What We Are Reading November '22 Part II

Dark and Stormy Book Club

On today's episode we finish the WWAR for November that we started last week.
Ann reported on the book “Cleopatra's Dagger” a historical novel by Carole Lawrence. It was
published by Thomas & Mercer in April of 2022
Is New York, 1880. and Elizabeth van den Broek is the only female reporter at the Herald, the
city’s most popular newspaper. Then she and her friend find a woman’s body wrapped like a
mummy in a freshly dug hole in Central Park―the intended site of an obelisk called Cleopatra’s
Needle. The macabre discovery takes Elizabeth away from the society pages to follow an
investigation into New York City’s darkest shadows.
When more bodies turn up, each tied to Egyptian lore, Elizabeth is onto a headline-making
scoop more sinister than she could have imagined. Her reporting has readers spellbound, and
each new clue implicates New York’s richest and most powerful citizens. And a serial killer is
watching every headline.
Now a madman with an indecipherable motive is coming after Elizabeth and everyone she
loves. She wants a good story? She may have to die to get it.
The protagonist, Elizabeth, represents a woman striving against a patriarchal society. To see
how much resistance Elizabeth faces as a female journalist and a woman in the workplace in
general, I think the writer's portrayal was probably realistic and accurate. At the newspaper, it is
common knowledge that Elizabeth's father used his influence to secure her role as a journalist.
This adds to the division between Elizabeth and her male counterparts, a theme that is seen
throughout the novel.
Across the story, Lawrence emphasizes the social and gender gap existing at the time. Given
permission by her editor, Elizabeth and a photographer visit the morgue and get a chance to
see and photograph the body. There, Elizabeth learns that the young woman had been
strangled and had all her blood drained through an incision that looks like an Egyptian symbol of
some kind.
As Elizabeth pursues her leads and writes stories that make her a celebrity, the villain who
believes he is the reincarnated Osiris is planning and executing more murders all with an
Egyptian theme. Meanwhile, Elizabeth is facing prejudice and assault at work, dealing with the
mental illness of her older sister Laura, and trying to understand her place in the man's world of
journalism
Fans of historical mysteries will enjoy getting to know Elizabeth.
Carole Lawrence can be found at her website https://celawrence.com
Misty then reported on her book “Killer Content” by Olivia Blacke. It was published by Mercer in
February 2021.
Bayou transplant Odessa Dean has a lot to learn about life in Brooklyn. So far she's scored a
rent free apartment in one of the nicest neighborhoods around by cat-sitting, and has a new job
working at Untapped Books & Café. Hand-selling books and craft beers is easy for Odessa, but
making new friends and learning how to ride the subway? Well, that might take her a little extra
time.
But things turn more sour than an IPA when the death of a fellow waitress goes viral, caught on
camera in the background of a couple's flash-mob proposal video. Nothing about Bethany's
death feels right to Odessa--neither her sudden departure mid-shift nor the clues that only
Odessa seems to catch. As an up-and-coming YouTube star, Bethany had more than one
viewer waiting for her to fall from grace.
Determined to prove there's a killer on the loose, Odessa takes matters into her own hands. But
can she pin down Bethany's killer before they take Odessa offline for good?
Olivia's website is https://oliviablacke.com
TRIVIA
Last week's question was :
The author Thomas Harris gives very few interviews. But in one he described his working style
as:
a. sometimes you really have to shove and grunt and sweat.
b. Sometimes words come faster than you can write them down
c. There is no style. It is pure luck
d. There are months that I don't even try to write
The answer is A., sometimes you really have to shove and grunt and sweat. He also says some
days you go to your office and you're the only one who shows up, none of the characters show
up, and you sit there by yourself, feeling like an idiot. And some days everybody shows up
ready to work. You have to show up at your office every day. If an idea comes by, you want to be
there to get it in."
This week's question is:
Which author knew they would become a professional writer at age 8?
a. Mickey Spillane
b. Anthony Horowitz
c. Tom Clancy
d, Laura Lippman
Tune in next week for the answer and we wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving.