Miss Caroline Bingley, Private Detective by Kelly Gardiner & Sharmini Kumar

Apr10

Reminiscent Of Jane Austen

Miss Caroline Bingley, Private Detective by Kelly Gardiner & Sharmini Kumar is a light-hearted historical novel that entertained me from the start.

Fans of Jane Austen will immediately recognize Miss Caroline Bingley from Pride & Prejudice. She is Mr Bingley’s sister. On page one of Pride & Prejudice we read a very famous word sentence, which opens this book, though slightly altered. “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single lady in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a husband.” Straight away the reader realizes that we are in for a real treat. As with the original novel, this book is also witty and also pokes fun at the conventions of the day.

The novel is set at the beginning of the nineteenth century, just two years after Mr Bingley and Mr Darcy married Jane and Elizabeth Bennett.

Miss Caroline Bingley is very reminiscent of Elizabeth Bennett. She is intelligent & knows her own mind. She is also brave and with a social conscience. As a female she has to work within the constraints of the day as she sets about her amateur super sleuthing.

The reader travels from snowy Derbyshire to snowy London. It is here that Miss Caroline Bingley begins her search for Georgiana Darcy’s maid who has gone missing. Her maid is Asian and the reader sees the evils and prejudices of the day as the characters are a part of the evils of slavery. This is highlighted as the reader is introduced to the East India Company.

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Vera Wong’s Guide To Snooping (On A Dead Man) by Jesse Q Sutanto

Apr10

Unique & Entertaining

Vera Wong’s Guide To Snooping (On A Dead Man) by Jesse Sutanto is a unique contemporary offering that entertained me from the start. It is the second book in the Vera Wong series but can be read as a stand-alone.

Vera Wong is a vey likable lead character – a sixty-one-year-old Chinese lady living in San Francisco, with a compulsion to cook for everyone she meets. She has her fingers in many pies too. “She knows that ‘putting a stop’ to anything Vera is doing is probably going to be an exercise in futility.” Vera’s heart has a huge capacity, her meddling comes from her desire to care.

The novel is very light-hearted in tone which counter balances the serious themes of human trafficking and associated crimes.

There is also much humor, specially created by Vera Wong. “I am Chinese mother, all I do is create conflict. You think the C.I.A. know anything about destabilizing? They know nothing compare to me!” Sometimes the humor comes from malapropisms and observations. At other times it is from Vera Wong speaking her mind.

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We All Live Here by Jojo Moyes

Apr8

Family Dynamics

We All Live Here by Jojo Moyes is a powerful contemporary novel that explores the inner workings of a family.

Family comes in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Family can be messy, complicated and unpredictable. There are tensions – and ultimately there is much love.

Within the novel, we meet a family with very different dynamics and needs – a newly single mum of two; a stepdad/grandad; a blood-related dad/grandad; and a dog called Truant who barks a lot! Everyone has different needs. Jojo Moyes explores just what it means to be a family.

There is much grief. The Mum/Grandma died (before the book opened.) “It [grief] never stops… It just never stops.” “You’ll be okay, dear girl.” A character is drowning in grief but one day the sun will shine again. “We all have to move on! Doesn’t mean we think about her any less.” We must not feel guilty for living and beginning to smile again.

We follow a newly single mum as she negotiates the playground politics; dips her toe into the waters of dating; and tries to hold her family together. “You okay?” “Nobody ever asks her that question… Everyone tells her what she should be doing… but nobody ever asks her that simple question.” Sometimes we are so busy spinning plates that everyone, ourselves included, loses sight of us.

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Safe Harbour In Pelican Crossing by Maggie Christensen

Apr8

A Perfect Escape

Safe Harbour In Pelican Crossing by Maggie Christensen is a most charming contemporary novel that I really enjoyed. It is the fifth book in the Pelican Crossing series but can be read as a stand-alone.

Each book in the series has a different character focus but they all have inter-connecting lives. It is always good to catch up with familiar faces. The reader appreciates the wisdom of Old Agnes, and applauds when characters take note of her words.

Pelican Crossing is the place where many (including this reader) want to call home. “Here in Pelican Crossing, it was as if she had a new lease of life.” Pelican Crossing is a place of community, where hurting hearts come home to heal.

Pelican Crossing is also a place of new connection and re-connection. A place where secrets are not so secret and where big hearts spread love and care.

We witness that the lives of the two main characters have not always been easy. They ‘lost’ each other in their teens and have now ‘found’ each other – but is the ending destined to be happy?

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