Crime fiction Alphabet, An Impartial Witness

This week's letter is the letter I

Here are the rules

By Friday of each week participants try to write a blog post about crime fiction related to the letter of the week.

Your post MUST be related to either the first letter of a book's title, the first letter of an author's first name, or the first letter of the author's surname, or even maybe a crime fiction "topic". But above all, it has to be crime fiction.
So you see you have lots of choice.
You could write a review, or a bio of an author, so long as it fits the rules somehow.
(It is ok too to skip a week.)
You probably won't have to do a lot of extra reading in order to participate, but I warn you that your TBR  may grow as a result of the suggestions other participants make.

Crime Fiction Alphabet is hosted by Mysteries in Paradise.

An Impartial Witness, Charles Todd

my thoughts:

I've had to make myself a list of characters for this one, there are quite a few.  This happened to be my first Bess Crawford mystery and as soon as I'm finished, and I almost am finished, The Stand, I'll be reading another Charles Todd mystery.  Love, love, love it.  It's good old fashion mystery.  I first decided to read it for my WWI challenge, but soon discovered many were doing the same, and not to bore our readers decided to find another avenue, but, read it anyway. What a good story, didn't see the end coming, and thought the mother and son writing team did very well to entertain this here reader.  I felt it did bring home the horrors of war, and I was reminded by  the fact that crime doesn't take a break during wartime. I do however see how criminals can easily hide in these circumstances.  I kinda see a romance coming for Bess, but am not sure where our authors will take it.  The bits about the roomates sharing the flat brought home a few memories of a really great nurse I knew years back, although I'm sure her war was WWII.  I often think of her and her friend who sort of shared their lives through out the war, and then managed to remain friends.  Loved sewing for the two of them, they were great fun, and one of the first women golfers I'd know.  It was a privilege.

The Yellow House a read along, Part 4

Well this is my last post about his very good book.  Carrie at Books and Movies has been hosting a read along and this is our final discussion post.  Carrie asked us the following questions:
Welcome to our final read-along discussion of The Yellow House by Patricia Falvey. If you’re following our schedule, you should have finished the book. (You can read our previous discussions here: part one, part two, and part three.)
Spoiler alert: We will be discussing the book in detail, so if you haven’t finished it and don’t want to read any spoilers, you should skip this post and the comments section.


:
Were you as angry as I was when Eileen slept with James while pregnant with Owen’s baby, in order to pass the baby off as his?

I don't think I was angry, I sort of saw that she felt for James, and that maybe this was one time she had to be absolutely sure she was not in love with James.  I do understand her reasoning for trying to pass off Owen's baby as James, considering the dangerous time.
Was Owen’s reaction to that justified, in your opinion?

Yes I think Owen is justified.
 
Did you understand why Eileen was so torn about reporting what she knew about James’ plans for the mill?

Yes, I understand she didn't want to betray "the cause" but at the same time she was sympathetic to the lives that might be affected were James to be successful. 

What about her hesitancy to marry Owen?

I think this might have been her wisest decision, it was way to easy getting involved with James and hopefully she would not have been so quick to decided.  Owen would wait I would assume. 

What did you think of how things ended for the following characters: Frankie, Lizzie, Terrence, Fergus, and, of course, James?

I found the only good ending was Lizzie's. I'm afraid that you cannot give someone back their lives, and even though Eileen was going to look after Frankie, it was just sad.  James I think was expecting to die for the cause, and quite honestly I think the reader expected that too.  Terrance and Fergus, well it was just sad.

Were you satisfied with the way things ended for Eileen’s mom?

Eileen's mom will of course not regain her sanity, she may have come out a little but should she look around at Frankie and her husband, surely she would loose it again.  Just sad. 

And, lastly, were you happy with how things ended for Eileen?
Well Eileen did get the Yellow House back, and her family is all together again, but what a cost.  I'm not sure she'll forget anytime soon.  Missing Owen, well I suspect that's a good thing, how will things continue, realistically, life will not be easy. 

my thoughts:
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, I couldn't follow the designated schedule, I just needed to know what happened.  I found the historical references very enlightening and interesting, and I'm glad I didn't have to root for one or the other team.  I only had to let Love take it's course.  Thanks to Carrie for hosting and for the great questions.  It was a blast!


I also am linking this book up to the WWI challenge hosted by War Through the Generations although this book isn't specifically about an incident in the WWI, it certainly gives us a glimpse through Owen's eyes, about the whole affair.   You can read all my reviews Part 1, Part 2 , Part 3 and the discussions that ensued.

Photo of book I own.

The Yellow House a read a long... Part One

Carrie over at Books and Movies is our hostess for The Yellow House  read-along by Patricia Falvey. If you’re following our schedule, you should have read the first two sections of the book: “Glenlea, County Armagh, 1905″ and “Queensbrook Linen Mill, 1913.” 

Spoiler alert: We will be discussing the book in detail, so if you haven’t read those sections and don’t want to read any spoilers, you should skip this post.

What do you think of the writing?

I'm thoroughly enjoying the writing of this portion of the book. I find it easy to read and hard to put down.  I've not yet mastered the art of reading more than one book at a time so I'll be having a difficult time this week waiting for the next post.  I love the vivid descriptions of the landscape, and I do believe that parents told their children long drawn out tales of the geographical and historical aspects of their existence .  My mother could have easily been one of these people, we use to get some really action packed stories about the who's who and where and why for.  Were they the real thing? don't know, but like Carrie I agree that a young girl with a father who seemingly was not all that learned could know the correct terminology.  this didn't seem to bother me all that much, I just thought it was an author's creative license.  Non the less I've enjoyed the book to this point..

.

What do you think of Eileen’s parents?

 I'm saddened by this whole relationship.  I mean I knew that there had to be some drama, but how unfortunate.  I was half expecting this Irish family to be on the dole ( not sure of the spelling) and the father being a drunk and abusive, so it was a nice change that this Da actually loved his wife and children, and was just not very capable at providing for them.  The whole thing is just sad.

It seems that the book is heading in a romantic direction when it comes to Eileen and Owen Sheridan. What do you think of this potential romance?

This is a romance with true troubles ahead!  I may actually have to sit down and map out the relationship according to my professors guidelines.  I hope they have the good sense to move to another part of the world like the U.S. to be together if that's where the author leads them, but if not it will be an unrequited love. Reminds me a little of the movie An Officer and a Gentleman.   If they decided to fight society and remain in their homes it may be history repeating itself.

Of coarse for me after having just finished reading Water for Elephants, I want everyone to run away and join the circus.

As we closed the second section, the world is on the brink of the First World War, and Ireland is being torn apart by the fight for Home Rule. Have you learned anything about Ireland or the world at this time period that was new to you?

 I'm not very knowledgeable about Irish history, so I am glad that the author is giving us glimpses of what was happening, again I feel like I need to do a little more research into this matter, but Yes, I am learning a fair bit about the historical aspect of Ireland in relation to their involvement in the war.

These are all the questions  Carrie came up with  for this section. Check out what the rest of the group have to say at Books and Movies  and if you haven't joined us, there is still time. 

Photo of book I own.