Review: Rules of Murder

Julianna Deering set out to write a book influenced by the classic mysteries of the 1920s and 30s, and thought it would be fun in the process to break or bend the 'rules for mystery writers'*.

The result is an entertaining English Whodunit, with a good dash of gentle humour sprinkled through the pages.

Drew Fathering arrives back at his Hampshire manor to discover it full of guests. Including the very unwelcome Mr Lincoln. The guest list at Fathering Place is increased with the arrival of Drew’s step-father’s American niece, who turns out to be far more welcome and catches Drew’s eye, and very quickly his heart. Unfortunately, an early opportunity to spend some time with Madeline is nastily interrupted when they discover a body. Then a second death follows...

This is a very engaging story. Deering keeps the pace up throughout, and her characters are interesting. Complicated enough to keep you wondering whether you’ve really guessed what’s happened (twice I’d got it right, and once I hadn’t), it’s a light and easy read, perfect for whiling away time enjoyably. Drew and Madeline are likeable leads, though there didn’t seem to be much any ‘courting’ between them meeting and being a couple. In less than a day they go from total strangers to being romantically involved which is a bit too sudden for me.

 

As an English reader, I was on the lookout for American outtakes in this novel, and must congratulate the author on their scarcity. Most of her conversation reads true to both the setting and the period, and she correctly uses ‘mum’ and ‘holiday’! Oh, and the book contains one of my favourite Marmite related paragraphs: “The door, appropriately marked MANAGER, was opened by a stubby little boy of perhaps ten. Bespectacled and fussily dressed, he looked annoyed at being disturbed when more than half of his Marmite sandwich was yet to be eaten.” 

 

The oddities are few. The most irritating for me was the use of the phrase ‘to be sure’ by Drew. It just isn’t right, and makes the English Gent sound Irish! Sedan is not an English term for any kind of car. Hired on is not right, nor is quarter after – the English say ‘taken on’, and ‘quarter past’. I have never in all my life heard or read anyone say a ‘trig little frock’. I had to Google that one! Homicide is not used in general conversation in the UK either in the way it is in Rules of Murder – we would say murder. However, these ‘nit-picks’ wouldn’t have stopped me reading this book, and didn’t stop me enjoying it. 

 

Recommended, and I am looking forward to the next one in the series.

 *The 'ten commandments for mystery writers' were outlined by Ronald Arbuthnott Knox (1888-1957), and English priest and theologian, in his 1929 Decalogue.

Review by Anne Rogers, and all views expressed herein are my own.

Rules of Murder is released in the UK in September 13
Price: £8.99
ISBN: 9780764210952
Full book information and a sample chapter is available here..
You can pre-order the book via your local Christian bookshop, or any other bricks and mortar or online bookshop.
For digital readers, this is also available in ebook format.

 

Learning to Dance in the Rain

“Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass. It’s about learning to dance in the rain.” (Author unknown)

Like most people I know, I don’t like to keep broken stuff around.  But I had never given it too much thought until our accident.  Some people were goofed out by our brokenness.  I think they didn’t know what to say.  Or seeing wheelchairs and stuff just made them feel so bad, they didn’t know how to process it.  Some of our friends didn’t call as much, or seemed in a hurry to get away, or were just bored since we weren’t really cool or fun or spontaneous anymore, especially not now.  We had so little to offer, yet needed so much attention, and we always felt like a big, hairy spectacle.

One of my favourite passages is Isaiah 61:1-2, “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.  He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour”

These verse are a nice reminder to reach out to the broken, I’d thought as I highlighted them the summer before our life went nuts.  And I liked that heart-stopping moment when Jesus read these verses to the Jews in the synagogue.  And like an artist who pulls the veil off his work, a priceless sculpture, Jesus went on to say, “I’m the one.”

But now what caught my attention was later in the passage, when the Lord called a motley crew of prisoners and the depressed and broken-down people “oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendour” (verse 3).

God gave the lowly ones the task of rebuilding His flattened Kingdom.  Not the people I would have picked for my task force, but if pressed, I would have to admit that those I consider the heart and soul of our church are those who have waded through dark, dark times… I was getting the idea that God Himself found great value in those the world deemed ruined.

The above is an extract from a book called My Life and Lesser Catastrophes  by Christina Schofield. 

On her 30^th wedding anniversary Christina and her husband Allen set out for a ride on their motorbike.  After skidding on loose gravel they ended their day in hospital.  Christina had concussion.  Allen had broken his neck. 

This is not one of those ‘we prayed and Allen was immediately healed’ kind of books.  Christina talks honestly of the enormous difficulties of coming to terms emotionally, spiritually and practically with the accident.  Yet this is not a depressing book either, but rather an uplifting one which truly does challenge the reader despite being written in very conversational language and therefore being easy to read.  Christina’s faith is severely tested.  She cries out to God, and often finds only silence in response. Yet she holds on, and her faith comes through in her book as something real, important, and living.

 

This is not a brand new title, but sometimes it is good to remind folk that some books which have been around a little while still have a very valid voice!

The Faith of Leap

"Whether we like it or not, we are all on a journey, a Quest if you will, every day of our lives, and the path we must take is full of perils, and our destiny can never be predicted in advance... the book of Acts must continue to be written by Christians in every age and context. We are the people of the ultimate Quest - we are on a wild, and sometime dangerous, adventure to save the world. This is our story and our song."

So say Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch in their forthcoming book The Faith of Leap, which challenges the reader to embrace a theology of risk, adventure, and courage. In the introduction they point out: "It is clear that simply opting for more of the same is not going to resolve our problems. We must be willing to dream again, to innovate, and to risk the rejection of peers who think that the status quo is sufficient to the task. The church should be one of the most adventurous places on earth... but let's be honest - this is not the case with the church-as-we-know-it. It's time to move, to cast off from safe shores, and take a journey again!"

Are we ready to take up this challenge? This book may well challenge the reader to change the way they live out their faith. Yet despite the 'big challenge' so dynamically described, there is also acknowledgement of smaller elements. The authors quote Ralph Wood, who says,

"To get out of bed, to answer the phone, to respond to a knock at the door, to open a letter - such everyday deeds are freighted, willy-nilly, with eternal consequence."

A very thought-provoking book, this is an engaging read, with lots of illustrations taken from popular culture such as films. It is a book which is likely to have far-reaching effects.

To whet your appetite, you can read the introduction, and see the contents pages here.