Lara's Gift

It is 1910 and Lara's father is a kennel steward and breeder of borzois for a count in Russia.  Once again ten year old Lara is allowed to name the latest born pups.  However, her father is prepared to do away with the runt of the litter.  She begs to keep Ryczar, and he only gives in when she has a vision about the pup.

Lara wants to become the kennel steward in place of her father, but he sees her potential as the wife of some man.  She sees herself as one who could breed a borzoi worthy of Tsar Nicholas.  First but Ryczar, now known as Zar, and she would have to kill a wolf.  Zar's first encounter with a wolf at the age of four is close to a disaster for the untrained borzoi.

When her brother is born, Lara's place in the family is diminished.  Her parents see her as taking on womanly roles, learning to sew and look after her little brother.

Amongst Zar's first offspring is a little female that no one thought was going to make it.  However, she does and is named Chara by Lara.

Later, Lara's vision of a disastrous wolf hunt would come true.  Her father would lose his favourite borzoi and Zar would become the hero of the day.  Lara's father has difficulty accepting it all.  Following Zar's success, the count who really owns Zar, presents him to Tsar Nicholas.  Lara is stunned.

The day Zar is taken away, Lara has a vision of him in danger.  Can he be saved from the wolves?

Author Annemarie O'Brien's novella is a good, quick read.  Animal lovers will enjoy it.

Distant Summers 1936 - 1938

In 1936, P. G. Downes decided to canoe into northern Saskatchewan from Pelican Narrows to Brochet at the northern end of Reindeer Lake.  His daily journal records the trials and tribulations of the trip, plus who he met and what he learned.  Unfortunately Downes was unable to complete the trip due to weather conditions and limited time.  For anyone who has canoed in northern Saskatchewan, this will bring back memories of your own trips.

Downes returned early the following summer, however he travelled up the lake to Brichet with others in an 18 foot, powered canoe.  His intention on this trip is to learn more about the people of the area and their stories.  Another objective of Downes was to photograph the people.  Many were very shy about having their picture taken.  Part of his return trip homeward bound included a flight in a float plane, and offered a different perspective to the lake and rivers he had travelled over.  One of his experiences includes smokey days due to forest fires in the area.

Before getting to Downes' travels of 1938, numerous Cree tales are recounted.

On June 23, 1938 Downes left Prince Albert, Saskatchewan for Ile a la Crosse in a float plane.  His description of being aboard that plane reminded me of a few similar flights I've taken on float planes on my own canoe trips in northern Saskatchewan.  The canoe trip from there to La Loche was not an easy one as the river they travelled on was low, with many meanders, and much poking needed.  Rather than using the 12 mile Methye Portage, Downes' guide uses the 20 mile Swan Lake Portage to the Clearwater River.

Downes finds the Clearwater River different compared to the ones he had canoed previously.  As he nears Fort McMurray he discovers that there is a sulphurous smell and taste to the water on occasion.  At Fort McMurray, Downes buys a canoe and starts off downriver on the Athabasca River on his own.  As he travels downstream he foresees a time when oil will be retrieved from the tar sands to supply the world.  He discovers that the delta of the Athabasca is winding and muddy.  His trip across the western end of Lake Athabasca is fraught with large waves, but he makes it to Fort Chipewyan without any water in his canoe.

Moving north onto the Slave River, Downes finds the river flowing fast and more rapids to maneuver.  By the end of July he is at Fort Smith.  He waits there for a ride on a barge northwards on the Slave River.  He is experiencing some depression and has an infection in one of his legs.  Once on the Mackenzie River, Downe's spirits lift a bit.  As they progress northwards, the river widens and the landscape changes.  At Norman Wells, Downes trip turns up the Bear River.  By mid-August he has arrived at Great Bear Lake.

A couple of days later he is at Eldorado and has the opportunity to tour the mine there.  On the 28th he flies out to Yellowknife.  The community there is very different.  At the beginning of September Downes departed Yellowknife once again on a barge.  Arriving at Fort Smith he is held up before being able to fly out and home.

For anyone who has canoed in northern Saskatchewan or been further north canoeing, I highly recommend this book.  Although it was written 80 years ago the sense of remoteness is still there today.  The author also gives you an insight into how things were at that time, allowing the reader the opportunity to compare it to modern times.

A Prisoner in Malta

Dr. Rodrigo Lopez has been ordered to pick up Christopher Marlowe from Cambridge and take him to London.  Francis Walshingham, Elizabeth's spymaster has a task for Marlowe.  Marlowe and Lopez are to travel to Malta and bring home a man there that knows much about a conspiracy to put Mary, Queen of Scotland on the English throne.  The problem is, the man is in a very secure prison.

As their ship sets sail, Lopez informs Marlowe that it is entirely possible that the man they are to rescue could be dead, and in turn they really could be sacrificial lambs for Walshingham's plans.  Getting to Malta is not going to be easy, nor will it be easy to break their man out of the prison.  Marlowe is shocked when the man turns out to be a woman!

The young woman also knows who her rescuers are because she has very high connections back in England.  Will Marlowe and Lopez be able to get the woman back to England safely?  Marlowe does manage to get her back safely, but unfortunately Lopez is lost.

Now back in England Marlowe must work to defend himself from a murder charge.  How can he do that when there seem to be so many sides at play, each pulling and pushing in various directions?

Author Phillip DePoy has Christopher Marlowe trying to solve this mystery in what seems to be a maze.  Every turn that he takes turns out to be a dead end.  As a result Marlowe has to turn back and begin again.  It takes numerous times before Marlowe gets things right.  All-in-all, a very good read.

Gentleman Captain

Matthew Quinton, captain of the recently sunk Happy Restoration, has been urgently summoned to London to meet with Charles II.  There Quinton learns that the Scottish are preparing for rebellion and that a shipment of arms is being prepared in The Netherlands for the rebels.  He is assigned the captaincy of the Jupiter.  He asks permission to have his friend Kit Farrell aboard as his mate.

Quinton knows that the crew really belongs to her old, deceased captain.  The second in command, Lieutenant James Vyvyan is the former captain's nephew and he is sure that he was murdered.  Will Quinton be able to convince this officer and the others on the ship that he is a capable captain despite being a gentleman captain?

It is several days before winds unfavourable to sailing change.  Will his friend Kit Farrell arrive in time to join the ship?  Fortunately he does, and thus begins Quinton's naval education, given in return for Quinton teaching Farrell how to read and write.

When Quinton decides to test his gunners, he finds that each volley on either side of the ship is ragged.  He realises that they would not last long in battle.  They would not be much of a deterrent to the Dutch who sailed around the Scottish coast.  Later, a man-of-war is discovered in waters near where the Jupiter is anchored.

Author J. D. Davies has treachery, and a naval battle awaiting Quinton in the ensuing pages.  How will the young, inexperienced captain survive?  You will have to read this historical novel to find out.

Thin Air

A woman from London has disappeared on the island of Unst after a hamefarin'.  Detective Jimmy Perez and his sergeant Sandy Wilson set off to investigate.  When the pair arrive in Unst, a friend of the missing woman tells them that she has received an email from her stating that to not bother looking for her because she won't be alive!  Sadly this proves to be the case.

Jimmy puts in a call to Chief Inspector Willow Reeves asking her to join him.  Pathologist James Grieve and crime scene manager Vicki Hewitt join the team.  However it isn't long before Willow suggests that Jimmy travel to London to continue that aspect of the investigation.

A few days later, after Jimmy has returned from London, one of the owners of the guest house they are staying in is found dead on the nearby beach.  Jimmy is sure that the death is connected to the woman's death.  But how can they prove it?

The case seems to begin to unravel towards the end of Ann Cleeves' murder mystery, but fog and a lost woman help Perez solve it.  A very good read.

Rules of Engagement

The Lord Chief Justice has just informed Sir John Fielding that Lord Lammermoor jumped off Westminster Bridge last night for no known reason.  Later that day, Annie Oakum, a former employee of Fielding tells his assistant, Jeremy Proctor, that she was with Lammermoor when he jumped off the bridge.  Fielding sends Jeremy to attend the coroner's inquest.  Dr. Donnelly is not impressed with how the judge handled the inquest.  He states that there are other causes that could have led to the Lord jumping off the bridge than stated.

The following night, Dr. Donnelly takes the group to a demonstration of the teachings of Dr. Mesmer.  Fielding asks the demonstrator if such work could be used for criminal endeavours.  He says no and then proceeds to use Jeremy's fiancé, Clarissa to prove his point.

Based on their investigation, Fielding is sure that this is a case of murder.  He goes to the Chief Lord Justice to set the "rules of engagement".  Fielding continues his investigation by questioning the son and wife of the deceased.  He has also come to the conclusion that the deceased was under "animal magnetism" when he jumped from the bridge.   Fielding is also sure that the death of a potential witness helps the case.

However, how will he and Jeremy gather all the evidence to prove the case?  Author Bruce Alexander's murder mystery is intense and riveting.  Sadly Alexander was unable to finish it due to his death.  His wife and John Shannon wrote the final chapters in collaboration based on the notes he had left behind.  A good read.

The Mapping of Love and Death

Maisie Dobbs has been asked to find a woman who had corresponded with their son during the Great War.  Unfortunately their son died in the war.  While reading the post-mortem report on the son, Maisie comes to the conclusion that he had been murdered, rather than killed by a shell.  The night following the parents' request for Maisie's help, they are attacked in their hotel room and left for dead.

Maisie arranges to meet the so-in-law of the injured couple.  Her assistant, Billy Beale can tell that she is unsure of the man.  Moments after the meeting, Maisie is knocked to the ground and her document case is stolen.  Fortunately it didn't contain anything related to the case.

Later, when the victims' son arrives, Maisie points out to him that she feels that there is a connection between his brother's death and the attack on their parents.  Now it is up to her to solve the mysteries.

Author Jacqueline Winspear's murder mystery spans decades, that requires her and Billy's best mapping skills.  It is a story filled with both joy and sadness.  A good read.

The Kommandant's Girl

Nineteen year old Emma Bau had only been married a short time when the Germans invaded Poland.  Her new husband, Jacob tells her that he must leave her, and that she is to return to her parents.  However, she soon discovers that they have been taken to the Krakow ghetto.  She decides to join them.  It isn't long before she is very aware of the harshness of Nazi rule.

Jacob arranges Emma's escape from the ghetto to his aunt' Krysia's home in the country.  Krysia is a devout Catholic.  There Emma takes on a new persona as a gentile.  In addition to her new life, a young boy would be added as her brother.  He was the son of a rabbi.  Some time after learning her new persona, Emma is surprised when Krysia decides to host a dinner party, which will include Germans.  One of their guests is Kommandant Richwalder, the deputy to the governor.  Emma is shocked by her reaction to him.  She finds him very attractive.  Later in the evening her offers her a job as his secretary.  She hesitantly accepts the job.

Krysia sees it as an opportunity to gather information for the resistance.  However, on the first day, Emma quickly learns that mail marked confidential is not to be touched by her.  It isn't long before she is nicknamed "The Kommandant's Girl" by jealous women working in the office.   After about a month she is asked to get security passes for the resistance.  Her work has now become more dangerous.

How long will it be before Emma is recognised by someone who knew her in the past?  How can she stop herself from the feelings that she is beginning to feel about the Kommandant, for she knows that his feelings for her are becoming serious.  What will it cost her to take the next step?

Once that step is taken, Emma feels betrayed by the Kommandant when he goes on a date with another woman.  Her feelings are getting the better of her.  Not long after this, Krysia informs Emma that it appears that there is an informant in the resistance.  If that is the case, Emma and the whole resistance is in jeopardy.

Author Pam Jenoff's historical novel is well written and full of tension.  On cannot help but feel for the young Jewish woman caught up in the situation.  Will she survive or will she be condemned by an informer?  A thoroughly enjoyable and engaging read.

An Appetite for Murder

When an overweight man suddenly dies, there are people libelling others, stating that his death was caused by the strict diet he had been put on.  Detective Frances Doughty is called upon discover the source of the anonymous libels.  At the same time a former colleague of the man who died asks her to locate his estranged family.  They had disappeared while he was in jail for a robbery he claimed he didn't commit.  While Frances is interviewing her client, Inspector Shareock arrives to arrest him for the murder of his wife!

As she begins her investigation Frances just seems to run into dead ends.  Yet, clues at the recent killing are similar to that of the first crime attributed to her client.

While busy with investigating the above cases, a woman comes to Frances and asks her to investigate her husband.  She is sure that he is eating far more than he is allowed at home.  Sarah, Frances' co-detective is sent to serve as a house cleaner in the house in question to see what she can glean about the husband's overeating.

Frances' client suggests the possibility that someone had been cooking the books just before he was arrested.  That may have led to his being charged with a crime he didn't commit.  Shortly after Frances begins to question people about this, an attempt is made to break into the business.  Then following this she and Sarah are assaulted by two men with chloroform.  Fortunately they manage to escape unharmed.  This must mean that they are getting close to the real criminal.

It isn't long before the killer's plans begin to unravel.  Frances' investigation shows that there were many strands to the case and in the end she and Sarah were able to prevent one more killing from occurring.

Author Linda Stratmann's murder mystery had many twists and turns that the reader has to pay close attention otherwise they may get lost.  A very good read.

Tenacious

Prime Minister Pitt is wondering why General Buonaparte is not with the invasion fleet being assembled across the channel.  Why has he been sighted in Toulon?  Is he planning on bringing the French Mediterranean fleet up to aid with the invasion of Britain? How can they be stopped?  As a result, Tenacious is ordered to sail from Halifax to Cadiz.

Three weeks later, Tenacious joins Sir John Jarvis' fleet blockading Cadiz.  Not long after that the fleet is joined by Vanguard, which is Read Admiral Nelson's seventy-four.  It isn't long before Tenacious finds out that they are to be part of Nelson's fleet in the Mediterranean looking for Buonaparte.

In Gibraltar, Lieutenant Kydd buys himself a Toledo naval sword using the gold his uncle had given him back in Canada.  In Gibraltar Kydd is also asked to oversee the nephew of a former captain of his.  The new midshipman is a high born lad.  How will he work out?  Nelson's little fleet sets sail for Toulon in hopes of preventing Buonaparte from sailing.

Storm struck, Nelson's fleet is forced to move from Toulon.  Damage to the flag vessel required time for repairs, during which Buonaparte sailed from Toulon.  How would Nelson find them in the vastness of the Mediterranean?  Not long after this, the little squadron was joined by more ships.  It was now a true battle fleet, on the hunt.  Nelson is sure that Buonaparte is headed for Egypt.

However, there is no French fleet at Alexandria, so Nelson casts his net to the north to no avail.  The French seem to have disappeared from the Mediterranean!  Nelson decides to check Alexandria again.  There they find the French fleet at anchor in the Bay of Aboukir.  The British glide in during the evening and commence pounding the French.  Late in the night the French flag ship blows up.  The following day the French begin to strike their colours.

Kydd is sent to take the surrender of a French 74.  He returns to Tenacious, which along with Nelson's Vanguard head to Naples for repairs.  There Kydd's friend , Renzi, introduces him to the ambassador, Lord Hamilton.  Before Tenacious sets sail from Naples, Renzi and Kydd are promoted.

Tenacious' next task is to be part of an invasion of Minorca.  Hoping to be noticed for promotion, Kydd volunteers to help the army.  His acts there end up with him being assigned to help at Acre in the defence against the army of Buonaparte.  Will the small army there be able to stop that great general from advancing on to Constantinople?

Author Julian Stockwin's novel isn't as full of naval battles as in the past, includes more land battles and battles within the minds of men.  A very good read.

Brothers in Blood

Narcissus has discovered a plan by his rival Pallas to bring victory to Caratacus in Britannia.  This will help bring his lover's son, Nero to the throne.  He also wants to bring down Prefect Cato and Centurion Macro.  Narcissus decides to send his son, Septimus to warn them.

It is on the eve of a battle with Caratacus that Septimus arrives to warn the pair.  Unfortunately he doesn't know who the agent or agents might be who have been sent to cause grief in Britannia.  The battle the next day wasn't going well for the Romans, until Cato saw potential for a flank attack.  Would it be enough to save the day? And what would his punishment be for disobeying orders?

Fortunately his actions result in the capture of Caratacus and his family.  Would Cato's promise of fair treatment for them be followed?  Unfortunately for Cato, Caratacus escapes during a storm while the Romans are celebrating their victory.  Septimus appears to be the victim of the escape.  Both Cato and Macro think there is something fishy about the escape.  General Ostorius places the blame for the escape on Cato and Macro.

Caratacus has moved north to try and get the Brigantians to join his cause.  At this time, Ostorius suffers a stroke and his legate, Quintatus takes over.  He sends Cato and Macro as part of the delegation to get Caratacus back, under the guise of travelling at the request of Queen Cartimandua.  Will Cartimandua hand over Caratacus as promised or are the Romans marching into a trap?

Author Simon Scarrow's historical novel is full of excitement and treachery.  Based on historical fact, it gives the reader an idea of what life for the Roman soldiers was like.  A thoroughly good read.