The Mystery of Edwin Drood - a bit odd!

The Mystery of Edwin Drood, is the last book written by the prolific and well loved author, Charles Dickens. Unfortunately, he died before he had finished it. I'd heard great things about it nonetheless and was ready to give it a go. Edwin Drood is a young man who lives in the Cathedral City of Cloisterham, under the guidance of his Uncle, John Jasper. He seems destined to marry the twittering Rosa until the Landless siblings come on the scene. They bring a certain mystery and spice to the locale. Edwin and Rosa come to the conclusion that whilst they are the very best of friends, they shouldn't marry. Happy with their decision, they head off to tell people. Soon after, on Christmas Eve, Edwin disappears. When some of his belongings turn up, the assumption is that he has been murdered. Suspicion falls on Neville Landless, but he is cleared of any wrongdoing. So far, so good. However, what then followed in the book left me completely cold and a tad bewildered. John Jasper declares his love for Rosa, and she flees Cloisterham. There is much toing and froing to London and back, and we find out that Jasper is an opium addict. When his supplier follows him back to Cloisterham, we can only assume that she is up to no good ... but at this point, the book finishes. It could have been the narration of the audio edition that I read, but I was much confused by who was who and what they were doing and whether they were really relevant to the story, or just an aside. The story didn't flow for me and I was left feeling confused, frustrated and disappointed. I wasn't even that bothered that it was left "unfinished", because by the time it did, I couldn't care less! I have enjoyed previous works by Mr Dickens and I will not be put off by this unsatisfying work.

My STAR rating: THREE.

Length: 400 print pages.
Price I paid: £3.86.
Formats available: print; unabridged audio download; ebook.

A Funeral For An Owl - touching tale of friendship

A Funeral For An Owl opens with the unexpected and shocking stabbing of a teacher in the school playground on the last day of the summer term. As Jim Stevens lies bleeding, fellow teacher Ayisha comes to his aid along with one of the pupils, a boy called Shamayal, who seems to be treating Mr Stevens more as a friend than a teacher. After the initial shock, and with Jim in hospital, Ayisha discovers that the strict rules of conduct that apply to teacher/pupil relationships have been broken by Jim, who, we learn in flashback, has taken Shamayal under his wing. Ayisha likes Jim, and doesn't want to get him into trouble so sits on this information, but when Jim asks her to look out for Shamayal, she is torn between her friend and colleague and The Rules. Into this, we also find out about Jim's difficult upbringing, and how he found solace by becoming a serious bird watcher - something that led him into a traumatic experience when he happens upon the troubled Aimee, a girl who becomes a firm friend over a few weeks, only to suddenly disappear amidst rumour and scandal. The story is teased out in a very satisfactory way and the characters are likeable, if not always believable. There are touching moments and a dash of humour too. I found myself rooting for the main protagonists through all their troubles and the fact that I cared what happened to them speaks volumes. This is a story about how intensely you feel about things when young, and how some of us can overcome the troubles of our past and others cannot. I would recommend this book to you, and I will definitely look out for more books by the author, Jane Davis, who has produced a story that lingers in your subconscious long after you have finished it.

My STAR rating: FOUR.

Length: 384 print pages.
Price I paid: Free (it was on offer at the time)
Formats available: print; ebook.