Friday 28 December 2018

Review ~ Christmas in Nuala and Fatal Finds in Nuala by Harriet Steel


43070795
Kindle Edition
2018
The little town of Nuala is full of Christmas good cheer, until a brutal murder overshadows the festivities. The mystery he needs to solve baffles Inspector de Silva. It’s just as well he has his wife Jane to support him in his race both to unmask the villain and save an endangered romance. This colourful series set in Ceylon in the 1930s is perfect for fans of Golden Age mysteries, and Christmas in Nuala makes a great short read for the holiday season.

My thoughts..

Spending time with Inspector de Silva and his lovely wife Jane at Christmas time has been such a treat and this festive novella certainly acts as a real tonic, bringing all that is good about these crime stories which are set in 1930s Ceylon. This gentle crime series manages to both entertain and keep you guessing as there is always something new to discover in Inspector de Silva's world. It was rather nice to have the inspector's wife, Jane doing what she does best, supporting her husband and with gentle wisdom steering in him the right direction.

Giving away any of the plot would really spoil this story as its best read without any indication of where the mystery is heading. My advice is to cosy up with Christmas in Nuala and a restorative glass of sherry and a warm mince pie and enjoy working out the mystery alongside Shanti de Silva and Jane.



Fatal Finds in Nuala (The Inspector de Silva Mysteries, #4)
Stane Street Press
2018
In this fourth instalment of the Inspector de Silva mysteries, it is monsoon season in the Hill Country. One stormy night, a ghostly encounter on a lonely road leads de Silva into a case of murder, and a mystery that stretches back to Ceylon’s distant past. To uncover the truth, he will have to face death and his inner demons.

My thoughts..

I've grown so accustomed to the intrepid adventures of Inspector de Silva that returning to his life in the hill town of Nuala is always like being reunited with a much loved friend. Fatal Finds gets off to a dark start with de Silva investigating a rather complicated murder involving a local man, and as the investigation deepens, so de Silva gets drawn further and further into the mystery.

As in previous de Silva mysteries, the author writes really well and brings such life to the characters that they are always fascinating, whether it be in observing de Silva's loving relationship with his English wife, Jane or his, often, complicated interaction with Archie Clutterbuck, the government agent in Nuala, there is never a moment when the story doesn't draw you into 1930s Ceylon.

As always, the mystery at the heart of the story is well explained and whilst the overall pace of the novel is one of elegant gentility, the investigation into the mystery surrounding the murder is done with fine attention to period detail. There is no doubt that this author has created a rather special series and I hope to share more adventures with the intrepid Inspector in future stories.







You can find out more about the author on her blog


Follow on Twitter @harrietsteel1







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