June Hur

The Red Palace by June Hur is a historical mystery set in 18th century Korea. It involves several murders and suspicions are directed to one of the highest members of the court, that of the Crown Prince. The main character is Hyeon, a young woman who works as a nurse at the Royal Palace and when her mentor is arrested for the murders, she vows to solve the case and prove her mentor innocent.

She soon finds herself joining forces with a new police inspector, Eojun. He is young, and seems to be as fully invested in finding out the truth as she is. Although they are breaking many of society’s rigid rules, they form a partnership and share the information that each is gathering. It soon becomes apparent that they have attracted the attention of the murderer and must tread carefully through the conspiracies and rules that keep the royal dynasty in power.

The Red Palace is well written and involving. While most of the characters are fictional, the Crown Prince was a real and tragic figure and his story and the historical details that the author supplies keep the story based in reality. The romance is kept to the back burner, we can see it developing but it never takes over the story. This was an excellent way to read about the history and the culture of Korea.… (lisätietoja)

The Silence of Bones is a historical mystery set in 1800 Joseon (Korea). Not long after sixteen year old Seol finds herself indentured to the police, she must assist in a case involving the murder of a noblewoman. It is her job to handle the body and to assist in interviewing women in the case, due to the fact that men at this time were not permitted to have any contact with women. But that is supposed to be the extent of her involvement. She is not supposed to ask any questions or have any ideas about things. Seol can’t help but be drawn in by her curiosity however, and soon starts trying to put together the pieces herself.

The Inspector of the case begins to take notice in Seol and to expand her role, seeking her aid in solving this crime that seems particularly important to him. The duo works well together and Seol forms a sense of loyalty and respect towards the Inspector. Yet, as the evidence unfolds, she can’t ignore all the signs that seem to point to him as suspect. This only makes her more determined than ever to get to the truth.

This book is definitely one of my top 10 of 2020! Also the cover is just gorgeous. The historical setting provides depth of atmosphere and context to the mystery. I was so intrigued to see what happened next, and whether or not the Inspector was involved, that I got through this one pretty quickly. There were some good twists that I wasn’t expecting throughout. I also really enjoyed the author’s note at the end and love being able to read an own voices historical mystery set in Korea. I can’t wait for June Hur’s next book set to publish in 2021– The Forest of Stolen Girls.

The Silence of Bones: 5/5 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★… (lisätietoja)

June Hur is one of those authors for me that I will read anything she writes. I will say, her first book The Silence of Bones remains my favorite of the three she has written at this point, but I still have enjoyed her other two, including this one.

I really appreciated the sort of plot twist and mystery that was in her first book more I think. The plot of the second one held some interesting points as well as the relationship between the two sisters. I did think Hur did her first foray into romance in her books well here, it was not overpowering to the story as can often be the case. But at the same time, I didn’t get as well of a sense of character for the main character. The plot was also not as interesting to me as in the first two books and didn’t seem to connect quite as well. The reveal was a little lackluster.

But I did enjoy Hur’s writing style as usual, and some of the details brought in like the mention of damos again, and some of the laws and rules from the time period like that men had curfews but women did not and that a man should not touch a woman unless married to them, even in crime scene investigation.

I also always appreciate the historical notes Hur gives at the end of her books. They always provide really pertinent and interesting information on the time period and particular groups/people/places she is basing her story on. I had never heard of Crown Prince Sado before and his is certainly an interesting story.… (lisätietoja)