Review: The Highland Falcon Thief (Adventures on Trains #1)

 

Hal Beck is unhappy to be sent away with his uncle while his mom has a new baby.  He'd much rather have a dog than a baby for starters.  Also, his uncle is ok, but he'd rather be at home.

Hal is getting the opportunity of a lifetime.  The Highland Falcon, a steam train, is being retired, but first it will go on a long slow trip up through Scotland and back down to London. At Balmoral, they'll pick up the Prince and Princess.

Things get more exciting for Hal when he discovers a stowaway just his age on the train.  It takes him a bit to track her down, but once he does, they're fast friends. 

Uniting them is a desire to solve the mystery of who is stealing jewelry from other travelers.  Once the Prince and Princess join the train, a huge necklace called the Atlas Diamond is in danger as well.

Hal comes to love the train as he sees it from his friend's behind the scenes point of view.

His uncle, a travel journalist who specializes in old train journeys turns out to be fantastic and a good friend to the boy.

As if things weren't thrilling enough, Lenny and her father are accused of the thefts. Hal forces himself to face his fears, scaling the moving train to try to free Lenny and prove her innocence.

https://www.mgleonard.com/

https://samsedgman.com/

Review: The Appeal by Janice Hallett

 

 

Told in a series of email and text messages between The Fairway Players, The Appeal presents a lively cast, and a show that must go on.

As the cast prepares for a new play: All My Sons by Arthur Miller, casting choices are made, practices are scheduled. 

Then, the scion of the group and the village itself Martin Hayward reveals his family has been stricken with tragedy in the form of a diagnosis of brain cancer in his two year old granddaughter.  He will not be directing this time around, as he will be devoting all of his time to an Appeal for funds to help his granddaughter get a special treatment available only in the US.

As the play practices go on, the cast goes all in trying to help raise funds for the toddler.

So much about each character is revealed as they chat about the play, the Appeal, and about their work life, as some of the cast work together.  

Soon it becomes clear that several characters have completely different motivations than you'd expect.  One character seems quite off balance.  Another seems bent on revenge.  A couple of people have an unusual desire for attention, more than even actors may be known for.  The Appeal itself seems to be drawing in undesirable types who seem to want the money for themselves.

Once all of this does lead to murder, there is another Appeal. This is a legal Appeal to try to clear the name of the person accused of murder.

A most enjoyable debut novel. I have on order the author's second novel, The Twyford Code.

Mugshot! Death in the Time of Ice

See this lovely mug? (Ignore the cat).  I won it by commenting on a blog post by mystery author Kaye George.  I have secured the book itself on my iPod so that I can sip my tea out of this wondrous mug while I read it.

Kaye has three mystery series with a fourth (set in lovely Minneapolis) due out in September of next year.  Stealing descriptions from her home page, they are:

People of the Wind Novels - this series follows the Hamapa tribe as an Ice Age approaches.

Cressa Carraway Series - a mystery series featuring a musician and conductor.

Imogene Duckworthy Mysteries - these take place in modern day Texas, set in a fictionalized version of the Wichita Falls area.

Fat Cat At Large, first in the FAT CAT series, set in Minneapolis, coming in September 2014 from Berkley Prime Crime . Series features Quincy, pudgy and adorable cat who is always hungry on his diet. He gets into a lot of trouble, serving as a catalyst for murder and mayhem.

Her blog is called Travels With Kaye

Kaye's Home Page