Dayle GaetzBesprekingen

In this engaging piece of historical fiction for older children/younger teenagers, Gaetz tells the story of 13-year-old Emma Curtis. It is 1862, and the young girl and her seriously ill mother, Jenny, have been laid off from a Manchester spinning mill. With the American Civil War raging, there’s no cotton being shipped to England from the American South, and the factory has had to be temporarily shuttered. The mother and daughter are in dire straits. With no money coming in, they can barely manage to purchase the stale bread a kindly baker offers at a much-reduced price, never mind pay the rent for their squalid lodgings. Before she dies, Jenny makes Emma promise she will never go into a workhouse (a crucial key to survival) and that she will always make an effort to speak proper English (a route to upward mobility). Emma receives the ring her father gave her mother as well as some notes her mother recorded in cursive, which tell something of the family history. Unfortunately, Emma’s schooling has been very limited; she is essentially illiterate.

After wandering out of Manchester, the frightened, cold, and starving girl is taken in by a warm-hearted woman, a parson’s wife. Eventually the woman and her clergyman husband arrange for Emma to travel on a “bride ship” to one of the newest colonies: British Columbia. It’s all part of a charitable enterprise funded by the (real-life) Miss Angela Burdett-Coutts, an English woman who uses her considerable inheritance to keep impoverished young girls out of prostitution and provide them with other opportunities. The British colonies are in need of young women like Emma to become wives of the many adventuring men already living there. The women are expected to exert a peaceable, Christian influence on settlements.

After a three-month ocean journey, Emma arrives in Victoria, BC, and is lucky enough to be selected by Governor Douglas’s wife, Amelia, a woman of Cree ancestry, to work in the Douglas household as a servant. Now safe, Emma begins to have dreams about a life of adventure and freedom. However, a series of coincidences cause the girl to make some surprising discoveries about her mother’s and her own history. They will prove to be life-changing

Gaetz effectively interweaves a lot of 19th-century British Columbian history and some interesting real-life figures into Emma’s story. She provides more information about these people in an appendix. Gaetz also (less effectively) incorporates some Victorian vocabulary into her book and a glossary that can be consulted to understand the unfamiliar words. Frankly, I don’t know why she bothered including obscure language in a book intended for children. The words are, for the most part, no longer in use and therefore of little value to a middle-school student. They don’t even add much flavour. The annoyance of looking up the terms outweighs any added authenticity.

As an adult, I noticed echoes of Bronte’s Jane Eyre in the book; Emma can be as fierce and outspoken as Jane, whose story is, in fact, read aloud to her at one point in the story. There are also shades of Dickens. Yes, the book is slightly predictable, even a little formulaic, for an adult, and there are a few too many parsons in the pudding. However, I still think that certain girls I know would enjoy the story. It shines a light on a bit of BC history that I wasn’t familiar with.½

Disappearing Act – A Leena O'Neil Mystery by Dayle Campbell Gaetz is a 2015 Rapid Reads publication. I was provided a copy of this book from the librarything early reviews program in exchange for an honest review.

Colleen- now calling herself Leena left home three years ago and never looked back. Now, out of the clear blue sky, her sister Gina, now calling herself Georgia, has contacted her. It would seem Georgia is in a bind and needs Leena's help.
Georgia explains she needs to lay low at Leena's for awhile because her husband, Mark, has been having an affair and she is sure he is trying to kill her. But, things are much more complicated than that. Leena soon learns Mark is dead and Georgia is a considered MIA.
So, the question is who killed Mark? Did Georgia kill him? What about his new girlfriend? Did he have enemies?
In her very first case as an “almost private detective”, Leena will put herself in danger to clear her sister's name, and uncover the truth of who killed Mark and why.

This is a super fast and easy read in which the author sets the stage for future mysteries featuring PI Leena O'Neil. I did like Leena, but at times the author tried too hard to affect a present day Kinsey Millhone style character. While the story is a little predictable, in the end, Leena manages to solve the case, to make a new friend, and heal some family issues as well. If you enjoy light, clean, mysteries this is one you might want to give this one a chance. 3 stars

Leena has abandoned her former life, where it appears she was overshadowed by her mother and sister, both lawyers. The story begins with a cryptic phone call from Leena's sister asking for help. Leena agrees to meet her sister at the ferry and shelter her for awhile until they can figure out why her sister's husband is trying to kill her. But, in the meantime, Leena learns that her sister's husband has been murdered and her sister is the main suspect. Leena then uses her recently learned private investigator skills to find the murderer.
This book is short (about 160 pages) and very simple. If you want an easy read and don't want a challenge, then it's fine. However, the identity of the murderer is pretty obvious from the start (given the parameters of the will) and the characters are not very well developed. We see some attempts at making connections between Leena and other people, but they usually are just to support the story line and not to add depth. I just don't see a lot of interest in this book. Sort of a "just the facts, ma'am" type of read.

Three years ago Colleen, now Leena, left home and deliberately disappeared to escape her lawyer mother and older perfect sister, Georgina. Her mother and sister have never contacted her so she is very surprised when her sister, now Georgia, phones and leaves a panicked message asking for help which Leena reluctantly agrees to give.
When her sister arrives, Leena discovers that her sister believes her husband, Mark, is trying to kill her on order to get her house and move into it with his girlfriend but when Mark is found beaten to death Georgia becomes the prime suspect.
Leena, who considers herself "an almost private investigator",finds her sister a safe hiding place before setting off to track down the real killer at very real risk to her own life.
This is the third book I have reviewed from the "Rapid Reads" series. "Disappearing Act" has a fast moving plot with well developed characters which are keymarks of this series designed for ESL and Literacy programmes.
This book is an excellent addition to the series.

When I requested this book, I guess I missed the part that said it was a 'Rapid Read'. That is exactly what it is. Short story, larger print, and poor plot. I knew the ending very quickly without having to read it. A little disappointed.½

I liked this little book. It's no "War and Peace" and at this time in my life, a little book suits me just fine. It really is a novella rather than a novel. I enjoyed that it was small and easy to carry around so I could read it when I had a few minutes without it weighing down my purse. Sometimes a quick, easy read is just what you need.

That story isn't very deep since the book is short but I found it enjoyable. It centers around Leena who had walked away from her family and disappeared a few years ago. That idea intrigues me because I think it should be hard for someone to just disappear. As it turns out, she really didn't disappear and her sister finds her easily enough when she needs her. Leena is "almost" a private detective, having taken classes on line to be one. I found that interesting too.

As Leena investigates for her sister, the story moves quickly but I found the atmosphere to be believable and the characters to be likeable which is important to me. I'll be happy to read more in the future about Leena and I won't mind if they are short, like this one, or full length.

I received this book through Librarything's Early Reviewer Program.½

A quick read and a fun, suspense-filled story - definitely a "teaser" for the series. Look forward to future, full-length installments of the Leena O'Neil mysteries.

Leena O’Neill considers herself “almost a private investigator” because she has taken several online courses in investigation and prides herself on the fact that she was able to walk away from her family and no one has found her in three years. But as soon as Leena’s sister, Georgia, gets into trouble she knows right where to find Leena. Georgia thinks her two timing husband is trying to kill her and Leena has to help even though her sister’s attitude was one of the reasons Leena left home in the first place. Turns out it is Georgia’s husband who is dead. Did Georgia kill him or did someone else? Leena flexes her PI muscles to unravel the mystery and hopes that she will be clearing her sister’s name.

Gaetz has introduced and engaging heroine in Leena O’Neill. I look forward to reading more of Leena’s adventures when the series continues.

More of a novella than a book. An ok read but it felt rushed and unfinished.½

This was a quick read and not always believable. Then the story just sort of ended. I felt the author had some loose ends that never were connected. I appreciate LibraryThing selecting me to read this book, but I would not recommend it.½

Disappearing Act (A Leena O’Neil Mystery)
By: Dayle Campbell Gaetz
Ocra Book Publishers 2015 Pages.159
Copy Courtesy of Librarything Early Reviewers
Reviewed by: tk

Thrilling Ride!!!

Leena an aspiring Private Investigator left her childhood home to become her own independent person… three years ago. She is enjoying the life she has made for herself. Until a call from Georgia, her sister. Georgia pleads with Leena to help her. Someone is trying to kill her…

A novelette of huge proportions. Although a quick read, the narrative is amazing in detail. I plot driven by greed, betrayal and love are the ingredients of this suspenseful mystery. If you love who-done-its, you won’t be disappointed. I look forward to more Leena O’Neal Mysteries in the future.
4/5

A mystery novel about an amateur P.I. It is apparently a "rapid reads" book, which means it is under 150 pages in large font. However, you can get good character development and a good mystery in a novella, so that doesn't actually justify any of the book's failings. I feel bad saying it, but there's really nothing worth reading in this book. It starts awkwardly, the characters are uninteresting and the way they act is unbelievable. The only part I liked was the setting in the Pacific Northwest.

Disappearing Act is an entertaining and engaging story that really deserves to be developed into a full-fledged novel vs. the a relatively short story. The character and plot development screams to be expanded upon. In the mood for a fun and quick read (147 pages) then try Disappearing Act. It is worth your time.

Disappearing Act is the story of a young directionless woman who is unexpectedly thrust into the role of amateur sleuth in order to prove her estranged sister is not guilty of murdering her husband. This is a novella rather than a novel, and the forced brevity of the Rapid Reads format guarantees that the books in this series will have no chance of plot expansion or character development. If the author had been given more room and time the book would have been slightly more satisfying.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review. I have to admit that I was taken aback when I saw it since it looked like the books that my 9-year old reads - it was very thin with huge font and very few pages. Perhaps it was meant for a teen or pre-teen market? The story was about a young woman's first foray into private investigation, hoping to uncover the truth about her sister's husband's violent death. It wasn't a great book, but it wasn't a bad one either. It entertained me well enough while it lasted (which was just a couple of hours), but it didn't really leave any impression on me and I don't think I would seek out other books in this series. That being said, perhaps I am older than its intended audience, so it might be more satisfying for a younger market.