BLOOD MOON OVER BENGAL

Author: Morag McKendrick Pippin ISBN: 0843954523 10/2004 HISTORICAL Publisher: LEISURE
Time Period: 1932 - Calcutta, State of Bengal - India

Free-spirited and ultra-modern Elizabeth Mainwarring returned to the sultry, spice-scented land of her birth for one last go at mending the breach with her long estranged sire. She met Major Covington-Singh: a prince and officer in her father's regiment. The man was tall, dark and utterly irresistible. Yet here was peril in desiring him. He warned her against falling for a wog, a blacky-white, an Anglo-Indian. It might be modern times in England, but not here. Even for the son of a duke and a maharaja. Why, even Elizabeth's father would disapprove! And then there were the recent happenings: the murders, the cruel strangling of those who were indiscreet. For Elizabeth to love Nigel meant death. And there was a...Blood Moon Over Bengal.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

I have read some great books lately. Excellent, really. However, after reading BLOOD MOON OVER BENGAL, by Morag McKendrick Pippin, I am hard pressed to recall the titles of those books. As a matter of fact, BLOOD MOON OVER BENGAL is the best book I have read all year. No doubt it is in my top five best books I have ever read.

I love my favorite stories (not all romantic novels) for many different reasons. Some for the writing or the descriptions. Or the characters, the storyline, and so on. Very few of those books embody all of those qualities. Some come close, but this book truly is everything.

If you want to be transported back in time to 1932 India and experience the language (slang, even!), the smells, the sights, the sounds, the very essence of the English presence there, open a page. I am astounded by the descriptive nature of this book. No detail is left out, from the finger wave hairstyle to the brand names of cigarettes. You hate the sultry heat and giant bugs, along with the torrential monsoons just around the corner from summer. The characters, every last one of them, are cool, refined, and so well done, I swear I was sitting at the blackjack table with them last night. And the drinks! Even the names of popular cocktails being served across the water in America make an appearance.

The love story between the half-caste son of the maharaja, Nigel, Major Covington-Singh, and the ultra-modern Elizabeth Mainwarring, defies a category due to its complexity. It's sexy and spicy, yet sad and poignant because of the small mindedness of the tight British community they inhabit. They are involved, yet cannot be out in the open with their feelings for fear of Nigel's career being put at risk as well as Elizabeth's tenuous relationship with her newly found father.

And did I mention murder? Lots of intrigue and unsolved murders for the reader to guess at and get caught up in. Though one murder in particular in my eyes is welcome (since the woman is such a shrew! though marvelously entertaining), most appear, at first glance, to escape any pattern save the victims are all women. Very exciting storyline here, I assure you.

Well, if I gush anymore over this I will be unable to read my next book without doing a comparison. Naturally, I realize that isn't fair, since I don't think I will find anything remotely close to this. It's perfect!

Shannon Johnson