The Lost Summers of Newport is, quite simply, a solid, cracking yarn, another novel in which Williams, Willig and White each take the point of view of a different women, weaving together stories of soapy scandal, heartbreak and true love in a convincing way. These three stories take place among the upmarket glitz and glamor…
A Sunlit Weapon is the seventeenth book in the Maisie Dobbs series and I don’t recommend it as a standalone. Several events from past novels in the series are referred to, meaning this book contains spoilers for those works and this one also relies heavily on the reader’s knowledge of occurrences/characters in previous instalments. October…
I eagerly await the release of a new Sebastian St. Cyr book every year; we’re up to book seventeen with When Blood Lies and it’s one of the best of the recent instalments, a fabulous blend of whodunit and history set in Paris in March of 1815, in the days leading up to Napoleon’s escape…
The Missing Page is the second book to feature country doctor James Sommers and spy Leo Page, whom we first met in Hither, Page, a cosy mystery (sort of – true cosies aren’t supposed to include sex or swearing and there’s a little bit of both here!) set in a sleepy English village a few…
A most unexpected client shows up at Charlotte Holmes’s doorstep: Moriarty himself. Moriarty fears that tragedy has befallen his daughter and wants Charlotte to find out the truth. Charlotte and Mrs. Watson travel to a remote community of occult practitioners where Moriarty’s daughter was last seen, a place full of lies and liars. Meanwhile, Charlotte’s…
Opening around a year after the events of the previous book (The Wedding Night Affair), The Sign of the Raven, the second book in L.C. Sharp’s series of historical mysteries set in Georgian London sees husband and wife Ash and Juliana looking into the suspicious death of a nobleman at a firework display. Like the…
The Great War has finally come to an end, but that doesn’t mean army nurse Bess Crawford’s days of fighting crime are finished. In An Irish Hostage, Bess travels to Ireland for the wedding of an old friend only to discover a missing groom, distraught bride and a village seething with rage regarding the upcoming…
I’m a big fan of historical mystery so I was happy to pick up the latest A Sparks & Bainbridge Mystery by Allison Montclair. A Rogue’s Company is the third volume of the series and I hate coming into a mystery series in the middle. So, I listened to the first two books in preparation…
The Wedding Night Affair is the first book in a new series of historical mysteries set in Georgian England entitled Ash & Juliana for its two protagonists – Sir Edmund Ashendon, a well-to-do young lawyer and Lady Juliana, daughter and sole heir to the Earl of Hawksworth. This opening instalment has a similar premise to…
A Retro Review originally published on December 30, 1999 I was never much of a history student. Dry textbooks just didn’t hold my interest. Because of my love for adventure, intrigue and romance, much of what I’ve learned about medieval England has been gleaned from historical romances. I believe Roberta Gellis is one of the…