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under_the_silk_treeHow was your weekend? Mine was pretty good. I got to spend one on one time with one of my favorite people so that was a treat. I was also able to get some sleep which is always good considering how early I have to get up Mon-Fri. I hope you all have a very good week!
In the holy city of Tova, the winter solstice is usually a time for celebration and renewal, but this year it coincides with a solar eclipse, a rare celestial event proscribed by the Sun Priest as an unbalancing of the world.
Meanwhile, a ship launches from a distant city bound for Tova and set to arrive on the solstice. The captain of the ship, Xiala, is a disgraced Teek whose song can calm the waters around her as easily as it can warp a man’s mind. Her ship carries one passenger. Described as harmless, the passenger, Serapio, is a young man, blind, scarred, and cloaked in destiny. As Xiala well knows, when a man is described as harmless, he usually ends up being a villain. ~Goodreads Description
This was sooooooooooooooooooooo good. I have loved Rebecca Roanhorse's books since her first book Trail of Lightening. I have been wanting to read her new series since forever but for one reason or another kept putting it off and after reading it I am sorry I did. This was such a dynamic and engaging book. There were several times I when I just couldn't put it down. I loved all the pov's and how they started off separate but then slowly began to get interwoven. And the Ending! I can't really say too much without giving something away but it was so well done and makes me twice as eager for the sequel. I highly recommend this book!
Brighton, 1950. The body of a girl is found cut into three pieces. Detective Inspector Edgar Stephens is convinced the killer is mimicking a famous magic trick—the Zig Zag Girl. The inventor of the trick, Max Mephisto, is an old war friend of Edgar’s. They served together in a shadowy unit called the Magic Men, a special ops troop that used stage tricks to confound the enemy. I really enjoyed this book. The setting is after WWII and I loved the unusual set up with stage magic being entangled with the murders. The two main protagonists were so well written I loved both Edgar and Max. Their relationship was an interesting one with a lot of nuance/subtext which isn't surprising considering their shared past but the way the author wrote it was very well done, there seemed to be a lot of stuff going on that was not acknowledged by either party. (Kind of reminded me of Blake & Avery's dynamic in the The Strangler Vine) The mystery itself was intriguing and I will definitely be continuing in this series.
This was a really good set of stories. Agatha Christie usually does really well with her short stories and I was not disappointed with this set. Hercule Poirot is my favorite detective of hers and with Hastings along for the ride it is exactly what any fan of Agatha Christie could wish for.
Reading Challenge 2022:
Mount TBR: Black Sun, Poirot Investigates
LJ Book Bingo A-Z: The Zig-Zag Girl
Cloak & Dagger Challenge: The Zig-Zag Girl, Poirot Investigates
In the holy city of Tova, the winter solstice is usually a time for celebration and renewal, but this year it coincides with a solar eclipse, a rare celestial event proscribed by the Sun Priest as an unbalancing of the world.
Meanwhile, a ship launches from a distant city bound for Tova and set to arrive on the solstice. The captain of the ship, Xiala, is a disgraced Teek whose song can calm the waters around her as easily as it can warp a man’s mind. Her ship carries one passenger. Described as harmless, the passenger, Serapio, is a young man, blind, scarred, and cloaked in destiny. As Xiala well knows, when a man is described as harmless, he usually ends up being a villain. ~Goodreads Description
This was sooooooooooooooooooooo good. I have loved Rebecca Roanhorse's books since her first book Trail of Lightening. I have been wanting to read her new series since forever but for one reason or another kept putting it off and after reading it I am sorry I did. This was such a dynamic and engaging book. There were several times I when I just couldn't put it down. I loved all the pov's and how they started off separate but then slowly began to get interwoven. And the Ending! I can't really say too much without giving something away but it was so well done and makes me twice as eager for the sequel. I highly recommend this book!
Brighton, 1950. The body of a girl is found cut into three pieces. Detective Inspector Edgar Stephens is convinced the killer is mimicking a famous magic trick—the Zig Zag Girl. The inventor of the trick, Max Mephisto, is an old war friend of Edgar’s. They served together in a shadowy unit called the Magic Men, a special ops troop that used stage tricks to confound the enemy.
Max is on the traveling show circuit, touring seaside towns with ventriloquists, sword-swallowers and dancing girls. He’s reluctant to leave this world to help Edgar investigate, but advises him to identify the victim quickly — it takes a special sidekick to do the Zig Zag Girl. Those words come back to haunt Max when the dead girl turns out to be Ethel, one of his best assistants to date. He’s soon at Edgar’s side, hunting for Ethel’s killer.
Another death, another magic trick: Edgar and Max are sure the answer to the murders lies in their army days. And when Edgar receives a letter warning of another “trick” on the way — the Wolf Trap — he knows they’re all in the killer’s sights. ~Goodreads Description
This was a really good set of stories. Agatha Christie usually does really well with her short stories and I was not disappointed with this set. Hercule Poirot is my favorite detective of hers and with Hastings along for the ride it is exactly what any fan of Agatha Christie could wish for.
Reading Challenge 2022:
Mount TBR: Black Sun, Poirot Investigates
LJ Book Bingo A-Z: The Zig-Zag Girl
Cloak & Dagger Challenge: The Zig-Zag Girl, Poirot Investigates
