Month: August 2021

eBook Review: Black Jade

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Black Jade by Gloria Oliver

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The blurb: Could an old-fashioned ballgown be used to commit murder?

Daiyu Wu is aware that fear of the Yellow Terror has made her nationality a rare breed in the Lone Star State. Being Chinese and blind makes her doubly unique in 1930 Dallas. Despite these impediments, anyone who dismisses her for either fact does so at their peril.

One day, at her family-owned laundry business, Dai detects the scent of burned garlic. With the help of her companion, Jacques, the source is soon discovered. It is a green ballgown. The gown has money pinned inside it to pay for the cleaning, but oddly, it came with no address label to identify its owner. Her extensive knowledge leads Dai to believe someone has committed murder using arsenic. The perpetrator is trying to use White Laundry to hide the evidence. But no mention of foul play turns up in the newspapers, and there’s not enough proof to convince the police there’s been a crime.

Her curiosity and intellect stimulated like never before; Dai ignores the possible consequences and sets out to solve the mystery with the help of her canine companion, Prince Razor, and her confidant, Jacques Haskins. It’s either that or let the killer get away with it — assuming a spoiled popinjay, his jealous self-appointed girlfriend, and Dai’s overprotective parents don’t get in her way.

My review: I’ve read a few cozy mysteries this year. I find them easier on my scrambled mind, and easier to digest when I’m feeling unwell. But I also find them to be extremely focusing and entertaining.

Black Jade is the first book in a mystery series called Daiyu Wu Mysteries. The lovely things about the book are the era it’s set in and the fact that the main character is a blind Chinese woman. The author weaves in the details of the mystery itself, the racial issues of the time, and society life in the 1930s quite well.

Daiyu and her companion, Jacques, join forces with two unlikely (and totally different) side kicks to find a killer. The setting and characters worked well together. There were little smile moments, strong “that’s racist” moments and a hint of embarrassing romantic moments. All intended. All written well. I liked the storyline and didn’t find anything annoying about any of it.

Daiyu’s companion threw me a bit, at the beginning, but I liked the character and accepted him (once my brain accepted it was a man I was reading about, not a woman as I had first thought).

The mystery was well thought out and the hints subtle. I enjoyed the interaction between Jacques and “the cad”. There was a lot of light hearted humour in there too.

I can’t think of anything bad about the book. The pages turned quickly, the history was equal to the mystery. I learned a lot about life in the ’30s, yet the details were weaved into the storyline, not dumped on the pages. Impressively done, I must say.

I will read more books in the series as I enjoyed my time in their world. Recommended.

Audiobook Review: The Postmistress

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The Postmistress by Alison Stuart

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The blurb: Ballarat.

To forge a new life she must first deal with her past…

1871. Adelaide Greaves and her young son have found sanctuary in the Australian town of Maiden’s Creek, where she works as a postmistress. The rough Victorian goldmining settlement is a hard place for a woman – especially as the other women in town don’t know what to make of her – but through force of will and sheer necessity, Adelaide carves out a role.

But her past is coming to find her, and the embittered and scarred Confederate soldier Caleb Hunt, in town in search of gold and not without a dark past of his own, might be the only one who can help. Can Adelaide trust him? Can she trust anyone?

When death and danger threaten – some from her past, some borne of the Australian bush – she must swallow her pride and turn to Caleb to join her in the fight, a fight she is determined to win…

My review: The Postmistress is an Australian book, written by an Australian author, and most enjoyable. It begins in England where a daughter of a well-to-do father finds herself pregnant and decides to “run away” to Australia to bring up her child.

The story shows the difficulties of living in a young country—the hardships, poverty, lack of facilities and covers themes such as mining, bushfires, pandemics and dangerous Australian wildlife. But it also shows how people with secrets can start again and build a new life for themselves in a country just starting out. I especially liked how the small town, while diverse, came together to battle outside threats because the enemy without can be more threatening than the enemy within.

But secrets have a habit of coming out in the open. What happens then? We need to adapt and adjust, and sometimes we must face those secrets head on, and that is (of course) what the main character must do.

In my opinion, this is a historical romance. I enjoyed the storyline and the characters. They fit together well. Yes, parts were predicable, but I didn’t mind that at all. It was lovely to read about life in the early years of Australia. I enjoyed the book and would read more by this author.

Recommended.