To Say Nothing of the Dog

I stumbled across this book a year or two ago looking for something new to read, and while I'm not the fastest reader, I have to say this one kept my attention. Often I set a book down and don't come back to it for days or even weeks or more, which makes getting back into the story difficult, but this one had no problem pulling me back in each time.

It's one (very small) part science fiction (due to the aspect of time travel), one part mystery, one part historical (covering mostly victorian times, but also the attack on Coventry in World War II), one part farce, and one part romance. That description might lead you to wonder how such a storyline could even work, but somehow, Willis makes it work, and you can't help but enjoy the mystery, as well as the wry humor of the main character, Ned, who is hiding out in the Victorian era to keep away from a madwoman who wants him to find one of the most hideous artifacts of all time.

Even when the characters are comical, they lend so much to the feel of the time Ned is in, and his quest to figure out what happened to the Bishop's Bird Stump gives the story a sense of urgency that might not have worked with any of the other aspects of the story.

If you're a fan of soft science fiction, or romance that features plot (and a central male character over a female one) over passion, I highly recommend this. Even more if you're a fan of science fiction and mystery, because that is exactly what this is. A sci-fi mystery with a twist.

I look forward to reading my way through the rest of her works. If they're all as fun as this one, I know I'll enjoy them.