The Experiences of Loveday Brooke - Catherine Louisa Pirkis

I don't remember how I came to hear about this one, but it was originally published in 1893 and features a female detective.

Loveday (interesting name by the way) is called upon when the police are stuck with the most baffling mysteries. This book contains seven cases for Loveday to solve.

The best way I can think to explain what I read is that it's a female Sherlock. She doesn't tell anyone what she's up to and reveals everything in one, long speech at the end. She does things that seem inexplicable to those around her, but they make sense once she enters into "explanation mode." You're along for the ride. I was able to pick up on a clue here and there, but overall, you're not meant to solve these with her. You're not given enough information.

The stories are short and entertaining, but I didn't read anything that made them stand out from other mysteries of this type. Maybe if the explanations hadn't been quite so long, it would have been a bit better, but it wasn't terrible either.

Hit - Mary Edwards Walker

Ok, so this one is a bit of a cheat. I'm supposed to be reading an autobiography, but this is more "book written by someone I found super interesting."

Mary Walker was a character to say the least. She was an innovator and highly outspoken. I don't even know where to begin on her life. A few of the things that stand out to me are that she was captured as a prisoner of war during the Civil War as spy, was awarded the Medal of Honor, and she was buried in a suit instead of a dress. That might not seem like a big deal unless you consider what time period we're talking about.

This book is more a collection of essays on Walker's thoughts on various topics including Love and Marriage, Dress Reform, Tobacco, Temperance, Woman's Franchise, Labor, and Religion.

One thing you can tell is that Walker is very passionate about all these topics. She tends to go on a bit too long on some of them, but you can't doubt that she means what she says. Overall, it was interesting to get a perspective from this time period, but it was also a bit dry at times. I wish she'd written her memoirs, I think it would've been a great read. 

 

Vera - Elizabeth von Arnim

I read somewhere that this was along the lines of Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier and was interested. Vera was written in 1921, while Rebecca was from 1938. From the little bit of research I did, this novel is based on the author's second marriage, which was a disaster.

A chance meeting on the worst day of Lucy's life brings her into the grip of Everard, an enigmatic man who offers to be her rock in a time when she needs one. She's young, and he's just lost his wife of fifteen years. In Lucy, Everard sees something he wants. He convinces her that they need each other, and they end up married. The previous wife, Vera, died in a mysterious "accident" that has left a cloud over Everard. After they are married, Everard becomes erratic, and Lucy can't seem to say anything correctly.

On Everard's birthday, he insists on going back to the house where Vera died. He makes Lucy sleep in the bed where Vera slept, gives her the sitting room where the woman "fell" from the window, eat in the dining room where Vera's portrait stares at Lucy while she eats, and Lucy even has to listen to Everard talk about Vera all the time. He's a vindictive, controlling, manipulative, narcissistic, evil man.

SPOILER:

Vera ended abruptly and left a pit in my stomach. What happened to Lucy? At the end, Everard kicks Lucy's aunt out of the house and forbids her from seeing her niece again. The aunt warns Everard that Lucy doesn't have the constitution to last 15 years like Vera did, and that's the end. I was disappointed, but I'm not sure I wanted to read more of the psychological torture that Lucy was enduring.

Learning the author based this on her second marriage was a bit disturbing as well. I know many marriages are abusive, but it shouldn't happen. The illogical thoughts of Everard and how everything had to be his way 100% of the time was probably all too familiar at the time and even today. It was a well-written book, and I kept waiting for the rescue of Lucy, but it didn't happen. It was still a page-turner, so it gets a Good Book! review.

Accused War Criminal - Fiske Hanley

Fiske Hanley was an engineer in a B-29 that was shot down and captured by the Japanese. He spent months with a group called the Kempeitai, which is sometimes equated with the Nazi Gestapo. From what I read, it makes sense.

The hardships described here were terrible. I'm not sure I'd recommend this book for the younger set. Even Hanley mentions that when he would give talks, he would tailor his speeches appropriate to the age of the audience. Many times, I would physically cringe while reading what happened to these men.

One thing I want to point out is that the entire book is not Hanley's experience as a POW. He tells about what his life was like after the war and mentions his family. Another thing I want to mention is the detail put into this version. The version I read is updated twenty years after the first printing, so I don't know how much was in the original book, but Hanley has a lot of evidence to back up what he says. He gives an account of what a Japanese POW was treated like as contrast to his treatment. He adds in short excerpts from other POWs from their affidavits about their treatment. He also has a section dedicated to honoring the WASPS for their contribution to the B-29.

Fiske sounds like he was an amazing man. He was 99 when this updated version came out, and while he hated the Japanese while a POW (understandably), he went on to visit Japan later in life and come to see the people differently. This was an incredibly interesting book, and I'm glad I read it. In the U.S., the history is always so focused on the European Theater for WWII. I was glad to expand my horizons. These stories shouldn't be forgotten. Fiske died in August of 2020 at 100 years old, and I hope he had a glorious life. He deserved it. Good Book!

The Red Room - William Le Queux

I was looking for something to read, and after souring through my list for a bit, I found this. I read The Mystery of the Yellow Room a while back, so I thought it would only be appropriate to read another colored room book. I didn't really enjoy that one, so I was hoping a red room would turn out better.

Our main character is the narrator, who runs an auto garage. He is invited to help solve a crime, and he soon discovers that maybe he should have passed up the opportunity. He questions the motives of the man he initially trusted, and everyone seems to be lying or working against him.

This was actually really good. The red room itself isn't brought up all the time, but the murder is a locked room scenario. I liked the author's writing style and how everything was brought together at the end. I didn't know who to trust the entire time. Although I had an idea of what was going on, I still enjoyed the book a lot. Good Book!

Six Years With the Texas Rangers 1875-1881 - James B. Gillett

I've been reading a lot of WWII memoirs lately, so I decided to mix it up a bit and picked up this book about a Texas Ranger.

Gillett goes through his time with the rangers by telling tales of what he went through, and he also tells some tales of what the rangers did in general. I think if you have any interest in the life of a ranger, this might be a book for you. Know that he's using lingo that was common at the time in relation to Native and African Americans. Also, he gets pretty specific with some of the deaths. For instance, instead of saying a horse died, he will say that it was shot through the neck. He does that with people, too.

Boiled down, this is an older man telling stories of the good old days. He was one of those people fortunate enough to get to do a job he loved for a while, and it shows. This book was pretty interesting, but the writing style didn't pull me in as much as I hoped it would.

The Green Archer - Edgar Wallace

So, I've gotten really interested in old movie serials lately. It was popular in the early 1900s where a 20 minute-ish story would play before the feature film at a cinema. I've watched a few now, but my very favorite so far is definitely Captain Marvel (Shazam). It has it all - a supernatural dude hiding in a tomb waiting to give a teenager superpowers, the cliffhanger at the end of every episode, a flying superhero - and tons of laughs! Anyway, as I was researching these little gems, I came across a few that were inspired by novels. I wondered how that worked and picked up this book. The book was written in 1923 and made into a serial in 1940.

This story is about a hero, Jim, a woman, Valerie, and a villain, Abe Bellamy. Add in a newspaperman, some minor criminals, a host of side characters and a ghost, and you've got yourself a mystery. Valerie is searching for a woman, but she won't say why. Bellamy is being haunted by a ghost that is dressed as an archer and is a great shot. I won't say much more, it's one that you just have to experience.

It took me a few extra days to read this just because it was tough to read. That was all on me though. I've been having issues with reading pdfs on my Kindle, the print comes across too small, so I tried to download an epub and convert it to a mobi. What happened was...interesting. For the most part, I could figure out what was going on, but some sentences would end abruptly while others were split up across the page. It was pretty irritating, but I learned what not to do. I guess I'll try something else next time.

Overall, I did like the story. I kept thinking I had finally figured out the identity of the Green Archer, and every time, I was wrong. I loved that about the story. The villain is somewhat over-the-top, but that isn't unusual with a serial, so Bellamy is perfect. I'm going to see if I can find the serial and see how it translated. I think if I'd had a better copy of the book, I would've enjoyed it more. The story itself was engaging and easily gets a Good Book! rating from me.

A British Boy in Fascist Italy - Peter Ghringhelli

Peter was born in Leeds, England, but when war broke out, his family ended up in Italy. It was quite an adjustment. They suddenly hadn't been welcome in England, and now they were seen as outsiders in Italy as well.

With Peter's father off fighting in the war, the family struggles to survive. His mother isn't used to country living, and she doesn't speak the language. The interesting thing is that Peter's father leaves to fight a Fascist and returns firmly anti-fascist.

After that, it's a fight to survive. The front line never quite makes it to the area where Peter lives, but that doesn't mean the area is unaffected. When his area is touched, Peter will start by "zooming out" and giving an overview of what's going on, then gradually zooming back in to tell how it affects his area in particular. In some ways this might be seen as a bit too much detail, or you might be thankful for the perspective. It's a personal preference. I felt like Peter "zoomed" out a bit far a bit too often. 

I gave this a 4/5 stars on amazon. I did appreciate that sometimes he would mention the names (and often ages) of people murdered as retaliation or for no reason at all. One small pet peeve was at the end, when he returns to his childhood home, and he goes to find his friend. The friend's mother answers the door, but we never find out if the friend made it through the war. Also, you have to flip past the notes and the bibliography to find the pictures. I wish these had been spread throughout the book in appropriate places instead of seeming like an afterthought at the end. Overall, it was a pretty good read and an interesting perspective.

Pearlhanger - Jonathan Gash

And here we have the other paperback my daughter picked up for me at the bookstore.

Lovejoy is apparently a well-established mystery-solver. He's obsessed with antiques and no friend to the police. He's a magnet to some women and aggravating to others. In this case, he's trying to figure out something about pearls.

Let's talk about the main character. He must be popular, because this is his ninth mystery. I don't know how people can read this man, some mysteries are beyond solving. Let's just go through a few of his thought processes on women:

1. "I knew that women were born pests...I'm reasonable and tolerant, and they're not. Simple as that."
2. "Not her fault of course that Lydia had so little sense, being a bird and therefore unable to see the main issue with my transparent clarity."
3. "Sometimes I wonder if women aren't incapable of having friends. Maybe by nature they can only make lovers and haters."

Those examples are just a few that I marked close together near the end-ish part of the book. I could go on forever, but there are other things to address. Like the weird plot. A woman comes to Lovejoy and wants help finding her husband. There are seances, antiques, strange sidekicks, and Lovejoy acting like a putz. To everyone. At the end, he's supposedly trying to be some sort of hero by enacting justice on the evildoers I guess. I wasn't sold.

If you take how much I loved Pretty Lady, that's about how much I loathed Pearlhanger. It's not my daughter's fault. The character was just so unlikeable, what was I to do? If it hadn't been given to me out of love and affection, I probably would've thrown it across the room after a few pages. Just eww on this book. Eww.

An English Woman-Sergeant in the Serbian Army - Flora Sandes

Flora Sandes is one of those inspirational women that I like to tell my daughters about. She was the only British woman to officially serve as a soldier in WWI. She started out as a nurse, but circumstances led her to end up as part of a retreat where she became a part of the army.

You kind of get thrown into the deep end right from the beginning. She doesn't address how she ended up in Serbia, her background or what motivated her to be a nurse in the first place. Overall, you're on a journey with her. The descriptions are well done, and the conditions make you cringe.

The best way I can describe this book is as a cross-section of her life. Since this was written in 1916, of course, Flora didn't know what else was going to happen. With a bit of research...boom! She wrote another book in 1927 called The Autobiography of a Woman Soldier. I might have to track down a physical copy or put it on my list to look into in about four years when it should be eligible for public domain. Good Book!

Pretty Lady - Marian Babson

On our last trek to the used book store, I was compelled to sit in the car. My thoughtful daughter picked out a few paperbacks for me, and this was one of them. It's from 1990, and I don't think I've heard of this author, but I'm always willing to see what my daughter has in store for me.

This book isn't broken up into chapters. Instead, we're reading from the viewpoint of various characters. Merelda is unhappy in her marriage and has decided that the only way out is murder. And what she needs for that is a "catspaw." She thinks she's found that in Denny. He's a child trapped in a man's body. We're also reading from Denny's mother and sister's point of views. Each person has their own voice, and I think the author did a great job with that. Merelda convinces Denny that she needs help fairly easily, but little does she know that Denny's mother has other plans for him that particular evening. It was just really well done.

This is definitely a diet book, coming in at 128 pages. I finished it in a few hours, but it was a real page-turner. Especially toward the end, I think my heart was racing wondering what was going to happen. I even smiled at the end. The worst part? Finding out there is no digital version of this book. I would love to recommend this, but how are they supposed to get a copy to read?! I think that's the most frustrating part of my journey. Reading books of the past connects me with some hidden gems, but so many people are missing out because these treasures are being lost to time through the dwindling physical copies. Babson has some of her other books available digitally, so maybe one day this one will get the same treatment. I'm still giving it a Good Book! review!

White Magic: The Story of the Maskelynes - Jasper Maskelyne

I can't claim to have a natural love for magic, but I heard this man's name in relation to WWII and saw that he wrote a memoir of his family. His name was also mentioned in the Charles Fraser-Smith book I read, but since this came out in 1936, naturally there isn't going to be any reference to anything WWII related in this book.

Jasper is descended from a long line of magicians. It's clear from the book that he reveres his grandfather. Out of the 260ish pages, over 100 of them are dedicated to his grandfather, J.N. According to the stories and all the man accomplished, he clearly earned the title of "genius" that Jasper called him. J.N. was approached during WWI and had aspirations of helping out in the world with his inventions. Many just ended up being ahead of their time.

The book is what it advertises. It's the story of the magical family from J.N. to Jasper. There are many anecdotes in there, and the writing style is engaging. The family was active in exposing spiritualists by reproducing events from meetings and debunking ghosts. He tells stories of times when things went wrong, and even tells how some things are accomplished if they are commonly known at the time.

Overall, I enjoyed this book a lot more than I thought I would. Not being a "magic" person, I wasn't sure what I would think, especially since I wouldn't get to read how Jasper made military bases disappear during WWII, but this really was a fun book. He mentions a few times that he would like to retire to the old family farm, but after a bit of research, that never happened. It also looks like he wrote a book after the war called Magic: Top Secret, but it looks like it's really hard to get. Wish me luck! Good Book!