Wednesday 26 April 2017

Engadine Aerie by Bluette Matthey


Engadine Aerie by Bluette Matthey
First published in America by Blue Shutter Publishing today, the 26th April 2017.

Where to buy this book:
Buy from independent booksellers via Abebooks
Buy the ebook from Amazon.com / Amazon.co.uk
Buy the ebook from Smashwords
Buy the paperback from The Book Depository

How I got this book:
Received a review copy from the author

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

In Bluette Matthey’s latest book, Engadine Aerie, protagonist Hardy Durkin heads to St. Moritz and the stunning Engadine Valley in Switzerland’s Alps for the annual Skimarathon. What could possibly go wrong? Lots, if you’re Hardy Durkin. Murder, an illicit arms deal, attempted murder, and running aground of a seasoned professional poisoner.

I was attracted to Engadine Aerie by the positive reviews of earlier books in the series (this is the fifth Hardy Durkin Travel Mystery) which praised Matthey's detailed portrayals of her locations. Engadine is a perhaps lesser known area of Switzerland, certainly somewhere I have not yet visited, so I was interested especially in this aspect of the story. Engadine does sound stunningly beautiful - as long as one can visit away from Skimarathon time when there would be just too many people to see past! Matthey also includes lengthy history digressions I found appealing in their own right, but I could not always understand the necessity of such great detail to our story as these interludes completely arrest the story's pace.

Hardy Durkin, as we are often told, is an amateur at crime detection and resolution yet has a preternatural ability to be just in the right pace at the right time for trouble! I presume his character was more fully established in earlier books as in this one we hit the ground running with limited time to really get to know our protagonists. I won't say too much about the plotlines so you will have the excitement of discovering for yourselves. However Hardy must unravel an obscured web of international terrorism that stretches across many countries.


Search Lit Flits for more:
Books by Bluette Matthey / Thrillers / Books from America

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