I think it's fair to say that Freeman, while rarely spectacular, is always worth reading. I only wish we had more of his works.

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I, on the other hand, soon after beginning felt like throwing it against the wall, and would have if it hadn't been on my Nook.

Someone greatly needs a writing coach and a copy editor.

If I bothered with stars this would rate a two but I'd give it a one for excessive foul language.

A rather charming tale, as Nesbit's generally are. Goes along well most of the way until the author feels the need to "explain" the magic, which might have better been left a mystery.

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A worthwhile fairytale or child's fantasy, most suitable for early teens or pre-teens.

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Pretty darn good book. A bit too Victorian and idealistic, perhaps, and with one huge flaming coincidence but with good characters and some splendid sailing. And a splendid heroine.

Makes me want to visit Brittany, though not enough to learn French.

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I'm astonished at how comical this was, never dragging except during the first long tale by Caleb. I was reminded of Twain, and in a good way.

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Nicely written story of the Highlands, told from the losers' point of view during Montrose's famous campaign in behalf of Charles I. Munro's view of Montrose's Irish infantry is different from that of historians, however.

The book gives a great deal of possibly trustworthy information about ordinary life and politics of the time, though it would help the reader to understand Gaelic. In addition, it could easily exchange a hundred pages of philosophy, mystic descriptions of Highland scenes, and pale-hearted wooing for three or four pages of red-blooded action.

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Would have enjoyed this more had the characters been humans instead of angels brought down to earth, and had I not guessed the perp so soon. Still, I read it to the end with very little skipping, so it has some merit.

Typical premise, though—stupid policeman and brilliant amateur, each of whom go about matters in a highly lackadaisical manner and leave apparent clues unexamined. It's obvious they've watched neither Forensic Files nor 48 Hours.

I usually have difficulty finishing these pseudo-autobiographical 19th century tales but this one went down quite well.

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Freeman is nearly as good a writer as Doyle, and the science and logic in his tales are superior. Regrettably, Dr Thorndyke is a far less intriguing hero than Sherlock Holmes, and the various Dr Watsons tend to be colorless.

Helen Vardon is a fine story, and it's very length makes it more interesting than many of the Holmes adventures. It would benefit, though, by being less wordy and losing as much as ten percent of its length.

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