Customer Reviews

Bloody Ham

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

After "The Embroidered Corpse" and "Capable of Murder" Brian Kavanagh just cooked Bloody Ham and it is delicious for the voracious reader. For the fans of Belinda and Hazel this delightful book is something to cherish. Kavanagh is a master of ingenuity and cerebral humour. The characters in Bloody Ham, are dexterously delineated and the book is a scream from beginning to end. A great murder mystery and drama with a touch of humour. Just go out and get the book...

An ancient English mansion, rich in history and filled with an acting cast ends up being a different kind of drama. A true mystery involving murder.

Belinda and Hazel are protecting the silver props, when the leading lady dies. Belinda is hired as a backup to the new actress brought in to replace the deceased.

Drama on film and in life, leads to more drama. While trying to solve not one, but two murders to save her own skin, Belinda has a personal drama. She has to make a decision about the men in her life.

A well written tale that comes at you from several different levels.

Review by Wanda C. Keesey (author of Lost In The Mist release date May 2008)

Reviewed by Vanessa Lee

Hazel Whitby follows her antique silver - and her latest lover - to Ham House, the location of a new movie shoot. She is joined by her friend and business partner, Belinda Lawrence, and they're both present when one of the stars dies. It looks accidental, but it's quickly ruled a murder, and when Belinda is asked to take the role of stand-in for the Hollywood star who takes over the part, figuring out "whodunit" becomes top priority.

Unfortunately, there are plenty of distractions, including clashing Hollywood egos, a long-time lover wanting commitment, and an old flame Belinda sort-of rekindled on her recent visit to Australia. Then there is another murder...and Belinda becomes a prime suspect.

Though some of the situations seem a bit contrived, overall Bloody Ham is a well-written cozy mystery with likeable and unique "detectives." They read like real people, complete with petty jealousy, commitment issues, and odd obsessions. They mostly blunder through the mystery, which is quite believable as well as entertaining and if the body count gets a bit high and the police presence seems a little low, well, no book can be perfect.

The mystery itself is well-done as well and fits together nicely. The way Belinda and Hazel solve it is also quite convincing, though it is curious why the police didn't do some of the things the ladies accomplish. They were mentioned as being involved, and yet there weren't any police officers as characters, which seems odd. It doesn't detract from the story, however, and it gave Belinda and Hazel the starring roles they deserved.

One particularly impressive thing was Kavanagh's use of setting - both the crazy Hollywood set as well as the actual location of Ham House. The two are at odds with each other and yet Kavanagh blends them together seamlessly and manages to use both to commit and solve the crimes. It adds flavor to the story that would be lacking if either element were removed.

Armchair Interviews says: Bloody Ham is a fun, unique read and we look forward to more of Belinda and Hazel in the future.

****½ An Interesting Setting with Entertaining Characters. Recommended.

Review by Douglas Quinn, Author of Blue Heron Marsh, etal.

For those who like an old-fashioned British mystery, rife with night scenes on the Thames, a Jacobean mansion, quirky, entertaining characters and a cutting wit, Bloody Ham is for you.

Kavanagh uses his insider knowledge of the film industry to bring Hollywood to London, with all the big screen politics, film star egos, sexual affairs and (literally) back-stabbing during the creation of an English period piece.

Into this mix comes Belinda Lawrence and her cantankerous friend, Hazel Whitby. Hazel is leasing period silverware to the production company and Belinda gets enlisted as a stand-in for the female lead. Two murders occur on set and Belinda, Hazel and their men friends work, sometimes together, sometimes at odds with one another, to solve the mystery. As an interesting side story, Belinda brings her own personal love interests into the mix. Will she go with the freewheeling Australian, Brad, or her long time, proper, British gentleman, Mark?

I liked the fact that, while one of the murders was solved, the other death (Was it a murder?) was left unresolved. Did someone else get away with something sinister? That is left up to the reader to determine.

I would have given this five stars if I wasn't nonplused by one of the character's blabbing to Belinda about her witnessing one of the murders. In my mind, I couldn't justify the reason except as a device to set up the ending. I wish the author would have come up with a more clever way of leading Belinda to the solution of the mystery.

Bloody Ham is the third book in the Belinda Lawrence series. It is an interesting setting with entertaining characters and I recommend it to all those who like a good solid mystery story.

Ham House is considered to be one of the haunted houses in Surry, Great Britain, as well as being a historic Jacobean mansion from the 17th Century. Now Belinda and Hazel are invited to the famed home where Hazel will provide some antique pieces to add to the authentic setting and Belinda actually along the way is asked to act a small part.

But the reader is quickly pulled into the palpable tension between producers, directors, actors, actresses and their spouses. The flip and sometimes tawdry jealousies between stars who want to become rich and those who can make or break them becomes drama paralleling the history of Ham House.

Alarm begins to spread when one famous actress collapses and dies and later an actor is found stabbed to death. Belinda and Hazel are drawn into the mystery while Belinda meanwhile has to decide between her recent lover and an older lover from Australia.

Brian Kavanagh continues to be a master of a quick-paced but interesting plot that tenaciously holds the reader's interest to the very taught but satisfying end. Bloody Ham is definitely the best of the whole series he has written.

Well done, indeed, Brian Kavanagh!!!

Reviewed by Viviane Crystal on November 11, 2007

BLOODY HAM is the third book in a mystery series that follows the adventures of ex-pat Australian Belinda Lawrence. Pressured to make a commitment by her gorgeous boyfriend Mark, Belinda flies to visit her family in Australia to give the relationship serious thought. Here she meets up with an old friend. Brad seems to be everything Mark is not and Belinda returns to England in a state of emotional confusion. She is immediately plunged into another adventure.

Hazel, Belinda's business partner and best friend, runs an antique business. A film company is filming a historical movie at the nearby Ham House and have hired some of Hazel's antique silver for the banquet scene. The vampy Hazel has collected yet another younger man, Tim, to console herself after being rejected by her ex-husband for a younger woman. Tim is a film editor for the movie. Belinda and Hazel are invited to the set while the banqueting scenes are filmed - both are shocked to witness the death of the leading lady. A new actress takes over the part within days and filming proceeds. Belinda is asked to be the stand-in for the new actress, which she accepts because it will give her a chance to snoop and solve the murder. A second murder quickly follows and this time Belinda is a suspect as her fingerprints are all over the murder weapon.

I adore Belinda. She is a strong and independent character - in total control of herself. She is in charge of her romantic life, and does not bat an eyelid when Brad turns up in England and she has dinner with him and her English beau, Mark. Since her first appearance in CAPABLE OF MURDER Belinda has grown as a character. Growth is good. Hazel has also changed; at the end of this book she is questioning the way she lives her life. She is questioning just who she is hurting by her love `em and leave 'em attitude? Author Brian Kavanagh doesn't dwell on the relationship issues of the two women. The issues are there, but the emphasis is on solving the mystery. In this wonderful story twists, turns, suspects, ghosts, romance, and red herrings abound before a satisfactory conclusion.

Kavanagh has many years' experience in the Australian Film Industry in the areas of production, direction, editing and writing. He received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Australian Film Editors Guild. One of the `rules' drummed into you at writing school is to write about what you know. Kavanagh knows the film industry, and BLOODY HAM is an authoritative, and humorous, peep behind the scenes.

I have heard a whisper that Brian Kavanagh is working on a yet to be titled fourth Belinda Lawrence story, to be set in Australia. Let us hope we don't have to wait too long for it.

Belinda Lawrence and Hazel Whitby are on their way to a film set at Ham House in Surrey. Hazel is supplying some antique silver table pieces for the filming of a period movie. Having recently returned from a trip to Australia, where she connected with an old friend, her relationship with Mark is shaky due to her reluctance to commit to marriage with him after three years. Hazel and Surrey seem to be the answer for her to think about her future.

When an actress dies early in the filming things become very different from the trip she'd planned for Belinda. When the new star arrives, Monica Page insists that Belinda be her stand-in for lighting and marks as her regular stand-in is ill. Belinda finds more to the film industry than she could have imagined.

Next the producer is murdered and Belinda's fingerprints are all over the weapon, she held it while standing-in for Monica Page, and she decides that she must find out who is behind the deaths to clear herself.

The third in the Belinda Lawrence series is as tight and well paced as the first two. The friendship between Hazel and Belinda is very believable and one that grows ever forward. Stories and legends about Ham House are deftly woven into the mystery and very enjoyable. I recommend this book for a great visit to an interesting place with fascinating characters.

Bloody Ham by Brian Kavanagh

ISBN: 978-1-905202-53-9

This book is the third in a mystery series featuring Belinda and Hazel, friends and partners in an antique store business. In this book, Hazel's antique silverware is being used in a movie and she and Belinda go to the set to keep an eye on it. While there, a young starlet is murdered and Belinda begins to investigate.

I felt I had missed an installment at the beginning of this book. Belinda and Mark, her boyfriend, were having relationship issues that were not hinted at in the second book. I began the book with a disjointed feeling. By the time the murder happened, I was feeling frustrated for feeling like I missed something.

I continue to like Belinda and Hazel with her sharp tongue. I do feel, however, that this was the weakest book in the series so far. I rated this one a 3.5/5.

Reviewed by Melissa A. Palmer

8/12/08

melissaenglish72@yahoo.com