Book Log 55/2016 - C.E.Murphy: House of Cards - The Negotiator #2

This is the second outing for lawyer/negotiator Margrit and gargoyle, Alban, in contemporary New York City. Following the events in Heart of Stone, Margrit, who works for the city as a public defence council, is now fully aware of the Old Races, Vampires, Dragons, Djinni, Gargoyles and Selkies, though Selkies, as far as she knows, are a diminishing race. She’s in a dangerous position, but things have quietened down somewhat since Alban (Gargoyle) has decided that he's going to step back from any kind of relationship with Margrit in order to keep her safe. Sadly, his logic doesn’t work. Margrit is attacked in Central Park, and then drawn into a negotiation between crimelord Janx (a Dragon) and billionaire Eliseo Daisani (a Vampire). Tensions mount when Margrit’s boss is murdered, with all the signs of a Djinn being the culprit and Margrit suspects Janx’s henchman, Malik, whom Margrit finds even more scary than Janx. Her on-off relationship with detective Tony is even more off than on and finally she admits that it may be permanently off. The balance of power shifts when a new player comes to town. Margrit is offered an ultimatum and a new job and learns a few hard truths. And then there’s Alban…

I thoroughly enjoyed this and will certainly be watching out for more books by C.E. Murphy in future.

Because I bought this book for my kindle, I didn’t pay much attention to the cover until I came to do my write-up. Margrit in the book is most definitely African American, consistently described as ‘café latte’ in skin tone, however the cover, though a night-time scene with lots of shade, makes Margrit look distinctly pink in hue, which is a pity. No reflection on Ms. Murphy since the cover choice usually belongs to the publisher, not the author.

Anniversary

In other news, tomorrow is our 45th wedding anniversary. Forty five! You do understand that I was a child bride, I hope. If they hadn't lowered the voting age I wouldn't even have been able to vote, yet I could get married and jointly own a mortgaged house!

BB says 45 is our Sapphire anniversary and so a couple of days ago he took me into Huddersfield and we came back with a sapphire and diamond eternity ring - narrow and very delicate. I look forward to seeing if it still fits tomorrow!

We didn't have a proper photographer (too expensive) so we ended up with a series of snaps. Brian and I are pretty obviously 'bride and groom' but the others are, left to right: Brian's Mum, Evelyn Bedford (Brian's dad was there as well but got chopped off by the photo-snapper), Best Man, John Louth, just peeping up from the back between me and Brian is my maternal grandpa, Tommy Bennett, then my dad, Tony Lockyer, my mum, Joan Lockyer, wearing a lampshade on her head, and my grandma, Annie Bennett. We lost touch with John when he emigrated to South Africa many years ago, and of the rest, only my mum is left, so this holds a lot of memories.