Category: Literary Criticism

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Review: Beyond the Wild River by Sarah Maine

by The Lit Bitch6 Comments on Review: Beyond the Wild River by Sarah Maine

One of the things that caught my eye about this book was that it’s marketed to fans of Kate Morton and Beatriz Williams. Both of these authors have a very unique and lyrical storytelling style and their books are typically family sagas or dramas with hints of romance.

So when I read this marketing description I was totally intrigued by this book and wanted to read it. I also loved that this book sounded highly atmospheric and suspenseful, though it’s set in North America it is about a Scottish heiress who unexpectedly encounters her childhood friend in North America in 1890, five years after he disappeared from her family’s estate the night of a double murder.

Nineteen-year-old Evelyn Ballantyre has rarely strayed from her family’s estate in the Scottish Borderlands, save for the occasional trip to Edinburgh, where her father, a respected magistrate, conducts his business—and affairs of another kind. Evelyn has always done her duty as a daughter, hiding her boredom and resentment behind good manners—so when an innocent friendship with a servant is misinterpreted by her father as an illicit union, Evelyn is appalled.

Yet the consequence is a welcome one: she is to accompany her father on a trip to North America, where they’ll visit New York City, the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago, and conclude with a fishing expedition on the Nipigon River in Canada. Now is her chance to escape her cloistered life, see the world, and reconnect with her father.

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Review: A Grave Matter (Lady Darby Mystery #3) by Anna Lee Huber

by The Lit Bitch2 Comments on Review: A Grave Matter (Lady Darby Mystery #3) by Anna Lee Huber

While my reviews of the Lady Darby mysteries are rather spread out, that does not mean that I read them sporadically. On the contrary, I read them in rather rapid succession but decided to spreat out the reviews so as not to overshadow other books that I had on my review calendar.

The Lady Darby mysteries have won a place in my heart as a beloved lady detective series, all thanks in part to the electric romance between her and Gage, and all the Gothic elements that I adore in books.

In this latest book, the Gothic element was a rather macabre burglary of sorts……stealing long dead skeletons. I loved the dark deserted graveyards and Abbeys, in remote locations of Scotland, paired with the creepy implication that perhaps the bodies rose from the dead.

Scotland, 1830. Following the death of her dear friend, Lady Kiera Darby is in need of a safe haven. Returning to her childhood home, Kiera hopes her beloved brother Trevor and the merriment of the Hogmanay Ball will distract her. But when a caretaker is murdered and a grave is disturbed at nearby Dryburgh Abbey, Kiera is once more thrust into the cold grasp of death.

While Kiera knows that aiding in another inquiry will only further tarnish her reputation, her knowledge of anatomy could make the difference in solving the case. But agreeing to investigate means Kiera must deal with the complicated emotions aroused in her by inquiry agent Sebastian Gage. Continue reading “Review: A Grave Matter (Lady Darby Mystery #3) by Anna Lee Huber” →

Book Critic, Book Review, Books, Literary Criticism, Reading

Review: A Bridge Across the Ocean by Susan Meissner

by The Lit Bitch1 Comment on Review: A Bridge Across the Ocean by Susan Meissner

After reading Stars Over Sunset Boulevard, I was really impressed with Susan Meissner’s writing. I started out not really in the mood to read her book and then I was sucked into the story and enjoyed the characters and plot so much that I was pretty bummed when it was over.

So obviously I had experience with Meissner’s writing before this book, so when it came across my desk for review it was an easy yes however her name wasn’t what caught my eye about this book. The name only cemented my acceptance to review it….what got me was the cover. I am absolutely in love with the beauty of this cover. It hints at glamour and romance and the colors worked so well that I couldn’t pass it up.

February, 1946. World War Two is over, but the recovery from the most intimate of its horrors has only just begun for Annaliese Lange, a German ballerina desperate to escape her past, and Simone Deveraux, the wronged daughter of a French Resistance spy.

Now the two women are joining hundreds of other European war brides aboard the renowned RMS Queen Mary to cross the Atlantic and be reunited with their American husbands. Their new lives in the United States brightly beckon until their tightly-held secrets are laid bare in their shared stateroom. When the voyage ends at New York Harbor, only one of them will disembark…

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Review: Mortal Arts (Lady Darby Mystery #2) by Anna Lee Huber

by The Lit Bitch2 Comments on Review: Mortal Arts (Lady Darby Mystery #2) by Anna Lee Huber

After rapidly finishing the first Lady Darby book, I knew that I would need the next one. I didn’t care that the book cost $14.00 on my Kindle and I had tons of other books I could read….I had to know what happened to Gage and Kiera next!

This book was much different than the first one and I think I liked it even more than the first book! I loved all the Gothic elements that this one had. The first book lacked some of my favorite elements but this one did NOT disappoint!

Crumbling castle on the coast, a madman locked in the attic, an asylum looming ominously off the North Sea coast, a family fallen from grace, a howling ghost dog legend, family secrets, and murder most foul? YES! All things that I love in a Gothic novel, plus you add the budding affection between Kiera and Gage and you easily have a five star rating from me!

Scotland, 1830. Lady Kiera Darby is no stranger to intrigue—in fact, it seems to follow wherever she goes. After her foray into murder investigation, Kiera must journey to Edinburgh with her family so that her pregnant sister can be close to proper medical care. But the city is full of many things Kiera isn’t quite ready to face: the society ladies keen on judging her, her fellow investigator—and romantic entanglement—Sebastian Gage, and ultimately, another deadly mystery. Continue reading “Review: Mortal Arts (Lady Darby Mystery #2) by Anna Lee Huber” →

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Review: Gone Without A Trace by Mary Torjussen

by The Lit Bitch1 Comment on Review: Gone Without A Trace by Mary Torjussen

When I read mysteries, I typically read historical mysteries but from time to time, a modern psychological thriller captures my eye and I pick it up but I kind of have to be in the mood.

Well the mood struck me when Gone Without A Trace came up for review. So what caught my eye about this one? Well I liked the tag line ‘no one disappears completely’. One of my favorite shows on ID TV is Disappeared, so books that deal with disappearances intrigue me because that tag line is so true and the not knowing drives the interest for me.

Gone Without a Trace is a compulsive thriller about a woman who returns from work to find her boyfriend has vanished.

No one ever disappears completely…
You leave for work one morning. Another day in your normal life. Until you come home to discover that your boyfriend has gone.

His belongings have disappeared. He hasn’t been at work for weeks. It’s as if he never existed. But that’s not possible, is it? And there is worse still to come. Because just as you are searching for him, someone is also watching you (summary from Goodreads).

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