102 BOOKLIFE, JANUARY 27, 2020
MYSTERY/THRILLER
Daughters of Nyx
Diane Bonavist | KDP
243 pages, e-book, $2.99, ASIN B07Z2TYRYS
Bonavist (Purged by Fire) sets
her brisk historical murder
mystery at a tense moment in
the Peloponnesian Wars. When
Athenian citizen Timarcus learns
that his father has died, he asks his
childhood sweetheart, Kore—a
priestess of Artemis and “a fawn,
yet a warrior”—to marry him now
that his father can’t stop them. She
refuses, citing her obligation to the goddess. Timarcus is
devastated to learn, days later, of her death. When he
journeys to her temple in Brauron to recover a trinket he
gave her, he learns there are suspicions she was poisoned.
His lonely, secretive quest to discover the motive and
culprit brings him into fierce conflict with his loyal slave,
Zeno, who is about to earn freedom; his uptight sister,
Lachesis; and the powerful general Cleon, whom Lachesis
once loved.
Bonavist immerses readers in ancient Greece with cultural
and historical tidbits that are subtly woven in without feeling
stilted. Her inclusion of genuine belief in Greek gods and
Timarcus’s fear of a painful afterlife for Kore are especially
welcome motivators of character action. She also captures
Timarcus’s grief in delicate complexity as he veers from total
dejection and disbelief to violent rage. Other emotions,
including Zeno’s complex feelings for Timarcus, add more
layers to the story.
The side plots, including
worries over the safety of
Timarcus’s nephew on the
politically unstable isle of
Lesbos, and minor characters,
such as the grumpy cook and
her jittery son, make for some
confusing digressions, but
most of these threads com-
bine in the shocking conclu-
sion. Even with these bumps,
the propulsive story holds the
reader’s interest all the way to
the end. Readers will enjoy
following Timarcus through
the puzzles in this deeply
researched historical.FICTION
Don’t Tell Mom About This
Eric Serrell | Winding Road
304 pages, trade paper, $12.99, ISBN 978-1-
73331-241-7
Serrell’s second novel (after Fall
Rotten) follows a former FBI agent
who returns to undercover work
after serving prison time. Elise
McNeil’s stealthy skills are valu-
able enough for her to be recruited
by a shady security firm as soon as
she’s paroled. Desperate for
money, she agrees to a job
following Cuban-Hawaiian grifter Mia Garcia, whose high-
stakes con games take them around the world. As Elise falls
under the spell of the magnetic Mia, she begins to wonder
whether Mia knows that Elise has been hired to keep tabs on
her. Meanwhile, the Secret Service takes an interest in Elise.
When Elise and Mia encounter a powerful man in Busan, all
their plans fall apart and Elise is left in a desperate situation.
Serrell explores Elise’s history with flashbacks—to her
childhood, the death of her biological mother, battles with her
sisters, and involvement with various criminals, among other
events—but the delineation between the present and the past
is not always clear. The frequent jumps to different periods
interrupt the flow of the main narrative, and characters from
various eras pile up without receiving much development. The
purpose of Elise’s journey becomes clearer towards the novel’s
conclusion, but the slow plot doesn’t benefit from a sudden
final rush of happenings.
Elise is a complex character. Her mixed-race heritage
(African-American father, white South African mother) leaves
her feeling like an outsider in both her parents’ cultures, and
her facial scars, which she’s
always conscious of, isolate
her further. Her family and
professional history and
ambiguous morals set her up
as someone who can go nearly
anywhere and do nearly
anything. She’s equally
comfortable nan-nying her
sister’s infant daughter in
Belgium, flirting with a
16-year-old barista in Iceland,
and shooting a former asso-
ciate in the head in Los
Angeles. Even when the story
drags, readers will enjoy
exploring Elise’s fascinating
character.Fans of classical
settings and amateur
investigators will
savor this fully
realized ancient
Greek mystery
and its resonant
portrayal of grief.Production grades
Cover: C
Design & typography: B
Illustrations: –
Editing: B
Marketing copy: B-Production grades
Cover: B-
Design & typography: B
Illustrations: –
Editing: B-
Marketing copy: A-Readers interested
in character more
than suspense will
warm to the intriguing
heroine of this twisty
novel.Great for fans of
David Baldacci’s A
Minute to Midnight,
Lee Child’s Blue Moon.Great for fans of
Madeline Miller,
Margaret Doody,
Gary Corby.PAID REVIEWS