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Peril At Somner House (2010)

by Joanna Challis(Favorite Author)

3.32 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

0312367163 (ISBN13: 9780312367169)

languge

English

genre

Historical Fiction

publisher

Minotaur Books

series

Daphne du Maurier Mystery

review 1: This book was fine light reading, but so poorly edited as to distract from the core story. I wanted to redline full paragraphs. It's odd--the first book in the series did not have this editing issue, and the third doesn't seem to either so far. But this book...eesh...the errors were numerous and disappointing. They included everything from basic syntax errors, to repetition of phrases within a few paragraphs, to completely contradictory facts from one chapter to the next. Disappointing, as I find the other books in this series lighthearted, enjoyable reads.
review 2: This is the second in the Daphne du Maurier series. I’m not sure why I get the real person fictionalized as a sleuth stuff (if you think about it, it’s sort of creepy to be writing fiction... more about real people). Most of these series don’t work. This one works better than most. Overall, it’s relatively enjoyable. Daphne is roped into going to one of the small islands off the English coast by her sister, Angela. Angela knows Lady and Lord Trevalyn, i.e Kate and Max. Somner House is Max’s family estate though his brother, Rod, would be a better heir. Max is too loose with money and as we later find out, has a form of PTSD. Daphne had no idea she was going to be stranded on this island with the Trevalyns, Sir Marcus, Josh Lissot and the Trevalyn’s cousin, Bella, among others. Daphne quickly learns that Max is the spendthrift, womanizer while his brother maintains the house, a house she quickly comes to love. She also learns that Kate is having an affair of her own and shortly after Max is killed, she and her lover come under suspicion. Kate wants Daphne to help prove they didn’t do it. The local constabulary seem almost corrupt and Daphne first enlists Sir Marcus and then later, when he shows up, Major Browning. In some ways this gets a bit Mary Suish as several of the men take a liking to Daphne (then again I don’t know enough of her history to know if anything of this is factual. I only know which of the characters she eventually marries)The mystery wasn’t a bad one, though the ending was a bit deus ex machine and she makes a totally idiotic decision that lost a lot of points with me. It’s a quick easy read. less

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