"Dirt Dealers", by A.W. Kaylen

Heather Chase FBI # 0.5

This novella of 85 pages or so was a promotion to introduce us to the author and his series. I received this prequel through Bookfunnel at no cost.

This sort story has quite a punch and is said in somewhat crude and choppy language while Heather tries to work with her fellow Agents. She seems smarter than them, analysing the situation before jumping to conclusion. This mystery is about sex scandal, a string of murders and a secret no one wants to reveal, an ordinary case of course given to a female Agent....something is not right and Heather uses her instinct to solve the puzzle and wrap up the murder case...

The storyline is captivating enough, active and provides some twists to derail us, suspense is there to keep the guessing game on and manages to do so till the very end. So-so characters very stereotypical, nothing special come out of them. I would say it is the run of the mill mystery/police procedural. Good but not exceptional.

"The Warsaw Sisters" by Amanda Barratt

WW11 Poland

This is the story of twin sisters Antonina and Helena Dabrowska whose strong bond will be tested by the devastation of war. Ms. Barratt brings us on a heart wrenching journey along with the characters as the sisters bravely fought in different ways the oppression of Nazis. Helena joined a resistance cell while Antonina smuggled Jewish children out of the ghetto.

The historical events are woven within the fictional characters lives and storyline, giving us a glimpse of the courage and sacrifice the citizens of Warsaw had to face. Told from the point of view of each sister and in alternate chapters we navigate through the tragedy that unfolded in Warsaw for five long years of oppression, brutality and terror. Although all Polish people suffered, the Jewish people were singled out. Jolanta, a pseudo for Irena Sendler, a legend during the war was Antonina’s contact. We have snippets of the dangerous and important work this group of women did. As for Helena her story was inspired by the Warsaw Uprising; the most heroic and tragic chapter’s in Poland’s history. We also dabbled in many other facets such as the Katyn massacre, Treblinka deportations, the Wola and Ochta massacres and many other major and tragic events.

The style is very emotional, every word vividly said and touching. This story has depth with a strong sense of place and time. The characters are sharply drawn although I did find the sisters were a bit too lucky to escape so much tragedy without being hurt even killed, even some of their action should have brought retaliation: slapping a German in the face and getting away with it...questionable as an example.

The author’s notes at the end of the book tells us why “The Warsaw Sisters” is a powerful story hard to put down.

I received this ARC from Revell Publishing through The First Reviewer Program.

"The Proof of the Pudding", by Rhys Bowen

A Royal Spyness Mystery Book # 17

I started this series at this point and I assure you that in no way was I lost not knowing what had previously happened, Ms. Bowen does excellent work in introducing her characters and melting them smoothly into a new story. Although it may be great the read this series in order since snippets of the past does pop in from time to time.

Georgie is home awaiting the birth of her child, and to show off her new French chef, a party is set to celebrate Sir Hubert’s return from his last expedition. One of the guests is Gothic horror novelist Sir Mortimer Mordred who lives nearby wants to borrow Georgie’s chef for his own party. He loves to give his guesses a tour of his garden, then a banquet is served where several of the them suddenly became sick......everything points to Pierre the French chef but Georgie wants none of it and goes all out to defend him.....

This is amateur sleuth at its best. Clues come very slowly to stretch the suspense and it is done beautifully. At first I thought this drama was way to slow moving for my taste but lo and behold I got caught in the excitement and held captive till the murderer was known. Along the way we meet colourful characters, a mix of celebrities such as Agatha Christie and Laurence Olivier. The maid and house help played roles to a tee and were entertaining along the way. Not forgetting the dreadful sister in law. In my mind, I told her to buzz off many times but Georgie was graceful and tolerant....

I like the simple style and the active narration with lack of frills or posh words used by British Aristocracy and hard for some of us to comprehend. Most of all the detective work is sound and captivating and the story can move on with Georgie now a mother..... Till next time....what will Ms. Bowen come up with to give us another entertaining read...well-said and well-done.

Many thankyous to Berkley Publishing Group as well as Netgalley for providing this ARC.