Deadmans Lane

Browsing through some snaps of one of our last overseas holidays I cam across this image of Deadmans Lane in Rye, East Sussex.

Such a pretty image for a place with such a deadly name. This post on Flickr gives an explanation for the naming of this thoroughfare.

And why was I in Deadmans Lane? I was trying to make my way to the House with two front doors in which the fictional character, Morton Farrier, from Nathan Dylan Goodwin's series of genealogy mysteries is supposed to reside.

Unputdownable

Last night I was dog-tired but thought I'd read a few pages of Nathan Dylan Goodwin's latest novella,

The Missing Man: A Morton Farrier novella, before retiring. Well that was the end of my early night.

The book was unputdownable, I just had to keep on reading right up to the last page. I don't know if Nathan has excelled himself with this latest adventure of Morton Farrier or, now that I have read all the previous stories, I am so familiar with the characters that they are like old friends and I have to keep up with their latest exploits but this story drew me in, I just couldn't put it down.

As with his other books I think that Nathan needs a bit of assistance to develop more attractive covers and layouts but one shouldn't judge ta his book by its cover.

In this tale we join Morton and his now wife, Juliette, on their honeymoon in Cape Cod. As well as honeymooning with the ever patient Juliette Nathan takes the opportunity to try and track down his American biological father. As we join Morton on this journey we learn about US research and repositories and are with Morton when he meets various members of his extended family. 

The characters in this story are believable and the mix of dialogue and prose seems to work well. Nathan's writing has developed and improved in this work.

I would recommend this story to anyone who enjoys a good mystery.  Thanks Nathan for producing such a beaut story and for providing me with a review copy. I hope that there is another Morton Farrier story coming out soon.

If you would like to purchase a copy of the book it is available for Kindle and Paperback in the US from Amazon and from here in the UK. We folk downunder can find the Kindle version on Amazon.com.au here.

Lost Sleep - thanks to Nathan

I like to read in bed before I turn in for the night. It is the fault of author, Nathan Dylan Goodwin, that I missed out on several hours sleep this week.

Nathan kindly sent me a review copy of his latest genealogical mystery, The America Ground - the third book in the Morton Farrier genealogical crime mystery series. Once I started reading it was hard to stop.

The book was attractively presented with an appropriate cover illustration, the paper was light enough that the book was easy to hold up in bed and the font a decent size for old eyes. I did find the narrow margins disconcerting and would have liked a bit more white space around the edges of the text.

I was quickly hooked by the story although at times I found the prose a bit stilted and thought that there was an overuse of adjectives in some places. But it's really all about the story and that hooked me in. 

Having read the first two books in the series I have become fond of Morton Farrier, the larrikin genealogist, and his long-suffering fiance. Will she ever get him to the altar? It was nice to reconnect with these characters but this book is suitable for anyone to read as a standalone. Anyone who likes a good whodunnit (not just genies) should enjoy this tale.

The story moves in time between 1827 and the present day with a short visit to the 1980s. I did not find this at all confusing as one does with some time travel tales. From a very early stage I was hooked by the story and just had to keep reading to see how Morton solved the mystery that was presented. With a few murders, some kidnapping and a touch of romance this novel kept me in suspense until its last pages. The subplot of Morton's search for his biological father added an extra dimension to the story. An added bonus for we genies is that Morton talks our talk and hangs out in the places we like to visist.

I would certainly recommend this book to fellow readers. Thanks Nathan for sending me a copy to read. I'm now hanging out for Book 4.

The America Ground is available as an ebook from Amazon Australia. I was pleased that I received a hard copy edition which it appears that Amazon.com will ship to Australia.

My mates overseas can buy the book in various formats here:

Buy The America Ground now! (UK)

Buy The America Ground now! (US)

Buy The America Ground now! (Australia)

Buy The America Ground now! (Canada)