The Swift and the Harrier by Minette Walters

-


The Swift and the Harrier by Minette Walters

Jayne Swift has focused her life on being a physician, so she avoids offers of marriage.  The Swift and the Harrier by Minette Walters starts out with Jayne trying to get through a rough crowd of execution gawkers so that she can get to her cousin's house to treat her sick nephew.  She gets pushed into a doorway and ends up taking refuge there so that she doesn't get crushed by the crowd.  This event brings her together with William Harrier, who appears to be a footman at the residence, although mysteriously may not be.

Unfortunately, I had difficulty with the PDF that I received through NetGalley so this slowed my reading progress of this novel.  Overall, it is a really good story centred around the English civil war, the black death and the treatment of the ill at Lyme Regis.  That said, I did find that it was overly descriptive in places which did impact my attention span (I admit to flipping pages to speed the story up).  It is evident that a lot of research went into the development of this novel, although there were some actions that my not have been entirely consistent with the time period.  I would highly recommend to readers who enjoy the English Civil War period and strong women characters.  


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan

-
Image
This isn't my typical type of read but I just can't seem to pass up books that revolve around bees and honey.  It is so well written that I finished reading it in one day.  I was surprised that this was written by two authors as it has such a smooth flow and consistent voice.  Each of the characters was well-developed, and the story drew you in.  I had to keep reading to figure out what happened to Olivia, Asher and Lily.  I loved how the apiculture scenes were woven throughout the book and I admit to having a few sniffles about the tradition to inform the bees about a death in the family. I thought I had guessed what was going to happen and I was completely wrong!  Definitely recommended. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC and to the authors -- well done! 
Read more

Death comes to Marlow by Robert Thorogood

-
Image
  A fun mystery revolving around three retired friends who have recently started investigating murders. Although this is the second book in the series, you don't need to have read the first to enjoy this book. Judith, Becks and Suzie are at a swanky party to celebrate the pending nuptials of local bigwig Sir Peter Bailey. You can tell pretty quickly that he's going to be the one to get knocked off; however, it's a locked room mystery that needs to be solved. I thought the characters were all well-written and distinct, with my favourite being Judith. This is a fun weekend mystery to read, and I'm looking forward to going backwards and reading the first book. Definitely recommended. Thanks to NetGalley and the author for the ARC for review.
Read more

The Devil and Max Largent by Michael Tomlin

-
Image
The Devil wakes Max Largent and asks him to write a book for him. The Devil says he needs a book, using Max's life as an example of what is wrong today so that the world can be saved before it becomes dark and he is out of a job. Max can't quite figure out if he is dreaming or if this conversation is really happening! What the heck! Max lives alone and has not been much of a people person. Rhett, his German Shepherd, has been all he has needed as a best friend. Unfortunately, Max has not been feeling well, and after taking medical tests, he discovers that he has stage 4 glioblastoma brain cancer and only has about three months to live. So Max decides to write the book for the Devil as he reflects on his life and also decides to take a one-way trip to Hawaii. Yet, unexpectedly, Max has a surprise visitor that significantly impacts his life before he dies. It's been a while since I've read a sad book. To be honest, I usually avoid them. I don't know what I was thinkin...
Read more