She Be Damned : Review & Thirsty Thursday and Hungry Hearts Hop

She Be Damned
Author: M.J. Tjia
Series: A Heloise Chancey Mystery #1
Genre: mystery, thriller
Source: Netgalley
Buy from : Amazon

Thirsty Thursday and Hungry Hearts Quote For She Be Damned

This meme is hosted by (un)Conventional Bookviews every Thursday. Today, I had just finish a book that has a quote for food, so here is the quote to start. This is part of a memory of one of the characters, although it does not affect the story, it does impart important information about the heroine, Heloise Chancey.

… I sat at the kitchen table and helped myself to a bowl of sweetened black rice, adding coconut milk for its saltiness. I had eaten most of it when my mother’s maid ran into the kitchen, fell to the floor, and wrapped her arms around my legs.

“She is dead. She is dead,” she wailed.

The Review

If the meme has peaked your interest, I hope to entice you more with a positive review. First of all, this is the cover that Netgalley had, but I do prefer the one Amazon has.netgalley

The Story

The setting: 1863’s London, where Heloise Chancey is enjoying life after suffering in poverty for a long time. Her good looks may have given her a chance, but it was her observation and acting skills that got her into a fairly comfortable life in Mayfair.

But, girls were turning up dead around Waterloo, with their feminine parts missing. Despite that, the police were not doing anything, as the victims were prostitutes and not worth the attention. Heloise was recruited by a private investigator to investigate the disappearance of a young girl, cast out by family yet love still remains.

The characters are very interesting. Written in first person point of view, She Be Damned actually has two stories running concurrently. One is Heloise’s investigation, while the other is more like a memory of someone, presumable her Amah. Then things got interesting, as Heloise digs deeper, the suspect list gets longer. Heloise also met a Sergeant, who was investigating the case.

The Verdict

This is not just a fascinating mystery, it is a foundation for Heloise to set her fame in the story. Her dalliance with the Sergeant, and her success in cracking the case may be the break she needed to be recruited in future mysteries. Heloise shows the world that she can be a good detective, with her acting skills and her connections with the shadier world.

She Be Damned is a murder mystery that grips and makes you question whodunit until the end. Can you guess? Share on X

She Be Damned is definitely a strong start to hopefully an exciting life of an amateur sleuth. The way Heloise solved her case might not be the most original, but she does have a good background story. I hope to see her grow as a detective, and watch her relationship with other characters.

Copyright © 2017 Ailyn Writes. All Rights Reserved.

11 thoughts on “She Be Damned : Review & Thirsty Thursday and Hungry Hearts Hop

  1. Ohh, this sounds quite gruesome, do the murders go into explicit details? Otherwise I think I’d quite enjoy the storyline. I’m a big fan of mysteries and historical narrations. Wonderful review Ailyn, so glad you enjoyed this one <3

    1. actually.. the murders are not in explicit gory detail. Enough to make me go eww but not shut the book in disgust. the main theme is about how Heloise managed to solve the murder in an era where women are either hookers or housewives. So I think you might like it. I am sure you have netgalley =d

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