It's by Mary Stewart, so of course, great atmosphere--this time in France! Jennifer travels to France to join up with her cousin Gillian. When she gets to the convent where Gillian is supposedly staying for awhile, she's told that Gillian is dead. For several reasons, which I won't go into here, Jennifer is convinced Gillian is still alive. Throw in an old friend-who-wants-to-be-a-flame and it's a classic.
Best of all it featured someone with AMNESIA! Two books in a row...that made me happy.
Rating: 7/10
The next book, Still Life with Murder, wasn't nearly as enjoyable.
The front cover says it's a "thoroughly charming book"......if you find opium addicts, murder, whoring and prison charming. Set in the late 1860s, Nell, an Irish governess for a rich family, is asked to become a sort of detective for the family after their "dead" son pops up wanted for murder. So she starts investigating and meets Will, the son. Will is an opium addict due to an old war injury (or is it actually due to an internal injury...aka guilt, blah blah blah). He appears to be guilty, but Nell (kind of somehow) figures out he's not. There's some attraction between the two, but seriously, he's high so much, what really could develop?
I just couldn't like Will. He's a bit of a slut and his main topic of conversation was opium. Eh, not my cup of tea. Nell was fine, although "mysterious" (the author would throw in bits of information...like the fact she has a 9-inch scar...and then not tell you anything else. Pssssh). I like happy mysteries. This one was too serious and aspects were just too unbelievable--but some parts were so realistic. I couldn't handle the mix.
Rating: 5/10
1 comment:
Yay for Mary Stewart! Did you know that Thunder is her only book told in 3rd person? (I'm pretty sure about that anyway. I could possibly be missing one.) Not my favorite, but as you say, very atmospheric. :)
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