REVIEW: THE APOTHECARY by Maile Meloy

  With illustrations by Ian Schoenherr   Normally I don’t read young adult books for review.  I think this is due mostly to the fact that I never really read them when I was a young adult.  I sort of skipped that and went straight on to adult titles (The most notable exception being the…

REVIEWS: BOOKS THAT DIDN’T QUITE FLOAT MY BOAT

I try to give every book the same consideration, particularly when it’s in the review pile.  As a (wannabe) writer myself, I can understand the toil that an author went through.  I respect that.  But there are still some books, that no matter how much I should have liked, and thought I would enjoy, I…

REVIEW: FOREVER RUMPOLE by John Mortimer

It’s going to be impossible to review this book without comparing it to the works of PG Wodehouse.  The writings share a number of attributes — silly surnames, ridiculous situations, and even more unlikely solutions.  Barrister Horace Rumpole tells stories from the first person, much like Bertie and Mr. Mulliner, but his are from the…

REVIEW: MURDER IN A FIRST-CLASS CARRIAGE by Kate Colquhoun

The First Victorian Railway Killing I’m a sucker for these sorts of books.  In fact, when I received the review copy, my husband joked, “Well, someone said, ‘Let’s write a book for you!’”  It has so many themes I love: mystery, the Victorian era, trains, and a murder trial.  AND it’s British.   Drawn from…