She finds that things are different in many ways. The farm is in trouble and the place isn't quite what she remembered. Then she finds herself hearing voices and traveling back in time to the same house in 1715. 1715 is a time of political unrest. Queen Anne has died, and George I and James Stuart are rival claimants for the throne. She meets Daniel Butler who is a free trader and supporter of James Stuart.

She also finds herself falling in love with a man from a time which is not her own. She gets involved with him, and he accepts her presence without question. Together they have to deal with a constable who really hates him and who is eager to arrest him for his support of James Stuart.

I enjoyed this story and loved the characters. It was a great romance and an interesting look at British History. The narrator did an excellent job expressing the emotion of the story. 

Favorite Quote:

"I would argue 'tis never the place, but the people one shares it with who are the cause of our happiest memories. That is why we find that having lived them once, we never can recapture them."

I bought this one. You can buy your copy here.

ARC Review: The Sweet Goodbye by Ron Corbett

The Sweet Goodbye
Author: Ron Corbett
Series: A Danny Barrett Novel (Book 1)
Publication: Berkley (April 19, 2022)

Description: In this thrilling new series from Edgar®-nominated author Ron Corbett, the most dangerous predator in the Maine wilderness walks on two feet—and it is Danny Barrett's job to bring him down.

Something is not right in the North Maine Woods.

A small family-run lumber company should not have more than two hundred million unaccountable dollars on their books. Money like that comes from moving something other than wood across the border.

The first agent the FBI sent undercover was their best man—sure to get the answers that were needed. He was dead within a month.

Now, Danny Barrett is taking his place. Before he was a cop, Danny grew up in the woods of Northern Michigan. He is the only chance the feds have of getting answers, but how many more will have to die first?

My Thoughts: THE SWEET GOODBYE was an entertaining beginning to a new series. Danny Barrett has been an undercover agent for twelve years and successful. But his new case, which takes him to a dying town in Maine and the deep, uncharted Maine woods, is going to test him in many ways.

Lee Forestry Products has too much money on its books - what accountants call "funds without provenance" - which makes the FBI think something illegal is going on. The first undercover agent they sent to investigate was found murdered. 

Now, it's Danny time to try to find out what is going on. He was a Detroit cop but grew up in the forestry business in Upper Michigan. His cover as a tree marker gives him a chance to investigate. 

As Danny gets to know the players - the two Lee brothers who own the business, Beau Lafontaine who has a reputation in the Maine woods, and Pearl Lafontaine who's a diner waitress, cousin of Beau, and Travis Lee's long-time lover - he gets tangled up in a twisted situation.

The story is part mystery, part twisted romance, and all-around compelling read. The story is told from multiple viewpoints and sometimes in flashbacks. I enjoyed the story very much and look forward to more in the series. 

Favorite Quote:

You'd think the day would come when familiarity cooled the urge, dulled the senses, the tally of days finally too much for passion. But it never came. That had always surprised her. How it had never been anything different from what it had been at first. 

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.