Mystery

The Vanishing Shadow (Judy Bolton #1)

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By Margaret Sutton

“Nothing exciting like this ever happens to me,” Judy Bolton thought as she turned the pages of the latest book in her favorite series.

Thus begins the first paragraph in the first book of the Judy Bolton Mystery series. That is, in the edition I have, which is the 1964 revision of the original 1932 version. The book was originally written as the first of a series called Melissa of Dry Brook Hollow, but when Grosset and Dunlap agreed to publish it, Margaret made many changes to transform it into the first of her new Judy Bolton series. As with all of her books, Margaret based at least one aspect of the plot on a real incident in her life. This one is based on a real flood that devasted the town of Austin, Pennsylvania when the dam burst. 78 died in that disaster when Margaret was 8 years old. In this novel, thanks to the heroics of Horace, Judy’s brother, only 3 men died. And those 3 men were villains whose criminal actions caused the dam to burst to begin with. So serves them right, I say.

But first, we meet Judy a 15-year-old student spending her summer in Dry Brook Hollow with her grandparents and brother Horace while her parents, Dr. And Mrs. Bolton, are away on vacation and good for them. Judy is bored and lonely with only a girl named Edna to do things with. Horace is not the witty energetic courageous reporter he will become in subsequent books. He is frail and cowardly. His nickname is “Sister” or “Sissy”. Judy wants little to do with him. Luckily for Judy and the reader, Judy does not remain bored for long.

First, she overhears an argument about the Roulsville dam between the workers who are building a new road between Farringdon and Roulsville where the Boltons live. The workers threaten Judy and her weak friend Edna and when Judy tells the truth about overhearing everything they said. They end up kidnapping our heroine (who, they can tell will be a threat to their scheme) and locking her in a nasty shed until she agrees to promise not to “speak” about anything she overheard. While Judy is pondering what the deal is with the dam and stressing about what to do about her promise not to tell what she knows or even that she was kidnapped, lots of not-boring things happen to formerly bored Judy. She has a big fight with Grandma Smeed who virtually stole Judy’s share of the spending money her parents left her and Horace to buy Horace a new suit. The Smeeds and Horace think Judy ran away in anger when in reality she was being held captive in the shed. After they let her go (depositing her with a bag over her head at her home in Roulsville) she wins first place in the community Spelling Bee and is the Belle of the Ball of the party and dance afterward. She goes to pick blackberries but her too-frisky horse runs away with her and she almost collides with a moving train. She is rescued by a childhood acquaintance, Peter Dobbs, and he gives her a kitten she calls “Blackberry”. We also meet Arthur Farringdon-Pett, his sister Lois, and her friend Lorraine. These 3 will also become familiar characters in the series. I loved the way all of these characters are introduced for the first time and their future relationships foreshadowed. It is from architect Arthur, who is something of a hero in this book, that she learns that the dam is poorly constructed by a shady company and is in danger of breaking upon the next hard rain.

Although this book is not a favorite of many Judy Bolton fans, or indeed of Margaret Sutton herself, there is some excellent writing in this. There are some dodgy parts including Grandma Smeed’s character, Judy not going to the authorities immediately when she learns about the dam, and Horace’s over-the-top humility about his actions. But there are some genuinely terrifying and evocative descriptions, especially of Horace hearing the dam breaking, the flood, and his courage (although partially in spite of himself) in warning the citizens of Roulsville and saving thousands of lives. Judy is safe at home above the dam when she and her grandmother hear the terrible storm and rain approaching and hear the dam breaking. Her terror and guilt for Horace’s fate and her search for him is quite affecting. In the aftermath, Judy nails the criminals who are responsible for the tragedy. Horace’s reputation and indeed his character are forever changed by his heroic actions. By the end of the book, the stage is set for Judy’s new life and hopefully new friends and adventures in the neighboring city of Farringdon, since Roulsville as it was, is no more.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Darling Girls

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by Sally Hepworth

I was hovering around 4 stars until the final chapter. I can’t believe that I was surprised by the final reveal. Fooled again. It was the final shocker in a book in which I was successfully misdirected at every turn. How do these authors do it? How do they think of how to trick their readers? Or am I just blind and credulous? I did my best to imagine how the author was going to pull a fast one, but I didn’t guess correctly, did I? I really liked that the ending removed some mixed feelings I had about one of the main characters. So I bumped it up. I can’t quite give it 5 stars. Most thrillers have very disturbing content but this one involved child abuse. Mostly it was psychological and very cruel, and almost started to get repetitive and overdone. I can only take so much dread. But as soon as I thought it had crossed the line, a new distracting factor or surprise was introduced. It was very well-constructed, and there was just enough humor to relieve the tension every so often.

This is a dual timeline book wherein we trace the lives of our three protagonists both as children, in which the 3 “sisters” survive their horrific childhoods, and as adults as we see how their childhoods with their cruel foster mother have damaged them. And every so often we have the therapy sessions of an unknown (at first) person with a psychiatrist who appears to be a little “off”. And I mean the doctor, not the patient. The present-day plot is centered around what happens when the 3 get contacted by a police detective who wants to question the 3 women about some human bones that have been uncovered under the demolished house where the girls grew up.

It started out with a bang. Every time I had to take a break, I couldn’t wait to get back to it. Some books, as much as I enjoy them, don’t have that extra something special: I can put it down and I’m not all that compelled to pick it up again ASAP. All three of the attractive women were very different from each other but utterly devoted to each other. True sisters of the heart. One is kind and good, but insecure and vulnerable and afraid to open herself up to the possibility of a new family. One is funny and tough, but whose anger issues have reached a point that if she assaults a fellow human one more time, she will end up in prison. The last has control issues, OCD, and a drug problem. She has a very successful, even renowned, business and is married to an apparently nice guy. We learn soon enough that one of these women is a lot more damaged than the others. After a lull in the action, the stakes are raised for the 3 girls and their miserable lives with Miss Fairchild a little over halfway through. A few genuine mysteries develop in the past and the present. Meanwhile, in the present, one of the women’s lives is headed for disaster. The reader really starts getting some gasp-worthy shocks and surprises about 2/3 of the way through, and then it never lets up until the very final pages.

I don’t want to give up any spoilers, but can I say that everything ends up great on all fronts except one? In a very satisfactory conclusion, all questions were answered and all loose ends were tied up. It was a great ending. It was my kind of book. I definitely will be seeking out another of Sally Hepworth’s novels.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for a free Uncorrected Digital Galley of this book in return for an unbiased review. This book will be published April 23, 2024.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

The Heiress

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By Rachel Hawkins

This one started a little slowly for me, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, plus I was worried by the early hints that the two likable protagonists might turn out to be not so likable after all. As it turned out, they do have secrets from each other and the reader that don’t put them in the best light, but even in the face of a few doubts that came and went throughout the novel, even to the very end, I never really stopped rooting for them. Possibly because their antagonists proved to be so vile, but also because Cam seemed like such a good person, and Jules was such a force to be reckoned with in her support of Cam.

It’s hard to review a thriller/mystery the way I usually do because it can’t usually be done without spoilers. I will say that this was very smart and very entertaining. I was really in the palm of the author’s hand once Jules and Cam finally arrived at Ashby House and the action really got going. When I read one of these types of books, part of the enjoyment is trying to guess the reveals and the twists while the author is trying to throw you off and misdirect you. I did guess correctly that two aspects would come back into play as important factors but not in the way I thought they would (but in hindsight, should have guessed.) The reveals were clever and surprising and there weren’t just one, two, or three. There were at least eleven by my count! And they were all “Whoa!” worthy.

I really liked the use of 3 points of view to tell the story. Cam is the adopted son of the late Ruby McTavish, “The Heiress.” He hasn’t been back home in 10 years, since her death. He has turned his back on wealth and privilege (lots of wealth and privilege) to scratch out a living in Colorado as a school teacher. His part of the story is told in the conventional first person. Jules is his wife of 10 years whom he met there. Her perspective is also told in first person, but often breaking the fourth wall and speaking directly to the reader.
“So, I guess I have some explaining to do, huh? I know, I know. It looks bad….Second act plot twist, your heroine is actually a potential villain.
The third perspective is told in the letters Ruby wrote shortly before her death to someone she refers to as “My darling”. They are confessional. She tells the truth about how her 4 husbands met their demise as well as other secrets, filling the reader in on her back story and motivations. I started to like her. She was frank and funny. Then things changed. The author kept me turning the pages by ending each of these “chapters” on a cliffhanger before going to another narrator or the objective point of view of a clip from an old newspaper or magazine article on the milestones in the lives of the famous and powerful family.

The book barrels to an exciting climax before we get two remaining letters and an epilogue that reveal more secrets and answer more questions. It ends as well as I could expect such a book to end. It was satisfying. This was a clever and entertaining novel that I recommend without reservation to readers who like mysteries or thrillers with strong gothic overtones along the lines of Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with a free copy of this novel in exchange for an unbiased review. This book will be published January 9, 2024.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

The Strange Likeness (Judy Bolton #39)

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By Kate Duvall and Beverly Hatfield

 45 years after the Judy Bolton series was abruptly canceled and 11 years after Margaret Sutton’s death at the age of 98, this final book appeared in 2012. It finally put a fitting end to the beloved series. It was written by Kate Duvall, president of the Phantom Friends, and Beverly Hatfield, a devoted Judy Bolton fan since childhood and who has an encyclopedic knowledge of all things Judy. The book, sanctioned by her estate, was based on an outline by Margaret Sutton and incorporated Margaret Sutton’s final wishes for the conclusion to the series. It is illustrated by one of Margaret’s daughters, Marjorie Sutton Eckstein, and was edited by another daughter, Lindsay Sutton Stroh.
So yes, this book is the real deal, totally legit, and no doubt would have had Margaret’s Seal of Approval if she had had one.

It begins with Honey and Judy doing their final holiday shopping on Christmas Eve in Brandt’s department store. Judy sees her husband Peter shopping at the jewelry counter while gazing down at the hectic scene from the escalator. While another shopper creates a diversion, Judy thinks she sees Peter shoplifting a necklace. Of course, this cannot be. FBI agent Peter is either working undercover trying to infiltrate a gang of criminals or it’s not really Peter. She remembers that a month ago her car was almost hit by another driver who bore an uncanny resemblance to her husband. Later he confided to her that a man who resembled him was being investigated by the FBI.

Meanwhile, Honey has gotten a returned “address unknown” letter from her adopted brother Mike whom she grew up with before being returned to her real family, brother Peter and her grandparents (The Invisible Chimes Judy Bolton #3). Peter’s double keeps popping up and one night, Judy and Peter’s house is burgled. Once they learn Mike is in New York City safe and sound the two girls go there to find him, give hopeful mystery writer, Horace’s, manuscript to literary agent Emily Grimshaw and employer of old friend Pauline, and also attend Irene and Dale Meredith’s New Years Eve open house party. While Honey reconnects with Mike and her troubled past, Judy searches for her stolen Wedgewood china and antique doll collection in the NYC antique stores. And she keeps seeing Peter’s suspicious double who is referred to as the “UnPeter” throughout the book. The mystery of the “UnPeter,” his identity (could he actually be related to Peter?), his involvement with the break-in, and his other nefarious activities really take a backseat to Honey’s attempt to deal with her past, and questions regarding the criminal family that raised her. Only after she has come to terms with her emotions regarding her early history and had her questions answered will she be free to become engaged to Judy’s brother Horace with a clear conscience.

This book ends the series on the strongest of notes. In some ways, Margaret Sutton, in some of her later books, had lost the way a bit. She sent Judy all over the country, and too much time was spent away from her roots, family, and friends in Farringdon. Margaret was very socially conscious and incorporated many of her concerns and causes in her books from the very beginning. But in the later books, in many readers’ minds, her agendas seemed to overwhelm the plots of some of her stories in ways that may have been too much for her younger readers. This one answers some questions and provides closure to aspects of Honey and her brother Peter’s past that were raised way back at the beginning of the series. And plus, it is just fun. We have humor, suspense, a tight plot, interesting side characters, old friends, romance (both new and long-established), and Judy at her smartest and most observant. There is even a scene at Dale and Irene’s New Year’s party that is almost too scary and disturbing. (Just icing on the cake, for me.) It is tight, well put together, and organized with no pesky plot holes or unanswered questions. By the end of the book, we see Mike settled near his adopted sister with a possible new romance with an old friend of Judy’s, Horace and Honey happily engaged, Horace soon to be a published author, and Judy’s stolen belongings well on the way to being returned. And best of all, Judy and Peter are expecting a baby(s?) with names already picked out. Just like Margaret wanted.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

The Woman in Cabin 10

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by Ruth Ware

...nothing short of divine intervention would save me, and I’d had bad luck enough these past few days to make me think that if there was a God up there, he didn’t like me very much.

I was not a fan of the one other book I read by Ruth Ware, The Death of Mrs. Westaway. I was generous in giving that one 3 stars. I’m not going to go into the details of this mystery/thriller except to say that it’s about an unstable young woman on a private cruise who thinks she witnesses a murder in the next cabin. Except the cabin was supposed to be empty and there is no evidence that there was ever any such person on the ship. Kind of like Alfred Hitchcock’s The Lady Vanishes. This one though, I thought was a pretty good part mystery part thriller. I didn’t guess what was going on until it was revealed. It was a good little surprise, and there were more surprises to come. The main bad guy/girl made sense as did the motive. I was constantly going back and forth revisiting characters and timelines, which wasn’t exactly something in the book’s favor. There were a lot of characters/suspects and the timeline was somewhat confusing. If I had listened to it on audible, I would have been completely lost. Some have compared it to Agatha Christie, and I understand that, as there is a large pool of suspects in a confined space. Who is the killer? Who is the victim? What is the motive? We’re pretty sure our heroine, Lo, did witness a murder even though she was not firing on all 4 cylinders at the time (or, let’s face it, what would be the point?). It was also a thriller as our heroine’s life is in danger, nobody believes her, and threatening things continue to occur, mostly in the form of evidence disappearing, no safe place to be had, and no way to communicate with the sane safe world. At one point, life-threatening danger moves from vague and suspected, to immediate, sure, and certain. I loved the ending and the twists at the end though it was always a hoped-for possibility.

I didn’t really love the heroine, but she improves after she stops drinking. Before that, I almost put it down because I have read too many stories with female alcoholics as the main character. They are hard to avoid. Maybe I should make more of an effort. Even sober however she is not the crispiest chip in the bag. There is a lot of dwelling on her sufferings as well which got tiresome, mainly because they were mostly of her own making. Not that she was entirely without some gumption and smarts. A lot of unanswered questions and things that did not make sense or pass the sniff test have been noted. I did not have a lot of problems with the plot, but I will mention two things that bothered me. A lot turns on Lo borrowing someone’s mascara. Who borrows someone’s mascara let alone a complete stranger’s? The other problem was the identity of one of the two bodies found. An identifying characteristic* proves the body is one person and one person only but then it turns out to be not that person, and the identifying characteristic that was false is not explained. So that was a big no-no.

The ending made up for a lot though, and it was a clever premise. And the writing mostly kept me engaged. I appreciated the flashes of humor in this one which were singularly lacking in “Westaway.” However, if she hasn’t already, Ms. Ware should try harder to plug up inconsistencies and make things just a little more air-tight. Mysteries are inevitably going to be scrutinized, and they need to stand up and bear it. It wouldn’t be that hard. The mascara thing might take some thought though.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

*Spoiler*

*(head shorn, not bald)

The Secret of the Sand Castle (Judy Bolton # 38)

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by Margaret Sutton

Thus endeth the Judy Bolton series. At least the ones written by Margaret Sutton. This one is pretty good. Even though I gave the last one 5 stars, it was not really for the story but for Margaret’s daring to tackle the issue of racial prejudice and right-wing hate groups. This one is almost 4 stars.

Roxy, Judy’s look-alike cousin we first met in #14 The Clue in the Patchwork Quilt, wants Judy to investigate a piece of property she inherited through her stepmother who treated her equally with her biological children. She will get a 24th share of The Sand Castle, a seaside cottage on Fire Island. Roxy knew that Judy will be visiting her great friend, Irene, on Long Island to celebrate her daughter, Little Judy’s birthday. Also joining them will be Pauline, another NYC friend I think we first met in #6, The Ghost Parade, and Flo, another friend of Irene and Judy that we met in #30 The Phantom Friend. Coincidentally Flo is a cousin of Roxy, but not a cousin of Judy, even though Roxy and Judy are cousins. This is because Judy’s mother was sisters with Flo’s dead biological mother and Flo and Roxy were related through her stepmother. This story could really have used a family tree because there are so many relatives involved and many of them have important roles to play. Also coincidentally the Sand Castle is the little cottage on the beach that Dale and Irene rented last summer, and Dale and Irene want to buy it. Also coincidentally, The shady lawyer handling the estate is Dale and Irene’s lawyer. There are a lot of coincidences in this book as there are in most children’s mystery series.

Instead of a quick day trip, the girls (and little Judy-because Dale, Irene’s husband is hopeless) the girls are stranded on Fire Island because of an impending storm and spotty boat service since it is off-season. While there, Judy encounters A mysterious Woman in Black (No not that one), who may or may not be one of Roxy’s relatives, a ghost, or someone else entirely. Also, buried jewelry, stolen loot, harmful family gossip, a jilted lover, an old bank robber fresh out of prison who is also a relative, and a plane crash that kills a father and maybe a 12-year-old child (not to mention a young pilot-Judy Bolton is not for the faint-hearted), a kidnapping, and a daring rescue (yay, Pauline!). Also, it turns out that Flo being on the expedition to Fire Island is not such a coincidence after all. Judy finds the Jewels and the warring family is semi-reconciled, although still difficult. As usual, Peter comes in at the end, if not to the rescue, at least to arrest the bad guys. The book ends with **Spoiler**Aggie, the little 12-year-old, who is not dead after all, reunited with her rehabilitated bank robber Grandfather and finding a home with Aunt Hazel, whom Judy got to know on the bus to Long Island (coincidentally). And Little Judy has her birthday party.

The book ends with a teaser for what was planned to be the next book, The Strange Likeness, but alas, it was not to be. The longest-running juvenile series by a single author was canceled. Based on conversations with Margaret before she died at age 98 in 2001, the book was completed 45 years after Sand Castle by 2 of Margaret’s devoted fans using Margaret’s own outline and with the full cooperation and participation of two daughters.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Airs Above the Ground

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by Mary Stewart

This one takes the typical Mary Stewart heroine(nice, sensible, spirited, smart, and attractive) to Austria. I think this is the only one of her books where the heroine is already married. Vanessa and her husband had been planning a second honeymoon to Italy when he puts everything on hold because his company is supposedly sending him to Sweden. Vanessa is not pleased, to say the least, and they part in anger. But then she sees her husband in a newsreel about a tragic circus fire in a small village in Austria! And, he has a protective arm around a pretty young woman! Despite her angry parting words, Vanessa and Lewis are happily married and her upstanding husband has never given her a reason not to trust him. What is going on? Coincidentally, A friend of her mother’s has asked her to chaperone her 17-year-old son, Tim, to visit his estranged father in Vienna not far from where the newsreel was filmed. What is a concerned and suspicious wife to do? Need you ask?

If I had to name a favorite Mary Stewart novel, this would be it. Tim and Vanessa become the best of friends despite their age difference, and their relationship is charming. When Lewis is tracked down, he has a very good if rather astounding reason for his deceptive actions and his many “business trips” to Europe. It turns out that there is a lot more to her husband than Vanessa was aware of. In most of Mary Stewart’s novels, the romance is tinged with darkness and suspicion with little room for humor. I loved that this one was happy and even lighthearted. The rapport and banter between Vanessa and Tim and Vanessa and Lewis and eventually Tim and Lewis was a highlight.

Of course, there is intrigue and danger involved, including a thrilling chase over the rooftops of a fairy tale castle and a terror-filled race by car and train to rescue Tim from an unthinkable fate. Yikes! Poor Tim. PTSD is definitely part of his future. And intertwined throughout is the small family-owned circus which proudly features a Lipizzan stallion. When Vanessa, a qualified veterinarian by the way, is called on to treat an old broken-down horse who was injured in the fire, it leads to two of the most touching and triumphant scenes in a Mary Stewart novel that I can recall.

The crime part is a bit pedestrian. I liked the romanticism and drama of what turned out to be the red herring much better. But that is just a quibble. There is another mystery that crops up in this one that is much more intriguing and involving than the mere breaking of international laws. I’ve never forgotten what I learned about the Lipizzan horses and their history when I read this for the first time. I listened to this one on audible, and as usual, this added even more enjoyment to this story that I last read many many years ago.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

The Search for the Glowing Hand (Judy Bolton #37)

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By Margaret Sutton

When a Muslim family is burned out of their store and Mosque, Judy gets involved. Who set the fires and why? And who pulled the fire alarm across town diverting the firefighters from the real fire? Suspicion has landed on 10-year-old Ken Topping because his hands now glow under ultraviolet light. The police had coated the alarm handle with a chemical to catch those responsible. But Judy thinks he is innocent partly because Ken is friends with the Muslim boy who was injured in the fire.

As Judy investigates, she discovers an organized international group of bigots that share more than a passing resemblance to groups who are operating today, almost 60 years after Margaret Sutton wrote this book. They are called The Wasps (John Birch Society?), and yes, they are against anyone who is not White, Anglo-Saxon, and Protestant. Their mission is to infiltrate high schools and church groups to spread their hate disguised as Patriotism and traditional Christian values. A number of Judy’s acquaintances, including the snobby trouble-making Vincent family, have found much to like in their agenda.

While trying to find the real culprits, Judy finds plenty of excitement, including riots in the streets of usually peaceful Farringdon. A house that the Muslim family, The Wards, was buying in an exclusive neighborhood is set on fire and burned. According to Lindsay Stroh, Margaret Sutton’s daughter, The issue of inclusion and diversity hit close to home for Margaret. Her nephew Victor married a Muslim woman and also converted to Islam himself. Margaret was also heavily involved in encouraging the integration of her community and joined Martin Luther King’s March on Washington. This book is based on an actual incident, as all of the Judy Boltons are. One of Lindsay’s schoolmates was Indian and when they moved into a wealthy white neighborhood, they were the victims of arson.

Unfortunately, Margaret’s message for her young readers was muddled somewhat by the introduction of the controversy of the local high schools becoming co-ed instead of Boys Only and Girls Only. The ”Anti-Wasps” who were protesting the segregated schools were almost as unsympathetic as The Wasps. Also, a number of loose ends were left untied, and we never really see if or how the original families who were against “Heathens” living in their exclusive neighborhood had a change of heart. We are told that the whole community banded together to welcome the Wards and their mosque to the neighborhood once the outsiders were arrested by Peter and the rest of the FBI. A little too pat and rushed.

According to a friend and fellow member of The Judy Bolton Discussion Group, William Land, Some of the problems with some of Margaret’s later books could possibly be laid at the feet of the publishers who considerably reduced the page count of the Judy Bolton books and other children’s series starting in the 1960s. Sometimes Margaret seems to have been trying to tackle too much in the fewer pages allotted to them. Also, the series was coming to an end and Margaret still had a lot to say (my speculation entirely).

Nevertheless, despite its lack of clarity and lingering questions, This book deserves 5 stars for the difficult and controversial issues that Margaret Sutton addressed in this particular volume. Especially for the time it was written. There are a lot of tense scenes, and Judy proves her moral and physical courage on more than one occasion. She was a real heroine in this. I’m sure many of Margaret’s young readers were influenced by her take on the integration and inclusion of those of different faiths and ethnicities. Although there is no doubt where Judy and her friends stand on the issues, it is not always easy, simple, and straightforward for all of the characters we meet in this book.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

The Dancing Floor

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by Barbara Michaels

I listened to this on audio read by the great Barbara Rosenblat. I had read the story many years ago and may have read it more than once. It was Barbara Michaels’s last novel under this pseudonym. I would give the story a 3, but Barbara R.’s reading a 5. I loved the heroine, but in the end, the plot was kind of all over the place. Although Heather, our funny, caustic, and indomitable heroine ends up with the guy I wanted her to, I’m not sure how it happened exactly. She seemed to be going in another surprising direction, and it wasn’t until the end that that attraction was explained, and it kind of made sense. I was happy and even relieved at the pivot.

American school teacher Heather Tradescant is touring the gardens of England in honor of her gentle scholarly father. They had planned the pilgrimage together, but he has since died in an automobile accident. She arrives at what was to be the highlight of their tour, the estate of Troyton House, the site of a famous 17th-century garden long since grown over and all but vanished. When she is locked out of the grounds, Heather being Heather forges through a thick overgrown hedge which mysteriously seems almost alive and malevolent. She bursts through, scratched and bloody, and lands at the feet of the famous and fabulously wealthy Mr. Karim, the current owner. To her surprise and incredulity, he enlists her amateur aid in restoring the important garden. He learned her last name, Tradescant, is coincidentally (?) the same as the original designer. Also, he likes her because, unlike everyone else in the world, she refuses to be bossed or bullied and gives as good as she gets. She is a breath of fresh air.

Unfortunately not much restoration is accomplished because Heather is too busy dealing with local witches, mysterious fogs, trying to rediscover how she got through the impenetrable hedge in the first place, the jealous wife of the former owner of the estate, and her spoiled little boy who has all of the makings of a future serial killer with a history of pyromania to boot. Not to mention being the romantic target of two attractive men despite the fact that she is just average looking with an overweight though athletic build. The third man in the picture is Mr. Karim’s sarcastic grouchy son who is a university professor working on a book and doesn’t seem to like her at all.

There is really not much of a plot and not even a mystery to solve unless you count why Mr. Karim is so hateful to his son. Bobby, the future serial killer, disappears and is feared dead but that is a matter for the police and his unhappy parents and is not any of Heather’s business. Not that anyone misses the horrid child anyway. Heather is poisoned and has two other exciting escapes at the end. The story ends with a shocking development but the reasons behind it all didn’t really make a lot of sense.

This is the last of a long line of Barbara Michaels novels, and she might have been a little tired. She was also keeping up with her yearly and very popular Amelia Peabody adventures under “Elizabeth Peters,” and an occasional Jacqueline Kirby or Vicky Bliss thrown in. Most of her earlier “Barbara Michaels” books were true Gothics which featured haunted houses, witchcraft, and other paranormal activities: Werewolves, fairies, timeslips, and possession included. The latter novels are immersed in fascinating and arcane aspects of various professional and hobbyist pursuits. This one is steeped in the lore of formal gardens and mazes with a healthy dose of witchcraft and ancient curses. Previous books have also tackled vintage fashion, quilting folklore, antique jewelry, old rose cultivation, deciphering damaged manuscripts, and archeology. Barbara Michaels’s scholarly and feminist approach shines throughout all of them. To qualify as “Romantic suspense” each has a sometimes perfunctory sometimes charming romance thrown into the mix. I always loved her Barbara Michaels novels having grown a little weary of Amelia Peabody over the years. I have learned a lot from her books and this one was no exception.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

The Cuckoo in Spring

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by Elizabeth Cadell

“Why don’t you settle down with a nice husband?” “Husband?” The horror in Rowena’s voice could have warmed the heart of any feminist. “Husband? My dear, I can’t afford one! Look what they cost to feed nowadays!”

“Kitty Long—you remember her?—is going to have yet another operation.” “Another! She’s had two!” “Yes. She says she enjoyed the last two so much that she’s looking forward to the third. I forget what they’re slicing off this time, but it’s coming off from her inside, but as I told her, there can’t be much left to hack off. The woman must be a mere shell. Doctors!” Rowena’s scorn filled the large kitchen. “I’ve told Kitty that every time this doctor of hers wants to take his family off for a holiday, he gets the money by advising all his women patients to have operations. How else do you think surgeons live in the style they do? By chopping up all these rich, idle and half-witted women like Kitty. Every time she eats something that disagrees with her, that man hacks out another bit of her inside. And diet! First he got her off decent meals and on to nuts and carrots and shredded horse-food. Then when all that chewing made her teeth wear out, he switched her on to fruit juices and disgusting-looking squashy vegetable mixtures. Then he put her on to bread that’s got nothing in it but cement and chaff. All between operations, of course.

That quote is long and has nothing to do with the plot, but was just one example of the delightful treasures that this book is full of.
I think this may now be my most favorite Elizabeth Cadell, supplanting The Corner Shop. The romance was better in TCS, but the mystery, character development, complexities, humor, family dynamics, and the quirky secondary characters were so good in this one.

Julian Hurst is from a very conventional background where the family law firm has provided a good and respectable living for generations. But he had a talent for art and eventually became an art dealer which he is very good and successful at. All of the characters in this novel are deftly drawn to a “T” with affection and humor. James is a pretty good guy, raised in a common sense manner, but he is very “cock-sure”. He is not used to being anything but successful and getting whatever he wants with a minimum of effort. Yes, things have come easily for Julian and he leads a very nice footloose and fancy-free kind of life and plans to continue to do so until he is 30, at which time he will find a wife and settle down. But, as John Lennon said, “life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” The family law firm asks him to go to Yorkshire to catalog a Mr. Randall’s art collection. He reluctantly complies when he hears that the collection reportedly includes some “good” Clauvals. Clauval is an artist who is experiencing something of a renaissance but is quite mysterious due to the lack of knowledge about him and because he is responsible for painting both masterpieces and valueless junk. He figures he will just suck it up, stop there for a few days, do his work, and continue up to Scotland to visit his godmother who is throwing one of her fun house parties.

Mr. Randall proves to be mean and hard and conditions at the rambling old house are spartan which Julian is not used to and does not like. But he does like the miserly client’s young, beautiful, and charming new cook. In fact, much to his surprise and consternation, he falls head over heels in love with her. She is the one. And she loves him too, despite Julian noticing that she sometimes looks at him, not as a knight in shining armor, but with secret amusement as if she sees all of his faults and foibles. Julian proposes and Alexandra, after a few kindly expressed reservations, accepts. He can’t wait to introduce her to his loving family. But first, he decides to take a kind of breather to get used to the idea that his well-laid comfortable plans for his life have been dramatically upturned. He might be just a bit unsure, despite his happiness. So he adheres to his original plan to visit his Scottish godmother and her house party, leaving Alexandra behind. He can hardly introduce his fiance to his godmother before his own mother, can he? She says she is fine with that. When his godmother sees how miserable he is without Alexandra she gets the whole story.

“Did she oppose the idea of your coming here?” “No. She was wonderful.” He found the grey, wise old eyes raised to his with what he saw, to his astonishment, was a look of worry. “She—? What did you say, Julian, my dear?” “I said she didn’t mind.” “She—” His godmother took off her glasses once more and polished them absently. “Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear,” she said softly. “Oh, my poor, poor Julian!”

She declares that no woman of intelligence and spirit would stand for such a “selfish trick” and throws Julian into a panic. The frightened and chastened Julian rushes off on a nightmare journey back to Alexandra while the Scottish winter decides to teach this “insolent Londoner” a thing or two, in a bit of whimsical and delightful writing. After Winter throws all its hostility and caprice at him, sure enough, when he arrives back at the old mansion he finds the mean owner dead of a heart attack, and Alexandra gone. With the 4 valuable Claudels that he discovered. The London address she gave him does not exist.

For the rest of the book, we follow Julian in his desperate search for his fiance. The Clauvals start to appear on the market one by one, but strangely, only in places that Julian is sure to hear about or see them. One is even brought to the Hurst family home when Julian is out. What is Alexandra up to? He (and we) know that she is incapable of stealing or doing anything bad. He follows clue after clue, and he learns that Mr. Randall’s deaf, frail, and scrupulously loyal and honest old butler of 40 years is involved somehow. As one step leads to another away from his old habits and ways, we travel across England with Julian, share in his adventures, and meet a number of amusing English eccentrics, each more entertaining and dotty than the last. Julian’s sister has a baby, he is thrown out of the hospital by an irate nurse, we attend a horrifying to Julian, but hilarious to the reader, lunch with 80 schoolgirls where he is the only male for miles around. We learn a lot about each member of his family and Julian. In one scene, he sweetly agrees to babysit his young nephew, who wants a bedtime story about “cheeses.” Julian cooperatively starts on about dairy maids and Gorgonzola only to be admonished by little Danny that he meant “Jesus,” not “cheeses.” It was an unexpected and funny scene. And Julian learns a lot and develops some much-needed strength of character. When the light finally dawns, we wonder what took him so long, as does Alexandra, and so she tells him.

“Could I help it,” asked Alexandra, “if you were stupid? Could I?”…“Are you really going to marry him, Alexandra? asked Rowena. “Yes, I am, I think,” said Alexandra. “He isn’t what I hoped for, but I’ve always heard that a clever girl can mold a man.”

But even the reader isn’t prepared for a couple of final twists. At least I was a bit blown away. The book is full of whimsical descriptions, lovely people, wisdom, and entertaining side trips. Julian and Alexandra are apart for 90% of the book, but I was never impatient or bored. But those who prefer one of Ms. Cadell’s more conventional romances or family stories might want to skip over this one. But don’t, you will love it.

Rating: 5 out of 5.