Eagerly Awaited

 Last week was a bonus week for me. Three books I have eagerly awaited finally appeared on my Kindle. And as Luck would have it they arrived on three separate days so I was not forced to choose between them.

First on my reading list was The Dispatcher: Murder by Other Means. This is the second book in what I hope will be a long series of novellas. In the first book, Author John Scalzi established that it was now impossible to commit murder; the victim arrived confused, naked but very definitely alive in their own bed ready to point out their murderer. Having set this out, Scalzi now shows how determined and inventive people can be when it comes to disposing of the unwanted and in the way. Tony Valdez, the despatcher of the title, once again has to work with the police, but this time he has to prove he is not a cop-murderer. In the end, he shows that he is human too, despite being a state-sanctioned killer. My only grumble about the book is that I want more: a novel not a novella. That said the story fills the space allotted to perfection.

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The next book to arrive on my Kindle was Three Twins at The Crater School by Chaz Brenchley. My first thought on seeing this advertised was The Chalet School Series that I loved as a child (not admitting that I still do read them). I was not disappointed. The setting is Steampunk, with the British Empire encompassing a colony on Mars. They seem to have done something a bit creepy with Queen Victoria as there are a few mentions of the Empress Eternal ascending her Diamond Throne. Of course there is a girl’s school on Mars, full of plucky gels doing things their teachers cannot do. I got flashbacks to The Princess of the Chalet School and Redheads at the Chalet School, with a side glance at Mallory Towers. An old hotel has been turned into a school for girls. There are Martian beasties to beware of and plots from the evil Imperial Russia to thwart when three new girls arrive at The Crater School. At the end, there are a few too many unforeshadowed new characters; ‘Uncle Murch’ I can understand, but a little hint would have been nice. ‘Pete’ the schoolgirl engineer arrives and does nothing that the plucky gels we already met could not do. My thought is that the author is setting up for another book, but it seems clumsy in an otherwise smooth fit for the School Story Genre.

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Ever since I met up with The Nine Lives of Catseye Gomez by Simon Hawke I have wanted more wisecracking Feline PI stories. Finally, someone has written about my purrfect PI. Gobbelino London and a Melee of Mages by Kim M. Watt arrived on my kindle last of all. First off, may I say I love the reference to Gobbolino the Witches Cat another of my favourite Felines. A Melee of Mages is the fourth book in the series where our feline PI Gobbelino London (who lives in Leeds but don’t judge him) and his partner Callum North (but he prefers to be known as Callum London) struggle to make a living as private investigators in a human world, that mostly ignores the magical Folk who live anonymously among them. Tensions have gradually increased over the series to the point where this book is one long Trap for our wisecracking cat and his partner. There is still more to learn about the murky pasts of both Gobbelino and Callum. The baddies are stopped from taking over the world, but they escaped to try again another day.

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