Tag: Ashley Weaver

A Peculiar Combination by Ashley Weaver

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Historical Mystery, World War II Era (1939-1945)1 Comment

A Peculiar Combination (Electra McDonnell #1)Barbara’s rating: 5 of 5 stars

Series: Electra McDonnell #1
Publication Date: 5/25/21
Number of Pages: 304

I have been reading and enjoying this author’s Amory Ames series, so when I saw this first book in her new series, I grabbed it right up! I am so very glad I did because the mystery is an exciting and suspenseful whodunit with delightfully entertaining characters. The characters we met who will, I assume, be recurrent characters in the series are the McDonnell family including Uncle Mick, Electra (Ellie), and perhaps Uncle Mick’s son Colm as well as life-long family friend Felix Lacey. That motley crew isn’t exactly following the letter of the law – though they try – sort of. They have their own code of right and wrong. Then, add in strait-laced, law-and-order, rule-following, unyielding, unbending, aristocrat Major Ramsey and you have a delightfully entertaining uneasy alliance when they all do their best to protect England from the Germans.

London is dark – very dark – and quiet in the wee hours of the morning in August of 1940. Uncle Mick has been planning a routine safe-cracking job for himself and Ellie. The always cheerful and good-humored Irishman is highly skilled and very thorough in his planning – so why is Ellie apprehensive about this job. As they approach the house – and then enter it – she feels as if she’s being watched. She shakes those feelings off and gets on with the job at hand. She breathes a sigh of relief as they complete the job and leave the residence – only to be apprehended by a big, burly, very unfriendly set of cops.

Major Gabriel Ramsey leads a section of military intelligence in London – and he has a case on his hands that could potentially cost England the war against Germany. Top secret plans have been stolen and are being delivered to a German courier. Ramsey must identify the English conspirators, retrieve those plans, substitute an alternate set of plans for the Top-Secret ones, and do it all without alerting the Germans that he is aware of any of it. Hopefully, they’ll be able to use that same conduit to pass future misinformation along to the Germans. What Ramsey needs is someone who is skilled in stealth and locks – and he thinks he’s found the perfect person(s).

I thoroughly enjoyed Ellie’s interactions with Ramsey. He certainly didn’t know what to make of her – other than she was a law-breaking thief of the first order. There were so very many suspects and any of them could have easily been the traitor. It takes a lot of investigation – and a number of dead bodies before the case is solved. The traitor will surprise you – and make you very sad. Now, I can hardly wait to see the next book to see if any of those potential traitors we didn’t apprehend in this book turn out to be the villains in the next tale.

I definitely recommend this book and I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did. I’m hanging on by my fingernails to see what happens with Ellie’s cousin Toby and to see what kind of relationship develops between Ramsey and Ellie (I must have a romance to go along with my mystery). Then, there is Felix – he’s sweet on Ellie, but – they’ve always been such close family friends – is that to be the romance? OMGoodness – we’re just going to have to wait and see who our next traitor is and how the romances progress.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Death Wears A Mask by Ashley Weaver

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Historical Mystery, Interwar Period (Nov 1918 - Sep 1939)Leave a comment

Death Wears a Mask (Amory Ames Mystery, #2)

Barbara’s Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Series: Amory Ames #2
Publication Date: 10/13/15
Number of Pages: 336

Have you ever read a series of books because you disliked a character? I hadn’t – until now. Of course, if the mystery wasn’t excellently written, fast-paced, and well delivered, I wouldn’t be interested in the characters at all. I started the series with the seventh book which constantly talked of Milo’s past indiscretions – which were apparently legendary. Since I’m pretty intolerant of infidelity, I wanted to read the first couple of books to see when/where/how Milo had his grand epiphany and decided to mend his ways. I also held some hope that maybe he was a spy for the Home Office (or some agency) and the playboy image was his cover. None of that seems to be the case. For me, Milo remains a one-dimensional character and I just can’t seem to get a handle on him. I think that has more to do with the fact that the stories are written in the first-person, so we never get Milo’s point of view – we only see Amory’s. Maybe we’ll get more depth from Milo in later books, but I still didn’t see any in the seventh book I read either.

I was at the point where I was ready to close the book and just write the series off, but decided to read another chapter – and I am glad I did. One of my main ‘problems’ with the relationship was that Amory is supposed to be a strong, smart female lead but I wasn’t seeing it. She let Milo walk all over her for five years, so I was hard-pressed to figure out how I was supposed to find her a credible heroine. She was so wishy-washy – Milo would want to talk and she’d tell him she didn’t want to talk about it. Well – DUH! Finally, at about the fifty-percent mark of the book, she began to let him know, in no uncertain terms that she was through tolerating his peccadillo’s. So – good for her. He, however, still didn’t seem to get it. Since scandal and gossip didn’t phase him in the least, he didn’t understand how it bothered her. So, there wasn’t a grand epiphany, no apologies, but maybe they did come to a meeting of the minds and hearts at the end.

I thoroughly enjoyed the mystery because there were plenty of villains to go around – and figuring out whodunit took me just a bit longer than usual. I enjoyed the times where Milo and Amory are actually sleuthing together and working in more of a partnership than seems to be their norm.

When a friend of Amory’s mother invites Milo and Amory to dinner, it is to ask Amory to watch the guests – and to help solve the mystery of some jewel thefts at her home. Amory ends up in the company of some rather unsavory individuals who are letches – and maybe thieves as well. Nobody is who they appear to be. When a young man is found dead at a ball, with pilfered jewels scattered around him, the chase is on in earnest. There are lots of red herrings to throw you off the scent and many unsavory characters to make your skin crawl. When the final pieces fall into place, Milo and Amory find themselves facing a villain who has already murdered once and is willing to do so again.