Sarah Burton

Eliza Mace is a historical mystery by Sarah Burton and Jem Poster. I requested it from Netgalley based mainly on the cover which suggested, at least to me, a fun historical cozy mystery but this definitely ain’t that. The story is set in 1870s Wales and Eliza Mace is a 16-year-old daughter of gentry who chafes at the rules of behaviour expected of Victorian women. Her father is a spendthrift ne’re do well who has spent, not only all his own money but that of his brother and many of the local villagers, making him very unpopular. The property belongs to her mother and, for obvious reasons, won’t allow her husband to touch it. As a result, when he goes missing, there’s a surfeit of suspects. Eliza joins forces with police constable, Dayfidd Pritchard to find out what happened to him but, with so many suspects, it won’t be easy.

I found this a hard story to review. For one thing, there are a lot of glaring historical inaccuracies including the fact that married women in Great Britain couldn’t own property until the 1880s. Granted, this probably won’t bother most readers except history nerds like me. But, it was also the slow pacing and, when I say slow, I mean slooooooow, as in, nothing happens for about the first 30%of the book when the father finally goes missing and even after that, it never moves beyond a stately stroll. Add to that, the fact that most of the characters are unlikeable and not particularly interesting in their unlikability and this made for a hard slog read. Eliza, herself, isan interesting character although she seemed more like a present day teen than a Victorian lady, except for occasionally remembering proper Victorian etiquette when dealing with those of a lower rank. Don't get me wrong, I didn’t hate the book, it did have some good moments, but I doubt I’ll read any future books in the series. The audiobook was narrated by Karen Cass who does a great job of bringing some life to the tale.

I received an advanced audiobook of this novel from Netgalley and Bolinda Audio in exchange for an honest review… (altro)

This book had me in the first few pages with a hanging and The Strange Adventures of H only got better. This rollicking tale takes place place in 1660's England during the reign of Charles II. H, who is called H by her parents because they can't agree on a name, is one of six sisters to her father's chagrin and anger. A minister with no fatherly love for his brood, marries off his two older daughters to two mean and righteous men, runs off the next two into a hard world and dies of a heart attack. The youngest two, H and Evelyn, are packed off to an aunt in London. A mere young adolescent H then has a respite at her aunt's in London where she is treated lovingly and well.
This, however, would be a short and boring book indeed if it ended here and this is not a boring book. As I can't give everything away, H survives the Great Plague of London, The Great Fire of London (all very exciting), destitution, the stage and many other adventures with a surprising end. There was also murder and orphans thrown in for extra entertainment. As Godfrey was putty in Aunt Madge's hands I was a slave to this book to the end. Thankfully, the weather was stormy and the power was out so the interruptions were minimal. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this book in exchange for a review. Also to the author for an afternoon and evenings entertainment.… (altro)