Review: The Fabergé Secret

The Fabergé Secret by Charles Belfoure
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Thank you to Booklist for the ARC and the opportunity to review this title!

January 1, 15 issue:
Despite being friends with Czar Nicholas II, the emperor of Russia, Prince Dimitri Markhov finds his life in the Imperial Court monotonous and his marriage to the vindictive Princess Lara less than satisfying, compelling him to take solace in his love of architecture. When he meets Katya Golitsyn, a passionate Jewish doctor, the affair that blooms between them opens Dimitri's eyes to the heinous violence perpetrated on the Jewish people by the czar's regime. Once seen, it cannot be unseen, and Dmitri is forced to choose between his dearest friend and the lives of millions of innocent people. Belfoure's dialogue sometimes reads like fictional name dropping, which jars the flow of the story, but the novel offers a unique take on the historically popular Romanov family. The discussion of Russian architecture, the music of Tchaikovsky, and the famous imperial Faberge eggs combine to create a striking picture of Russian arts and culture in the early 1900s, nicely balanced against the disturbing plight of Russian Jews. Readers who enjoy Martha Hall Kelly and J'nell Ciesielski will want to give this one a try.

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Review: Death in the Great Dismal

Death in the Great Dismal by Eleanor Kuhns
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Thank you to Booklist for the ARC and the opportunity to review this title!

January 1, 15 issue:
William and Lydia Reese are asked to accompany a friend on a rescue mission into the pro-slavery state of Virginia. Upon arrival in the Great Dismal Swamp, one of the residents is murdered, and William is tasked with finding who committed the heinous act. Then a second body is found. Tensions are high, and trust is running low. Kuhns' ninth entry in the Will Rees series provides a fictional account of a little-known, real-life event from the early 1800s. At the time, The Great Dismal Swamp was a haven for runaway slaves, the dense and tangled landscape offering a protective area. Kuhns' vivid portrayal of the community that developed inside the swamp captures a group of naturally cunning and vigilant people who provided a family for one another when most had none. The mystery itself is drawn out and a bit dry, but the story shines for its historical backbone and atmospheric details. Those factors make it perfect for readers of Margaret Lawrence's Hannah Trevor novels and Eliot Pattison's Bone Rattler series.

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Review: Bloodline

Bloodline by Jess Lourey
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Thank you to Booklist for the advanced reader's copy!

Joan Harken loves her job as a journalist in Minneapolis but when she’s mugged just outside her apartment, she immediately agrees to move. Her fiancé, Deck, wants to raise their unborn child in his hometown of Lilydale. After spending most of her childhood on the road, a town with the slogan “Come Home Forever” sounds like perfection. It doesn’t take long, however, for Lilydale’s charm to wear off. The intrusive kindness of her neighbors, the strange hold of the town’s social club on the citizens, and the unsolved murder of a little boy put Joan in a heightened state of anxiety. When a person claiming to be the missing boy arrives in town, the chain of events that follow turn Joan’s new small town life completely upside down.

Loury’s Bloodline emanates a menacing sense of place and a continuous skin-crawling tension. Readers will recognize a similarity to Joan’s battle with her own sanity in B.A. Paris’ The Breakdown and Mary Kubica’s The Other Mrs. This heart pounding psychological thriller will excite all mystery lovers.

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