First Degree
I haven’t read Kairos but have certainly know many books about tortured love affairs! I will start with A Stranger in the Family by Jane Casey (2024), the 11th entry about my favorite detective, Maeve Kerrigan. Maeve has fallen for a fellow detective who may return her feelings but is living with a jealous woman, who won’t let him maintain a relationship with her son if they break up. The mystery in this book was secondary to all the angst going on. I noted the clue to the killer but was too busy worrying about Maeve’s wellbeing to fully register it. I recommend you begin with book 1 in this series, The Burning.
Second Degree
Another female detective I like is Gemma James, working with Duncan Kincaid in Leave the Grave Green (1995), book 3 in the series by Deborah Crombie. Here, they are investigating two drowning deaths in the same family, separated by twenty years. I love Gemma but Duncan does not come off very well in this book. Still, we can be fond of a flawed hero, right? Hoping for book 20 in this series in 2025.
Third Degree
Also containing both a grave and mystery from the past is An Old, Cold Grave by Canadian author Iona Whishaw (2017). Lane Winslow moved from London to British Columbia after WWI to make a new life for herself and has been embraced by her neighbors. Elderly sisters nearby call her in great excitement after their root cellar collapses and they find a skeleton, giving Lane an excuse to call the local Inspector, aptly named Darling. I am behind in this appealing Canadian series which is now up to nine books.
Fourth Degree
A different kind of cold is involved in A Colder War by Charles Cumming (2014), a talented writer of espionage fiction. After an M16 agent is killed in Turkey, Tom Kell is asked to investigate a mole somewhere in the Western intelligence – a traitor who has been systematically sabotaging scores of joint intelligence operations in the Middle East.
Fifth Degree
War is my link to The Storms of War by Kate Williams (2014), which looks at months before and the five years of WWI from the perspective of a wealthy British family with German roots. Younger daughter Celia is the most interesting character. Like Vera Brittain, she can’t bear to be left behind when her brother and his closest friend are serving in France, so signs up to drive ambulances despite never having driven a car. My review.
Sixth Degree
As I recall, the storms are metaphorical in this early romantic suspense novel by Susanna Kearsley, Season of Storms (2001). When actress Celia Sands is offered a big part in a play in Italy, she learns she has the same name as the actress the role was originally written for and that Celia mysteriously disappeared. Warning signs heroines never take seriously until it is too late . . . . Kearsley's new book, The King’s Messenger will pub in August in the UK and in the spring of 2025 everywhere else. No way am I going to wait that long! Maybe I can coax my sister to bring it back from her trip to London in September.
So I connected a German novel to romantic suspense set on an Italian lake, with stops in London, Western Canada, Turkey, then back to England. Next month (August 3, 2024), Kate will start with The Museum of Modern Love by Heather Rose.
I haven’t read Kairos but have certainly know many books about tortured love affairs! I will start with A Stranger in the Family by Jane Casey (2024), the 11th entry about my favorite detective, Maeve Kerrigan. Maeve has fallen for a fellow detective who may return her feelings but is living with a jealous woman, who won’t let him maintain a relationship with her son if they break up. The mystery in this book was secondary to all the angst going on. I noted the clue to the killer but was too busy worrying about Maeve’s wellbeing to fully register it. I recommend you begin with book 1 in this series, The Burning.
Another female detective I like is Gemma James, working with Duncan Kincaid in Leave the Grave Green (1995), book 3 in the series by Deborah Crombie. Here, they are investigating two drowning deaths in the same family, separated by twenty years. I love Gemma but Duncan does not come off very well in this book. Still, we can be fond of a flawed hero, right? Hoping for book 20 in this series in 2025.
Also containing both a grave and mystery from the past is An Old, Cold Grave by Canadian author Iona Whishaw (2017). Lane Winslow moved from London to British Columbia after WWI to make a new life for herself and has been embraced by her neighbors. Elderly sisters nearby call her in great excitement after their root cellar collapses and they find a skeleton, giving Lane an excuse to call the local Inspector, aptly named Darling. I am behind in this appealing Canadian series which is now up to nine books.
A different kind of cold is involved in A Colder War by Charles Cumming (2014), a talented writer of espionage fiction. After an M16 agent is killed in Turkey, Tom Kell is asked to investigate a mole somewhere in the Western intelligence – a traitor who has been systematically sabotaging scores of joint intelligence operations in the Middle East.
War is my link to The Storms of War by Kate Williams (2014), which looks at months before and the five years of WWI from the perspective of a wealthy British family with German roots. Younger daughter Celia is the most interesting character. Like Vera Brittain, she can’t bear to be left behind when her brother and his closest friend are serving in France, so signs up to drive ambulances despite never having driven a car. My review.
As I recall, the storms are metaphorical in this early romantic suspense novel by Susanna Kearsley, Season of Storms (2001). When actress Celia Sands is offered a big part in a play in Italy, she learns she has the same name as the actress the role was originally written for and that Celia mysteriously disappeared. Warning signs heroines never take seriously until it is too late . . . . Kearsley's new book, The King’s Messenger will pub in August in the UK and in the spring of 2025 everywhere else. No way am I going to wait that long! Maybe I can coax my sister to bring it back from her trip to London in September.
I also have a Susanna Kearsley book in my chain this month - Mariana. I have read Season of Storms as well, although it wasn't a favourite. That's a long time to wait for her new book!
ReplyDeleteVery nicely done. I don't know any of these books!
ReplyDeleteA nice and neat chain, Constance!
ReplyDeleteI also linked most of mine through the title. Here's mine https://klasikfanda.blogspot.com/2024/07/six-degrees-of-separation-from-kairos.html
As usual, you have created a very nice chain. And with some authors I am familiar with. I enjoyed Deborah Crombie's earlier novels more than the later books in this series. I still have my copy of Leave the Grave Green. I will be reading more books by Iona Whishaw for a Canadian Reading Challenge. Charles Cumming is one of my favorite spy fiction authors, and I have read A Colder War, although if I remember correctly, I was unhappy with the ending.
ReplyDeleteUntil I got to the Susanna Kearsley I was thinking that I wasn't going to recognise any of your titles! I do love Susanna Kearsley and I can't wait for the new book to come out!
ReplyDeleteHave you read the Kairos novel? I sort of want to check out her writing style ... but I wonder if the story is unsettling? I heard an interview with the author .... and the East German part seems a bit intriguing.
ReplyDeleteThe Iona Whishaw series is good but not can't-put-down like Jane Casey or Deborah Crombie's books. It is paced a lot like the Maisie Dobbs books which I enjoy as well.
ReplyDeleteSusanna Kearsley's books are basically romantic suspense with a dual timeline and several have been outstanding. I even drove an hour to meet her in Rhode Island several years ago! I thought publishers were moving in the direction of synchronizing their international publication dates but I suppose there were other factors involved. She is an author I insist on buying because I know I will want to reread them multiple times. Helen, you'll get to read it before I do. Marg, you and I may have to go to London to pick it up (that would not be a hardship!).
Tracy, I don't remember how that Cumming ended but you know I like him almost as much as you do. A couple years ago I went on an Evelyn Anthony kick and I must say I liked her espionage books quite a bit too.
Susan, Kairos did not sound like my cup of tea (lots of violent sex, per the review) but I did enjoy the first sentence of the NYT review:
The first thing to know about Jenny Erpenbeck’s new novel, “Kairos,” is that it’s a wallow. I was in the mood for one. It’s a cathartic leak of a novel, a beautiful bummer, and the floodgates open early.
Constance, thanks for the suggestion of reading Evelyn Anthony's espionage fiction. I will see what I can find.
ReplyDeleteAlso I keep forgetting that Susanna Kearsley is an Canadian author, and I am planning to join the Canadian Reading Challenge this year.