The Saturday Morning Post (40)

 

"What's this?" you say. "Another mystery story? I thought you weren't a fan of mysteries, and here you are, two in a row."

Well, as I mentioned in my last Saturday Morning Post that I'm out of books to read. I've read all the recommended books I had on my list, so I'm on my own for reading material. My wife had just read this library book on her Kindle, and thought I might like it, as it had a first person narration, and none of the things I dislike, like contemporary settings, flashbacks, and multiple points of view. So I decided to give it a try before she returned it.

My reviewer criteria. I like light, entertaining novels. I like smaller scale stories rather than epics. I like character focused novels featuring pleasant characters, with a minimum number of unpleasant ones. I greatly value clever and witty writing. I like first person, or close third person narratives. I dislike a lot of "head jumping" between POVs and flashbacks. I want a story, not a puzzle. While I am not opposed to violence, I dislike gore for the sake of gore. I find long and elaborate fight, action, and battle sequences tedious. Plot holes and things that happen for the convenience of the author annoy me. And I fear I'm a born critic in that I don't mind pointing out what I don't like in a story. However, I lay no claim to be the final arbitrator of style and taste, you need to decide for yourself what you like or dislike in a book.

Your opinions are always welcome. Comment below.

Duty to the Dead  by Charles Todd  C+

This is not a bad book. It reads well, has an engaging narrator, and is set in a historical period that sounded right to me. Unlike that Victorian era historical mystery I read some time back, the authors (a son and mother team) did not try to impress the reader with their research with mini-lectures drawn from Wikipedia. By chance it is the first book of a (currently) 13 book series whose stories take place during and immediately after World War l.

The story involves a British World War l nurse, Bess Crawford. She survives the sinking of the hospital ship Britannica in the Mediterranean Sea in 1916, though her arm was broken. She finds herself on medical leave in England until her arm has healed enough for her to do her job once again. She had been given a message by a dying soldier to deliver to his brother in person. Just two sentences, that told her nothing. Using her leave, she decides that the owes it to the dead soldier, who she had warm feeling for, to deliver this message. After contacting them, she is invited to the family home, and delivers her message, which opens up an ugly can of family worms. An ugly mystery, and her promise to the dying soldier, compels her to uncover the events that took place 15 years before the story opens and their repercussions, in order to uncover the truth. 

My major criticism of the story is that I found it hard to suspend my disbelief in some key aspects of the mystery. While the authors made a valiant effort to make the reader believe that these people could do what they did, and that the authorities could do what they did, I must admit that I never quite bought it. The backstory and some of the actions of the characters just seemed too contrived. Still, I read the entire book, and that says a lot when it comes to me. I don't waste my time reading books I don't like. I think fans of mysteries, especially ones set in historical settings would find this book just fine, and probably enjoy the series as well.