St. Bride's College, Cambridge, England, 1905. When Jonty Stewart takes up a teaching post at the college where he studied, the handsome and outgoing young man acts as a catalyst for change within the archaic institution. He also has a catalytic effect on Orlando Coppersmith. Orlando is a brilliant, introverted mathematician with very little experience of life outside the college walls. He strikes up an alliance with the outgoing Jonty, and soon finds himself having feelings he's never experienced before. Before long their friendship blossoms into more than either man had hoped and they enter into a clandestine relationship. Their romance is complicated when a series of murders is discovered within St. Bride's. All of the victims have one thing in common, a penchant for men. While acting as the eyes and ears for the police, a mixture of logic and luck leads them to a confrontation with the murderer-can they survive it?
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By A. R. Mash
Format:Paperback
Two Cambridge fellows meet and fall in love in 1906. Although you'd never believe it from some of the dialogue, which is on occassion somewhat anachronistic [although probably better so than a lot of cod Forsterisms].The mystery is why the police allow two dons to get involved in the investigation, although perhaps this is meant to reflect the fact that like the church, Oxbridge was self policing for a long while.
The characters are well drawn and believable for the period so not all is wrong on that front. Although there is an element of Charles Ryder and Sebastien Flyte about them. If you are looking for a whodunnit, then this isn't your book, if on the other hand you want a romance with a bit of extra plot thrown in, then it is a find.
Suprisingly the SCR [senior common room] lacks any of the bitchy back stabbing common in academia and certainly the norm in the period, think Forster, Lytton Strachey and A. E. Housman. The two would have been spotted by the other dons, this was just after the time when you couldn't be married and at college remember.
Oh I won't spoil it by telling who dunnit, I won't need to.
I will be getting the next in the series however.
The characters are well drawn and believable for the period so not all is wrong on that front. Although there is an element of Charles Ryder and Sebastien Flyte about them. If you are looking for a whodunnit, then this isn't your book, if on the other hand you want a romance with a bit of extra plot thrown in, then it is a find.
Suprisingly the SCR [senior common room] lacks any of the bitchy back stabbing common in academia and certainly the norm in the period, think Forster, Lytton Strachey and A. E. Housman. The two would have been spotted by the other dons, this was just after the time when you couldn't be married and at college remember.
Oh I won't spoil it by telling who dunnit, I won't need to.
I will be getting the next in the series however.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By Erastes
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I waited to buy this until it had its spanking new pretty cover and when it did arrive I hoovered it up in one sitting. This is a rare thing, amazingly pretty prose, a delicious gay love affair with little of the usual terror and angst that accompanies such, set in a dusty Cambridge college, and a damned goo plot to boot. How Ms cochrane achieves this in a mere novella seems a lot like magic to me. It could easily have stretched to a full book and I for one would not have complained if it did. I know this is an ongoing series and I hope she considers expanding the size of the books in future.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Charlie Cochrane's LESSONS IN LOVE is a lovely Edwardian mixture of romance and murder mystery. Set in 1906 at Cambridge University, two fellows (a term we Americans are unfamiliar with, but refers to a former student of the University who is now on staff, generally in a teaching position) meet and slowly fall in love. Jonathan (Jonty) is a high-spirited, jocular English teacher who sets his sights on warming up the reticent, brooding mathematician, Orlando. No sooner does Jonty break the ice, than a murder occurs at the college. As the murdered boy is one of Orlando's students, he and Jonty get involved and aid the police in the investigation.
Most of the story's charm lies in the romance, which is allowed to take its sweet time to come to fruition. Both men are acutely aware of the dangers and in Orlando's case he needs the "lessons in love" that Jonty tenderly provides to assuage his guilt over what he doesn't understand.
Cochrane does a good job weaving the romance and mystery together in a way that felt comfortable and the nail-biting conclusion to the mystery had me hooked clear through to the climax. The writing style is so beautifully simple and straightforward that it is effortless to read. I should also mention that I was pleasantly surprised to find that the sex in the book is romanticized and not explicit - Linden Bay, shame on you for lying about the heat rating!
I heartily recommend this breezy historical romance and look forward to spending more time with the adorable Cambridge Fellows in the next installment: LESSONS IN DESIRE.
Mark R. Probst
The Filly
Most of the story's charm lies in the romance, which is allowed to take its sweet time to come to fruition. Both men are acutely aware of the dangers and in Orlando's case he needs the "lessons in love" that Jonty tenderly provides to assuage his guilt over what he doesn't understand.
Cochrane does a good job weaving the romance and mystery together in a way that felt comfortable and the nail-biting conclusion to the mystery had me hooked clear through to the climax. The writing style is so beautifully simple and straightforward that it is effortless to read. I should also mention that I was pleasantly surprised to find that the sex in the book is romanticized and not explicit - Linden Bay, shame on you for lying about the heat rating!
I heartily recommend this breezy historical romance and look forward to spending more time with the adorable Cambridge Fellows in the next installment: LESSONS IN DESIRE.
Mark R. Probst
The Filly
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Turn of the century academic life at Cambridge University catches...
Students are dying and two of their teachers join forces assisting the local police force to solve the case. Read more
Published on 28 Sep 2009 by Bruin Fisher
5.0 out of 5 stars
Amazing Writing
I first came across Charlie Cochrane in a trilogy called "Trilogy No. 111: Speak Its Name". The other two stories in there are OK, but Cochrane's writing blew me away. Read more
Published on 14 Feb 2009 by M. Rizwan
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