Bibliography

Plot Summary: With every fiber of her being protesting, newspaper reporter Camille Preaker returns home to Wind Gap, Missouri to get the scoop for her third rate newspaper on the kidnapping and murder of two little girls.  Not exactly the return of the prodigal daughter, her mother doesn’t welcome her, the police don’t want to share, most locals don’t want to talk and her half sister Amma blows hot and cold.  Being in her childhood home reminds her of the death of her other half sister years earlier.  As Camille gets closer to the murderer of the girls, she starts to uncover secrets from her own past  Can she confront the ghosts of the pasts to stop the horrors of the present?  Her survival may depend on it.

Critical Analysis: I had picked this book up before and never made it past the first couple of pages.  Hence the power of an audio book–I found myself thinking about listening to this book even when I was not in my car.  I considered driving around the block a few times just to get to the end of the story.

What made this title so compelling?  I think it is the combination of characters and the slow building and layering of the plot.  Camille is someone that many of us recognize–she was suffocated by her upbringing and her small town life but she managed to make it out.  She has literal and figurative scars to show for it, but she survived.  Going back to that place, her family is like a test–is she strong enough to survive now?  As for the plot, this book starts like a run of the mill mystery but becomes a Southern gothic with one of the most awful terrible and fascinating mother-daughter relationships I’ve ever encountered in contemporary fiction.  The slow discovery of current facts combined with the memory of past events lead to a train wreck of an ending from which you won’t be able to turn away.

Real people doing awful things to one another have always scared me more than monsters or men in hockey masks carrying chainsaws, and that is the case here.  You want Camille to leave and yet you want her to stay, thinking that she can uncover the real truth unlike the outsider policeman.  You want her to be strong enough to stand up for herself and you want her to leave and never come back.  Flynn has created a unique set of characters in a story so unbelievable at times that it must be true.  Older teen girls will love this title and come back to ask for more.

Readalikes:  This title reminds me a little of The Heat of the Moon by Sandra Parshall, another twisted gothic triangle of mothers, daughters, sisters and an unremembered past.

Review Excerpts: “Fans of psychological thrillers will welcome narrator/Chicago Daily Post reporter Camille Preaker with open arms….reminiscent of the works of Shirley Jackson….confidently recommend this title to readers of the genre, who will, no doubt, return asking for more. Highly recommended for all public libraries.”–Library Journal

“A savage debut thriller that renders the Electra complex electric, the mother/daughter bond a psychopathic stranglehold….a great whodunit, replete with hinting details, telling dialogue, dissembling clues….appalling, heartbreaking insight into the darkness of her women’s lives: the Stepford polish of desperate housewives, the backstabbing viciousness of drug-gobbling, sex-for-favors Mean Girls, the simmering rage bound to boil over. Piercingly effective and genuinely terrifying.”–Kirkus Reviews

“[G] ives new meaning to the term “dysfunctional family” in her chilling debut thriller.  The horror creeps up slowly, with Flynn misdirecting the reader until the shocking, dreadful and memorable double ending.”–Publisher’s Weekly

Reviewed from public library audio book copy.  Amazon Affiliate: If you click from here to Amazon and buy something, I receive a percentage of the purchase price.

Bibliography

Plot Summary:  You just think you know the real Cinderella story.  What if the fairy chosen to be Cinderella’s godmother was not old but young?  What if she had sneaked into the palace and fallen for the prince herself?  What if Cinderella didn’t want to go to the ball?

Critical Analysis:  Dual narratives, both by Lil, the titular godmother, show different pictures, different worlds, different people.  In the present, Lil is a broken old woman forced to hide her fairy wings from the public.  She works in a rare book store by day and spends her nights trying to fill her emptiness with diner food and television shows.  Contrasted with her past self, a young bright fairy with beautiful fairy sisters and friends, excited to be chosen for the honor of being Cinderella’s godmother but young enough, reckless enough to show herself to the prince and fall for him.

Turgeon’s writing is lyrical, lilting, she makes Lil’s longings real.  This is not a happy story, even when Lil decides the only way back is to right the wrong she put into motion so long before and plays fairy godmother to her boss and a beautiful young woman who comes into the bookstore one morning.  This story manages to combine sadness and futility with abundant hope and a painful twisty ambiguous ending that will stay with the reader long after the final page.

Readalikes: Not so much a readalike, but more like a read with, Princess of Glass by Jessica Day George reimagines the Cinderella story as a romance with a much more sinister fairy godmother.

Ash by Malinda Lo is another retelling, this one with a fairy godfather and a broken hearted Cinderella who will do anything to escape her stepmother and return to the woods she considers home.

Review Excerpts: “[R]eaders expecting magical carriages and glass slippers will be surprised by the novel’s morose tone, and though the surprise conclusion doesn’t quite work, Turgeon’s takes on nostalgia and regret are surprisingly clear-eyed given her narrator’s unbalance.”–Publisher’s Weekly

“[A] decidedly different take on Cinderella….Lil is complex and appealing, and vivid imagery and lyrical writing give shape to a charmer with a very satisfying, enigmatic ending.”–Booklist

“[T]houghtfully peels away the layers of fairy-tale convention and delves deeper into the notion of true love-its cost, its power, its rarity, and its beauty. Romantics and fans of fairy stories of all kinds will be enthralled by this latest take on the Cinderella story.”–Library Journal

Reviewed from public library copy.  Amazon Affiliate: If you click from here to Amazon and buy something, I receive a percentage of the purchase price.

Bibliography

Plot Summary: Mackensie loves shoes.  She loves her job, capturing special moments in people’s lives for the wedding business she runs with her lifetime best friends.  She really loves her best friends, who love her even when she’s not at her best.  She loves her dysfunctional mother but hates her mother’s emotional manipulation and doesn’t even know her father.  So when she falls for nerdy but sexy professorial Carter Maguire, she can’t quite believe it’s love.  But Carter is patient, and getting there is half the fun.

Critical Analysis:  There is a reason that Nora Roberts is one of the bestselling novelists of all time.  I have read and enjoyed so many of her novels.  I was so glad that with this series, she is back to writing true romance, no suspense or paranormal elements.

What I love about this book is that it is more than just the relationship story, but this story is about lifetime friends who are each others family.  I also love that there are four strong women who run their own business planning and carrying out weddings but are not dying to get married or throwing themselves desperately at whatever man comes along.

The sense of humor and wit makes this a pleasure to read, and as a former English major, I love the character of Carter, all the mentions of Shakespeare and allusions to trying to write your own great American novel.  I can’t wait to read the next book in the series to meet up with and hear the stories of Emma, Laurel, and Parker.  I only hope that we get to see their own special weddings.  I think almost all Nora Roberts would be great for teen readers, there is some short steamy scenes, but nothing graphic and no language really at all.

Review Excerpts: “Funny sparks fly: he’s a geeky guy who quotes Shakespeare, she’s a trendy workaholic who loves shoes….Roberts pulls off a nice switch in making the woman afraid of saying “I do,” and her gentle humor and likable cast will immediately endear this series to readers.”–Publisher’s Weekly

“A conflicted heroine and a hero with hidden depths slowly work their way toward commitment (and marriage) in this tender, funny, spicy romance that is the first installment in the author’s “The Bride Quartet” series.”–Library Journal

“[C]onsistently engaging Roberts returns to basics and her literary roots. The result is a thoroughly charming contemporary romance that neatly showcases this reigning romance author’s flair for sharp, clever writing and realistically complicated characters in a compelling celebration of the power of friendship and love.”–Booklist

Reviewed from public library audio book copy.  Amazon Affiliate: If you click from here to Amazon and buy something, I receive a percentage of the purchase price.

Plot Summary:  When down on his luck  gambler Charlie brings his father Drummond home from the social agency that found him wandering the streets and his father’s apartment explodes, he starts to wonder if some of the old man’s mumblings about spies and covert operations might actually be true.  When he and his old man find themselves on the run not knowing who the bad guys are, he knows.

Critical Analysis:  Describing this book to others I realize how strange it sounds…there’s this older man with Alzheimer’s who seems to be delusional, thinking he used to be a spy, except that it turns out he was, and now that his mind might betray him, the people he used to work for definitely will.  At any moment in the story you never know if he is present in the moment or not, a plot device that creates both suspense and humor at the same time.  And it is funny and snarky and witty and poignant all at once.

I recently wrote about another book saying it was the most original idea for a mystery series to come along in some time.  Well, this book breathes new life into the sameness of spy thrillers and at the same time shows a picture of a man and his son coming to terms with his failing mind and their strained relationship with one another…the fact that they have to do that while people are shooting at them just adds to the immediacy and intimacy of the story.  I hope that Thomson has many more such books to write, I am looking forward to the next one.

Review Excerpts:  “[W]ildly original debut, a darkly satirical thriller, features an unlikely, if endearing, father-son spy duo…Poignant themes of love and redemption underpin an action-packed story line that includes exotic locales, high-tech gadgetry, and international intrigue.”–Publisher’s Weekly

“Thomson’s sharp humor, swift pacing and surprising twists are refreshing antidotes to the sober, overcooked, underwritten thrillers crowding the market.”–Kirkus Reviews

“First-novelist Thomson has his tongue firmly in cheek in this clever, engaging, and frenetic tale….his knowledge of spook’s tools, techniques, and mind-sets builds verisimilitude, assuming that readers can suspend disbelief to accept that Brooklyn and rural Virginia are teeming with spies. A terrifically entertaining thriller.”–Booklist

Reviewed from public library copy.  Amazon Affiliate: If you click from here to Amazon and buy something, I receive a percentage of the purchase price.

Plot Summary:  Eddie Russet knows how his life will turn out–he’ll take his color test and score extremely high red, Constance Oxblood, the girl he is on a half promise to will accept his marriage proposal, and he’ll settle down to a quite comfortable life as long as he follows the rules.  Literally–there are thousands maybe millions of them.  But he didn’t count on East Carmine, of meeting Jane G-23 (a Grey-gasp!) and the Apocryphal Man (a historian of sorts) and a whole cast of characters that will upset his planned life and lead him to question all he thought was true and good.

Critical Analysis:  This book is what would happen if Monty Python got a hold of Lois Lowry’s The Giver…very irreverent and funny and British and all too familiar and relate-able to the world we know today.  I have to think that Jasper Fforde must have some kind of twisted crazy mind to think not just of Thursday Next, which has it’s own esoteric kind of wit and humor, but also of this new series, which is much more straight forward and almost obvious in it’s silliness.  (On purpose, I think.)  This obviousness is what screams at the reader to show the uselessness of so much of what is held dear today.

The plot is almost swallowed up by the details, and takes a long time to resolve itself, and for this reader, that’s okay.  The details are the fun.  The hierarchy of the Chromatic Scale, those who perceive more real color have higher positions than those who don’t, those who perceive little color are little better than slaves.  The prefect system, which feels just like what you imagine would happen if a bunch of British boarding school kids decided to take the system outside the school to rule the world.  The confused details about The Previous and The Something That Happened, including artifacts like the last known map (a Risk board game) and a statue of Oz (some of the characters from The Wizard of Oz movie).  The Leap Backs which have resulted in a library with no books (full of librarians willing to help you find, well, not much at all), the elimination of electric light, motor cars, and more.   I could go on and on, as Fforde does in the story, but I daresay, he does a much better job than I.

I would love to think of some readalikes for this title, but I am not as well read in this area as I would like to be.  I can tell you this book will have very high teen appeal, as I know even today in every high school and college, there are still a small group of teens who discover and relish Monty Python skits and movies.  They will relish this book and look forward to the sequel.

Review Excerpts: “This insanely clever novel…sounds like a cult classic for people who crave a rich brew of dystopic fantasy and deadpan goofiness….his most original story, an elaborate social satire about a weird but oddly familiar world almost 500 years in the future…Lewis Carroll madness tinted with steampunk. The palette of Fforde’s comedy is immense.”–Washington Post

“This inventive fantasy…imagines a screwball future in which social castes and protocols are rigidly defined by acuteness of personal color perception…. a vividly imagined landscape whose every facet is steeped in the author’s remarkably detailed color scheme. Sometimes, though, it’s hard to see the story for the chromotechnics.”–Publisher’s Weekly

“All the hallmarks of dystopian fiction are here…But there is also humor, wit, and mystery in this wonderfully weird new world where color and people’s ability to perceive it govern society. VERDICT Fforde has built a complex, engaging, and unique world full of surprises, serious ideas, and serious fun that will appeal to those beyond the author’s readers and sf fans.”–Library Journal

“[I]mpish British author’s refreshingly daft first volume of a new fantasy series….something like a contemporary Lewis Carroll or Edward Lear….All this is serenely silly, but to dispel a black mood and chase away the blues, this witty novel offers an eye-popping spectrum of remedies. A grateful hue and cry (as well as sequels) may be anticipated.”–Kirkus Reviews

Reviewed from public library audiobook. copy.  Amazon Affiliate: If you click from here to Amazon and buy something, I receive a percentage of the purchase price.

Plot Summary:  London solicitor Reggie Heath loves his new law offices, and loves the great lease he got on them even more.  But there is a catch–the offices are located at 221b Baker Street and part of the deal is that they must respond to any and all letters sent to Sherlock Holmes.  A great job for Nigel, Reggie’s brother, who is trying to get back on his feet.  But when someone is found murdered in Nigel’s office and Nigel has taken a letter and flown across the Atlantic to try and help it’s sender, Reggie must go after him to try and keep him out of further trouble.

Critical Analysis:  This is one of the best most original ideas for a mystery series I’ve seen in a long time.  Even people who haven’t read the original Holmes stories are familiar with the details.  And yes Virginia, people do write letters to fictional characters.  But what makes the story are the the brothers and their relationship.  Throw in Laura, a beautiful beguiling actress who has been involved with them both and refuses to be left out of the action, and you’ve got some very funny scenes juxtaposed with some suspenseful action, from chasing 20 year old leads from an 8 year old’s letter, to lunch in a homeless shelter, falling off a dam, and confrontation in a subway tunnel.

I found the resolution of the mystery a bit abrupt, but that might be my fault, as it turns out the situation was very complex with many players involved.  It leaves me hoping that the next installment will be even stronger, and encouraging all librarians and booksellers to use this book as a reason for another Holmes display.  Not that you need an excuse to display Laurie King, Carole Nelson Douglas and the others who have added to Holmes’ universe and stories.

Review Excerpts: “Robertson’s engaging debut, the first in a projected series, offers one of the more original premises involving the Sherlock Holmes character….Readers will want to spend more time with the appealing Heath and company, but the conceit of having future mysteries to solve based on letters to Baker Street may be hard to sustain.”–Publisher’s Weekly

“Great characters, a complex plot, and the wonderful feeling that people still believe in Sherlock Holmes round out this debut treat.”–Library Journal

“Robertson’s sure-footed debut is lively and inventive.”–Kirkus Reviews

“This is a very entertaining novel, lighthearted but with a solid story, and mystery fans, whether they’re Sherlock Holmes addicts or not, will thoroughly enjoy it. The book is billed as the first entry in a new series, and, judging by this installment, it should be a popular series indeed.”–Booklist

Reviewed from public library copy.  Amazon Affiliate: If you click from here to Amazon and buy something, I receive a percentage of the purchase price.

Bibliography

Plot Summary: Bea Abbott has returned from an around the world trip exhausted.  She started the trip with her beloved husband, but part way through, his illness worsened and he died.  All Bea wants it to be left alone with her grief.    Instead she discovers her son, Max, an MP, and his wife want to buy the house cheap.  Instead of closing down the family owned domestic agency, Max hired a somewhat obnoxious pink-haired girl Maggie to help out, allowing her to live in the house.  Maggie then took in Oliver, a teen whose father threw him out of his house.  When Bea’s first husband shows up, she realizes solitude and silence are a lost cause.  Caterer and old friend Coral comes asking for help in getting what’s owed her from a job to which the agency referred her and Bea  feels obligated to help not realizing the dangerous situation she is getting all of them into.

Critical Analysis: Heley has created more than just another British cozy.  This series is quirky and edgy and even gritty.  Bea has a strong moral compass and a conscience that won’t let her turn her back on her friend, or turn the two stray young people living on her top floor out into the street.  On the same hand, she won’t let her son and his wife walk all over her, and is determined now that she isn’t following her beloved husband’s bliss, to try and figure out what she really wants.

A mere description of the plot does not convey the skill with which Heley makes the search for the bad guys and the elaborate plan to catch them and get what money is owed back seem exciting and even dangerous.  The fact that Maggie unknowingly makes a connection to one of the bad guys ratchets up the suspense even more.

The structure for this novel is interesting as well.  Unlike very traditional cozies, the reader meets and sees the villains in action, and some of the violence happens in the pages of the story, rather then off screen so to speak.  This again adds to the level of suspense and even anticipation for the confrontation.  The scene where Bea confronts their team with her team behind her is very satisfying, as are the events that unfold after.  (Don’t want to say too much and give away the plot.)

I would recommend this book to any lover of British or cozy mysteries, but also to readers of woman’s and Christian fiction.  While not banging you over the head with it, Heley interjects a nice thread of Bea’s turning to the solace of God in the wake of losing her husband and in the midst of the problems where she now finds herself.  I’m looking forward to reading more books in this series.

Review Excerpts: “[I]ngenious series debut from British veteran Heley…the cast of outrageous characters compliments a complex mystery.”–Publisher’s Weekly

“Heley’s new series has a quirky vibe that edges it beyond its pedestrian plot.”–Kirkus Reviews

“Bea overcomes all obstacles and finds that life, while challenging, can be good. The first Abbott Agency mystery is a winner that will appeal to fans of British cozies.”–Library Journal

Reviewed from public library copy.

Plot Summary:  Detective Arthur St. Just is attending an Edinburgh festival for mystery writers to give a presentation about detective work.  He is staying at Dalmorton Castle and Spa along with several mystery writers, aspiring writers, literary agents, and a publisher.  Lord Easterbrook of Deadly Daggers Press has gathered together his stable of authors to present an award to his latest darling: Kimberlee Kalder, author of the bestselling debut chick lit mystery Dying for a Latte.  But not everyone is thrilled with her success, and when she is found murdered, St. Just is called upon by the local police to help question the suspects.

Critical Analysis:  Even better than the first in the series (Death of a Cozy Writer, which was a take off on the country estate murder and received an Agatha award),  Malliet does a great riff on the locked room murder while skewering writing and literary conferences and poking fun at mystery writers everywhere.  It starts with the names:  Arthur, perhaps like A. C. Doyle?  St. Just, because that is what he is seeking.  Portia, as her namesake in the Merchant of Venice, beautiful, gracious, rich, intelligent, quick witted and with high standards in men.  And De’ath?  Too, too funny.  Of course Detective St. Just had to fall in love with her.  Margretta Sincock regrets the misdeeds of her past, and Jay Fforde might be a shout out to Jasper Fforde.  Even the local police have fitting names:  Moor, as in the moors of Scotland, and Kittle, which has a Scottish usage that means to tickle or perplex.  And then there is the darling debut chick lit author:  Kimberlee Kalder.  (Is that her real name?  She’s not telling.)   And of course there is the setting–an old Scottish castle complete with a drawbridge and a ghost!  If you were a mystery writer or police detective, would you stay there, no matter who is picking up the bill?  I do wonder if this series resonates as well with readers who aren’t familiar with their Christie, Sayers, and Wodehouse?

As for the mystery, it is pretty well done, and as with all locked room stories, the intriguing question is if no one could get in from the outside, then which of the people who were already here had the motive to do the deed?  Red herrings abound, and I thought the scenes where Just is questioning the group of writers who had been in the living room grousing and griping all evening was very well done, almost like a who’s on first type of thing.  For the most part, the secondary characters are somewhat two dimensional, but in many cases larger than life as befits the humor of the tale.

Readalikes:  Murder at the ABA by Issac Asimov featuring an amateur detective and writer named Just solving a murder at a bookseller’s convention

The Death on Demand series by Carolynn Hart which is less a send up of mysteries and more an homage, with mystery bookstore owner Annie Darling and a rotating cast of characters.  Especially recommended is The Christie Caper which is set at a conference honoring Agatha Christie.

Review Excerpts: “Malliet’s satirical take on the mystery scene is spot-on.”–Publisher’s Weekly

“Lots of humor and a bit of ‘guess who this writer is’ make this one a good choice for readers who enjoy intelligent cozies and traditional mysteries.”–Library Journal

Child, Julia with Alex Prud’ Homme. (2006). My Life in France.  New York: Knopf. ISBN: 978-1400043460

I picked up an advanced copy of Julie and Julia at the ALA Conference in Chicago in the summer of 2005.  However, while I passed it along to several people to read, including my mother, somehow it didn’t catch my interest at the time.  When My Life in France was published, it caught my attention because of the highly positive reviews, but mostly because my library had bought an audio CD copy, and it fit with my new plan to listen to books in the car m way to and fro.

I loved My Life in France.  The descriptions of Paris living, of the process of learning how to cook and then laboring over the culinary masterpiece that became Master the Art of French Cooking was inspiring and enthralling.  Throw in a wonderful marriage that never lost its passion and romance, and a glimpse into the beginnings of cooking on television, and the book becomes more than just a memoir.  I actually blogged the book at that time.  Here’s what I wrote then:

“Of course, there would be no Mario or any of the other All-Star chefs on the Food Network if someone hadn’t figured out how to show cooking on television.  While listening to Julia Child’s My Life in France, I learned that she had the first truly successful and popular cooking show on television but I learned so much more.  About how she worked for United States Intelligence during WWII.  About how she was never a cook until she and her husband Paul were posted to France and she was exposed to such wonderful food and markets and restaurants and cooks.  About her experiences at the Cordon Bleu and writing the classic Mastering the Art of French Cooking.  But mostly about her love for France, its people, culture, and food.”

My personal policy is that I usually read the book BEFORE I go to see the movie (or television show or whatever.)  However, there are always exceptions to every rule, right?  When it came to the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher, I WANTED to read them, I tried to get into them, but I just couldn’t somehow.  But then I saw a few episodes of the (much too short lived) series on the SciFi channel.  I went to the library the very next day and requested the book and this time I couldn’t read it fast enough.  When I heard there was going to be a movie of Julie and Julia, I thought I should finally read the book.  But I didn’t.  I tried, I did, but–no.  Then I heard it was ALSO going to be based on My Life in France, which I loved and still remembered.  And when I heard that Meryl Street was playing Julia, that was it, I had to go.  (I love movies but I don’t watch very many, I usually only get to the movie theater once or twice a year.)

I saw the movie on the opening weekend, and I loved it.  It was refreshing and funny and different.  And the parts about Julia Child were so well done, and the parts with Julie made me want to, have to finally read the book.  I actually picked up the audio book from the library, and was happy that the author herself was doing the reading.  Very funny, very snarky, with lots of I’m almost 30 what am I doing with my life angst.  I also loved how she portrayed her husband, perhaps because it reminded me of mine:  supportive and encouraging to the point where you want to say leave me alone so I can wallow in self pity but instead he gets you to pick yourself up and DO SOMETHING.

The two stories have such nice parallels, and that is part of what made the movie so good.  The only thing that makes me a little sad is that part of what My Life in France possible and so good was the copious letters that Julia and Paul and their friends and family wrote back and forth and somehow managed to save.  Would something like that even be possible today?  Do people save their e-mails, their instant message and other conversations?

Reviewed from public library copies

Plot Summary:  Playwright and mystery writer Josephine Tey is traveling to London to see the last week of her hit play on stage.  On the train she meets a fan, who is found brutally murdered soon after arriving at the station.  Tey’s friend from Scotland Yard, Inspector Archie Penrose is investigating and finds out the victim was adopted.  When a second murder occurs, a link is found to the trench warfare of World War I, and Tey herself may be in danger.

Critical Analysis:  It is always interesting to me when someone builds a mystery series around a real historical figure.  It means the author has to be careful not only in how he or she portrays that character, but also in how events are laid out and unfold.  In the case of Tey, a pseudonym of Scottish author and playwright Elizabeth Mackintosh, the events are not that long ago, and while perhaps not as well known as some, her book, The Daughter of Time is still widely available.  Because of this, Upson has more latitude than if she had chosen a more public figure to helm her series.

The fictional Tey is very engaging, amicable and caring, whether of a fan she just met, old friends, a family in mourning.  The historical and physical setting is also very well done, Upson makes the reader feel as though they were there, at the train station, in the wings of the theater, at the run down flat.  Inspector Archie Penrose is a nice foil to Tey, in that he is rather serious and measured reminding her at every turn to be carful, not to take chances.  (But what kind of mystery would that be?)  Some seasoned mystery readers might see the resolution coming far in advance, but the story is so charming and full of life that I don’ t think most people will care.

Readalikes:  Upson and Tey join a growing group of mystery series set after World War I with detectives still dealing with the ravages of war : The Maisie Dobbs series by Jacqueline Winspear,  Inspector Ian Rutledge mysteries by Charles Todd, and the Daisy Darymple series by Carola Dunn.  For a view of the war itself, try Anne Perry’s World War I mystery series.

Review Excerpts:  “While the heroine falls conventionally into the killer’s clutches before a solution many will anticipate, the engaging prose will leave even readers unfamiliar with Tey’s fiction eagerly looking forward to the next in the series.”–Publisher’s Weekly

“Upson’s debut is a most promising valentine.” –Kirkus Reviews