Posts by Vicki J Kondelik

The Magic Circle is a mystery/adventure novel about a younger nuclear security expert, Ariel Behn, who, in 1989, inherits a pile of ancient manuscripts which hold the key to a powerful secret. She also discovers the history of her own very complex family and their activities in Europe between World Wars I and II.

Labyrinth tells the story of two women, in two different times (1209 and 2005), and their quest for a secret of immense power. On an archaeological dig in the south of France, Alice finds two skeletons and a mysterious carving of a labyrinth on a wall, and begins experiencing visions of a past life. Her story is intertwined with that of Alaïs, a young woman in medieval Carcassonne, whose father is a guardian of one of three manuscripts that contain the secret of the Holy Grail. The plot is similar to The Da Vinci Code, but Labyrinth is much better written.

This is the first of a series of mysteries set in 1920s India, featuring Perveen Mistry, one of the first female lawyers in India. She investigates the murder of a man at the home of the three widows of a wealthy Muslim mill owner. The widows live in strict seclusion and will talk to Perveen, while they cannot talk to a male lawyer. In alternating chapters set a few years earlier, we learn of the traumas Perveen went through as a young woman, and her disastrous marriage. Author Massey conveys a wonderful sense of the various cultures and religions in 1920s India.

This brilliantly-written historical novel tells the story of Anne Marie Grosholtz, who became the wax sculptor Madame Tussaud, in her own unique voice. Orphaned at an early age, Marie learns the art of modeling body parts for anatomical study from a physician. Eventually she draws the attention of the royal family, and she tutors the sister of Louis XVI. Her business prospers in the tumultuous days of the French Revolution, but her association with the royal family leads to her imprisonment. Marie is a survivor, though, and, after losing many friends during the revolution, she eventually goes to London, where her famous museum was established.

In the latest entry in Louise Penny's popular mystery series, Armand Gamache, former head of the Sûreté de Québec, now living in the tiny village of Three Pines, is named as the executor of the will of a woman he's never met. Soon afterwards, the body of her oldest son is found in a collapsed farmhouse. Gamache's investigation of the murder uncovers secrets, including a long-lasting family feud. Meanwhile, Gamache searches for a deadly drug he allowed to slip through, and which is about to hit the streets of Montréal.

The Alice Network tells two parallel stories, in alternating chapters. One is about a young woman who worked as a spy, in an all-female spy network, in France during World War I. The other is about an American college student who goes to France shortly after World War II, to look for her French cousin who disappeared in occupied France. These two stories intersect in a powerful way and make for a very suspenseful novel.

In this action-packed thriller, former Justice Department agent turned rare book dealer Cotton Malone searches for a cure for HIV and the lost tomb of Alexander the Great and seeks to outwit a power-mad Central Asian dictator along the way. As is usual in the series, this novel is full of exciting plot twists and turns.

This World War II mystery is the latest in a series featuring spy and cryptographer Maggie Hope. Maggie is imprisoned in a castle on a remote island off the coast of Scotland because she knows too much about the plans for the Allied invasion of Normandy and her bosses are afraid she'll reveal them if she's ever captured. Her fellow prisoners, also agents who know too much, are being killed off, one by one. Will Maggie be able to catch the killer before she becomes the next victim?

The Fire is the sequel to The Eight, one of my favorite books of all time (see my previous review). Both books tell the story of the quest for a legendary chess set that once belonged to Charlemagne, and which holds a secret of enormous power. The quest is played out as a chess game with the characters as pieces. The Fire takes place thirty years after The Eight, when the daughter of the heroine of The Eight finds out that the deadly game has begun again.

This fascinating adventure-fantasy tells the story of the quest for a legendary chess set once owned by Charlemagne, which contains the key to a dangerous and powerful secret. The quest is carried out by two brave, intelligent heroines in two different time periods: the French Revolution and the 1970s, and the novel is told in alternating chapters so it is structured like a spiral or figure 8. The Eight can be considered a predecessor of The Da Vinci Code, but in my opinion it is much better written. In fact, it is one of my favorite novels of all time.