Chance on hold.

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Book Review - The Valley (The Valley Trilogy #1) by Helen Bryan

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This book moves away from my regular cozy mystery into historical women's fiction. It's the first book I've read by this author. The Valley is the first book in a trilogy set in colonial times Virginia. The setting grabbed my attention since that is the state I grew up in and love dearly. This review does have some spoilers and the book has a large cast so take notes. Sophia Grafton is a wealthy and spoiled child with homes in London and the countryside. She is raised by her adoring father who lavishes everything on her and allows her to run wild. As she reaches the marriageable age of sixteen it becomes apparent she needs a firmer hand. After no prospect is agreed upon by Sophia and her father, he moves her to their country home while he recovers from illness, in the hope that a local lad will catch her eye. Despite a marriage proposal Sophia remains single until her father's death. She soon finds she is penniless with no option but to travel to the new world and...
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First let me say that normally I would not consider Lisa Gardner to be a cozy mystery writer.  There is no element of humor in this book, however, there is also no graphic violence.  I've read other books by this author and had forgotten how much I love her writing. The book starts with a prologue. In the rules of writing which every aspiring author learns, prologues are the death of a book. I've heard more times than I care to remember to never start a book with a prologue.  In my opinion this book's prologue was really basically chapter one but the author used the term in order to give a flashback scene. The chapter was exceptional and really grabbed my interest so ultimately who cares what you call it. The book is centered around two characters - Charlene Rosalind Carter Grant and detective D.D. Warren.  Told in first person in some chapters as Charlie and in third person when the chapter is devoted to D.D.  The two meet when Charlie seeks D.D.'s help ...
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Time travel - past, present and future

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I recently read a mystery which was set in the 1940's. I didn't enjoy it - not because the story wasn't decent  - but more because I had a difficult time relating to the characters. Not only was the story set in a different country, than the one I reside, but it was set years before I was born. This makes me think of comments made by a friend about the Sue Grafton Kinsey Millhone series. She hated reading them because it bugged her that Kinsey had to find a pay phone. There weren't cell phones in the 1980's when that series was written.  So I have to wonder if mystery readers prefer a certain time period for our mysteries. I will read an occasional historical novel. I don't seek them out, but if someone refers an especially good book, then I will read it. I have been known to read science fiction, especially those set in the future (okay and maybe the entire Twilight series). But as a rule, I like my mysteries to be current. To me the characters are more real....
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