The Gabriel Hounds by Lady Mary Stewart
Christabel Mansel and her cousin Charles have always been close, having grown up together almost as brother and sister. When Christy turns 18 (Charles is a little older), her family move to the States and so the two lose touch but four years later their paths cross again in the Middle East when she goes for a sight-seeing holiday to Damascus and Beirut while he is there on business. As Christy's travels bring her to the very door of the remote palace where their eccentric great-aunt Harriet has secreted herself, she decides to pay her a visit and so starts a remarkable train of events which plunges both cousins into intrigue and danger.
A very different offering from my favourite contemporary writer. This time Lady Stewart gives us a couple of protagonists who are difficult to empathise with. They are both extremely good-looking, admittedly “spoiled”, free-spirited scions of a very wealthy banking family with all the arrogance, self-assurance and even smugness that their privileged upbringing would be expected to provide. Despite the slightly annoying personalities of a young headstrong girl who is often “irritated” and a leading man who is flippant at best and constantly quoting from more or less obscure literature, I found myself deeply involved in the plot and pleasurably engaged in trying to solve the mystery as the story went along. |
This is perhaps the most “dated” of Stewart's books and therein lies most of the interest, as she vividly describes places and especially attitudes that are gone forever. It's difficult nowadays to imagine a 22-year-old girl blithely travelling around Syria and Lebanon on her own but in this narrative there is only a suggestion of potential danger and Christy feels, as she frequently reminds her family, that she is perfectly capable of looking after herself. The pacing of the story is also unusual and different from Lady Stewart's other novels in that we get a pretty intense episode, then the tension slackens and the plot meanders seemingly back to square one before picking up again with a vengeance to the breathless finish. In my view, five stars are fully justified by the excellent quality of the writing, sense of place and originality of the plot (although inspired by the life of Lady Hester Stanhope, an adventurous British aristocrat who embraced the Arab world and became a local legend for her eccentric lifestyle in the early 1800's).
I found the book enjoyable and intriguing but, when compared with the rest of Mary Stewart's opus, I was less interested in the driving themes of the story and to me the romance element was so understated as to be almost an afterthought. I did end up liking the two cousins but I felt the character development here was a little laboured. What I usually find enchanting about this author is the effortless narrative gift she displays whereas here one could almost feel the sheer hard work involved in making the story hang together. If you have read other Mary Stewart books, this one might surprise you. However, if you are new to this author, you may want to start with something like “Nine Coaches Waiting”, “The Moon Spinners”, “Touch Not The Cat”, the fabulous “This Rough Magic” or her strong début novel “Madam, Will You Talk?”.
I found the book enjoyable and intriguing but, when compared with the rest of Mary Stewart's opus, I was less interested in the driving themes of the story and to me the romance element was so understated as to be almost an afterthought. I did end up liking the two cousins but I felt the character development here was a little laboured. What I usually find enchanting about this author is the effortless narrative gift she displays whereas here one could almost feel the sheer hard work involved in making the story hang together. If you have read other Mary Stewart books, this one might surprise you. However, if you are new to this author, you may want to start with something like “Nine Coaches Waiting”, “The Moon Spinners”, “Touch Not The Cat”, the fabulous “This Rough Magic” or her strong début novel “Madam, Will You Talk?”.
A nail-biter, page-turner of a tale with an ending which really surprised me. Lei and Iris have been best friends since childhood and share a passion for history-tinged old objects and quirky board games. Now in their late twenties, they meet every Friday for “game night”, an opportunity to wind down and spend quality time together at the end of the working week. Lei has the task of buying the wine and finding a new game for the two girls to play.
She strikes gold once again in her favourite bric-a-brac emporium; the intriguingly named game of “Méchant” (French for naughty but also meaning nasty, vicious) is beautifully packaged in an ornate, antique leather box and features trivia questions about romance novels. Once she learns that it was bought at a big estate sale, vintage-crazy Lei cannot resist its appeal, especially after hearing that it is supposed to be haunted. Playing Méchant turns out to be a life-changing experience, putting the two girls' friendship to the ultimate test as they become enmeshed in a nightmare scenario where survival requires much more than literary knowledge. |
Angie West writes with great immediacy and fleshes out her characters well enough for a short story. The action never lets up and her descriptive skills are excellent. A quick read with some disturbing elements but thoroughly engrossing.
A delightful sequel to “Ghost in the Park”, which I found even more enjoyable than the first book. Bryce Campbell is a British ex-pat and a respected and well-liked professor at the University of Louisiana. He is also clairaudient, which means that he hears the voices of dead people in his head. When Detective Chase, his best friend, is baffled by a case of young children being kidnapped, Bryce's ghostly friends join the investigation.
As in the previous book, the friendship between the young detective and the older professor is an entertaining driving theme, providing moments of comic relief and a curious sense of alternate family. I enjoy their spats and verbal sparring and the deep mutual trust they have developed. This series seems to be shaping up in the tradition of the reluctant amateur sleuth, who is involved in a different case each time and joins forces with the regular police and the “irregular” army of ghosts or recently dead people. The main ghost in this instalment is a more wistful one and has a more limited role than previously. The crime is less gruesome but no less harrowing as it involves a number of kidnapped children. |
The writing is confident and captivating. The story is narrated by Bryce in the first person, and I have mentioned before that the author does a terrific job of capturing the voice of an Englishman transplanted in the US but still attached to his tea drinking and pub culture. I love the strong characterization, which to me adds so much to an interesting and very original plot.
Bryce Campbell can hear ghostly voices in his head. A respected university professor, he must keep his talent secret, or risk social rejection. Bryce's best friend, a policeman young enough to be his son, is aware of Bryce's “gift” and enlists his help in tracking down a particularly vicious serial killer who is targeting young coeds. When a sad young spirit spots him in a park, Bryce takes pity on her, and a new, incredible, life-changing adventure begins.
This story has an interesting arc. Following a shocking, grisly discovery, the chase is on, and the suspense just keeps building as live people and ghosts team up to stop the cycle of violence. Humour creeps in to lighten the mood till the electrifying finale, which is all I wished for and more. Despite the dark subject matter, this book has a lot of intelligent humour, which is my favourite kind. I really loved the unconventional friendships that easily span generations and transcend cultural ideologies as long as there is tolerance and open mindedness. There are a lot of very likeable characters, and I found their interactions both touching and funny. |
Kudos to the author for creating a thoroughly convincing ex-pat hero, well integrated into his US adult life, but still quintessentially British, without making him into a cliched caricature. Also I have to admire a female author who writes first-person male characters with great skill and aplomb. The world building is impeccably done, with plausible rules applied logically and consistently. A very original take on ghostly themes contrasting heart-warming humanity with gritty realism. Looking forward to the sequel.