Jack Haldean's Post World War I Adventures

Dolores Gordon-Smith's Jack Haldean mystery series take place in an England that is still shook up from World War I. Polite society still goes on, but beneath the surface there is uncertainty. Veterans who are jobless. War profiteers who have given their fortunes for a peerage. The thousands of missing and dead who never made it home. And the spies who did.

Jack Haldean, former Royal Flying Corps pilot, has managed to eek out a living with his writing skills, contributing to magazines and writing two mystery novels. In A Fete Worse Than Death, he's just trying to relax at his relatives' country house and enjoy the village festival. To his surprise, he sees a former and unpleasant member of his old unit. And it is even more of a surprise, when that nasty fellow is discovered dead later that afternoon. Was it a local who did it? Or is this something left over from the war? Or is it blackmail?

Jack enlists the aid of his cousin and the local police inspector to figure out what happened at the fair and what really happened on a raid on the Somme.

Gordon-Smith has a great character in Jack, and it has been fun following his development and his -sometimes - action adventures. She has a great grasp of the post-war setting. And as a fan of this time period, I'm eagerly awaiting the next one in the series. Lots of fun.

Mad About the Boy (2008)- Jack's aunt and uncle are celebrating their wedding anniversary with a big ball at their country house. One of the guests commits suicide. Or was it murder? With various Russians running about and his cousin Isabelle's beaus hanging around, Jack has more than enough suspects.

As If By Magic (2009) - When Jack finds out an old war chum is in trouble, he comes to the rescue. But his friend's story of seeing a murder, and his tale of a missing legacy, has Jack puzzled. Is this all connected? Or is his friend just damaged from the war?

Tomb of Zeus: A Laetitia Talbot Mystery

Laetitia Talbot is a woman who know what she wants. She is no simpering miss. This British gal is about to embark on her first archaeological dig that she is overseeing. She has money. And a family that supports what she is doing - even if it is reluctantly. She is clever and a bit nosey. All fine traits when she is digging for her next find or involved in a mystery.

The Tomb of Zeus by Barbara Cleverly is Letty's first adventure - even though it is alluded to that she has had an adventuresome life before this particular trip to Crete. She has been sponsored by the renowned Theodore Russell, and soon finds that his household has a rather sinister feeling that she can't shake. She is not sure why - his second wife Phoebe is delightful, his son George is very pleasant and she finds that she has an ally - and maybe an unwelcome one in this group - William Gunning. So why does she have this strange feeling all is not well?

But before she can embark on her dig, there is a shocking death and the little perfect world that was the Villa Europa seems to be falling apart. Was it murder? And why? Why is Gunning there? Why does Russell seem to send her on a wild goose chase of a dig? And what about her dig site? The tomb of Zeus or just an ordinary burial chamber or religious site?

Letty is a fun character - not too sentimential; the previous war (WWI) took care of that - but smart and trying to balance several things at once. The dig, the mystery, the land and it's people, and her relationships. What or who is telling the truth?

A very fun read. It may start out a little slow but hang in there. Can't wait til the next one comes out.