Review of "Wolf Worm: A Suspense/Horror Novel" by T. Kingfisher

 

Author T. Kingfisher is well-known for her horror novels, and this is her latest macabre story. If you're easily creeped out, or have an insect phobia, this isn't the book for you.

****

It's 1899, and thirty-year-old Sonia Wilson is a naturalist and artist who worked with her father until he died. Afterwards, with no good job offers, Sonia was obligated to teach watercolor painting in a Wilmington, North Carolina girls' school, a low-paying job with no future prospects.



Consequently, Sonia is happy to accept a job offer from the entomologist Dr. Matthias Halder, who needs an illustrator for his book about parasitic insects.



Dr. Halder sends Sonia a train ticket, but there's no one waiting at the Chatham, North Carolina train station when Sonia arrives in the late afternoon.



There IS a banner reading 'Home of the World Famous Chatham Rabbit.' Sonia later learns Chatham rabbits are famous for being the main ingredient in delicious stews.




Rabbit Stew

Dr. Halder's residence, Halder House, is ten miles from the train station, and Sonia is getting ready to walk when she's offered a buggy ride with Mr. Asa Phelps. Mr. Phelps is a grim, God-fearing man who tells Sonia it's not safe to walk in the evening, because there are devils in the woods. Sonia is skeptical about this story, but little does she know!!



After Sonia gets to Halder House, she meets the staff: Mrs. Kent, a Black woman, is the housekeeper/cook;



Mr. Kent, a White man, is the caretaker/handyman;



and there's a young maid called Sally.



There's also a cat named Smiley, who rules the roost.



The mixed race couple, the maid, and the cat are friendly to Sally, in contrast to Dr. Halder - a rigid man prone to shouting, who's concerned only with his 'very important' work.



In Halder House, Sonia is installed in quarters called 'the studio', whose previous occupant left behind paints, brushes, palettes, sketchbooks, beautiful paintings of insects, and more.



Dr. Halder gives Sonia her assignments, to paint Cochliomyia hominivorax, the screwworm fly (aka botworm fly); screwworm fly larvae; other botflies; and more.




Screwworm Fly


Screwworm Fly Larva

Later, Dr. Halder tells Sonia the screwworm fly is a parasite whose larvae (maggots) eat the living tissue of warm-blooded animals, such as horses, cattle, goats, sheep, humans, and so on. Dr. Halder goes on to describe screwworm infections, and - unfortunately for Sonia - she later encounters an infested raccoon.



Sonia settles in at Halder House, does her work, and meets the housekeeper's friend, Ma Kersey, an indigenous Lumbee. Ma Kersey is a healer and midwife, as well as source of supernatural lore about North Carolina, and stories about Dr. Halder.



Dr. Halder frequently wanders through the woods at night, and when Sonia - an inveterate nosybody - surreptitiously follows Dr. Halder, she sees him enter a locked shed.



Eventually, Sonia enters the shed herself, and the horror part of the book ensues.


Botfly larva on human skin

Before that time, however, Sonia's first person narration demonstrates a wry sense of humor, and a tendency to make fun of herself.



The novel has wonderful word-pictures of Chatham's woodsy scenery.....



......and nightmare-inducing descriptions of screwworm fly infestations.


Squirrel with a botworm infestation

I like the scenes of Sonia doing her watercolor illustrations, which provide a glimpse of how the artist works, and the problems she encounters. Who knew the color 'coral' was so hard to get right.😊

If you can keep turning the pages, this spooky story will take you strange places. Strictly for horror fans.

I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Mary Robinette Kowal, who does a fine job.

Thanks to Netgalley, T.Kingfisher, and Macmillan audio for a ARC of the book. 

 Rating: 4 stars 

Review of "At Midnight Comes The Cry: A Reverend Clare Fergusson and Police Chief Russ Van Alstyne Mystery' by Julia Spencer-Fleming

In this 10th book in the 'Reverend Clare Fergusson and Police Chief Russ Van Alstyne Mysteries', Russ and Clare - who live in Miller's Kill, New York - confront members of a White militia in the area. The series does have an arc for the main characters, but the mystery can be read as a standalone.

*****

Background: The Reverend Clare Fergusson was a military helicopter pilot for ten years until she retired to become an Episcopal priest and a major in the National Guard.



Clare's husband, Russ Van Alstyne, was a military cop and then the police chief in Miller's Kill until recently, when he was forced to retire for political reasons.



As the story opens, the Thanksgiving-Christmas season is gearing up, and Clare and Russ are celebrating with their 8-month-old son Ethan. At the moment, the family is watching 'The Greenwich Annual Lighted Tractor Parade' at the home of a friend, and enjoying the spectacle.



In the midst of the procession, a float passes with a woman giving out candy, and holding a banner that reads White Families Unite! Blood and Soil Are Our Heritage! Diversity Is A Code Word For White Genocide. Then the float's driver unfurls a sign that says Keep America's Christmas White.

The spectators start shouting, and Russ's friend jumps on the vehicle and starts a ruckus.



Clare and Russ rush over to quell the disturbance, and Clare even manages to 'befriend' the banner-wielding White supremacist woman, whose name is Meghan Smith.



This amity gets Clare and Russ invited to a barbecue at the home of Meghan and her husband Rick Smith, where Clare and Russ meet members of a local White militia.



This turns out to be auspicious for two reasons: an undercover police officer is missing, and a woman needs help - and both situations involve White supremacists.

» Police Officer Kevin Flynn, who worked in Miller's Kill until he transferred to the Syracuse Police Department, is on leave and hasn't contacted his family for months.



From Assistant State's Attorney Yíxīn Zháo, who worked with Kevin in Syracuse......



......Russ learns that Kevin infiltrated a group of militia types upstate, in the Adirondack Park. Russ also finds out that the militia types call themselves 'Knox's Noble Train', and talk a lot about defending their liberties and their way of life.



With this information, Russ and Police Officer Hadley Knox - who was Kevin's girlfriend when he was a cop in Miller's Kill - plan to locate the militia's campsite in Adirondack Park, find Kevin, and get him out.



Russ and Hadley are joined by Native American forest ranger Paul Terrance, whose uncle - also a forest ranger - went missing in Adirondack Park.



Clare borrows a spotter plane, and flies Russ, Hadley, and Paul over the park to locate the militia's campsite.



Afterwards, Russ, Hadley, and Paul head into the wilderness, and find the body of Paul's uncle in a shallow grave.



Paul heads back to inform law enforcement agencies, and Yíxīn Zháo works on the bureaucratic side of arresting the guilty parties.



Meanwhile, Russ and Hadley locate the Knox's Noble Train encampment, and observe that the militia - whose members include law enforcement and military personnel - are organized, savvy, and well-protected.



The militia also has the makings of bombs and explosives, which they presumably plan to use. The 'good guys' just have to figure out what the target is, and how to stop the attack.

While all this is going on, Clare is back in Miller's Kill, attempting to help a woman in a domestic abuse situation.

» Tiny, a mother Clare met at the home of Meghan and Rick Smith, is married to Calvin March, a fanatical White supremacist. Calvin is controlling, barely lets Tiny leave the house, doesn't allow her to have any visitors, and hits her when he gets angry.



Clare makes it her mission to extricate Tiny from the abusive home, but Tiny is frightened, cowed, and unwilling to involve the police. As for Calvin, he's vengeful, wily, and a core member of 'Knox's Noble Train'. All this leads to big trouble.



As the story unfolds, Russ's and Clare's plotlines merge and lead to an exciting climax.

Like other books in the series, this novel is chock full of danger, action, and adventure. The story is also very relevant to current times, with bigots spewing toxic hatred.



Assuming the series continues, I'll be curious to see where Russ goes from here. Without his job as police chief, Russ is at loose ends, and he needs something to do besides helping raise baby Ethan.




This is an exciting adventure/suspense story, recommended to fans of the genre.

Thanks to Netgalley, Julia Spencer-Fleming, and Minotaur for an ARC of the book.

 

Rating: 3.5 stars

Review of "Everyone In This Bank Is A Thief: An Ernest Cunningham Mystery" by Benjamin Stevenson

 

In this fourth book in the 'Ernest Cunningham' series, set in Australia, the amateur sleuth investigates the disappearance of a banker. The book works fine as a standalone.

*****

The premise of these clever mysteries by Benjamin Stevenson is that an author named Ernest Cunningham writes books about real murders he's helped to solve.



Cunningham prides himself on the fact that he adheres to the rules of 'Golden Age' mysteries, such as: nothing supernatural; no surprise identical twins; the killer must be important to the plot; no obvious truths must be concealed from the reader; and so on. Ernest sticks to the rules, but in a rather cunning fashion so it's tricky to suss out the clues.

*****

As the book opens, Ernest is trapped in a bank safe, running out of oxygen, documenting the heist that landed him there.

This is Ernest's narrative, starting that morning:

Ernest and his fiancée Juliette have an appointment at a privately owned bank in a town called Huxley - to apply for a business loan. Ernest wants to open a private detective agency, and he's been turned down by all the big banks, and even by a loan shark.



When Ernest and Juliette meet with the owner of Huxley's Bank, William Huxley, he offers to make a deal.



Winston's brother Edward Huxley, the bank's co-owner, has gone missing, and he's the only one who knows the new code to the vault. If Ernest can find Edward, he'll get his business loan.



While Ernest and Juliette are waiting for a teller to show them around the building, a gun-wielding bank robber comes into the bank, takes everyone in the lobby hostage, and demands to get money from the vault.



Since the vault is shut tight, and the new code is unknown, Ernest is tasked with searching for Edward and/or the code. Meanwhile, Juliette and the others are held hostage by the thief.



During this time, the police congregate outside the bank, and a hostage negotiator arrives, but the bank robber says he has no demands.



It becomes clear that the burglar has more on his mind than money, and soon enough, a murder is exposed. Ernest is constitutionally incapable of NOT investigating a homicide, and he goes to great lengths to uncover the killer.



Along the way, Ernest learns that every person in the bank is a thief with a secret, and Ernest works hard to expose them all.

The people in the bank, in addition to those mentioned above are:

● Felix, the bank guard, who generally just deals with unruly customers.



● Eric, the teenage gaming whiz. He's come to get a safe deposit box for his piggy bank.



● Remy Allard, the show business producer. He's come to make a large withdrawal from his account.



● Father Gabriel, the priest who's made a vow of silence. He's come to consult with the bank manager.



● Michelle, the receptionist who works at the bank's information desk.



● Cordelia Bright, the sick young woman with a portable medical device. She's come to get her crowdsourcing money.



● Laverna Bright, the sick young women's grandmother, who's also her caregiver.



The plot is convoluted, and armchair sleuths will find it challenging to unearth the clues, secrets, and sometimes even the crimes. As in the best golden age mysteries, Ernest assembles everyone at the book's climax, to expose the miscreant(s).

Accolades to author Ben Stevenson for this clever story. Recommended to fans of creative cozy mysteries.

I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Barton Welch, who does a fine job.

Thanks to Netgalley, Benjamin Stevenson, and HarperAudio/Mariner for an ARC of the book.

Rating: 3.5 stars