Every Breath by Ellie Marney

I’m not a fan of crime novels, so I had to suppress a groan when someone suggested crime as one of this year’s topics for our children’s literature book club.  I confess I haven’t approached the books with much enthusiasm, and I think part of me was determined not to like Every Breath.  But… I stuck with it, and I’m glad I did because the relationship between the two main characters, Watts and Mycroft (modern day versions of Dr Watson and Sherlock Holmes) built into a sizzling romance.  I dislike crime but I love a romance. 

Watts is a country girl having a hard time adjusting to city-life, as is all her family.  Her neighbour, Mycroft, is an orphan staying with his rarely there aunt.  Watts makes sure Mycroft eats and tries to help him stay out of trouble, with little success.  When a homeless friend of theirs is murdered, Mycroft is determined to find out the truth, dragging Watts into the process and getting her into hot water along the way.

Whodunit was pretty obvious from the moment the villain entered the story, which spoiled it for me.  I really hoped I would be surprised at the end, but I wasn’t.  Teens investigating murder mysteries is hard to make believable and the main characters didn’t always seem consistent in the first half of the book.  I found the crime scene too grisly for my taste and there were other minor problems, but being that it’s Ellie Marney’s debut novel, I can forgive the rest.

In the second half of the book, there was more action, more consistency in the characters, the grisly part was over and I could enjoy the tension between Watts and Mycroft as they gradually gave in to their feelings for each other.  There are some great humorous moments too (like when Mycroft tells Watts he has a dead Jack Russell in his freezer).

Best bit of Every Breath:

He moves one hand to lift my chin, his eyes darting across my face.  I’m staring at him now, and his expression seems to fold through so many different emotions I can’t keep up.

-          Ellie Marney

Longbourn by Jo Baker

Set within the world of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Longbourn follows what is happening in the servants’ lives while Elizabeth, Darcy et al. are working through their misunderstandings and differences.

If you’re looking for a retelling of Pride and Prejudice you will be disappointed.  Longbourn is a different story with a few recognisable characters.  Jo Baker recreated some of the characters perfectly, such as Mr Collins, who was very much the same in both stories.  However, there were some, Lizzie for example, that didn’t gel with their P&P versions.

That said, if you’re looking for a well-researched historical novel, and want some fascinating insights into the day-to-day lives of servants in Jane Austen’s time, then you’ll love this.  I love historical novels and I enjoyed Jo Baker’s detailed descriptions.  There was romance, intrigue and suspense.  I would have liked the middle section of the book to be shorter to allow the romance to play out fully at the end, but I enjoyed this book for something more than the story itself.

About three quarters of the way through the book, I was itching to watch my taping of the original BBC series with Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth.  Before I reached the end I gave in, only to find that Episodes 2-4 wouldn’t work.  I still enjoyed 1, 5 and 6, but now I’ll have to fork out for a DVD of the series (I need Mr Darcy to tell m… I mean, Lizzie, how much he ardently admires and loves m… her).  However, I still have my Great Classics Library version of P&P to read.  Which brings me to:

The best bit of Longbourn:  Falling in love with Pride and Prejudice all over again.*sigh*

Postscript:  I wrote the above post in January, but only just realised I hadn't posted it yet.  Since writing this I have read P & P again, and my Valentine's Day present was a Jane Austen DVD collection - YAY!  Now I'm reading Emma.  Look what you've started, Jo Baker.