REVIEW - Baking Bad - The cosiest of cosies

Date read: 16th August 2020

My rating: 5*

Genre I reckon: Cosy Mystery 

Buy link: Amazon 

A cosy mystery with WI and dragons? One-click buy!! 

My hopes were high and I was delighted by what I read. 

More tea, vicar? He may regret that! 

When the quiet 'new' vicar meets his demise, all fingers point towards the Women's Institute (WI). Well, their chair, Alice, isn't about to take that lying down, thank you very much. 

Miriam and her cohorts, Beaufort and Mortimer, who just so happen to be Cloverly dragons, get roped in. Beaufort is eager to clear the name of his friends. The other two are more reluctant to interfere. 

Enter in a whole heap of whimsical British country life (set not far from Leeds in fictional Toot Hansell). 

Chaos rules throughout, but what else would you expect with boisterous dogs and dragons running amuck? 

There is plenty of cake and gallons of tea, of course. 

I just love this story. It's fun, well-written, farce, and just what this reader needed to lift her spirits. 

There are a few recipes in the back of the book too - bonus! 

If you like cosy mysteries, you'll love this. 

Look - Pusskin did a book pose!!!

Always in love and light,

TL

Medieval Woman - it's a hard-knock life for her

 

Date read: 16th August 2020

My rating: 4*

Genre I reckon: Historical Fact/Fiction 

Buy link: Amazon 

*This is a fictional account of a medieval woman* 

I just wanted to make that distinction to start with. It's not non-fiction, and yet it's not a novel either as it doesn't follow the 'beginning, middle and end' structure and has no inciting incident etc. It's more of a fictional journal. A year in the life of Marion, wife to the village carpenter. 

And it's a hard life! We're never told which year, but it's early Middle Ages by my reckoning. 

The villagers all pull together to sustain their livelihood under the feudal system. Money doesn't change hands, but produce does. This village mainly trades in wool and there's a wonderful festival to celebrate sheep shearing day! 

There's a few too many bodily fluids mentioned for my taste. And I'm pretty sure that, given there's a shallow part of stream, the women would have had a wash day and wouldn't have been quite so rank. 

But it's definitely very well researched. You really get a look into the daily grind of these people's lives; more down than ups. Every day is a constant struggle and death is ever waiting. 

The lord of the manor is a bit feckless, but he has a sensible wife who knows what's what. And the village keeps ticking on, overseen by a severe Rollo with his counting sticks. 

It's a lesson in taking pleasure from the simple things in life and realising just how lucky we are with our modern day luxuries. An intriguing read for history buffs. 

Always in love and light,

TL