Move Your Blooming Corpse

July 6, 2015
This sequel to 2014’s Wouldn’t It Be Deadly from the pseudonymous Ireland (Meg Mims and Sharon Pisacreta) suffers from the absence of any real conflict. The relationship between Eliza Doolittle, who has already succeeded in consistently passing as a member of the upper set, and Professor Higgins lacks tension; Eliza’s love-interest remains colorless; and even her father, Alfred, has become respectable. At the Royal Ascot in 1913, the eccentric Harold Hewitt runs onto the racetrack and is trampled. Higgins, who spoke with Hewitt earlier (and identified him as a Harrow graduate by his accent), saw Hewitt carrying a case with a gun. Oddly, the professor first watches a race before notifying the police of this potential threat. Though Hewitt survives his injuries, Diana Price, a horse owner impaled with a pitchfork, does not. Eliza is refreshingly not relegated to the sidekick role, but fails to impress as an investigator. Agent: John Talbot, Talbot Fortune Agency.

September 15, 2015
The second in Ireland's clever series starring Eliza Doolittle and Henry Higgins focuses on horse racing (Eliza having developed a taste for the sport of kings on her first trip to Ascot, as readers will remember from My Fair Lady). Now Eliza's dad, the incorrigible Alfred, is part of a racing syndicate whose prize horse, Donegal Dancer, is racing at Ascot. The outing turns ugly when a suffragette is trampled, and another syndicate member is murdered. Naturally, Eliza and Higgins take time from their elocution lessons to investigate. bickering their way from clue to clue. The snappy pace and fun banter keep the story moving, while details about the suffragette movement, horse racing, fashion, and foods of the Edwardian era add plenty of appealing color, as does the quirky supporting cast.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)