A Plague of Poison by Maureen Ash

Genre: Historical Mystery

Setting: In and around the English city of Lincoln, Spring 1201 AD.

First sentence: With the celebration of Eastertide at the end of March, a warm spring radiance had descended on Lincoln.

This novel is the third in Ash's Templar Knight series.  This series currently has seven titles.

There is unrest and fear in Lincoln.  In short order, several seemingly unrelated people have been murdered by poison.

Our main character, Bascot de Marins is asked by the lady of the castle to investigate.  It seems that all of the clues point to a local potter.  Although he swears his innocence, the potter is sentenced to death.  The sentence will be carried out in a few weeks when the king's officials affirm the potter's conviction.

Bascot is a Templar knight.  He has recently returned from several horrible years in the Holy Land.  Bascot is serving at Lincoln in order to rest both body and soul.  Traveling with Bascot is his young ward Gianni.  Although he is young, and mute, Gianni is intelligent and observant.

There is something about the potter's conviction which does not seem right to Bascot.  Then Gianni makes several observations which point Bascot in the right direction.  Soon, Bascot is convinced that the potter is not guilty.  But now he needs to find the evidence needed to overturn the potter's conviction and reveal the identity of the true poisoner.

This novel was a pleasant read.  Bascot is an interesting and believable character.  The novel was an intriguing and tangled mystery.  I did not know "who done it" until the reveal at the end.

I'll be looking for more of Ash's Templar Knight novels to read.

                                      

My Review of the Amazon fireTV

Before I start the review.  This is my 200th blog post!  Take a look at the archives for my reviews of lots of books as well as a few other things.

If you are an Amazon Prime member, you should check out the Amazon fireTV streaming device.

Set up is a snap.  When the fireTV arrives, it comes preregistered to your Amazon Prime account.  Plug in the power cord, and connect your HDMI cable and you are ready to go.  The device leads you through the set up with your home network.  Then there is a nice animated tutorial.

Soon you will be searching for content.  The voice search is a nice feature.  Just say the name of an actor, or the title of a movie, and the fireTV will deliver your desired content.

All of the Amazon Prime Instant video can be viewed free, without commercials.  Also, there is plenty of quality video which can be purchased.

Through the fireTV, you can also set up a Netflix and Hulu account.  I have enjoyed all of the great TV programming I've watched through my Hulu account.

The biggest drawback for me is the music feature.  The fireTV will connect you to streaming music through Pandora and iHeartRadio.  The  fireTV will connect you to your Amazon Music library but, as of this writing, it will only play music which you own.  It will not play any of your favorite Amazon Music streaming playlists.

So, if you are into music more than videos, I'd stick with an Amazon Fire tablet.

Since the fireTV did not ship with a printed manual I downloaded a copy onto my laptop.  I found it to be very handy in answering a few FAQ type questions.

I've had the fireTV for a few weeks.  It's been fun to use and I am glad I bought it.

                                                                 

The Lost Spaceship by Vaughn Heppner

Genre: Science Fiction

Setting: In interstellar space.

First Sentence: Wearing perfectly pressed trousers and shiny boots, Captain Maddox of Star Watch Intelligence flexed his bare chest.

It is sometime in the future.  Mankind has spread to countless planets.  From somewhere in uncharted space comes a race of superior super-humans: the New Men.  They have infiltrated humanity.  They have advanced military firepower. Soon the New Men will attack and destroy human civilization.

Humanity's only chance is to find and use weapons which can out gun the invaders.  There is a legend that somewhere, deep in space, is an abandoned battle ship which possesses the advanced weapons humanity needs.  Our main character, Captain Maddox has been given the task to find the legendary space vessel. 

Maddox gathers a rag-tag team of specialists to search for the lost ship.  In the tradition of the A Team and the Dirty Dozen,  Maddox sets out to find a group of flawed specialists who will follow him into danger.  In his team we find a leader with a dangerous secret, a navigator accused of cowardice, an alcoholic pilot, a grizzled veteran sergeant, a convicted criminal computer genius, and a cave woman assassin.

The plot blasts off with lots of action.  Once the team is assembled, and they are trying to elude the New Men, the plot slows down.  In the end it just fizzles out.

I think the author intended this novel to be the first of a series.  But, in my opinion, he didn't give us a reason to care about the rest of the story.

                                                          

Cruel as the Grave by Sharon Kay Penman

Genre: Historical Mystery

Setting: England, 1193 AD

First Sentence: They were intimate enemies, bound by blood.

This book is the second in Penman's Queen's Man series.

Our main character is Justin de Quincy.  The queen he serves is Eleanor of Aquitaine.  Justin has done well for himself.  He was raised as a foundling not knowing who his parents were.  Now he serves in the court of the queen.  She calls him to perform certain dangerous duties.

In this book we have two parallel plots.  The queen's favored son, Richard the Lionheart, is imprisoned.  It is possible that he may already be dead.  The queen's less favored son, John, wants to be king.  Justin is asked by the queen to undertake a dangerous mission which night avoid a bloody civil war.

In London, Justin is asked to investigate the death of a young woman.  A mercer's sons are involved in the murder.  The mercer's favored son had been seeing the girl.  But the mercer's less favored son is accused of the crime.  Justin must discover the true identity of the murderer.  If he fails, the wrong man may go to the gallows.

Will Justin succeed in aiding the Queen to avoid a war between her sons?

Will Justin find justice for the victim and her family?

I found this book to be a very pleasurable read.  Although I had figured out "who dun it" pretty early in the story, the author piqued my interest by trying to lead me astray.  In the end, the author tied up all the lose ends in a favorable conclusion.  I liked this book.

                                                           

The Moonlight Palace by Liz Rosenberg

Genre: Historical Fiction, Fiction

Setting: Singapore in the early twentieth century.

First Sentence: I have always lived in the crumbling Kampong Glam Palace.

This novel is the story of an old house and the family that lived in it.

The old house is the Kampong Palace.  The palace was given to the Sultan Hussein by the East India company many years ago.  His family can live in the palace as long as a male decedent of the Sultan dwells there.

The family is the "draggle tailed extended family" of the narrator, Agnes.  Agnes is the last decedent of the Sultan.  Her elderly uncle is the last male decedent.

Now, the family has fallen on hard times.  Unable to to afford to keep up the palace, they have to take in boarders.

Living in the palace with Agnes are her grandparents Nei Nei Up, Nei Nei Down, and British Grandfather, Uncle Chachi, and two servants.

The events of Agnes's story take place during her seventeenth year.  We learn about her and each member of the family.  We experience the happy times, and the sad times.  And always at the back of everyone's mind is the thought that someday soon the family will lose the palace.  And that is the main conflict of the story. Will they lose the palace, and what will happen to the family if they do?

The author has crafted a very enjoyable story.  For me, it was a very pleasant read.  Agnes is a delightful character.  And her family is very unique and interesting.  Reading this book was great fun.



                                                                    

The Constantine Affliction by T. Aaron Payton

Genre: Steampunk

Setting: London, 1864

First sentence: He called himself Adam, and all he wanted was love.

From the creative mind of the author we are transported to a unique version of steampunk London.  Queen Victoria is on the throne.  Throughout London are the many technological marvels created by harnessing steam, magnetism, electricity, and alchemy.

And, there is the Constantine Affliction.

A strange plague has swept through London.  The Constantine Affliction is spread by those who are not careful with their intimate relations.  Many of those stricken die.  Those who survive suffer the horrible embarrassment of having their bodies change genders.

How did the Constantine Affliction arise?

Is it a product of the natural evolution of microbes?

Or is it a genetically altered germ created by a mad genius?

To be sure, there are scientists who are capable of engineering such a disease.

Lord Pembroke Halliday, known as Pimm by his friends, dabbles in criminology.  He is known to be successful in aiding Scotland Yard in their investigations.  When several prostitutes are murdered, Pimm is asked to discretely investigate the crimes.

During his investigations, Pimm meets Ellie Skyler.  Ellie is a female reporter for a London paper.  Ellie is a progressive woman who doesn't let her gender get in the way of her career.

Pimm and Ellie, along with Pimm's "wife" Winifred, join forces to solve the mystery.  Will they discover the identity of the murderer, and the source of the Affliction?  

I really enjoyed reading this book.  Payton transported me to a fantastic version of steampunk England.  His great voice made this novel great fun to read.  For me, it was a real page turner.

I look forward to reading the next book of the series.


                                                   

Tears of the Dead: The Chronicles of Fu Xi, Book 2 by Brian L Braden

Genre: Fantasy

Setting: During a fantasy retelling of the Great Flood.

First Sentence: Head held high, chest puffed with pride, the Lion of Hur-ar marched to glory.

This novel is the second in Braden's fantasy series.

In the Bible, God employs a flood of forty days and forty nights to cleanse the world of evil.  In this novel, Braden uses a flood of equal duration.  In the author's flood innocent people die, evil people survive, and exactly which god caused the flood is an open question.

To tell his tale, Braden uses a large cast of characters.  We have the Lo, a group of poor fisher folk who struggle against the waters for their very survival.  Then there is Fu Xi, an immortal demigod and the son of a goddess.  He too must find a way to survive the cataclysm which may destroy the Earth itself.  We also have Leviathan, a son of the god Poseidon.  He has plans to conquer the lands which belong to Fu Xi and his mother.  Then there is Quexil,  a minion of Leviathan and the leader of the Olmecs.  Even Noah and his ark make a brief appearance.

The author weaves his somewhat confusing tale back and forth between several very different main plots: 

The Lo are lost at sea in reed rafts which are slowly rotting away.  Of course there is the usual problems of a group of people forced to live in close quarters.

Occasionally, Fu Xi relates the experiences he had with Leviathan and Quexil in the past.

We also follow Fu Xi's struggles in the present.  He has to survive the flood, and find a mysterious woman.

Additionally, a minor character will pop up to drop an ominous hint.

And, since there will be a third book in this series, not much gets resolved.

For me, this was a long, rambling read.  I found it difficult to keep track of the characters.  Especially all of the different Lo characters with their uniquely spelled names.

I did enjoy the story of the Lo, but I don't understand what Fu Xi has to do with them. 

In my opinion, not the best novel I've ever read, but then again, not the worst.

If this novel piques your interest, I strongly suggest that you start with the first book in the series.