Monday 10 May 2010

Why Shoot a Butler? by Georgette Heyer

Why Shoot a Butler? is a fantastic murder mystery book and I really enjoyed it as it constantly kept me guessing. This book was written in about 1921 so the things that happen and the language is a bit different from today.
The book starts off when the main character, Mr Frank Amberly - who is in his twenties - is going to visit his aunt, uncle and cousin, when he gets lost on the road after taking a "short-cut". He stops for directions when he sees a car with a woman standing outside of it. Inside the car, it turns out, is a dead man, and the woman - Shirley - is carrying a fully loaded gun.

It turns out that the dead man is the butler of Mr Amberly's cousin's - Felicity - best friend's step-brother - Basil Fountain. Basil's uncle died a little while before the book is set leaving everything (including the house with the butler in it) he owned to Basil. However, the dead butler had left behind a lot more money than a butler would normally do.

Can Mr Amberly work out who did it while other murders and crimes are going on. With midnight excursions chasing criminals, balls, break-ins and wills this book is excellent and if you like a good murder mystery you'll love this. I give it a 9 out of 10.

Percy Jackson and the Titan's Curse

Percy Jackson and the Titan's Curse is the third book in the amazing Percy Jackson series and like all of the other Percy Jackson books it was great.
At the beginning of this book Percy and his friends are trying to persuade some new half bloods (children with one parent who is a Greek god and another who is a mortal) to go to Camp Half Blood. However, disaster strikes for them (again) when Annabeth is captured by a horrible monster. Percy and his friends must save her but can they?

The two new half bloods are brother and sister Bianca and Nico de Angelo. Bianca, serious about looking after her little brother and her reckless brother Nico are at first reluctant to go to Camp but finally they agree.

During the fight in which Annabeth is captured Artemis' - a Greek goddess- female Hunters come to help. Bianca makes the decision of her life to abandon Nico and join the Hunters which means that she can have immortality. Since Artemis pledged never to fall in love with any man, her Hunters have to make the same promise before they join. Zoe - one of the Hunters - and Thalia - Percy's friend hate each other.Can Percy find out why?

Can they save Annabeth? Because Artemis' hunters can't be in contact with males and both Hunters and Half-Bloods have to be on the quest the Hunters don't want any males on the quest, so can Percy persuade them to let him join in?

Ithaka by Adele Geras

This is a fabulous book written by Adele Geras. I really enjoy history and I enjoy historical novels even more so this book really appealed to me.
Ithaka is a story about all of the Ancient Greek woman who are left behind while their husbands are fighting in the Trojan War. It tells about how Penelope - Odysseus' faithful wife - is one of the women waiting behind and how she has waited for ten years for her husband to come back and that she has had no word for him. Everyone - except from Penelope and a few others - are convinced that Odysseus is dead - but are they right? She is guided by Athena - a Greek goddess - to wait for her husband as she struggles to do the right thing.

Her young handmaiden, Klymene, is the real main character and she and Penelope have to try and survive while their beautiful Greek island, Ithaka, is destroyed by the disgusting men who have come to marry Penelope.

Will Odysseus ever come back? Will Klymene find her true love? Will the disgusting suitors ever go away and leave everyone on Ithaka be? Read this amazing book to find out!

I really enjoyed this book and I give it an 8 out of 10. I think that you should really be 11+ before reading this book as it has some bad language and "adult themes".