Guild Boss

 Guild Boss (Harmony #15)- Jayne Castle

Berkley 

Release Date: November 16, 2021

Rating: 📚📚📚📚📚

Synopsis: Living in this new, alien world doesn’t stop the settlers from trying to re-create what they’ve left behind. Case in point—weddings are still the highlight of any social calendar. But it’s the after-party that turns disastrous for Lucy Bell. Kidnapped and drugged as she leaves the party, she manages to escape—only to find herself lost in the mysterious, alien underground maze of glowing green tunnels beneath Illusion Town. She’s been surviving on determination and cold pizza, scavenged for her by a special dust bunny, when help finally shows up.  

Gabriel Jones is the Ghost Hunter sent to rescue her, but escaping the underground ruins isn’t the end of her troubles—it’s only the beginning. With no rational reason for her abduction, and her sole witness gone on another assignment for the Guild, whispers start circulating that Lucy made it all up. Soon her life unravels until she has nothing left but her pride. The last thing she expects is for Gabriel Jones to come back to town for her. 
 
The Lucy that Gabriel finds is not the same woman he rescued, the one who looked at him as if he were her hero. This Lucy is sharp, angry, and more than a little cynical—instead of awe, she treats him with extreme caution. But a killer is still hunting her, and there aren’t a lot of options when it comes to heroes. Despite her wariness, Gabriel is also the one person who believes Lucy—after all, he was there. He’s determined to help clear her reputation, no matter what it takes. And as the new Guild Boss, his word is law, even in the lawlessness of Illusion Town.

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When Gabriel Jones rescues Lucy Bell from the alien catacombs, immediately leaves for another Guild assignment, then returns to Illusion Town two months later hoping she'll be thrilled to see him, he learns a very important lesson: don't wait two months and expect the lady to be thrilled to see you, even if you did save her life. No one believes Lucy's story about being drugged and kidnapped, including Gabriel at first. But as strange events and dead bodies begin to pile up, Lucy's story looks a lot more believable. The only problem becomes- the kidnappers failed the first time, and will now have to try again.

Jayne Castle fans rejoice! Readers get to return to Harmony, and here Illusion Town- Harmony's answer to Las Vegas. The thrills are real, the laws are flexible, and anything can be had for a price. Except things might be changing, because now Illusion Town has its own Guild- with a Jones as Guild Boss. Long time Jayne Ann Krentz/Amanda Quick/Jayne Castle fans know exactly what that means: powerfully psychic and intelligent men and women who are more than up to some strange challenges. And Gabriel Jones (a descendent of my personal favorite Amanda Quick hero from Second Sight) more than lives up to his family reputation. Dry sense of humor, interesting psychic profile, and more than willing to partner with a dust bunny to see a mission through. As the new Guild Boss starting a new Guild poor Gabriel suffers terribly for the sake of public relations and image, but at least he as Lucy and PR whiz Aiden on his side to remind him to smile as they pile on the torment. 

Lucy is more than a match for Gabriel. Despite everyone telling her she's crazy, she has never doubted that she knows the truth of what happened to her, even if she doesn't know why. She hangs on to her pride and professionalism even when she's driving a tour bus. She's not looking for a handout or a rescue, but she's not too proud to turn down a job even when she's not sure what she wants from Gabriel on a personal level. I loved how Gabriel was so openly in awe of her talent and supported her ever every step of the way. They fit together perfectly. And who can not love Otis? Another adorable dust bunny, Otis has an addiction to cheese and olive pizza and a bit of a diva complex when it comes to direction for what he sees as not good reason- which is pretty funny. Apparently dust bunnies might love having their pictures taken, but are not destined to be stars of the silver screen. Or would it be amber screen on Harmony?

A fun romp through Illusion Town, Jayne Castle fans won't be disappointed with Guild Boss. Full of Castle's trademark dry humor, crackling chemistry, and dust bunny fun, Guild Boss was entertaining from start to finish. Plenty of "Easter eggs" for long time readers of Krentz/Quick/Castle books, newer readers won't feel too left out- but should definitely end the book feeling like they have whole new worlds they want to explore before the next new release!

Down A Dark River

 Down A Dark River - Karen Odden

Crooked Lane Books

Release Date: November 9, 2021

Rating: 📚📚📚📚📚

Synopsis: London, 1878. One April morning, a small boat bearing a young woman’s corpse floats down the murky waters of the Thames. When the victim is identified as Rose Albert, daughter of a prominent judge, the Scotland Yard director gives the case to Michael Corravan, one of the only Senior Inspectors remaining after a corruption scandal the previous autumn left the division in ruins. Reluctantly, Corravan abandons his ongoing case, a search for the missing wife of a shipping magnate, handing it over to his young colleague, Mr. Stiles.

An Irish former bare-knuckles boxer and dockworker from London’s seedy East End, Corravan has good street sense and an inspector’s knack for digging up clues. But he’s confounded when, a week later, a second woman is found dead in a rowboat, and then a third. The dead women seem to have no connection whatsoever. Meanwhile, Mr. Stiles makes an alarming discovery: the shipping magnate’s missing wife, Mrs. Beckford, may not have fled her house because she was insane, as her husband claims, and Mr. Beckford may not be the successful man of business that he appears to be.
 
Slowly, it becomes clear that the river murders and the case of Mrs. Beckford may be linked through some terrible act of injustice in the past—for which someone has vowed a brutal vengeance. Now, with the newspapers once again trumpeting the Yard’s failures, Corravan must dredge up the truth—before London devolves into a state of panic and before the killer claims another innocent victim.

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In Karen Odden's newest historical mystery, Scotland Yard Inspector Michael Corravan must discover the murderer of a young woman who is placed in a small rowboat on the Thames. Overworked, Corravan gives the case of a missing woman to his colleague Stiles. But as more women are murdered the men discover that the missing woman and the dead girls have more in common than meets the eye. And it may be that secrets hidden in the posh Mayfair residences instead of seedy riverside docks hide the clues to solve the cases and save other innocent lives.

Unlike Odden's other books (A Trace of Deceit, A Dangerous Duet, A Lady in the Smoke) Down a Dark River features not a young woman trying to solve a mystery, but a Scotland Yard inspector.  Michael Corravan is hampered by the fact that he's Irish at a time when the English don't like the Irish, he's from Whitechapel when he's investigating the murder of upperclass women, and still prominent in the public mind is the trial of four Scotland Yard detectives for taking bribes, the Yard has been reorganized and its credit with the public is at an all-time low. Corravan wants to find the killer but his stubborn push for answers isn't getting him anything but enemies and political red tape from higher ups at the Yard. 

I loved Corravan even when I was frustrated with him. He is a complex, flawed, but basically decent man, wrestling with how to best solve cases and help others. He values his small circle of friends and family, although he doesn't always know how to show it. As his lover, author Belinda Gale puts it, Michael likes being the knight solving everyone's problems, but he doesn't like being seen as human, with all the messy emotions that come with it. He's as prickly as a porcupine, never wants to ask help of anyone, and is slow to trust. As Dark River progresses we see Corravan try to change his approach to life and maybe that's what leads to the questions he (and the reader) have to ask themselves at the end. What is justice? How are justice and revenge different? Can it be found through the law courts and police procedures or only on the streets? Are there some people so self-centered (or evil) that they can't be touched by either? Are there some crimes that can never be balanced?

In Dark River Corravan's view of himself and the secondary characters evolves over the course of the book and the reader gets a more nuanced view of people as the book progresses. His relations with others develops over the course of the book too- I especially liked how his relationship with his supervisor Vincent and junior Stiles changed over the course of the book. One character the reader sees clearly from the beginning is London- and the Thames. Karen Odden has a special talent for making her locations as much of a living, breathing character as any flesh and blood character in her books and from the slimy docks at the Thames to the glittery streets of Mayfair, she succeeds brilliantly again here.    

Down a Dark River is timely in many ways, without seeming to preach to the reader or put modern views into Victorian character's mouths. Corravan has to struggle with power throughout the book: who has it, who uses it, and what do they use it for. It appears in different places and different ways, asking Corravan and the reader to look at ever situation and person through multiple angles before reaching conclusions. Powerful men he meets try to prevent him from pursuing his investigations, while he meets women with no formal political or social power trying to do incredible acts of kindness and life changing work.  In many ways this is Corravan's wake up call to see that the people he thinks of as powerless are not the only ones without a voice, and makes him wonder how that lack of power would effect him, as well as those around him. Hopefully we will get to see more of Michael Corravan in the future, and he will hang on to the lessons he learned the hard way here, as they certainly make him a better, more compassionate detective and man. Something Victorian England needed every bit as much as we do today. 

Possible Trigger Warnings: Discussions of rape and violence