Every Word by Ellie Marney

Title: Every Word

Series: Mycroft and Watts #2

Author: Ellie Marney

Release Date: 1st June 2014

My Rating: 5/5

Blurb:

James Mycroft has just left for London to investigate a car accident similar to the one that killed his parents seven years ago...without saying goodbye to Rachel Watts, his 'partner in crime'.

Rachel is furious and worried about his strange behaviour - not that Mycroft's ever exactly normal, but London is the scene of so many of his nightmares. So Rachel jumps on a plane to follow him...and lands straight in a whole storm of trouble.

The theft of a copy of Shakespeare's First Folio, the possible murder of a rare books conservator, and the deaths of Mycroft's parents...Can Watts help Mycroft make sense of the three events - or will she lose him forever?

Sparks fly when Watts and Mycroft reunite in this second sophisticated thriller about the teen sleuthing duo.

In A Nutshell:

Loved it! Bring on book three!

My Review:

Every Word is Ellie Marney’s follow up to last year’s brilliant debut, Every Breath. After disappearing in the middle of the night without so much as a goodbye, Mycroft travels to London to assist his boss with an autopsy of an Australian car-crash victim. To the police, the case seems open and shut, with a confession from the victim’s girlfriend. However, Mycroft is convinced there is more to the story, with a possible connection to the robbery of a historical book at the victim’s workplace a few days earlier. The crash is also eerily similar to the accident that claimed the life of his parents seven years ago. Unfortunately, without evidence, Mycroft is having a hard time proving his theory, let alone finding the answers to his parents’ death.

It was never going to be easy for Mycroft to return to London and he is less than impressed when Rachel shows up at his hotel, preferring to keep her away as his life falls apart once again. Searching for the answers he has craved for the past seven years, and with so much at stake, emotions are running high and his behaviour becomes more unpredictable than usual. But his attempts to push Rachel away are futile and he slowly accepts that she isn’t just going to leave him to deal with his traumatic history alone.

Mycroft may claim Rachel is a genius but she’s still a little naïve when it comes to trusting strangers, despite what happened at the zoo in Every Breath. While Mycroft is busy with the police, she heads off on her own to discover more about the victim. Unfortunately she finds herself getting kidnapped when she gets a little too close to uncovering some answers. She puts up a damn good fight though!

While Mycroft will do anything to keep Rachel safe, his quest for answers means his concerns for personal safety do not extend to himself. Put these together and Mycroft and Rachel find themselves in more danger than they ever thought possible, receiving multiple beatings and broken bones when they inadvertently become mixed up with ruthless contract killers.

Every Word leaves us with ‘Moriarty’(Sherlock’s nemesis for those of you who are not familiar with the original stories) making an ‘appearance’ and a new piece of information to add to the mystery about what really happened to Mycroft’s parents, taking them one step closer to finding the truth.

There is so much more to this series than the dalliances with Sherlock Holmes mythology. There is action, mystery and intrigue, the usual teenage dramas, family dynamics (oh how I love the relationship between Rachel and her brother Mike), and yes, romance. Mycroft’s erratic behaviour would drive me crazy but he still makes me swoon and Ellie really knows how to write smoking hot make-out scenes!

I loved Every Word and found it hard to stop skipping ahead to see what was going to happen. I didn’t want to put it down and even though I loved Every Breath, Every Word has surpassed it. I can’t wait for Every Move which will be released March 2015.

Thank you to Allen & Unwin for this review copy.

For other stops on the Every Word Blog Tour, check out Ellie’s tour post.

Jewel of the Thames by Angela Misri

Title: Jewel of the Thames

Author: Angela Misri

Release Date: 25th March 2014

My Rating: 4/5

Blurb:

There’s a new detective at 221 Baker Street.

Set against the background of 1930s England, Jewel of the Thames introduces Portia Adams, a budding detective with an interesting, and somewhat mysterious, heritage.

Nineteen-year-old Portia Adams has always been inquisitive. There’s nothing she likes better than working her way through a mystery. When her mother dies, Portia puzzles over why she was left in the care of the extravagant Mrs. Jones but doesn’t have long to dwell on it before she is promptly whisked from Toronto to London by her new guardian. Once there Portia discovers that she has inherited 221 Baker Street, the former offices of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson.

Portia settles into her new home and gets to know her downstairs tenants, including the handsome and charming Brian Dawes. She also finds herself entangled in three cases: the first involving stolen jewellery, the second a sick judge and the final case revolving around a kidnapped child. But the greatest mystery of all is her own. How did she come to inherit this townhouse? And why did her mother keep her heritage from her? Portia has a feeling Mrs. Jones knows more than she is letting on. In fact, she thinks her new guardian may be the biggest clue of all.

In a Nutshell:

I can’t get enough of the current Sherlock Holmes-inspired stories currently coming out and Jewel of the Thames is a worthy addition to the bunch. This time we get to follow 19-year-old Portia Adams, an astutely aware and observant girl who discovers she is the granddaughter of Sherlock’s other half, Dr. Watson. Already a budding detective, we follow Portia as her curiosity and desire to solve mysteries sees her assisting Scotland Yard on a number of unsolved cases.

My Review:
You may have noticed recently that there have been a string of books and TV shows that have found a way to keep the Sherlock Holmes stories alive. Each has their own merit and takes inspiration from the famous fictional duo that was Holmes and Dr. John Watson.

Jewel of the Thames is yet another however it focuses not on more Holmes and Watson adventures, but that of Watson's granddaughter.

It's 1930 and nineteen year old Portia Adams has an astute mind for details and a keen interest in investigation and mystery. Upon arriving in London, Portia discovers the property she is now the owner of is none other than the famous offices of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson and that she is the granddaughter of the deceased doctor. Hungry for knowledge not just of her grandfather but of law and investigative techniques, Portia pours over her grandfather’s old casebooks now in her possession, as well as studying law at Somerville College with financial assistance from her new guardian, the mysterious and wealthy Mrs Jones.

Throughout the novel, Portia’s curiosity is peaked by London’s current unsolved crimes and takes it upon herself to delve into cases and do a little investigating of her own. She is assisted by the charming Constable Dawes, her downstairs neighbour, and Chief Inspector Archer of Scotland Yard, who is also her college professor. Both are impressed with her remarkable deductive and inductive skills, and intrigued by her heritage and intuitiveness.


I thoroughly enjoyed this new spin on the Holmes and Watson stories and envied Portia’s detective skills throughout the novel. One of the draw cards to the crime genre is trying to solve the mystery yourself as the protagonist works through the details. There is also plenty of intrigue outside the cases concerning Portia’s own life as she searches for more information about her family, her slow blossoming friendship and attraction to Constable Dawes, and the mysteries that begin to surround her guardian.

I really look forward to reading further stories featuring Portia and seeing the ramifications of what was revealed to her at the end of the book.

GIVEAWAY

As one of the stops on the Jewel of the Thames Blog Tour, I have an ebook copy of the novel to giveaway.

To enter, please comment below with your email address and share what Sherlock-inspired stories you are currently enjoying (or any other YA mystery you think we should all read!).

Please note, at request of the publisher, this giveaway is NOT open to residents of the UK.

Giveaway closes 14th April 2014.

Every Breath by Ellie Marney

Title: Every Breath
Author: Ellie Marney

Release Date: 1st September 2013

My Rating: 4/5

Blurb:

Rachel Watts is an unwilling new arrival to Melbourne from the country. James Mycroft is her neighbour, an intriguingly troubled seventeen-year-old genius with a passion for forensics. Despite her misgivings, Rachel finds herself unable to resist Mycroft when he wants her help investigating a murder. And when Watts and Mycroft follow a trail to the cold-blooded killer, they find themselves in the lion's den - literally.

A night at the zoo will never have quite the same meaning again...

In A Nutshell:

A mystery set in Melbourne with quirky and likeable characters makes this teenage detective story, containing elements of Sherlock Holmes, the perfect way to spend your afternoon.

My Review: 

I've always been a fan of crime and detective stories. Currently I'm loving the Sherlock Holmes TV adaptation Elementary and so I was excited to discover Every Breath, the debut novel by Australian Ellie Marney. Like Elementary, Marney explores the dynamics between the Sherlock-esq character and his sidekick by making Watson/Watts, female. I would also like to make a point of reminding those of you who are judgemental, that books take years to write and Marney would have decided on Watts being female long before Elementary found its way to the TV screen. Every Breath brings many of the famous Sherlock Holmes quirks back to life and wraps them up in the teenage bodies of James Mycroft and Rachel Watts. For those of you not in the know, Mycroft is the name Arthur Conan Doyle gave Sherlock's brother in his famous novels. Fans will delight in the various references and similarities found throughout the pages but they by no means dictate the story.

Seventeen-year-old James Mycroft has many of the same quirky and irritating habits as Sherlock Holmes, something that is not lost on either Mycroft or Rachel by their frequent jokes about how their names and passions reflect the famous fictional duo. Mycroft has had a devastating childhood, one that fuels his desire for knowledge and solving puzzles, and that has contributed to his eccentric and borderline criminal behaviour. Rachel Watts is a country kid whose family has moved to Melbourne due to their farm suffering massive financial strain. Rachel finds it difficult to find her place in the city where life is very different to the one she has known for the past seventeen years. I really felt for Rachel as she adjusted to life in Melbourne and the parts where she reminisces about her old life and the pain she and her family went through was often quite sad to read. Their individual back stories and the constant inclusion of Rachel's family helped build them into their own characters so it didn't feel like we were just reading about younger versions of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson.

We first meet Rachel and Mycroft as Rachel attempts to provide first aid to Mycroft, a nod to the medical aspect of Dr Watson. The two later discover the death of their homeless friend Dave and set about solving it, something the police do not see as foul play. Rachel and Mycroft find themselves in all sorts of situations and trouble during their quest for answers but what I was most looking forward to was the explosion of their attraction to each other which simmers away throughout the book until a point where we are finally (OMG) rewarded (that's not really a spoiler, you can tell it is eventually going to happen!).

I will admit that it did take me a good portion of the first third of the book to really get into it however that could just be because it was the first book I had read in 3 months and once I got into the swing of things, I couldn't put it down. I would definitely re-read it in the future and am super excited to hear there will be more Mycroft and Watts stories coming soon with Every Word and Every Move in 2014!

For something similar, try Girl Defective or A Pocketful of Eyes.

Dangerously Placed by Nansi Kunze

Title: Dangerously Placed
Author: Nansi Kunze

Release Date: 1st March 2011

My Rating: 4/5

Blurb:

Alex Thaler can't wait to start her dream work experience placement at Virk, where staff from all over the world mingle in an astonishing virtual office. But when an employee is found murdered, the dream becomes a nightmare - because Alex is the prime suspect. Fortunately, Alex's friends are willing to brave shark tanks, disgusting pathology specimens and even a nude beach in order to clear her name . . .

Can a hippy chick, a goth girl in a lab coat and two guys with a taste for blowing things up really help solve the mystery - before Alex becomes the next victim?

My Review:
Dangerously Placed is a fabulous fast-paced thriller filled with misdirection, danger, a little romance, a mind-blowingly cool virtual reality system and a murder mystery that is guaranteed to keep you guessing.

In the course of Alex's investigation into finding the murderer, she also discovers a conspiracy to bring down the company and that she has a stalker! This may sound over the top, but it's not. The plot works well and Alex and her friends are extremely likeable. The virtual reality workspace is something that hasn't been done before in YA fiction and I found the concept really interesting. It was really quite mind-blowing and I would love to know if there is actually technology like this around at the moment?

I was honestly completely surprised as to who the murderer was. I spent the whole book trying to guess and I never saw it coming. I really enjoyed this as a lot of books can be so predictable! I really hope YA continues to see more teen detective stories in the future. It is a genre that is lacking on YA shelves, but one that many people love.