Customer Reviews

Defending Angels

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Imagine this: You are new in town, ready to take on your late uncle's law firm, and totally gung ho about it. You finally find a place to set up your temporary office. Unfortunately it is in the middle of a cemetery that has only murderers buried in it, and your landlady seems a bit eccentric but hey! At least the rent is cheap. You finally hire two intelligent assistants who seem to be relatively sane. Then voila, you receive that first call from someone (and not just any someone, mind you, but one of the biggest and meanest tycoons in the state) who wants you to represent them. The only problem is, when you immediately call him back, you find out that he's been dead for hours. What would you think?

Brianna Winston Beaufort (but please call her "Bree") thinks it is nothing more than a practical joke brought on by her ex-boyfriend. It just HAS to be. Either that, or everyone around her is completely crazy or it is just her that is losing it.

Bree has to figure things out before she goes mad with frustration. Who are these people she has surrounded herself with? Why are they telling her to take on dead people as clients? Why have her nightmares been coming back? And why is that painting of the cormorant coming to life? What secrets had her uncle been keeping from her about his clientèle? She begins to think that maybe it would be best if she did not bother taking on her uncle's firm.

Defending Angels has every element needed that makes for a great story. The words will captivate you while the story will haunt you. There were so many elements to this story that simply cannot be expressed without giving away too many details. Simply put this is a book that is going on my "must keep" pile.

Reviewed at Bitten by Books Paranormal Fiction Review Site by Lyda

I am happy to have found a new cozy mystery. This one was written by Mary Stanton (Claudia Bishop). I have enjoyed her "Hemlock Falls" and "Casebooks of Dr. McKenzie" mysteries. Now we have a new series called "Beaufort & Company".
This mystery centers around a woman lawyer named, Brianna Winston-Beaufort. Bree inherits her uncle's law practice in Savannah, Georgia.
Little does she know, her first client will be a ghost. This ghost is a tough cookie. He wants answers as to who killed him and he wants the answers NOW!
Bree has her hands full with some "unusual helpers" on the job ,to get the case solved.
With the "company of angels" by her side, she delvers the goods.
As Shakespeare wrote, "There are more things in heaven and Earth".
This mystery definitely shows us more. An interesting concept to be sure.
I am looking forward to the next installment in this mystery series.

The author gets three stars for a good beginning, fun characters, and an intriguing situation. She loses two for the rushed ending and for having a heroine willing to continue day after day after day without asking these mysterious other characters what in the world is going on! Why does she accept the astonishingly thin story about why a job applicant replaces the one she expected? Why, when events play out as they do (trying to avoid spoilers here) does the character even bother with his story? What about the dog? What about the painting? Will I need a lawyer in the afterlife?

I'll definitely read the next book, because the first was loads of fun, but I hope the author will do some explaining!

I had been looking forward to reading Mary Stanton's Defending Angels (Berkley Prime Crime, 2008) for quite a while. It's been sitting in my "to be read" pile for some time. The premise was intriguing--a young Savannah attorney, Bree Winston-Beaufort, assumes the law pratice of her late uncle. Soon she learns it is no ordinary law, but Celestial Law that she'll be expected to practice, where the clients are dead and must be defended in Celestial Court. Obviously it is a paranormal mystery, and that was fine with me, in fact I was excited to break into that genre a little (although I enjoy Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse books). Bree assembles a crack team of support staff to help her defend a dead client (whose murder she also must solve), and is guided throughout by mysterious advice from her former law professor. Her sister Angelica breezes into town and stays with Bree. The law practice is in an old mansion near a Murderer's Cemetary on Angelcus Street. You get the idea.

Unfortunately, this book was terribly disappointing and not at all what I expected. Certainly it is up to every author to write the kind of book they want, and many will differ from my view of this book.

Bree does not seem to have any savvy or even curiosity. She approaches almost anything that people tell her with an "Oh well" approach. It was difficult, too, to understand much of Bree's motivation. Too often, Bree feels like she just sort of lets stuff happen to her rather than question or express genuine concern. I did not find her to be a very sympathetic character, which is another of book's several problems. The dialogue and backstory felt like filler, not contributing to substanitive plot points. The large supporting cast of characters is odd and underdeveloped.

Originally I thought the concept was interesting and innovative, but the more I read, the more it seemed to closely echo Albert Brooks's 1991 film, Defending Your Life. The central puzzle of this book was rather simple, and thus not very compelling as a mystery.

I personally think Ms. Stanton does not make full use of the Savannah, Georgia setting, a rather ideal setting for this kind of mystery. I did not get any real sense of place inasmuch as Savannah's mysterious, gothic details were not an integral part of the story, which seems to me like a lost opportunity.

Perhaps the order was too tall for a book like this: create a whole new system of law (basically) and set your character to work in it. First you have to review and establish the basic system of American law itself, then the new Celestial Law, then the local authorities, usual suspects, etc. It's a tall order for this kind of novel. In addition there is the paranormal element, which here feels contrived. I won't spoil these happenings for those interested in reading it for themselves.

I was annoyed by the heavy quotations from Milton and others at the beginning of every chapter. They did not contribute to the story (as do, for example, the herb lore at the beginning of chapters in the China Bayles series by Susan Wittig Albert), and seemed woefully dissonant with the novel.

Ms. Stanton (who also writes as Claudia Bishop) deserves credit for trying to branch out in a very different direction than the typical "cozy" mystery. She succeeded in that regard, but the story itself does not.

Defending Angels is more a mystery or legal novel than an urban fantasy or paranormal mystery. The fantasy is barely there, and I guess I expected more angels and less defending. Even still, the paranormal characters are interesting, and the case is decent. The story was able to keep my interest throughout even though I didn't really care who killed who. I stuck in there to find out more about the angels and the Celestial Sphere, and unfortunately, there isn't much said about it. I was disappointed that the trial was not covered in the ending of the book as well. I also had a slight problem with the main character. She seems apathetic to everything. She doesn't question why some people can see her coworkers and some people can't. A big scary monster appears and it's no big deal. I just found it hard to care about a mystery and a story that the main character doesn't seem to care about. I didn't find her sister very likable either because of her ultra bubbly personality. Lastly, the mystery solving is not entertaining. It's pretty straightforward with no twists, turns, or surprises, and I've come to expect more from mystery novels. There is potential in the series if there is more of the fantastic and less of the mundane, but I don't think I care enough to find out.

Due to the bizarre incidents that occur on the very first pages of Defending Angels, a reader is surely suspicious that an odd, even paranormal, tale is forth coming. Young Bree Beaufort has moved to Savannah because her recently deceased uncle willed her his law practice. He died in an office fire.

While extensive repairs are being made, Bree sets up a temporary law office by renting the ground floor of an old home that sits in the center of a run down cemetery. Only murderers have been buried there. Her elderly eccentric landlord, who lives in ghostlike silence on the second floor, charges Bree very little rent. She immediately befriends the young lawyer and takes for granted she is part of Bree's legal staff. As Bree walks out through the cemetery, she hears a horrible wail.

"She caught a glimpse of a white face, the mouth split in a terrible grin ... the scent of decaying corpses was stronger now."

Behind a tree, Bree finds a dog caught in the jaws of a trap. Carefully releasing him, she takes the animal for emergency medical attention. Then, unable to abandon the affectionate creature, she takes him to her townhouse, where he becomes her benevolent protector.

Bree's first legal case provides the story with its somewhat over-imaginative plot. An extremely wealthy dead man phones Bree insisting she find his murderer. Authorities have ruled his demise as death due to drowning. Allegedly, the deceased fell from the prow of his boat after suffering a heart attack.

The departed man's, unkempt, female associate awards Bree a $10,000 retainer to find the billionaire's slayer. She claims the deceased man threatens to haunt her until his killer is brought to justice.

Bree hires two male office assistants, both of whom appear as oddball as her aged landlord. It is this weird, uncanny threesome that helps Bree determine exactly how her murdered client died and who killed him. Then too, she receives help from a muscular but unavailable local police officer, and a private investigator who always seems to arrive in time to save Bree from any frightening or dangerous threat.

In Defending Angels, Bree is obsessed with a reoccurring nightmare. Oddly enough, she is given a painting to hang above the fireplace in her cemetery office. Horrified, she recognizes the artwork as the embodiment of her hideous dream. A cormorant with wings spread is painted above a gristly scene of people drowning in the sea, arms outstretched despairingly reaching for help. Although no plausible reason is given, she is told by her younger office assistant she cannot destroy this painting.

"Well, my dear, you can't, of course. It's one of the copies of the Rise of the Cormorant."

As Defending Angels, progresses, the story becomes more comedic than scary. Bree worries, but just briefly, about her own mind breaking with reality. At one moment, she is deeply involved with her murder investigation, interacting with suspects regarding her dead client's murder. Then suddenly, paranormal phenomena occur.

"Then with a sudden, horrifying blow, she felt the pitch and sway of her nightmare ship beneath her feet. The percussion of deadly wings beat above her head. The screams of the dying ..."

Throughout the tale, Bree accepts all the bizarre things she encounters with poise and dignity -- at least most of them. She interacts with her meddling family in a realistic way, especially with her younger sister whom she thoroughly loves and enjoys. It is these normal folk and her dog that seem to ground her in reality.

Near the end of the book, Bree finds herself not only exposing the real circumstances of her departed client's death, but also defending him in the Court of Celestial Law. There, he is being tried for the crime of greed which played such a prominent role in his earthly death in the first place.

As a whole, Defending Angels is a fun, entertaining mystery with quirky characters who interact with realistic dialogue, often in very strange, unpredictable ways. I found the tale more humorous than frightening but I'd guess this is the author's intention.

I would recommend this book to anyone hunting a light, often humorous tale where the paranormal is not only accepted, but also plays an important role in helping our young heroine establish her case of murder. The readers of this genre would find the book fascinating from its very first pages. What could be more interesting than a small group of Defending Angels working with a human being to help her win a day in court?

Other interesting reads:
Angel's Advocate (A Beaufort & Company Mystery)
In the Arms of Angels: True Stories of Heavenly Guardians
Sunchaser's Quest (Unicorns of Balinor)

Most paranormal mysteries that I've read involve a character who either has unusual powers (a psychic, for instance) or is uncanny (a witch, a ghost). Brianna Winston-Beaufort, generally known as Bree, is neither; she's just a young lawyer finally flying the nest after working several years for her daddy's firm. She's inherited a great-uncle's client list, and while his old office in Savannah, Ga. (called "America's most haunted city") is being renovated, she sets out in search of a temporary headquarters. The one she finds is plump in the middle of the city's only murderers-only cemetery, but the price is right and the landlady, Lavinia Mather (it's only till about halfway into the book that we find out she's black) friendly. Then the weird things start happening. Bree finds a starving dog in a trap--in the cemetery; now who would set a trap in a cemetery? A rather repulsive painting keeps coming back like a song--and then coming to life, if you could call it life. People seem to be unable to find Bree's new address, and Bree herself manifests an ability to call up a devastating wind out of nowhere at all, without really knowing how she does it. A phone call requesting legal assistance turns out to have been placed by a notoriously contentious and Howard-Hughes-ish billionaire who drowned before it was placed. The PI Bree hires to dig out facts pops up at unexpected moments with powers that don't seem quite real--or mortal. Eventually Bree discovers certain startling truths about her ancestry and learns that not only the PI, but her paralegal, her secretary, her landlady, *and* her dog are all literally "angels in disguise"--and she is their destined leader. This is a really unique and fascinating turn on mysteries and unlike anything I've found to date. There are a few scary bits, but nothing too gruesome, and even non-Christians can find it enjoyable and plausible. And certain questions remain unresolved (just what *is* the story about that painting, and why is the ghost of Josiah Pendergast apparently poking its ectoplasmic nose into Bree's life?), leaving the door open for more volumes. A definite standout among recent mysteries.

Defending Angels by Mary Stanton was a somewhat awkward start for an interesting new paranormal mystery series starring Briana "Bree" Beaufort, newbie lawyer who inherits her uncle's practice. The premise of the series is a unique take on the Southern gothic set in Savannah, GA--notable haunted heartland of the south. Bree's first client Benjamin Skinner is a recently deceased billionaire charged with Greed, one of the Seven Deadly Felonies, to be tried in Court of Celestial Law. However, the evolution of paranormal elements into what is primarily a mystery series proves somewhat problematic.

The complicated murder plot of Benjamin Skinner involves an intricate real estate scheme that is overshadowed by otherworldly incidents that leave readers floundering over which to focus on--the whodunit or what howdidthathappen? To start off, Bree rents an office suite in the unlikely location of All Murderers Cemetery, where she promptly stumbles upon a ghoulish figure departing the scene of an animal abuse crime. Bree's rescue-dog Sasha becomes just one of many quirky characters including a former law school mentor, her landlady, two eccentric assistants, and P.I. Gabriel Striker--who seem to "know" all about the supernatural ins and outs of the law practice she inherits.

Despite the novel's swift pacing, Bree's complete disregard for what is going on around her in relation to supernatural happenstance is somewhat unrealistic. She attributes a phone call from deceased Skinner to a practical joke played by an ex-boyfriend, who conveniently arrives in Savannah to work for a prime suspect. Meanwhile, her odd new staff is busily investigating Skinner's murder while dropping casual remarks about Celestial Court and other bizarre terminology that Bree does not bother to question. Despite this improbable beginning, the characters are engaging enough to keep the pages turning.

The novel's primary focus is Skinner's murder and not his heavenly trial, so readers may be disappointed by the slapdash ending after so much suspenseful buildup. The trial's outcome is written into an epilogue as opposed to a dramatic courtroom scene. On the whole, the paranormal elements seem to be more a consequence of the plot as opposed to a main ingredient, ergo readers should expect to find the series located on the "Mystery" shelves as opposed to "SciFi/Fantasy." But overall the story was highly enjoyable, and the premise unique enough to offer high hopes for the second installment.

The author has very well written scenes that are easy for the reader to visualize. The writing is tight and easy to read. The characters are well thought out and interesting. The plot starts out well and in every scene it seems like it is moving along.

I had the hardest time coming up with why I disliked this book. After a few days thought, I have come up with `disjointed'. The book was just unconnected and disjointed.

The story skipped like a CD in a car stereo on a rough road. At points, I felt like I missed part of the story. At other points I was sure of it.

I saw an ad for this book on Facebook and thought it looked interesting. I read the first chapter on the author's website and knew immediately that I had to read the rest of this book. Once I got a copy I couldn't put it down! I love all the characters, the setting and the storyline. The writing is simple without being "dumbed down", yet remains intriguing. While not really a "scary" book (at least for me; I don't scare easily at all), it does have its spooky moments and throws in some fun humor to boot. Each of the characters pulled me in and just made me want to learn more about them. I've already ordered the next two books in the series and am eagerly awaiting the fourth book!