Tusk Justice: Second Novel in a Series Taking Place in Contemporary Kenya

 Author Victoria Tait gave me a review copy of her most recent mystery, Tusk Justice, in advance of publication. Yet it turned out that I couldn't fit it in until September was nearly ending.  So this is a great deal closer to the October 9th release date than I originally intended. I downloaded my copy via Story Origin.  I had already reviewed A Fowl Murder, the first novel in the Kenya Kanga series on this blog here though I was more interested in Tusk Justice and wanted to read it first.  It turned out that there was necessary character background in A Fowl Murder.  So I'm now glad that I read it first.  My previous knowledge of the protagonist of this series informs my review of  Tusk Justice below.

                                                         

                                                        

I felt that A Fowl Murder prioritized characterization, but Tusk Justice seemed more plot centered.  There was always something happening  and the murder occurred early in  the course of the narrative.   This case didn't awaken memories of earlier experiences for protagonist  Rose Hardie.  So she was primarily focused on the present in which she had to care for her sick and disabled husband, her veterinary practice and the investigation of both thefts and murder at a resort hotel.  Rose's general helpfulness in this novel shows us why she is so widely beloved in her community.

There was relatively little about elephants in Tusk Justice.  The book opened with Rose trying to save the life of an elephant calf, and the victim was publishing a book about African elephants.  The content of the book isn't  really described, however.   Readers who are interested in fiction centrally dealing with elephants should read  Jodi Picoult's novella, "Larger Than Life" which I reviewed here. 

The resolution was somewhat unexpected.  It wasn't totally out of left field, but the killer wasn't someone that I was thinking about as a suspect.    So I'd call this a good mystery in which the reader won't easily guess whodunit.

                                                          

 

                                                          

The Forgotten Kingdom: Blog Tour and Review of Arthurian Novel @Signe Pike @Atria Books

                                                               

I read and reviewed the first book in The Lost Queen series by Signe Pike on this blog here. I was interested in Signe Pike’s approach to the Arthurian mythos. That’s why I decided to join The Forgotten Kingdom Blog Tour and accepted an ARC from the publisher via Net Gallley.

                                                   

                                                                 REVIEW

 I felt that The Lost Queen was a concept driven novel, and that the concept was original. OTOH, The Forgotten Kingdom is character driven. There’s a cluster of primary characters who are portrayed with genuine psychological depth. 

My favorite character was the mysterious Eira whose hidden past emerges over the course of the narrative. As a feminist, I admired her strength that allowed her to overcome all that she had to endure. I liked the fact that Languoreth, the female protagonist, also was impressed with her. 

Lailoken, the historical Merlin whose discovery inspired the series, begins to develop an understanding of his purpose by undergoing both a traumatic life event and a ritual ordeal. As a fan of Richard Carpenter’s TV series Robin of Sherwood in which Robin Hood worships Herne and is called Herne’s Son, I was delighted to see how much Lailoken identified himself with Herne in this book.

Languoreth’s daughter, Angharad, began as an amazing child of destiny at the age of nine. Her inner conflicts over the choices she made as she matures, define her as a complex character. Angharad’s training to become a priestess eventually awakened paranormal gifts.

In her author’s note, Signe Pike questioned whether her book should be categorized as fantasy when the people in that era considered paranormal gifts very real. This would require a complete re-evaluation of the historical fantasy sub-genre since rationalism didn’t become more widely accepted until some time in the later half of the 19^th century. What about novels taking place in a contemporary context in which all the characters are Wiccans or believe that paranormal gifts are genuine because of their experiences? Should those books also not be considered fantasy? My feeling is that genres exist to help readers find content that they prefer. What definition of fantasy would be most helpful to you as a reader?

Arthur as Artur first appears as a character in The Forgotten Kingdom. This caused me to speculate about how Signe Pike’s characters might be equivalent to conventional Arthurian personages within the myth. Is there already a Guinevere or a Morgan Le Fay? Has the equivalent of Lancelot appeared yet? Perhaps Signe Pike’s alternate vision of the myth doesn’t contain all or even any of these equivalent characters. We’ll just have to continue reading the books in this series in order to find out.

 

                                              

                                                                SIGNE PIKE

                                                                            

 

A Song Below Water-- A YA Fantasy That Is A Spicy Mixture of Supernatural Beings and Important Themes

 I reviewed Bethany C. Morrow's first novel Mem on this blog here .  That review indicates my ambivalence about the book.  The themes, the characters and the powerful narrative got my endorsement, but I found the concept unworkable.  As  a first effort it was really quite good though flawed.  I was looking forward to seeing what Morrow would do next.  That's why I checked out A Song Below Water from the library and read it at my first opportunity.  

I had been dutifully reading a review book that wasn't working for me at the beginning of September.  When I caught myself looking longingly at A Song Below Water on top of the library pile, I quickly abandoned my obligation read and launched myself into a book that I hoped would be both entertaining and topical.

                                             

I was thoroughly impressed with Morrow's world building in this YA alternate universe fantasy.  She develops several different types of supernatural species.  At the outset there are two--the sirens and the elokos.  Her premise, according to the Acknowledgements, was "What if all sirens were Black girls?" This is a transformative vision for a familiar myth. Elokos are rather obscure mythical beings from Zaire.  I found a brief Wikipedia article about them here.  The alternate history aspect is introduced through references to sirens in the 1960's Civil Rights movement who were vilified and legally persecuted.  This bigotry against sirens continued into the present.  At one point, a prominent siren felt she had to say that  "Black lives don't matter until siren lives do." So this is a very African American centered book in its concepts and themes.  There aren't enough fantasy novels with this focus, and there should be.  

Given the current concern about police abuse of power, the Driving While Black incident in this novel will seem very relevant. I took a break from reading after that scene and read an e-mail which contained a link to a case of a Black woman who was being stopped by law enforcement in real life. It was a report from a former U.S. diplomat who kept on being stopped and searched by Customs and Border Patrol 2/3 of the time when she re-entered the U.S.  There was no explanation for this pattern of behavior other than race.  The former diplomat's name is Tianna Spears, and her account appeared in Politico on August 30, 2020.

In this context, I thought readers would be interested in a 2020 African American history book with the title Driving While Black by Gretchen Sorin dealing with the history of Blacks driving cars. It includes much about how cars increased freedom for Blacks, how Black travel guides assisted Civil Rights activists, and the unjust police stops that are what is usually meant by Driving While Black. The hyperlink in this paragraph links to the book's page on Goodreads.

It is important for me to tell you that I can't know how it feels to Drive While Black since I am Reading While White.  I would like to cite a statement made in this book that seemed to be a comment on this subject.  Tavia, the siren protagonist, had a high school teacher who was quoted during the narrative. He said that there is "no such thing as cultural empathy without cultural competency".   I took this very much to heart.  I felt that his remark was addressed to me.  I read books by Black writers as part of an effort to increase my cultural competency.  I don't believe that I have achieved that goal.  This is probably why a Goodreads review of this book that I encountered soon after reading that quote struck me as so significant.  I asked myself how someone who was culturally competent would read A Song Below Water and found the second paragraph of a review by Bookishrealm  here.  I realized that I should have been aware of her interpretation of the sirens as an allegory, but  it hadn't occurred to me.  Bookishrealm's perspective was like a flashlight that illuminated the way I read the novel going forward.  I can't credit myself with her insight.  I was borrowing her cultural competency to increase my understanding of what the author intended.

Effie, the other protagonist, was created by Morrow's friend Jen French, who Morrow calls an unofficial twin in  the Acknowledgements. When I read what Morrow had written about Jen French, it seemed to me that the deep sisterly relationship between Tavia and Effie was modeled on Bethany C. Morrow's relationship with Jen French.  Other reviewers have commented on how beautiful it was.  Tavia showed her loyalty toward Effie through her actions.  That's what I consider a sign of genuine commitment toward another individual.

At the beginning of the story line, Effie played a mermaid at a Renaissance Faire.  I'd been to a Renaissance Faire, but had never seen a mermaid.  So for my entertainment I viewed a You Tube of a Bay Area Renaissance Faire mermaid at Mermaid at Renaissance Faire. 

Honestly, I thought this book had everything. As I showed in this review, the novel deals with issues that the Black community faces as a result of endemic racism that exists throughout American society.  A Song Below Water also had intense relationship scenes and light entertaining moments.  There was ordinary teen life, and fantastical events that could only happen to characters with paranormal gifts.   I loved the protagonists, and learned a great deal from being immersed in their lives.

 

                                         

 

 

 

 

                                                 

 

The Anatomist's Secret: A Mystery Dealing With 19th Century Medicine

It wasn't too long ago that I posted my review of The Spiritualist by Noah Alexander, a mystery novelette in the Maya series taking place in British India. You can find that review here.  Now here I am reviewing The Anatomist's Secret, another mystery in which Maya is the detective.  I normally don't read two books in the same series so close together because for me there's the risk of being less engaged by a book that is too similar to one that I'd read recently. I like variety.  I brought this danger up in the context of my discussion about reading WWII novels in another August review.  

By the way, I have posted a record number of reviews this month.   I haven't posted eight reviews in one month in the entire history of this blog.  I hope that my readers don't expect me to maintain this level of frequency. That's unlikely to happen.

The reason why I felt I had to review this book now is because I'm reviewing it for Story Origin. I should have considered that this would pose difficulties for me before I accepted the author's invitation to obtain a review copy through Story Origin. I discovered some time ago that Story Origin has a time limit, and I have commitments in September that would prevent me from shoehorning very many books into my schedule during that month.  So it had to be in August.  Well then,  I'd better get back to my review of The Anatomist's Secret.  

 

                                                       

 

This is a book with a complex plot, surprises and a great deal of suspense.  I thought that the plot aspect of this mystery was very well handled.   I also learned a great deal about how those studying human anatomy obtained cadavers (dead bodies) during the 19th century. On the other hand, I did have some problems with The Anatomist's Secret.

Maya remains concerned that Henry Camleman, her employer at the Bombay Detective Agency, won't allow her to be a detective.  She's actually the administrative assistant.  So she avoids the problem by making sure that the client in this case doesn't get an opportunity to speak to Mr. Camleman.   This is a clever tactic, but I hope it doesn't get repeated in the next book.  I think it could be a breach of professional ethics to do this type of end run around your boss.  Surely there has to be a point where Henry Camleman comes to accept Maya as a detective.

There's another thing that I'd rather not see in a book that appeared in this one.  I debated including a trigger warning, but I doubt it's the sort of thing that would actually trigger someone. It's just repugnant.  A trigger warning is always a spoiler, and I try not to have what I'd consider to be major spoilers in my reviews. Let's just say that this book earned an "ugh" rating for disgusting content.

I generally don't mention errors when they are typos, but there's something about vocabulary misuse that really stands out for me.  This means that the word doesn't mean what the author intends.  There are three incidents of vocabulary misuse. Two of them are a misuse of "mirth".  Since it occurred twice in a similar context,  I'm wondering if this is a common means of avoiding an expletive among those who speak British English.  In American English the common euphemism for that expletive would be "sugar".  I couldn't find "mirth" as a euphemism when I ran a search.

If it occurs to you that I'm being hypercritical in these comments, I want you to know that this isn't my intention.  I always love books that give me research opportunities.  I had one while reading The Anatomist's Secret when Maya mentions being interested in bicycles.  That sent me to the Wikipedia article on the history of bicycles. Maya comments that bicycles were dangerous, and they really were at that time.  According to that Wikipedia article, African American inventor Isaac R. Johnson re-designed the bicycle to be safer and more comfortable in 1889.  Johnson's version is still in use today. If you would like to know more about Isaac R. Johnson, and his bicycle re-design see this article. 

I'd give this book a grade of B+.  It's a pretty good mystery with some very interesting historical material.

                                              

 

 

 

Fowl Murder: A Mystery in Contemporary Kenya

 I had reviewed Grevy Danger, a novella by Victoria Tait, on Goodreads. It's only available to subscribers of Victoria Tait's newsletter.  I very much liked the Kenya setting, and protagonist Rose Hardie's involvement with animals.  Rose is a veterinary paraprofessional, and strongly believes in the conservation of threatened wild species.  In Grevy Danger, this theme is very much front and center because the plot opens with a census of a rare type of zebra.   I was sure I would be interested in other books in this series.  So I applied for an advance reader copy of Tusk Justice, the upcoming second novel dealing with Rose Hardie's investigations in Kenya.  Victoria Tait wanted me to have read the first novel,  Fowl Murder, which I had purchased, but hadn't yet read due to my review commitments.  I told her that I would read Fowl Murder before Tusk Justice, and that's exactly what I did. 

 

                                       

                

The case in Fowl Murder seemed tied to another one in which Rose herself was accused of having shot a poacher forty years ago.  That earlier case and the way she feels about it illuminates Rose's character.   Rose's understanding of that poacher shooting changes over the course of the narrative, and that process transformed the way I viewed Rose as well.  This book represented a pivotal point in the protagonist's character development.  I can now see why Victoria Tait thought I needed to read it before Tusk Justice. 

Another character who grew in my estimation as I read this book was Aisha Onyango, a dear friend of Rose, and an attorney who had defended Rose in the poacher shooting case.  Aisha was the murder victim in Fowl Murder.  Through the investigation of Aisha's death, Rose comes to realize who her friend had been and her dedication to justice.

I also learned about Kenya's history through reading this book.  I had heard about the Mau Mau Revolt, but I knew nothing about it.  There was a mention in  Fowl Murder of the reparations issued by the UK to Kenyans who had been tortured by the British authorities during this revolt.  I was interested in how the reparations had come about.  So I located an article on the subject in the UK Guardian newspaper here .  Readers who want to know more can read it. 

Although I found the resolution of the murder case predictable, I was impressed by certain characters, their relationships and Victoria Tait's portrayal of Kenyan culture. So I look forward to continuing with this series by reading Tusk Justice.

 

                                                   

                                 

Notes of Love and War: Female Music Critic Discovers Spies During WWII

After reading Becoming Lady Washington by Betty Bolté and reviewing it favorably on this blog here,  I was inclined to accept a gift copy of her current novel, Notes of Love and War from publicist Wiley Saichek via Amazon.  I don't want to be deluged with WWII novels.  I know WWII is the most popular period for historical fiction, but reading about similar events repeatedly blunts the impact of a book.  So I look for WWII novels with aspects that are unusual, or which are of particular interest to me.  In the case of Notes of Love and War, it was the music aspect.  I  am fascinated by books centering on musicians or people who are part of the music world like Audrey Harper who was a music critic for a Baltimore newspaper during WWII. Both Audrey and the newspaper were fictional which gives historical fiction authors more freedom than when they are dealing with real historical personages.  I wanted to see what happens when Betty Bolté has that freedom.

                                                             

I was glad to see the feminist aspect of this book.  During WWII many women were allowed to take jobs for which they normally wouldn't even be considered because the men who had filled those positions were fighting against Nazi Germany or Fascist Japan.  Some of these women didn't consider these jobs as temporary.  They expected to continue working after the war.  Audrey was one of them.  As far as she was concerned, she was "the real music critic".  She had a college degree that qualified her, and connections in the local music world.   Audrey was continually trying to convince her editor that she belonged in her job. I think that the means she used to discover a Nazi spy plot proved her knowledge of music.  I was rooting for Audrey the entire time that I was reading Notes of Love and War.

The romance aspect involved internal conflict for Audrey.  She knew she loved him, but he was assuming that she wanted to be a housewife.  Since Bolté  made it obvious to readers that she wanted to continue working in her profession, I didn't want to see her give it up.  For me, finding out whether Audrey's romance would work out well for her was as suspenseful as the espionage.

I was interested to learn from the Author's Note that the spying incident was loosely based on an actual event.   I think I found it online, but I don't want to link to it because the commonalities between what happened in history and what happened in the novel would be spoilers.  Bolté created fictional spies and developed a fictional plan for them.  I want readers to discover for themselves how Audrey sought to stop them and how it all resolved.

Notes of Love and War was a well-written historical novel that I would recommend to those who want to see a feminist perspective on a woman's life showing the balancing act  of career, family and marriage during WWII in addition to an exciting spy plot.

                                             

                              

 

 

 

 

 

                             

 

Puerto Rico's Problems Starkly Shown in #4 of a Feminist Vigilante Series

Side Chick Nation is the second book I've read by Puerto Rican author Aya de León.  I read Uptown Thief  last month.  I loved protagonist Marisol Rivera and her  band of female vigilantes.  I knew I wanted to read another book in the series, and the one that called to me was Side Chick Nation.  It's the first novel taking place during Hurricane Maria and its aftermath.  I thought it would be powerful and authentic, and I was absolutely right.

The books in Aya de León's Justice Hustler series are categorized in different ways.  Her publisher says they are romantic suspense.  De León  calls them feminist heist novels.  I would place them in  the feminist vigilante category which is broader and shows their commonality with other books I've been reading lately like Sinister Sisterhood which I reviewed on Flying High Reviews  here .  

                               

 The portrait of Puerto Rico provided in Side Chick Nation makes me feel that this particular book in the Justice Hustler series should be called contemporary fiction rather than romance.  Romance is a major element in the book, but the Puerto Rico content defined the book for me and lent it significance.  

This is not to say that a romance novel can't be significant.  Some romance novels have dealt with important issues.  In fact, Side Chick Nation does engage with how women in the sex industry are viewed which is probably a major focus in the entire Justice Hustler series since the protagonists have had various degrees of involvement in the sex industry.  It also addresses the issue of how women who aren't in primary relationships are exploited.   These women are referred to as "side chicks".

Yet what is unique to this novel is the way the personal becomes political with regard to Puerto Rico.  It expands the definition of "side chick" to make it a metaphor for the relationship of Puerto Rico to the United States.  Statehood would place Puerto Rico in a primary relationship, but Puerto Rico is a territory.  As a territory, the United States should protect Puerto Rico from exploitation, but instead a particular U.S. law has facilitated exploitation of Puerto Rico. I wasn't aware of this law until I read Side Chick Nation.  

The Jones Act of 1920 signed into law by Woodrow Wilson mandates that anything transported to U.S. ports, which includes Puerto Rico, must be shipped on vessels made in the U.S. which are owned and operated by U.S. citizens.  This has kept Puerto Ricans poor and debt ridden because they can't get cheap goods, but in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, the Jones Act prevented other countries from shipping them aid.  (When it came to aid from neighboring Cuba, there was also the problem of the U.S. Cuba embargo.) I found out from Wikipedia here   that John McCain and fellow Republican Mike Lee tried to repeal the Jones Act with their Open America's Waters Act that never passed for a variety of reasons mentioned in the Wikipedia article.  After reading about it, I would agree with those who think that Puerto Rico should be permanently exempt from the Jones Act.

Climate change caused Hurricane Maria along with other major disasters that the U.S. has faced.  This issue is only briefly addressed in Side Chick Nation, but it's made clear that it's an urgent one for Puerto Rico just as it is for the entire world.

Getting back to the romance, I would like to discuss the central character and her relationships.

 Protagonist Dulce Garcia had managed to get herself away from an abusive pimp, but she'd been in the sex industry so long that she didn't know how to have a relationship with a man that wasn't transactional.  This becomes problematic when she meets a man who genuinely cares about her.  My only problem with Uptown Thief  was the romance which I felt wasn't viable.  This relationship was moving.  The man she met ended up nourishing her self-esteem and gave her a sense of purpose. He was a wonderful character.

Marisol Rivera, and a few of the other women who engaged in vigilante justice in Uptown Thief , did play a role in Side Chick Nation.  There was a heist, and it was one of the many highlights in this book.

I intend to give Side Chick Nation five stars when I post a review on Goodreads.  In my book journal where I use school grades, I gave the novel A for amazing!