Customer Reviews

Tears of Pearl (Lady Emily Mysteries, Book 4)

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(23)
3 star:		(19)
2 star:		(13)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I'm a bit ashamed to admit that I like the Lady Emily series. I've had a weakness for strong female detectives (including the awesome Veronica Mars tv show). Miss Alexander's writing has grown stronger and more developed with each passing novel, and it's kind of cool to see growth in an author. If you follow a character through multiple books, you want to see them grow and the author develop as well.

One of the highlights of this book was reliving a trip I made to Istanbul (Constantinople) a few years ago and getting to explore it through someone else's eyes. From a historical standpoint, it was an interesting time period before the fall of the Ottoman Empire and before the country became Turkey. I was able to retrace my own steps through the city and felt like I knew the landmarks of where Lady Emily's adventure took her.

The plot itself is interesting enough: On her honeymoon with her new husband (who, hopefully in book #5, won't disappear in Africa while big game hunting) stumbles into a mystery involving a slain harem girl and her diplomat father. The book contains really interesting descriptions of the life inside a harem, which will probably intrigue and yet disgust readers with our modern day virtues. And Emily's ingenuity and talent as a detective are put to the test as she gets deeper into the mystery.

I know that some people will say - wait, this is the Ottoman empire! How can an English woman run around all willy-nilly and solve a mystery? Well, it's fiction, but based on truth: Lady Paget and other important women who actually did mingle with Sultans. So for the most part, I'm inclined to believe that had Lady Emily existed in real life, she would have been able to do these things (Victorian women were more bound by class than being a woman.)

The only real weakpoint for me in this novel - and this is nitpicking - is that the romance between Emily and Colin needs work. I like Colin as a character, but as a couple, they seem like two people who got bored and decided to get married because they ran out of things to talk about.

Overall it's a 4.5/5 star book. This book will both appeal to readers who are already fans of Miss Alexander's works and those who want to get into the world of a very intrepid Victorian woman.

Wow, was this book awful! I found the first novel in this series wonderful with a great strong, witty, interesting new character. Book two was also excellent. While book 3 was predictable at least it was good. But this book was horrible. Poorly written, predictable, cliche, and so full of sticky sweet romance as to be a complete bore. This character went from independent, intelligent, clever, and revolutionary to a typical simpering, whimpering, swooning female. And the end! Oh please! Like you couldn't see that a mile away. What a ridiculous solution to an obvious problem.

It's hard for me to keep perspective on these books because they have been part of a special bond between my mother and myself. My mother doesn't read fiction very often while I read it endlessly in great variety. A few years ago I offered the first Lady Emily book up for her consideration. She read it, or should I say devoured it. She has been a fan through the entire series and as such I have been able to enjoy a series with her, discussing and even attending a few of Tasha Alexander's book signings together. That, in itself, has been a great gift.

Lady Emily and Colin Hargreaves are finally married--another plus for this series is that the central relationship has been a key part of the series and has moved along at a fine pace, neither too slow or too fast--prior to the beginning of this fourth novel. (Alexander has a short story of their nuptials available through Amazon and her website if you are a fan and didn't want to miss the event.) Now they are on their honeymoon and of course fall into a mystery of kidnapping, murder and danger. Emily and Colin work together and learn about another culture as they explore Istanbul.

Is this novel the height of excitement? No, but it is intriguing and keeps the reader involved as the mystery takes twists and turns. This is a light historical mystery, well-executed. I'll continue to recommend the series to friends. Best yet, Mom and I will look forward to hopefully a fifth entry in the series.

Lady Emily and Colin Hargreaves are newly married and on their honeymoon in Constantinople. Soon after the couple's arrival, they become involved in a murder investigation of one of the sultan's concubines. The murder victim turns out to be the long-missing daughter of Sir Richard, a British Embassy official whom they have met on the Orient Express. Sir Richard implores Colin to investigate the murder of his daughter, but since men are not allowed inside the harem, Emily has now been recruited to investigate in an official capacity.

Tears of Pearl, Tasha Alexander's fourth Lady Emily mystery, was a book I looked forward to reading. Even though I found the third book (A Fatal Waltz) disappointing, I was still enamored enough of the first and second book in the series to pre-order this latest installment. Unfortunately, I found little that appealed to me when it came to the main character. Those who have read the third book may recall that Emily was often compared to that paragon of female beauty and intelligence: Countess von Lange, who was essentially a poisonous, adulterous, conceited woman with an air of supreme superiority ... and she was't even funny. If this was the author's way of telling readers what to expect of Emily's future character development, then I should have taken the author seriously and stopped with the third book.

Emily's character is not so far gone as to be completely intolerable in Tears of Pearl, but I found her grating nonetheless. And this starts immediately in the first chapter on the train: her presumptuousness in thinking that people not so much as WANT her help, but essentially NEED her help, this is what she thinks. Even when she tries to be sympathetic to someone, it comes across as condescending rather than compassionate.

Yes, characters can have faults, but the main character must also speak to the reader in a way that we care about them, that their flaws are just that, a flaw, usually redeemed through some of their better judgment and qualities. Why else should we care about them? Why should we be interested at all in their plight, misery, adventure, internal struggles?

Emily has that sense of self-entitlement that comes with being an upper-class woman, that her morals and judgment are superior to those outside her own class, and especially those whose culture are alien to her own. She walks about Constantinople with a degree of self-importance and ignorance. This is fine if it was any other Victorian upper-class woman, but isn't she supposed to be enlightened ... even just a little? Yet I found her to be a woman with little imagination and unwillingness to even TRY to understand how (in this case) women of a different culture do not think as she does. This kind of narrow thinking completely spoils the book.

Then there is her method of investigating and interviewing various persons-of-interest. Again, her ego gets in the way of things; her stubbornness cloud her judgment when she should be reasonable and rational (which is why she often misses the clue). It's the stereotypical female character who cannot control their emotions and revert all too quickly to self-pity. Emily can't seem to help herself; she must air her opinions to all and sundry, even to those inside the harem who are naturally inclined to be secretive and suspicious. Didn't she stop and think, even for a minute, that imposing her top-lofty ideals may get in the way of the greater good---namely solving a murder? I also found it hard to believe that she would approach the sultan (the sultan!) as if he were an equal! This is where her upbringing should come to the forefront: manners, but she lacks those, too. What has happened to this woman? She is about as subtle as a bull in a china shop.

A little sensitivity, a little common sense and---dare I say---a little humility, would go a long, long way, Lady Emily.

Lady Emily and her new husband, Colin, are on their honeymoon in Constantinople. While still on the train on their way to their destination, they meet Sir Richard and are told of the murder of his wife and his young daughter's kidnapping. Later, Emily, Colin, and Sir Richard discover the same daughter (20 yrs old now) murdered and Lady Emily insist they must do what they can to discover who is responsible.

I must point out immediately that I have not read any books by this author before, much less another Lady Emily novel. I did enjoy the setting. I thought it was described in great detail, but not so overly done that it would make the story drag. I also thought the characterization was well done. The characters were not flat, nor were they sterotypical.

On that note, I want to point out that, because I had not read previous novels, I was put off by the constant references of previous novel situations and plots. Characters that had no importance to this story line were interjected through letters or in first person dialogue. I had no idea who or why they were even mentioned and I don't believe it added to this story at all. It became more of a speed bump/hinderence to me and spoiled the story line since I had no background to draw on. I don't think anyone who has read the previous three novels would find a problem in this.

I have loved the previous three Lady Emily Ashton books by Tasha Alexander so I was excited about the fourth. I was very disappointed. It seemed like a copy of previous books with different characters and a new setting. I did like learning about Constantinople. I would have also liked to have read more about Emily and Colin's relationship. It seemed they had little time together even though this was supposed to be their honeymoon trip.

You really don't have to have read the earlier Lady Emily novels to enjoy this one though reading this one first might spoil the earlier ones a bit. This is a pretty decent read as Lady Emily and her new Husband Colin investigate the Murder of a harem girl who is the long missing daughter of an English diplomat. Nice descriptions of Constantinople at the end of the Ottoman Empire. A much more mundane take on life in the Harem that is found in most novels with similar settings. Even though she is supposed to be a nonconformist Lady Emily has a much more modern attitude than I suspect most real Victorian Ladies would have had.

In the fourth novel in Tasha Alexander's popular Lady Emily series, Lady Emily and her new husband Colin head to Constantinople, the exotic capital of the Ottoman Empire to enjoy a relaxing, unique honeymoon after a rather unorthodox marriage. Everything seems to be going fine and dandy for the young couple until a young harm girl is found dead and a British diplomat discovers that she is his long-lost daughter. The attempted honeymoon quickly becomes a strange mystery surrounding the exotic harem practices of the Ottoman Empire and the unexpected politics within it.

This was my first introduction to Lady Emily and her Victorian crime sleuthing, but I enjoyed it. I don't really read many of these more comfortable, historical mysteries, but Tears of Pearls was very entertaining and enjoyable. Alexander has a clear, detailed voice that pulls in readers and keeps them flipping pages from beginning to end. The strongest aspect of the novel is definitely its exotic scenery -the autumn of the Ottoman Empire seems to be a rarely chosen historical fiction subject, and it was very interesting to learn about harem life through the eyes of a Western woman.

The only issue I have with this novel (and this is being kind of picky) is that, more than likely, back during the real Ottoman Empire it would have been nearly impossible for a British woman to run around the palace and the town (as Lady Emily does) questioning people and trying to solve a murder mystery. This may bother some history enthusiasts, but Tears of Pearls was such a fun novel that I didn't have any trouble forgiving this oversight. The entire point (and fun) of the novel is seeing the intelligent and unorthodox Lady Emily triumphing over the doubting characters around her using her wit and skill as a 19th Century sleuth, and once I came to realize this, the novel became much more fun.

Tears of Pears is a comfortable, witty historical mystery (dashed with some romance) with a strong female lead and unique setting that isn't too involved, but still gives readers enough twists to be enjoyable. I ended up enjoying this novel more than I thought I would, even though I tend to not be a fan of the genre -maybe this experience will change that.

Lady Emily is the daughter of a titled English family who has never really fit into Society, due to her intellectual streak and sense of adventure. It makes sense that when she marries her second husband (she had been a young widow) that she would marry a handsome spy for the Crown.

Lady Emily and her husband Colin decide to travel to Constantinople for their honeymoon - little knowing that a mystery would begin on the Orient Express, and would claim three lives before it could be resolved.

The book - and the character of Lady Emily - have an interesting tension between Victorian Age propiety and adventure in an exotic location.

If I had a qualm about the story, it would be the seeming ease of access that various Westerners have to the royal harem and concubines.

I did like Lady Emily enough that I now plan on tracking down the three previous books in the series. I should add, that even though I have not read those books, I had no problem figuring out what was going on in this book.

Having loved the previous books in this series, I was somewhat disappointed in this latest. It was unbelievable that women in such a different, and secretive, culture to Emily's, would share their secrets so quickly with a stranger. The plot and denoument were contrived and also more far-fetched than I had come to expect from Alexander. I am hoping her next volume will be back to her previous standard.