FEATURED AUTHOR - Alice K. Boatwright is the author of the Ellie Kent mysteries, which debuted with Under an English Heaven, winner of the 2016 Mystery and Mayhem Grand Prize for Best Mystery. The series continues with What Child Is This? and In the Life Ever After. Alice has also published other fiction, including Collateral Damage, three linked novellas about the Vietnam War era; Sea, Sky, Islands, a chapbook of stories set in Washington’s San Juan Islands; and Mrs. Potts Finds Thanksgiving, a holiday parable…
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Recent comments: User reviews
Both fall into the category of "gentlemanly mysteries" in a high society setting, although the stories are completely different. The writing and characterizations are well done, especially in comparison with other works of this genre during the same time period. In particular, the author creates dramatic tension without being too overblown (by the standards of the day).
The ending of the main story wasn't completely satisfying, but it was still well worth reading. The short story was surprisingly entertaining for me and a nice example of the genre, which is really more about the character relationships, although some clever twists are included.
This doesn't get the highest rating from me, largely due to what felt to me like some uneven plotting in the second half of the work, but it's still high-quality SF overall.
I found it flawed in similar ways, not being up to the standards of ERB's better works in terms of character and plot development. Both stories I thought started off strongly, but by around the middle part became rather random and disjointed. That said, Pellucidar was a bit better read for me, overall.
The setup - feuding Stone Age civilizations at the Earth's core - is certainly interesting, but I found that the characters other than the narrator are rather one-dimensional and uninteresting. The plot has more of a pulp feel to it and seems driven more by chance than anything else.
ERB does this sort of thing much better in his other series, where the characters are more memorable and the plot twists and turns seem more coherent and logical, if sometimes just as fantastic.
Still might be worth a read, although ERB fans expecting more might be disappointed and those being introduced to his work won't see him at his best.
Aside from a couple of jarring narrative transitions, the plot plays out in an interesting and understandable manner, with some genuine tension created by the other characters' personalities and motives. The author's strength at character sketches and injecting immediacy and emtotion into critical scenes is on display in this work. The fact that the main bogeymen are the French is historically accurate for the period and perhaps a little refreshing for those accustomed to the slightly later genre of fiction centered around German espionage in Britain. Worth reading, if you understand what to expect.
While the author does a good job with some of the plot aspects and I enjoyed his descriptive abilities (especially the part set in France), the work overall is rather uneven. Some blatant anti-Semitism involving greedy ugly-looking Jewish characters, beyond the usual for the time period, intruded on the experience, as did a rather abrupt and explicitly jingoistic ending. The author can and has done better, I'd give this one a pass.