Elle Strauss

I know that the year in the cozy is 1923 but as Mrs. Ginger Gold (formally Lady Gold, a title she doesn't use) widowed due to the war was introduced one song came to mind, "She's a Lady" as performed by Tom Jones especially the first stanza

"Well she's all you'd ever want,
She's the kind they'd like to flaunt and take to dinner.
Well she always knows her place.
She's got style, she's got grace, She's a winner."

The song continued replaying in my mind as Ginger met handsome Chief Inspector show more Basil Reed and their chemistry seemed to sizzle on the pages throughout the investigation.

Ginger and her friend Haley Higgins are wonderful friends each returning to England for different purposes and accompanied by Ginger's dog, Boss (short for Boston as in Boston Terrier). Their endearing friendship adds to the special characterization of these women and even though Haley is not as gregarious as Ginger, Haley never fails to be available when Ginger needs sleuthing assistance.

I loved it from cover-to-cover. An Agatha Christie type murder in a locked room but with a much more enchanting location on an oceanic trip on the SS Rosa from Boston to Liverpool. I'm looking forward to reading more of the series especially as I'm sure Mrs. Gold and Chief Inspector Reed will meet again soon!

Kudos to Lee Strauss for this note preceding Chapter 1, "I hope you enjoy Murder on the SS Rosa. This book has been edited and proofed, but typos are like little gremlins that like to sneak in when we're not looking. If you spot a typo, please report it to: admin@leestraussbooks.com." show less

Ginger is sailing to England to settle her late father's estate when the ship's captain is found dead. Time is of the essence when she becomes a suspect in his death. She must solve the murder before the ship docks in England.

I enjoyed this story. It's a good set-up for future books. There is the flavor of the 1920's--elegant and classy but a dark side also. Prohibition does not exist on the high seas. Ginger is always in the way of the inspector who is also traveling on the ship but they do show more have their moments. I look forward to reading more of this series. show less

My Opinion: Poor Casey Donovan has been accidentally traveling back to the 1860s since she was just 9 years old. She never knows when it is going to happen (although she has figured out that stress could be a trigger), but over the years she has learned to accept it and deal with it. Unfortunately, she can't have skin on skin contact with anyone because that could cause her to take that person back in time with her, which she found out accidentally when she took her best friend on a "trip" show more back. She's now 16 and dealing with bad hair, and a major crush on Nate Mackenzie, who doesn't even notice her. As fate would have it, when she accidentally touches Nate, whoosh! Back they go! It's now up to Casey to let Nate in on her secret and keep him safe until they can get back to the present.

I've been really lucky lately in reading books that deal with a popular topic (magic, time traveling, etc.) with a new take on it that makes them very enjoyable to read. Clockwise was one of these. I loved that Casey's time traveling was unpredictable and that she had no control over it, but she dealt with it the only way she could, head on. I also liked how mature she was in realizing that there were going to be things she would not be able to do in life, such as drive a car or fly a plane, because of never knowing when she would trip out. She was very level headed and instead of moaning and groaning over what she couldn't do, she accepted her limitations and made the best of things.

I really liked Casey because of her maturity and the way that she still acted like a teenager when it came to her family splitting up and her raging hormones when it came to Nate. I liked Nate too because he didn't just fall madly in love with Casey (I have a real pet peeve when it comes to insta-love) but let his feelings grow and become what they would without forcing it.

In all, I really enjoyed this book and can't wait to read the second book in the series, Clockwiser. I give it a very enthusiastic 5 stars and recommend it to lovers of time-traveling YA stories :D

I received a copy of this book free of charge from NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion. show less

ClockwiseR is the follow-up to Clockwise by Elle Strauss, with higher stakes and more adventure for Casey and Nate. There are a couple of big changes this time around, most notably in Casey’s confidence level and the issues that develop when the wrong people get taken along on one of her time-travel “tripping” episodes.

It is a year after book one, and Casey has been in a solid relationship with Nate during that time. This has boosted her confidence level tremendously since the first show more time we met her. She is now just as confident in the present as she is in the past. Her brother Tim, however, has not grown much at all. He is still rebelling against his parents and the smoking in the first book has moved in a more illegal direction. But when he is accidentally transported to the past with Casey during an argument and then left behind, he finds he is going to have to grow up to survive. Unlike the first novel which was all from Casey’s point of view, we get inside Tim’s head as well. His attitude of “it’s all just a game” that he has developed from playing video games gets a massive readjustment as he finds himself fighting for the Union army in the second battle of Bull Run.

Meanwhile Casey is struggling desperately to “trip” back and get Tim while dealing with his loss in the present. Her parents have reported him missing to the police, and the whole community is turning out to help find him – even the cute boy next door who has been flirting with her. This is putting a bit of a strain on her relationship with Nate, which only intensifies when she “trips” back without him and accidentally brings Will Watson from the past into her present! Will Casey lose Nate forever?

I loved the direction Strauss took her characters and the issues that were raised because of it. Tim’s blithe attitude to war was very believable of a teen coming from a world of movies and games. To see his adjustment to the realities of war and the loss of life involved was sobering. On the flip side, we had Will trying to adjust to a world of cars and electricity while dealing with the notion that he would be seen as a deserter from the army because of his disappearance from his timeline. When Will tries to learn if he will return to a life of disgrace, an even bigger blow is dealt him. The issues these two young men end up facing are thought-provoking, and the complexity that is brought to the story by them is what bumped this up to a four-star rating for me.

Casey continues to impress as a resourceful, intelligent heroine. It was especially interesting to see her from Tim’s point of view. His squeaky-clean image of her definitely changes as he learns more about her life in the past. Nate is as supportive as ever, and I actually felt the strain placed on their relationship developed mostly from his fear of losing Casey and her not recognizing that fear. I actually liked the fact that their relationship hit snags in this installment, since a trouble-free relationship is unrealistic and a bit boring. Having Will brought to the present was an unexpected wrinkle and I struggled right along with him as he tried to decide whether to return to his time or not. The biggest surprise, though, was Tim. From rebellious teen acting out against his parents to frightened teen trying to survive on and off the battlefield, Tim has a fascinating journey.

ClockwiseR is a very strong follow-up to Clockwise, with deeper character development and larger issues. It was a delight to revisit Casey’s world and to see how everyone’s lives were shaping up. The contrast of Tim in the past and Will in the present, both of them coping with life and death situations, added complexity and gravity to the novel, but Elle Strauss’ writing style keeps it accessible to middle-schoolers on up. I really hope there is at least one more book in this series, since I hate to say good-bye to these characters so soon. show less