Now Available on Libray2Go~Dust and Shadow: by, Lyndsay Faye Narrated by, Simon Vance

Dust and Shadow: An Account of the Ripper Killings by Dr.John H. Watson by, Lyndsay Faye Narrated by, Simon Vance

I swear that Lyndsay Faye has channeled Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, this book felt so much like an original Holmes story that if I hadn’t known who the author was I would have just assumed it was a Doyle story. This book can stand up alongside the Holmes canon with no fear of recriminations this is the best non-Doyle Holmes story I have ever read!

Who better to finally solve the Ripper case than Sherlock Holmes? However before he can solve the case he is accused of being the Ripper himself! This story had some great twists and turns and just the right amount of actual Ripper facts to make this a very believable story combining these two iconic characters seamlessly. Yes, I know Jack the Ripper was real and Sherlock is not but this book was so well written that real and fiction blurred into one fantastic story, and I think Sherlock got it right, his explanation of who the Ripper was seemed to fit better with the evidence than a lot of other hypothesis I’ve read or heard.

There is a great “feel” of Whitechapel the author transports you into these dark alleys with their smells and people, the atmosphere was great you could almost hear the clopping of horses hoofs and see the mist and fog. She also brings everyone from the original Holmes including Mrs. Hudson, Inspector Lestrade, and Mycroft and brings a new character Miss Monk who is a woman of some ill repute but just the kind of woman who could help Holmes snare The Ripper, I enjoyed her she was a fun character.

As always Simon Vance’s narration is spot on,  the differing voices of Watson & Holmes were great it had the feel of the old Basil Rathbone movies(which are my favorites) with Watson’s voice a bit more gravely than Holmes and Holmes’ smooth I’m better than you cadence of speech. I can’t think of anyone who could have done this book more justice than Simon Vance.

I highly recommend this book especially on audio! If you are a Holmes fan this is a must read!

5 Stars

Whistling Past the Graveyard by Susan Crandall

Whistling Past the Graveyard by Susan Crandall 
Synopsis from Goodreads:  From an award-winning author comes a wise and tender coming-of-age story about a nine-year-old girl who runs away from her Mississippi home in 1963, befriends a lonely woman suffering loss and abuse, and embarks on a life-changing roadtrip.

The summer of 1963 begins like any other for nine-year-old Starla Claudelle. Born to teenage parents in Mississippi, Starla is being raised by a strict paternal grandmother, Mamie, whose worst fear is that Starla will turn out like her mother. Starla hasn’t seen her momma since she was three, but is convinced that her mother will keep her promise to take Starla and her daddy to Nashville, where her mother hopes to become a famous singer—and that one day her family will be whole and perfect.

When Starla is grounded on the Fourth of July, she sneaks out to see the parade. After getting caught, Starla’s fear that Mamie will make good on her threats and send her to reform school cause her to panic and run away from home. Once out in the country, Starla is offered a ride by a black woman, Eula, who is traveling with a white baby. She happily accepts a ride, with the ultimate goal of reaching her mother in Nashville.

As the two unlikely companions make their long and sometimes dangerous journey, Starla’s eyes are opened to the harsh realities of 1963 southern segregation. Through talks with Eula, reconnecting with her parents, and encountering a series of surprising misadventures, Starla learns to let go of long-held dreams and realizes family is forged from those who will sacrifice all for you, no matter if bound by blood or by the heart.

My Review:

I truly enjoyed this book, my favorite character was Eula, there were times Starla would get on my nerves and you just wanted to shake her, but she was young & naïve, abandoned by her mother, raised by a grandmother who is much tougher on her than anyone realizes. She is a sassy little thing and has this idealized idea of her mother who she thinks is a big star in Nashville plus a father who works out on an oil rig and doesn’t come home very often. When Starla gets into trouble she runs away from her Grandmother Mamie’s home to be with her mother, but things don’t go as smoothly as Starla thinks, she is picked up by a black woman, Eula, who is traveling with of all things a white baby (remember this is 1963) Eula promises she will get her to Nashville but they need to stop at her house first and Eula’s husband is none too happy to have two white children in his home, this is when things get a might complicated for Starla & Eula.

The friendship between Eula & Starla is sweet and I loved how much they each learned from each other even when they didn’t realize it, Starla’s eyes were opened to what goes on in the world outside of her little Mississippi town where the only “coloreds” she knows are the help for the rich people in town, but what I liked was with Starla’s naïveté she doesn’t judge Eula on the color of her skin just by her deeds and the size of her heart.

This is a road trip book and these two are on a doozy, and it seems like what could go wrong did go wrong, plus they have a white baby named James along for the ride (again I remind you these 3 are traveling from Mississippi to Nashville in 1963) so you can guess what some of the trouble they run into is. I don’t want to give too much away but let’s just say Starla’s daddy hasn’t been all that honest with her about her mamma. As I said before there are times when Starla’s “red rage” (as she calls it) get her into more trouble than she needed to be in and there were times I just wanted to yell Starla NOOOO, but what fun would that book have been?

I highly recommend this book, if you are a fan of Saving CeeCee Honeycutt and/or Calling Me Home I would say get this book right now!

4 ½ Stars