Archenemy, A Mabel Chen Mystery by Brian Lee Bournival, is the second book with Mabel Chen as the main character. Unfortunately I didn’t read the first novel so I was at a bit of a disadvantage when I began reading as I didn’t know the main characters or their connections to one other. However, I very soon got in to the story, which is a very easy read and as the title suggest a good mystery, or should I say mysteries!

On occasions I did have to re-read parts as there was certainly a lot going on in the plot. The main characters were Mabel Chen, a cleaner at the local police station, whom had studied at a police academy in her native country years ago, a retired policeman called Dillon Shaw, and Mabel’s friend and his grandson who was a detective known as “Fair”. The base of the storyline is about a couple of crimes which Mabel and Dillon help to solve, for me it reads like a lovely modern day Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple novel.

This is a good mystery read with lots going on, it does have a slightly complicated plot and with the various storylines to take on board it might have helped me if I had read the previous book. The ideas and concepts are well defined and the language clear and everyday. All the information was certainly plausible and I loved all the detail and descriptions of the Chinese Antiquities from the famous Taiwan National Palace Museum.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, I had a job to put it down and will definitely love to read the next one in the series, of which we are given an insight to at the end of the book. Well done author Brian Lee Bournival brilliant book, I award 4 1/2 stars.

About the Author

In 1989 Dr. Brian Lee Bournival earned a PhD in plant genetics from the University of Florida. He spent the next five years working as a postdoctoral associate—a glorified intern—before he made the brilliant deduction that there weren’t very many jobs in the plant sciences. He changed careers and earned his living as a statistical programmer. After weighing all the statistical probabilities, he now believes it’s time for another career change to author. His many scientific and programming experiences enable him to write authentic and intriguing mysteries.

Brian was born and raised in Northeast Ohio and loves to incorporate his familiarity with the region into his characters’ lives. He now lives with his wife and 16 cats—unfortunately, that number isn’t a typo—in beautiful rural Tennessee.