BoyScoutKevin
Frightening Fanatic of Horrible Cinema
Karma: 116
Posts: 2419
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« Reply #1290 on: May 25, 2013, 02:52:38 PM » |
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Ye-es!
That . . .
Peter Robinson's
Before the Poison
21 more books of fiction, including one series
Who killed the village doctor? His wife. The servant. His wife's young lover. The couple staying at the house that night. Or was it just a case of accidental death mistaken for murder?
They are hanging the heroine today. An almost minute by minute account of a hanging. Before. During. And after. And one of the most horrifying things I have ever read.
Also horrifying, if not so much, is the perils of a civilian caught in the horrors of war, when outside her own country.
That . . .
Julia Fox's
Sister Queens :
the Noble, Tragic Lives of Katherine of Aragon and Juana, Queen of Castile
2nd non-fiction book
I thought the more interesing story was on Juana, who they called the Mad. Mad as insane. Not angry. Maybe because I knew less about her than her better known sister Katherine.
Juana, the almost perfect example of a the emotionally battered woman. 1st by her father. Then her husband. And then by her son.
Unfortunately, the authoress never makes clear whether Juana was . . .
(a.) totally mad.
(b.) mad sometimes/sometimes sane.
(c.) pretended to be mad for her own reasons.
(d.) declared mad for political reasons.
(e.) or none of the above.
Still, she outlived her sister Katherine. Actually, she outlived all her brothers and sisters.
If Juana was the almost perfect example of the emotionally battered woman, then Katherine was the almost perfect example of the woman who tries to hold on to everything. Only to lose it all.
(a.) She tried to hold on to her marriage. Lost it.
(b.) Her dauther's right to succession to the throne. Lost it.
(c.) England for Catholicism. Lost it.
If she had given up her marriage and gone into a convent, which almost everyone, besides her, wanted her to do. With some provision for her daughter's right to the throne. There is the possibility that England still might be Catholic today.
That . . .
Laurie R. King's
Pirate King :
a Novel of Suspense Featuring Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes
11th in the Mary Russell series. Plus 10 more fiction books, including 5 in another series.
When Ms. Russell aka Mrs. Holmes secretly joins an English film company, which is shooting a silent film version of Gilbert and Sullivan's "Pirates of Penzance." 1st in Spain then in Morocco, to try to track down the person dealing in illegal drugs and guns, she discovers almost everybody involved in the film, both before and behind the camera, have their own secrets to protect.
I remember the 1st book in this series. Tried, but could not get into it; therefore, the authoress seems to have become a better writer, as this one is readable.
Next time: a 4th lashing of this and that.
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