Reviews for The Mill Mystery

The average rating for The Mill Mystery based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2017-10-26 00:00:00 Chris Jeuell "And jealous now of me, you gods, because I befriend a man, one I saved as he straddled the keel alone, when Zeus had blasted and shattered his swift ship with a bright lightning bolt, out on the wine-dark sea." 'Homer, The Odyssey, Book V '"oínopa pónton" So, "wine-dark sea" is a phrase used quite a bit by Homer. And Homer was quite an author I guess. And he did some pretty damn good writing about boats and stuff. So, it is only natural that Patrick O'Brian would eventually get around to using the "Wine-Dark Sea" image in one of his books. In Book 16 to be specific. This book is actually book 4, of a 5-novel circumnavigation of the globe sieries within his greater 20 book (21 if you count his last unfinished novel) Aubrey-Maturin series. There is some nice sailing, and the wine-dark sea section happens to appear at a point when some volcanic activity is happening nearby (which given the location of most of Homer's sea stories, also ties the mysterious wine-dark colors together). Anyway, there was some interesting sections dealing with South American politics, and Andes hiking. Some of my favorite new characters are the two little girls rescued from a South Asian island that was decimated with small-pox. They have attached themselves to Dr. Maturin and become a lovely feature on the Surprise. I'm starting to get that feeling one gets towards the last couple days of an amazing vacation. You still enjoy the country, beach, mountains, etc., but there is a sense of impending dread that this all will end too soon. One day, I'll reach to the table next to my bed and there won't be a new O'Brian novel to read. I'm already sad. Here are a couple links to read if you want to read more about "wine-dark seas" and Homer:

Review # 2 was written on 2020-06-09 00:00:00 John Pacelli Taking out American privateers and snatching up prizes is all in a day's work for Captain Jack Aubrey! The Wine-Dark Sea moves the setting from Australia and the South Pacific on over to South America. This is a perfectly fine continuation of the series. If anything, it's the most O'Brian-esque book O'Brian ever wrote. It spends a great deal of time describing the world through the eyes of early 19th century English sailors. Aubrey's particular friend and ship's surgeon, as well as naturalist and intelligence agent, Stephen Maturin does a lot of botanizing along the South American coast in this one. It's fascinating stuff if you like nature. I do, yet even I yearned for a little more action and not so much reflection. The details of the plot are not super enticing either. Parson and surgeon's mate Nathaniel Martin's dire illness is a concern, but it's not enough for the reader to sup upon. The storyline focusing on the Letter of Marque/pirate Dutourd is more interesting, but he's not a big threat until very late in the book, unless being too Democratic aboard one of His Majesty's frigates is a threat. Jack Aubrey would say so, but readers probably won't worry as much about it. In the end, this is solid. I just can't recommend it as a standalone. If you haven't tried this series yet, don't start here. Begin at the beginning, and by the time you reach this, the 16th book, you'll enjoy it just fine!