Review: Enola Holmes and the Elegant Escapade

Enola Holmes and the Elegant Escapade by Nancy Springer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

As usual, I really enjoyed this installment of the Enola Holmes series. In this book, Enola Holmes feels compelled to help her friend Cecily who seems to have disappeared. Enola knows something sinister is at work and is determined to ensure that Cecily is safe and sound. Enola's older brother Sherlock makes several appearances as Enola proves she is just as good (or perhaps better!) at solving mysteries than her famous brother.
This book (and this series) is perfect for middle-grade to high school readers who are looking for a light, fun, historical mystery. Enola is an admirable heroine and her pluckiness is fun and engaging.
I would absolutely recommend this book.

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Review: Murder in Westminster

Murder in Westminster by Vanessa Riley
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I received an ARC of this book.
I could not get into this book. The characters felt familiar and almost stereotypical, which was strange when it was obvious the author was trying to counter commonly-held stereotypes. The dialogue felt stilted. And the situations felt too manufactured and overblown. It was like the author was trying way too hard to do way too much. There was no organic flow and I could not get into a rhythm while reading this book, so I did not finish it.

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Review: The Drowned Woods

The Drowned Woods by Emily Lloyd-Jones
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I received an ARC of this book.
I have had a very hard time reviewing this book, because I loved The Bone Houses so much. But by the time I got about 1/3 of the way through The Drowned Woods, I was very disappointed. It felt like the author was trying to follow a step-by-step manual to writing a YA heist fantasy novel and it just wasn't working. Tropes are only fun when they're done well or when they're tossed on their head. Neither was the case here. Everything felt flat and like the author was trying too hard to force everything to work. I skimmed most of the book, and so the ending, which I am assuming should have had some real emotional impact, just left me underwhelmed.
As I said, The Bone Houses was one of my favorite books, but I wouldn't recommend this one. I might read another by this author, but I am not sure.

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Review: The Last Party

The Last Party by Clare Mackintosh
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I received an ARC of this book.
This was a satisfying beginning to a new series by one of my favorite authors, Clare Mackintosh. I have enjoyed several of her other books, so when I heard she was writing a series set in Wales about a female detective I couldn't wait to read it.
Rhys Lloyd, a slightly has-been celebrity, has returned to his hometown in Wales to build a luxury resort on a beautiful lake. Most of the residents of the area resent Rhys and his new business endeavor, however, and when his body is found in the lake, Welsh DC Ffion Morgan is paired up with English DC Leo Brady to find out what happened. Unraveling secrets that want to stay buried will be a huge challenge, especially when some of those secrets belong to Ffion herself.
I enjoyed this book. I wouldn't say it was a tense, gripping thriller, but more of a slow-burn police procedural type of mystery. Ffion was an incredibly intriguing character, and the author did a great job of making sure that Leo was a great "partner" in their investigation and counterpoint to her character. The secondary characters were also fleshed out very well. The mystery was well-plotted and the ending was spot-on.
My only issue with the book was the way the time-line jumped all over the place. We have the mystery and action begin in the "present" when Rhys's body is discovered, and then every so often the setting will jump back to the past, before the murder took place. This in and of itself is not a big deal--a large number of mystery books use dual timelines. But in this book we would jump from January, just after the murder, to August, then back to January, then October, then January, then June, then back to January again, then December, and so on and so on. I would much rather have had the "past" timeline move in a more linear fashion. It took away from the flow of the book and made the uncovering and revealing of clues feel less organic and more "convenient."
That being said, I really did like the book and am eagerly awaiting the next installment in the series. Ffion is a character worth rooting for and I will enjoy following her journey.

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