Mystery Review: 'Wolf by the Ears' by Lexi Revellian

Some authors spend their whole careers writing the same book over and over. The names and plot twists and setting may vary, but readers know exactly what to expect. Lexi Revellian is not that kind of author. A new book is always a magical mystery tour. Will it be fantasy? Or maybe sci-fi? Will there be a murder or a kidnapping? But some things stay the same. There’s always a romance simmering. There’s always action and excitement and a heroine who falls into the normal range of humanity instead of being some super-badass weapon-wielding superwoman. And invariably they keep me totally hooked and put a great big smile on my face. Is it any wonder that a new Revellian book goes straight to the top of my to-read pile?

This one features wealthy Russian emigrants with secrets (the word ‘oligarch’ crops up a lot) and political tension and even spies and secret dossiers. Our heroine, Tyger, is the daughter of wandering hippies (which you could probably guess from the name) who missed out on a formal education, but is now determined to get a degree and a respectable job. So she cleans houses by day, pulls pints in a bar by night and studies for the Open University in what little spare time she has. Her latest cleaning job sees her working for Russian oligarch Grisha Markovic, but one day she arrives at work only to be held at gunpoint by a hooded man who forces her to unlock the doors and show him to Grisha’s room. And things go steadily downhill from there.

I liked Tyger very much. She’s practical and intelligent, she doesn’t take stupidly implausible risks, and she reacts to the increasingly worrying events around her in sensible and believable ways. Her not-really-a-boyfriend Kes is not quite so well-drawn, but then he doesn’t get so much screen time. The minor characters all seem very real, with distinctive personalities: Izzie the flirty barmaid, Chrissie the pernickety flatmate, Rose the hoarder, even Cherie the trapeze artist, a trivial walk-on part. It takes real writing talent to create characters that live and breathe and are still memorable when the book is finished. I did wonder how accurate the Russians’ distinctive accent was, but it sounded quite believable to me.

There was quite a lot of political backstory to squeeze in, and the author has clearly done her research; occasionally I felt I could have done with fewer details about Anglo-Russian relations or circuses or motorhome interiors, but that’s a very minor quibble. The London setting was brought vividly to life; and who would have thought there was a bathing pool for ladies only?

The plot raced along, and kept me turning the pages. However, despite the gun-in-hand cover picture, and the spies and bad-boy Russians theme, this never turned into one of those action-at-all-costs thrillers. This is a gentler, less violent (and much more realistic) version. There were plenty of dramatic moments, but in between life went on more-or-less as normal in a thoroughly British way. Some characters that I was sure were villains turned out not to be. Characters I thought might get bumped off survived. And always there was a patina of subtle humour which kept me chuckling.

Another great read from one of my favourite authors. Highly recommended for anyone looking for an entertaining mystery with a strong dollop of romance. I loved it, and yes, the ending put a great big smile on my face. A good four stars.

Fantasy Review: 'Ice Diaries' by Lexi Revellian

I’ve enjoyed the author’s previous books ‘Remix’ and ‘Replica’, so this was a must for me. It’s a bit different, being post-apocalyptic with a twist of romance, and the basic premise is a bit of a stretch: after an epidemic wipes out most of the earth’s population, a sudden climate switch leaves the whole UK buried under metres of snow. The main character, Tori, has been left behind by the evacuation process and is trying to survive, along with a strange collection of others who missed the last helicopter out. There seemed to be a surprising number of couples who survived the epidemic, and everyone manages to get around rather well on all that freshly fallen snow, but never mind.

I love the idea of survival by committee (with fully minuted meetings, naturally), and scavenging by Argos catalogue, and the very British approach to keeping up one’s spirits in adversity - let’s start a book club, and have a monthly ceilidh. The author's great strength is always her characters, and the motley collection of survivors is very believable. Even the walk-on parts, like Sam and Charlie, were well-sketched with just a few light touches, and everyone knows a Nina (I certainly do), running everything in her own insistent way and brooking no argument. And Tori feels like someone you could bump into in any pub in Britain. This early scene-setting draws rather a charming picture of the post-apocalypse world (in London, anyway).

But then Morgan arrives, and shortly afterwards his former pal Mike and his gang, and things take a turn for the more sinister. From here on, the book becomes a total page-turner, leading to tricky reader decisions involving staying up into the small hours to find out what happens, or going sensibly to bed and then lying awake wondering how Tori and co will get out of their current dilemma. The book is very much a thriller, and there are fights and gunshots and plenty of action and tense stand-offs, but time after time the author disarmed me by neatly avoiding the obvious resolution and coming up with some blindingly simple common-sense solution. It was all very cleverly done, and made perfect sense for the characters.

In the midst of all the mayhem, there are wonderful moments like Tori and Morgan’s spectacular way of reaching the shop several doors away, or what must rank as one of the most peculiar dinner parties ever. Many of the characters reveal their true natures along the way, and some rise unexpectedly to the occasion. Archie, the self-described God-botherer, in particular, has moments of true heroism.

The ending is in the same style, effective and very satisfying. The romantic element is perfectly judged, with enough doubts and hesitations on both sides to be credible, and no instantaneous leap into bed, just a gentle inching towards an understanding and a state of mutual trust. The book is a wonderful mixture of post-apocalypse thriller, romance and quirky British humour. It’s entertaining rather than profound, perhaps, but for those who can suspend disbelief enough to accept the basic premise, it's a thoroughly enjoyable read. Highly recommended. Four stars.

Review: 'Replica' by Lexi Revellian

I very much enjoyed a previous book ('Remix') by this author, so this seemed like a good bet and I wasn't disappointed. The only difficult part is the initial premise: that a scientist has developed a method of cloning which produces a robotic-like copy under the control of the original, intended for military use, and decides his first human test subject will be his secretary Beth, whereupon things go slightly wrong - the copy is fully autonomous. Yeah, right. But the author addresses our scepticism: the process has already been extensively tested on animal subjects with the expected results. But why would the secretary agree to it? Because she's a meek little doormat. On the whole, it doesn't require much effort to go along with this.

Once you get past this point, the plot flows along in a totally logical and believable way. The scientist's boss sets out with a team of hitmen to capture, test and ultimately kill the replica, and the story follows her attempts to escape this fate. Because we see both sides, both hunters and prey, the tension is built up beautifully. There are narrow escapes and things going horribly wrong for both. The people the replica (Beth Two) meets all behave in credible ways - the officious security people who move her on, the doctor who disbelieves her story but doesn't try to hinder her, the friendly homeless people, the slight acquaintance she turns to in desperation who is so baby-befuddled that she asks no questions.

In the previous book, the characters had a certain eccentric charm, but the main characters here are less appealing. Beth One is - well, a doormat, and Beth Two, although she turns out to be moderately resourceful, is just a doormat scraping by in difficult circumstances, and I never found her very likeable. As for the male protagonist, Nick - look, I know the story is partly about his redemption from selfishness and arrogance, but I honestly don't see him being any different from Beth's obnoxious previous boyfriend. He hits on the woman he's supposed to be protecting when she's vulnerable, while simultaneously planning to kill her doppelganger. Yes, yes, I know he loves his son, and he's loyal to his friend, blah, blah, but a selfish jerk is still a selfish jerk. The other characters are better. I liked the Polish friend, and I loved the doctor caught up in the middle of a potentially lethal situation, spluttering in outrage - you just can't do that, this is Britain, we don't do things like that here! And the oily and cold-blooded boss is totally believable.

This is a well crafted book, and one of the most tightly plotted I've ever read. It's a real page turner almost right from the start, and a thoroughly enjoyable read. Four stars.

Review: 'Remix' by Lexi Revellian

You never quite know what you will get when you buy a cheap ebook - it could be anything from a total turd to an unexpected gem. This is definitely in the gem category. It's probably best categorised as a murder mystery romance, where the mystery is of the bumbling amateur sleuth variety, and the romance is a gentle, realistic affair rather than chiselled cheekbones and lust on page 3 and steamy sex by the end of the second chapter.

The plot burbles along nicely, without too many credulity-stretching contrivances. It's a real page-turner, which just gets better and better as the pace hots up, and with a nicely believable ending. The author's writing style is perfect for the story, throwing out humour, intriguing developments and tension in all the right places. But it's the characters which really make it. They are all eccentric enough to be interesting, yet utterly believable in their behaviour and motives. And the author resists the temptation to tie up all their stories with neat little bows at the end. Highly recommended. Four stars. [First written August 2011]