WWW Wednesdays – September 26, 2018

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Time for another WWW Wednesdays, which is brought to you by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words. If you too want to participate, answer the above questions and post that link on Sam’s page.

This is my birthday post (it was yesterday)! Though I unfortunately had to spend my birthday working when I would rather have been reading. That pretty much sums up my life the last few weeks. However, I am looking forward to a new season of reading. To view my lengthy and somewhat ambitious TBR list, see my Fall Reading post.

Currently Reading

Finished Reading

A Potion for Passion by Elizabeth Keysian

Flora Hartington is a respectable young lady who lives alone after her beloved fiancé parishes in a shipwreck. She finds herself drawn to the improper traveling doctor Lawrence Campion and his herbal remedies. As their connection develops, Flora finds that she has been masking her true self. Even though Dr. Campion is a highly skilled medical person, he engages in a not so honorable working relationship with a group of thieves. These thieves cause ships to crash, so they can steal the supplies from the ships. Dr. Campion occasionally purchases these supplies to sell for a profit. Flora is unaware of this side of Dr. Campion’s business dealings when Dr. Campion finds himself in the middle of one of the ship attacks by his gang of thieves colleagues. Dr. Campion wants to do the right thing and save a life but will that choice endanger Flora’s life?

This was a NetGally ARC. The development of Flora and Lawrence’s attraction and working relationship was a bit slow and at times unsatisfying. However, some of the supporting characters were quite interesting with I believe more depth than maybe even the main characters. The very end was a thrill ride, but it took a long time to get to that. Also, the side story of Dr. Campion’s background didn’t quite feel like it fit into the story, even if I did enjoy the Epilogue. Basically, if you can get through a couple hundred pages of a not too exciting storyline and narrative, the ending is well done and almost makes it worth it.

Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz

A book editor named Susan is reading a murder mystery manuscript by the famous author Alan Conway when she realizes that the last chapter is missing, which would reveal the whodunit. Then she finds out that Alan Conway is dead. As a reader you are invested in the characters in Alan Conway’s book, but also want to understand the details of his own death. Was his death related to his own work of fiction?

I read Magpie Murders for my mystery book club. I was nervous, because I am a huge Agatha Christie fan, and I don’t like when murder mystery writers try to emulate her work. However, Anthony Horowitz did something I have never experienced before. I don’t believe I have ever read a mystery within a mystery like this before. This work was definitely influenced by Agatha Christie (as mentioned throughout the book). A fellow book club member pointed out that even the Alan Conway character even has the same initials as Agatha Christie, which went completely over my head. There were also influences of James Bond and Sherlock Holmes throughout the story. I will say that the whodunit in Alan Conway’s book was more of a twist than the mystery behind Conway’s death. I found the whole storyline with Susan, the editor, to be a bit weak. However, this book was incredibly clever for what it was, and it definitely lived up to the hype.

I now want to go and get other works by Anthony Horowitz. Has anyone read this book or anything else by Anthony Horowitz?

Reading Next

What has everyone else been reading this week? Please feel free to leave some recommendations or a link to your WWW post.

HAPPY READING!!!