 |
| Adorable Cover! |
Labor Day Weekend has arrived. This year is just going by so fast. Last night I was putting away the groceries when I heard a crash. My father (who is ill) tried to get up without help. His socks were too slippery on the floor. I am so thankful that nothing was broken. He is just sore. I put slipper socks on his feet (I knew I would find a use for those socks I received for Christmas)! No more slipping! He now has a cane as well. He has finally started eating so he will get his strength back (very slowly).
Cinderella Six Feet Under by Maia Chance is the second book in A Fairy
Tale Fatal Mystery series. It takes
place in late 1867 in Paris, France.
Gabriel Augustus Penrose (Lord Harrington) is a professor at St.
Remigius’s College in Oxford (and has an obsession with fairy tales). He notices an article while reading the paper
during tea time. The article is about a
woman who was murdered in France. The
picture looks like Miss Prudence (Prue) Bright who Gabriel met in the Black
Forest (Germany). Gabriel might be a
little bit smitten with Miss Ophelia Flax who was traveling with Prue. Gabriel decides to head to Paris immediately.
Prue (she is nineteen) and
Ophelia (she is twenty-five) are finally at their destination. Ophelia is taking Prue to her mother’s
house. Prue’s mother is Henrietta
Bright-Malbert (wife of Renouart Malbert, Marquis de la Roque-Fabliau—what a
mouthful). Henrietta was an actress at
the Howard DeLuxe’s Varieties in New York, but she left everything behind to
marry (including Prue). Ophelia is an
actress and she is in disguise to act as chaperone to Prue (a lady would not
travel alone). When they arrive
Henrietta is not in residence and Mademoiselle Eglantine (Prue’s new
step-sister) will not let her in the house.
They await nearby to watch for Henrietta when they discover the body of
a woman. The woman looks just like Prue!
Renouart, upon meeting Prue,
invites her to stay at the house. He
explains that his wife, Henrietta, is missing (and the police do not seem to be
doing anything). They also believe Prue’s
look-a-like was a woman of the streets and murdered by a vagabond (sounds fishy
to me). After a few days of staying in
the house and being bored to death (they believe that Prue might be in danger),
Ophelia takes matters into her own hands (she is frustrated with the police). Ophelia along with Gabriel start
investigating. As they gather more clues
everything points to Cinderella, the original, very old version. Turns out that there is a special artifact
that is desired by many people. Can they
solve the crime before anyone else is hurt?
I give Cinderella Six Feet Under
3.75 out of 5 stars. The book is interesting
with a different take on the story of Cinderella. I think Ophelia Flax is an interesting
character (determined, stubborn, and the ability to jump to conclusions). Gabriel and Ophelia make a great team (though
Gabriel needs to learn to speak up and grow a stronger back bone). However, there are just too many people and so
many different things going on. The
mystery was complex and clever (I liked that part). I just found the book to be very
confusing. Too many elements jammed into
one book. It made it a difficult book to
read. This is the second book in the
series, and I highly recommend that you would read the first book before
reading Cinderella Six Feet Under. It
will make things a little bit clearer. I
did find Prudence Bright to be portrayed as nitwit (and a twit) which was
unfortunate (I do not like woman being portrayed in this manner). She was also not essential to the story except
for one of the final scenes in the book.
I received a complimentary copy
of Cinderella Six Feet Under from the author in exchange for an honest
review. The review and opinions
expressed are my own.
No comments:
Post a Comment