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Monday, December 14, 2020

The Mitford Trial - Jessica Fellowes- A Mitford Mystery~ Pre-Order NOW!!

I very much enjoy Jessica Fellowes Mitford mysteries, featuring Louisa Cannon, who began her working career as nursemaid,then lady's maid to the famous Mitford family's daughters.Louisa's wedding to Guy Sullivan DS, of London's Metropolitan occurs as the story opens- with the entire Mitford family in attendance a happy day!


As war clouds hover over the UK, Louisa is induced to report to British authorities anything that transpires on a cruise that Lady Redesdale and her daughters Diana Guinness and Unity are taking. Diana's relationship with Sir Oswald Mosley and both sister's fascist leanings are of concern to UK authorities.

Guy turns up on the cruise as he is worried about Louisa and a murder happens that he as a police officer handles. The plot is long and complicated and involves British secret intelligence, double agent spies etc. The murder itself is based on a real crime but in real life the Mitfords are not involved in this.

It was a bit too complicated and long but I do enjoy the characters and hope for a sequel ( pretty sure there will be one)

 

Monday, November 9, 2020

River of Sins- A Bradcote and Catchpoll Mystery - Sarah Hawkwood-Medieval Mystery at it's finest! BLOG TOUR@Allisonandbusby


 #RiverofSins #NetGalley #Allison& Busby#Sarah Hawkswood.. Many thanks to these people for this enthralling ARC. 

"July 1144. Ricolde, ‘the finest whore in Worcester’, is found butchered on an island a few miles up the River Severn. How did she get there, who killed her, and why? Uncovering details of her life and her past reveal a woman with hidden depths and hidden miseries which are fundamental to the answers, but time has cast a thick veil over the killer’s identity. "

The mystery was so very complex with many twists and turns and not-quite-dead-ends. Characterization is superb and grows even better with every outing, I've read and reviewed all 7. 

Sergeant Catchpoll and the Undersheriff, minor Lord  Hugh Bradcote have learned to respect and trust each other's judgement and instincts. The Lord Sheriff himself, in this outing defended his men to the Castellan, who tries to insert himself in everything that he can.

Both Bradcote and their Sergeant-in-training Walkelin make a misstep or two that endangers them. This allowed at least one more murder to be committed, personally impacting  the young Walkelin. Each time they were able to protect each other and come together as a team.

Christina Bradcote makes an appearance with a secret and other promising minor characters have evolved.  I am so looking forward to more in this series.A medieval mystery at it's finest, my favorite genre! 




River of Sins Q &A Kathleen and Sarah Hawkswood

The Bradecote and Catchpoll series is set during the 'Anarchy' of King Stephen's reign in the 1140s. What prompted you to write about this point in the mediaeval period?
The Anarchy was a period in 12thC which was noted in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for the increase in violence in comparison with the previous reign. Ellis Peters set her Brother Cadfael novels in the same period and often used the loyalties of characters to King Stephen or the  Empress Maud within the plots. Other than an element to the first book, I have chosen to look not at national politics, other than it keeping William de Beauchamp, Sheriff of Worcestershire, with one eye always upon the political situation, and looked instead at how a period of increased lawlessness would affect ordinary people. I have no proof that the incidence of murder was higher during Stephen’s reign than during that of Henry I before him or Henry II after him, but it is logical, given the commentaries. It was certainly likely to have exacerbated rivalry between those with power, and created an atmosphere of distrust and fear.



How do you make your mediaeval characters vital to modern readers (I think you have a knack for it!)?
Thank you, I am glad that you think so, but it is a terribly difficult question to answer, because I do not set out to do that, rather it comes by chance. If I had to analyse it, I suppose it stems in part from accepting that whilst we have changed a lot in nine centuries when it comes to societal norms and accepted behaviours, human nature has not mutated. As  an example of the former, in the 12thC religious belief was not ‘optional’. Being ‘godless’ was essentially like being an outlaw, setting a man apart from society, so Bradecote, Catchpoll and Walkelin have genuine faith and expect it among their fellows, even law breakers. That could not be taken for granted today.
 
However, the motivations for murder, fear, greed, revenge, lust and anger, are no different today than in the 1140s.The essence of what it is to be human, the moral core (or lack of it), the fears and the desires, do not change. Why should one think that just because death was ever-present, that men and women grieved the less when they lost those they loved? Jealousy is jealousy, anger is anger. I just write people by ‘walking with them’. I write very visually, in that I can ‘see’ the layout of a village, watch a dog scratch itself for fleas, and I observe the people I write from close quarters, then step into their mind set, making adjustments for their historical period but treating them as people, not mannequins in odd clothes. This works for the vast majority of characters, but I admit that Catchpoll is different. Catchpoll is a part of me, because I gave him  elements of my own father, grandfather and great-grandfather, all senior NCOs in the Royal Marines. He has their pragmatism, their awareness that with rank comes the need to ‘act’, to be what everyone expects a sergeant-major, or a sheriff’s serjeant to be - calm in all circumstances, unshockable, and yes, seemingly omniscient. Like them, Catchpoll does not deal in problems, but solutions, and he does not expect to fail. It is an attitude of mind.

The focus on the victimization of women in River of Sins really spoke to me (I was the Director of a Battered Women's Agency as a Social Worker and wrote many grants using the Violence Against Women Act co-sponsored by Joe Biden). What drew you to Ricolde's story? 

The highlighting of the victimization of women has been within the series from early on - from the case of poor Nerys Ford, in the second book, Ordeal by Fire,  a girl who, like Ricolde, ended up selling the only thing she owned, her own body. I was reminded of the case of German women at the end of WWII who prostituted themselves to Allied soldiers so that their children did not starve. Such women were not of low morals, not cheap, but absolutely desperate. Ricolde came into my head in the opening scene, and I wanted her death, the ultimate victimization, to also be her defiance of that status. She will not give her killer the sense of power and the pleasure of seeing her fearful.  I wanted to show a woman who had become strong, as Christina Bradecote has become strong, having faced the worst men can do. It contrasts with other women in the series who remain victims in their own minds, who ‘conform’ to victimhood and never fight against it. That too has not changed much in nine hundred years. 

I do not condone prostitution, but the sad fact is that it really is ‘the oldest profession'. That judging a woman solely upon her selling herself is inherently flawed is something Bradecote comes to realize, and Catchpoll already knows. I do show women who are sluttish from inclination (Mald, who hides the forger in Hostage to Fortune, is one and will reappear in Book 9) but she shows the opportunist rather than the woman driven by need. There is also the issue of the women whose husbands mistreat them, from Christina, to Sibbe, and three very different women in the next book in the series, Blood Runs Thicker.

 At the same time, I am not flying some flag that says 'Men are all beasts'. In 'my boys' I show three very different men who are all revolted by the concept of cruelty to women. Now, that would not mean Catchpoll would not have smacked his wife's rump if he had found her flirting with another man  in their earlier days, because he, being of his time, would accept that as 'just retribution', which is not acceptable now. However, violence that is for its own sake, violence that is repeated, excessive or even worse, for gratification, is abhorrent to all of them. I do not think that too modern a viewpoint either.

Where has some of the research for each 'case' series taken you?
The answer to that is some strange places, if one does not mean purely geographical, including doing experiments to work out what a heated and slowly evaporating  salt paste would do to skin (using a piece of pork belly with the skin on it), to trying various substances as accelerants on a thick piece of wood to represent an oak plank. As an historian I have a reasonable sense of the period, but one learns more of the political and social history than the practical, so I have had to research how assorted trades were conducted in the twelfth century, and indeed not just what people ate but how they cooked and stored their food. That was never on any curriculum when I was at university. 

Who are your biggest historical crime fiction inspirations?
I admire Ellis Peters for her ability to create a world into which so many people have chosen to step, and then kept them there with her main character, but my real inspirations come from not from historical crime at all but the ‘Golden Age of Crime’ fiction. Dorothy L Sayers and Ngaio Marsh both provide good plots, but it is the excellence of their characters, especially their central characters, that draws me. I freely admit I am not trying to see how few people work out ‘whodunnit before page X’. I do not mind. What I want is to entertain, in a decent historical context, so that the readers follow the series because they want to accompany Hugh Bradecote, Serjeant Catchpoll and Young Walkelin as they work out  who committed the murder(s).

What next for Bradecote, Catchpoll and Walkelin?
There is quite a bit to come for my trio of sheriff’s men, with the eighth book in the series, Blood Runs Thicker, due out in March 2021, and the ninth book to follow. I am currently working on book number ten.

Tuesday, October 20, 2020

The Last Mrs. Summers- A Royal Spyness Mystery- Fun light read~


  "Georgie is just back from her honeymoon with Darcy when a friend in need pulls her into a murder while in Cornwall"


A fun read, not a great deal of mystery although I was surprised at who the murderer actually was.Her friend Belinda inherited property in Cornwall that s the two of them went to see. Darcy appears in Cornwall, improbably, towards the end.

Tuesday, September 8, 2020

#NothingGoodHappensAfterMidnight #NetGalley - Enjoyable Mystery Anthology- Nothing Good Happens After Midnight


  #NothingGoodHappensAfterMidnight #NetGalley Very enjoyable book of short stories by some important authors, thanks Netgalleyand Suspense Publishing.


Not my usual type of reading but Linwood Barclay, Rhys Bowen and Hank Phillippi Ryan's stories were especially fun reads! Recommended!!

Sunday, September 6, 2020

#TheOutcastGirls #NetGalley - Alys Clare- The Outcast Girls~ Preorder Now!

#TheOutcastGirls #NetGalley  An interesting read from a favorite author-  Thanks Severn House and NetGalley. 

"Private investigators Lily Raynor and Felix Wilbraham get more than they bargain for when they take on a case in a girls' boarding school, in the latest World's End Bureau Victorian mystery."

I had not read book the first book in series, so I had to get adjusted to the characters and the pace.  I became more  engrossed as I read and the ending pulled the atmosphere more together for me.

Very much hoping that Lily and Felix get closer in the next outing- it seems to be heading that way!
India seems to be a theme for Lily and the other characters in this one. 
Recommended for Alys Clare fans and others.

Tuesday, September 1, 2020

One Was a Soldier- Julia Spencer- Fleming ~ Exciting Read!

After I read book #6 which the author reduced for a day I wanted to read more- So I got the combined volume 7 and 8 and am glad I did. I gave i 4.5 but rounded up to 5 for the ending, as well as the characters which I enjoy.

I probably found there too be a bit too much war, military deployments,PTSD and head trauma which of course speaks to the characters. I enjoyed that many or most of them are alive and able to process through their injuries and go one with life.

Glad that I have the next book, "Through The Evil Days". to continue and see the outcome of all these events. I am hoping the title does not mean no positive character events will occur.

Tuesday, August 25, 2020

#FindingMyFather #NetGalley Deborah Tannen- Finding My Father~ Unique Read!

#FindingMyFather #NetGalley 4.5 stars rounded up to 5. Deborah Tannin has written a remarkable memoir of her father's life- actually of her whole family's lives. She started it many years ago and she was encouraged by her father. It was a labor of love.

I had read her previous books on discourse so I pounced on this one, which turned out to different than I anticipated. The parts I really got interested in where her father's early life in Warsaw, his communism and how it affected his family.

The ending of the books wraps it up and normalizes their somewhat unusual family line. I'm glad I read it and thank NetGalley and Random House for this advanced copy. I will enjoy seeing how others feel about the book. 

Friday, August 21, 2020

I Shall Not Want- Julia Spencer-Fleming ~ Exciting and Well Written~

So glad I was able to see this book on a one day sale and snatched it up. It was a terrific exciting read  and I just purchased the next two books (7 and 8) in a kindle bundle. I review books for authors, mostly from NetGalley and am very selective  with what I read.

Rev. Clare and Chief Russ are very complex characters and well developed. I'm sure I will need to read the whole series for understanding and that will happen. This book was a finalist for the Agatha Award, and the next two have big time awards also, so I'm sure I have lots of great reads ahead of me.

This edition has migrant workers being targeted with execution style murders and further investigation points to Millers Kill,N.Y being part of a drug cartel with  connections to some less-than -savory locals. So add a rookie female police new hire, assaults on almost everyone and culmination in Rev. Clare having her unit called up to Iraq and the plot is intricate and perhaps heavily violent.

I am heartily recommending this one!

Tuesday, August 18, 2020

Sisters of the Southern Cross - Very Engrossing Novel ~

Just when I thought I had read the best of Jean Grainger's books, I discovered "Sisters of the Southern Cross" and read it right through!

"Sister Claire McAuliffe has been called from Dungarvan, County Waterford, to do God’s work in Jumaaroo, Queensland. Along with four other sisters she is charged with setting up a Catholic school... But life there is far from the spectacular paradise it seems."

Sister Claire risks life and limb multiple times to rid this area of a unscrupulous wealthy man who had killed and robbed to get to a prominent place in this place. The story painted an idealistic picture of an area that did practice white supremacy, and how the church, the Catholic sisters, and others attempted change. 

Friday, August 14, 2020

Enjoyable Amazon First Read- Complex and Entertaining~


"Lizzy Moon never wanted Moon Girl Farm."
It was an enjoyable Amazon First Reads from Prime Reading and I appreciate getting the chance to read it. "The Last of the Moon Girls" was a complex novel of nine generations of women, who essentially did not enter into marital relationships, and were tied to their farm. They each left a "life book" for their descendants, and Lizzy gets guidance from her beloved grandmother which free her.

Lizzy (Elzibeth) Moon is said to be the last of this line, although it is still a bit unclear if that holds true as she expects a daughter at the end of the story.. The difference is that she married, and was able to solve some tangled problems about her family saga. The ending was positive although there was a lot of back and forth throughout the book. 

Monday, August 10, 2020

#TheDarkestEvening #NetGalley - Ann Cleeves - Vera Stanhope #9 ~ Best So Far~

What a great Vera Stanhope book this was! 5 Stars thanks #TheDarkestEvening #NetGalley and St. Martin's press for this one! I also want to say Ann Cleeves new series was great and I'm going to grab the 3 Vera Stanhopes I did not yet get to.

"On the first snowy night of winter, Detective Inspector Vera Stanhope sets off for her home in the hills...Vera assumes that the owner has gone to find help. But a cry calls her back: a toddler is strapped in the back seat."

Vera seems to be mellowing with age, as she was more tolerant of her assistants and definitely felt an affinity with her remaining Stanhope cousin.I read it right through except for when I was sleeping.

The mystery held until the end of the book and almost to Vera's end..She left it a bit too long I think.
It ended nicely with most of the (living) characters in a pretty good emotional place.

Recommended for any mystery fan!

Free Short Story! Yay! Vera Stanhope ! Thanks All!~

Pleasantly surprised to find this small novella for free on Amazon. Thanks to Ann Cleeves and MacMillan her publisher for this small gift.

I enjoyed hearing what Vera might have done on a day off and that she lives close to Hadrian's Wall, just wish it wasn't so short and that the quick confession had a bit more expression to it.

Again I am happy to have read it! Just finished rereading the whole series and recently reviewed the two newest Vera books! Carry on Ann and Vera! Loved the cover also!

Monday, August 3, 2020

Extremely Well Written- Amazon First Read- 5 Stars

This was an extremely well written book on WWII, a book topic I have been enjoying the last several months. Appreciate getting this Amazon First Read free on Prime and will be reading more of her books.

Max serves on the Western Front as a Medic ( he was trained as a dentist), in the Hurtgen Forest 1944-45 where he befriend three young Germans who were in the Resistance. He saves one of their lives and remains attached to them emotionally his whole life. Metta or Margarethe was his first contact of the trio and they had a brief clandestine love affair which resulted in a child.

Max returns to the US but looks for Margarethe through most of his life. His daughter, Dr. Beth Cohen helps him to find his lost love at the end of his life. It was a great read! 

Thursday, July 16, 2020

When We Believed In Mermaids - Barbara O'Neal! - 5 Star Read~ Moving~

I found this a great read and very moving, I was afraid when I read others reviews that the ending would not be so great, but it was ! "To regain their relationship, they may have to lose everything" Well they didn't and I thoroughly enjoyed all of it.

"Her sister has been dead for fifteen years when she sees her on the TV news…" and so Kit, with her mother's urging, flies to Auckland New Zealand to try to find her sister, missing for 15 years. She finds her sister, in a new life and in an extraordinary way she rediscovers herself.

I am going to try another of Barbara O'Neal's novels.

Sunday, July 5, 2020

#FindMe #NetGalley - Out Now - #1 Best Seller - Anne Frasier- Find Me

#FindMe #NetGalley Thanks for this exciting read!
Amazingly well done thriller of two people, Daniel and Reni- both have been working largely in the same field for the same purpose. Reni as a FBI Profiler and Daniel as an investigative detective. The same serial killer had motivated both of them.

Reni's father, Ben known as the Inland Empire serial killer, whose arrest when she was eight years old had marred her life was ready to divulge where he had buried the bodies. Daniel who had interviewed him many times had strong suspicions that his mother was one of them.

Ben Fisher had a condition on this disclosure, that his daughter accompany them and a minimum of people would be a part of this happening. A complex series of events ensues which began to unravel layers of suppressed memories and some astonishing revelations.

I was almost afraid to read at night! Absolutely riveting and I will await the sequel

Monday, June 22, 2020

So Much Owed- Jean Grainger ~ 5 Stars ~ Breathtaking!

A spellbinding story about WWII in Ireland and everyone who featured in it. Jean Grainger is a very fine historian who weaves the facts of the Irish Free State, North Ireland and it's alliances into very intriguing stories. As a descendant of Irish Free State folks, most who came to the US prior to the Anglo Irish Treaty, I still am enthralled. After all, my great grand aunts uncles and cousins lived in Cork City, Mitchelstown Cork and surrounding Tipperary and Limerick, many in 1921.

This particular story, spanning a generation, pulled South and Northern Irish as well as British, into European wars with Germany. The twins James and Juliet, in their contrasting relationship with the mother who abandoned them, had incredibly different paths through this conflict. Their father, who had fought in the earlier war in France, tried to stay neutral, as did others. He and the Cork community were their touchstones and eventually pulled them back home.

I could not put this one down, as is often the case with Jean Graingers novels. Remarkably complex, it is a must read!

Saturday, June 13, 2020

Candace Robb - Owen Archer #12 #AChoirofCrows #NetGalley- Preorder Now!

Owen Archer has his work cut out for him as he is now a sort of spymaster/consultant to the Black Prince(Edward)as well as Captain of the City Bailiffs, an all encompassing title. The author describes it as a murder mystery in her notes, but it seems almost to be a political historical tale with some deaths involved.

Lucie and Owen's children are recovering from a longish illness as the story opens which is why the hours is full of healers and helpers. I felt the characters had more depth than the last episode, much more vibrant. There were a lot of subplots and much intrigue- babies being born, people falling off roofs, and watchers of ladies at the midden!

The Nevilles descending on the city for Alexander's installation as Archbishop thrown in even more political upheaval, violence and mayhem. Enjoyable if a bit confusing.

Friday, June 5, 2020

Harbor Street - A Vera Stanhope Mystery- Ann Cleeves does it again!! 5 Stars!

This mystery twisted and turned until the very end , which was Christmas Eve! Joe Ashworth and his daughter Jessie were on the Metro 
(rapid transit in US) returning from his daughters choir concert in Newcastle Northumberland.

The train stops before the destination at Mardle dues to excessive snow. Passengers were being collected by a transit bus, but Jessie notices a nearby passenger was not moving. She runs back to "wake" the lady and then screams! This gripping tale both begins and ends with Jessie.

The murder victim,"Margaret Krukowski has been fatally stabbed. Why would anyone want to harm this reserved, elegant lady?" (Publisher blurb) The rest of the story revolves around Margaret's life on Harbor Street which had many twists and turns. Mardle a fictional town held many deep secrets and Ann Cleeves wove an impressive tale, as always!

Thursday, May 28, 2020

The Star and the Shamrock- Jean Grainger- Skillful author Great read! 5 Stars

I so very much enjoyed this book and purchased the next one at 3AM. Thanks to Prime reading for bringing this one to my attention and to Jean Grainger a skillful storyteller. 5 Stars!

It's not my usual read but books from WWII are increasingly popular and meaningful to me, as a war baby. Many Irish sayings such as "the wreck of the Hesperus" were familiar to me. Until I started this book I knew nothing about the Kindertransport or what it was about but am awed by it and other humanitarian efforts during this time period.

I especially enjoyed the storyline that was superimposed on this tale and am looking forward to the next two volumes of this tale. The characters and their relationships seemed improbable at first, but then came to life. It was what I needed to read and not a more journalistic sort of book. 

Monday, May 25, 2020

The Lantern Men- Elly Griffiths~ Book #12~ Preorder your Copy NOW!

#TheLanternMen #NetGalley. Thanks to both NetGalley, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and, the ever so talented Elly Griffiths, for this absolutely terrific Ruth Galloway #12. I read it right through and so hated for it to end!

Good news is that the ending seems to be taking Ruth back to Norfolk- and Nelson? She was not really content in Cambridge even with the more lucrative position. Could Frank be going with her? I'm not sure but maybe not.This was definitely not the place she wanted to live so I'll see who turns up in Book #13.

The Lantern Men, of course, was impeccably researched and suitably thrilling. The mystery itself was multilayered and tailored to this cast of characters, who are partly law enforcement, and partly forensic anthropologists. It was breathtaking until almost the very end!

Recommended highly for lovers of the best of mysteries

Thursday, May 14, 2020

The Dutch House - Ann Patchett - Wonderful Read!~ Family dysfunction at it's finest~ 5 Stars !

I very much enjoyed this book although I almost stopped reading it when Andrea made Danny and Maeve leave the house after their father died. It was at night and I woke up during the night trying to figure out where the story line would go and what would happen next. I decided in the morning I better finish reading it- so glad I did.

It tells the story of siblings, as Danny said at the end it was supposed to be about his sister Maeve and how they dealt with family dysfunction. It could have been about adult children of alcoholics as the dynamics are the same- "Same House -Different Homes", Danny and Maeve had "different" mothers and fathers emotionally.

Danny and his family did better through life than Maeve, which is to be expected as she "protected" him from the loss of his mother and every catastrophe almost that he encountered. He was closer to his father because she was not and because his father valued his son a bit more.

A great read!! My Book Club September Selection

Friday, May 8, 2020

Death of a Prominent Citizen - Cora Harrison- Reverend Mother Mystery #7 ~ Love This Series!!

Huge thanks to Severn House, Cora Harrison, #NetGalley for this advance copy of #DeathofaProminentCitizen. I adore this series, Reverend Mother Mystery #7, and found myself unable to put this book down, except to sleep. The period detail and the characters are so entrancing to me, not the least as details I know happened to my ancestors are unfolded. What a terrible time for all but the upper class citizens at this time, the immediate aftermath of the Irish Civil War.

"Money is the root of all evil, according to the Reverend Mother – but is it the motive for her cousin's murder?"

Wealthy Charlotte Hendrick, first cousin to the Reverend Mother and 6 others, was not a warm character as well as being a slum landlord. She decides to change her will and exclude 6 of her cousins and invites them to her mansion to "present their cases" on what they would do with an inheritance. The evening of the presentation falls on a night of riots on the nearby quays, and in the morning, Reverend Mother finds her cousin deceased with her throat cut.

Was this an outside murder related to the landlord riots or was it a distraught relative who did not want to be disinherited ?Reverend Mother, Inspector Patrick Cashman with his Sergeant Joe and Dr. Scher spend the following week finding the murderer. Of course Reverend Mother figures it out and it was a completely unexpected ending- but VERY satisfactory! Love this series.

The Molten City- Tom Harper Mystery # 8- Chris Nickson~ Historically correct and intensely absorbing~

As always Chris Nickson brings Leeds to life with #TheMoltenCity, which gives a hint of the conflagration which is to come. Thanks to #NetGalley and Severn House for outing number 8 of the Detective Superintendent Tom Harper series. It was a thrilling and complex historical novel to read.

"Detective Superintendent Tom Harper senses trouble ahead when the prime minister plans a visit. Can he keep law and order on the streets while also uncovering the truth behind a missing child?"

Two ( at least), events are taking place, started by an anonymous letter from a dying woman hoping to clear her conscience about knowledge of the child snatching of Andrew Sharp , 14 years before.

As Harper starts to look into this disturbing event, he is informed that he will be in charge of the arrival of Herbert Asquith, Prime Minister to the city. This visit, unlike that of King Edward, will be made dangerous by Leeds already being roiled by by tensions between suffragettes and the unemployed. Tom Harper's wife and now 16 years old daughter seem to be in opposition on the tactics of the suffragettes versus the women's suffrage lower keyed movement.

Events keep the whole city force and other town law enforcement entities stretched very thin with both violence and murders happening with the older child abductions case(s) and the anticipated rioting at the PM's speech.

A very entertaining book on more than one level which kept my attention to the end. Chris Nickson draws on actual historical events, and marvelous period detail, to enmesh his fine mysteries in.

The Beantown Girls -Jane Healey- Thanks Prime Reading ~ 5 Stars~

Like others, I too would like to read more about the Red Cross Commissary effort..My husband who is a WWII history nut knew nothing about this group, although he knew about the events they were in..I loved this book and would love for a sequel to show where everyone was.

The beginning was also good but when they got through training it really took off. I was a war baby in the US so enjoy all of this. I was born right before the victory in the Pacific. in July.

The story was based on actual historical events that happened to known Commissary Red Cross units and some of those events were amazing. Fiona, Dottie and Vi were college friends who joined for various reasons. Fiona's fiance had been declared missing and she wanted to go and help the war effort, and perhaps find out where he was. Both things happened in a pretty amazing fashion.
Recommended

Thursday, April 30, 2020

the Last Bathing Beauty- Amy Sue Nathan ~ Story for Boomers ~

The second half of the book was more enjoyable ( to me anyway) than the first, which was a bit slow. Betty Stern was raised by her grandparents at their kosher resort on Lake Michigan; now in her 80s she feels that her life was micromanaged and taken out of her hands.

She and her two friends since kindergarten were going to spend a last few weeks at the resort,now her home, in anticipation of her moving to live with her son.Events took on a life of their own, as her granddaughter Hannah announces a pregnancy, while unsure she will marry the father. Deja Vu for Betty who has been called "Boop" most of her life.

Most of the books was spent reviewing her early years, but quickly coalesces about her own unplanned pregnancy, wedding and her regrets. There is a fun surprise ending one would not expect. Recommended for seniors, boomers and others.

Monday, April 27, 2020

The Giver of Stars~ Jojo Moyes ~ Very awesome book!!

5 Stars ! What a marvelous book! I couldn't wait to finish it and see what happened how it all turned out. Now I must read more about the Pack Horse Librarians and exactly what they did, when and how.

Alice Wright,a young English girl meets and marries a man, Bennett Van Cleve from Kentucky who was on a tour with his father. It was a whirlwind marriage that failed abysmally for a variety of reasons, and had repercussions throughout a small Kentucky town.

To escape from the situation she finds herself in, Alice heeds a call to join a WPA group needing librarians who have riding skills. The life she begins, to live are almost terminated by her father-in-law, an unscrupulous mine owner using blackmail and lies to ruin her and her companions.

A quick paced book with vivid depictions of Appalachian life, very fine writing and a terrific ending.

Tuesday, April 21, 2020

The Queen's Secret - Karen Harper~ Entertaining Read ~ Preorder!

I enjoyed this book by Karen Harper although it clearly was a novel, with some aspects likely embellished for the story line. The "secrets", more than one of them by the way, may be partly rumor and innuendo but of course did not detract from the story. The author used them adroitly in the story, whether they are factual or fabricated in some way.

The most enjoyable parts of this novel for me were the day to day events going on with the war and it's effects on England and it's people.Their is no doubt the "Queen Mum" as she was later called was a beloved figure to many.

I have read and enjoyed several books by this author, this one was a good read but not my favorite.
Recommended for the time period.

Monday, March 23, 2020

#TheLifeline #NetGalley- Margaret Mayhew - PreOrder Now - Available April 1, 2020

#TheLifeline #NetGalley Thanks to Severn House, NetGalley and Margaret Mayhew author for this new-to-me cozy mystery series book. "Ruth Harvey runs a successful plant-selling business and provides gardening therapy for an increasing number of her husband Dr Tom Harvey's troubled patients" - troubled describes those working at the nursery as well as others connected to them.

The Colonel is well thought of at Frog End village and kind to all he meets. He has adopted an aging cat, several odd neighbors and often has to "fend off" his daughter in law's plans for his visits.
When a cantankerous man is killed at the nursery, Jacob, their gardener who has issues with relating to others is suspected.

The Colonel is able to solve the mystery, not as adroitly has others expected and life seems to be going on. A new mystery series for me, enjoyable and slow paced.

Sunday, February 16, 2020

Marked to Die- Sarah Hawkswood- 5 Stars ~ New Favorite Series ~

Again a great read, especially since I read both the middle of the series and finished and then read the first 3 books. Happily I now have them all and can reread them another year on my kindle. Am very much hoping that Sarah Hawkswood is busily writing another in the series.

Book #3 tells the story of how Lord Hugh Bradecote and Lady Christina met and ended up together.
I started a book later when they were betrothed and persevered through the rest of the books- Happily I must add!

The characters are well developed and engaging in their interactions, and the author does a marvelous job with both history and period dialogue. It's not often that I buy up a whole series to read at once.

Monday, February 3, 2020

The Last Child - John Hart - A Compelling Read~ Good Ending!

Read this for my new reading group at our library. It was not my usual reading genre but was well written, obviously since it won multiple awards including the Edgar Award in 2010. A bit stark and allegorical but a compelling read nevertheless.

I had mixed feelings at the ending, but they were mostly positive, as it seemed their lives would definitely improve. Johnny's  twin sister Alyssa  would not return, nor would his father but there was some closure .

Johnny's father had not left his family, but was killed in his search for his daughter. Alyssa's death was not the horror story it seemed it was but sudden and accidental. The cover-up of her death rocked Johnny's world, but his mother's return to stability and the presence of Detective Hunt were positive.

It was difficult to put it aside once I got into it, although I mostly read it in the daytime. I'm a comfort reader also, I read mysteries but medieval and ancient history mysteries have characters long dead and in a different setting than North Carolina.

From the publisher:"Thirteen year-old Johnny Merrimon had the perfect life: a warm home and loving parents; a twin sister, Alyssa, with whom he shared an irreplaceable bond. He knew nothing of loss, until the day Alyssa vanished from the side of a lonely street. Now, a year later, Johnny finds himself isolated and alone, failed by the people he’d been taught since birth to trust. No one else believes that Alyssa is still alive, but Johnny is certain that she is---confident in a way that he can never fully explain."

Sunday, January 26, 2020

Rhys Bowen - New Standalone ~ Above the Bay of Angels"~ Victorian Mystery and Fun Read !

AboveTheBayOfAngels #NetGalley Thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union for this advance copy of Rhys Bowen's latest stand alone."A single twist of fate puts a servant girl to work in Queen Victoria’s royal kitchen, setting off a suspenseful, historical mystery"

 I enjoyed it and the historical period it evoked. Of course Queen Victoria was a bit out of known character but who knows?

 I would not mind it being the beginning of a short series as the characters were a bit uneven, but that came and went in the book. That often happens with the first part of a series.

I enjoyed the time period and setting and it was a fun read! I think that Helen/Bella's figuring out the killer was a little bit hard to be plausible, but it was fiction.

Ordeal By Fire - Bradecote and Catchpoll Mystery - Sarah Hawkswood ~ A New Favorite Series !!

I am so glad I saw Book #4 as a "to read" at Netgalley a couple months ago and enjoyed it.. Once I was "into" the characters I purchased the rest with an Amazon Kindle rebate. Only one more book to read (snif snif) but I will have the whole series and can reread in a year or so AND I understand Sarah Hawkswood is writing now ( Hopefully book #7 )

Rereading is satisfactory with a great series like this as right now I am going backwards and forwards with the characters.

Book # 1 saw Hugh Bradecote doing some service for his manorial duty to his overlord the Sheriff of Worcester and being appointed undersheriff. In this tale he is summoned to the city in William de Beauchamp's absence to a string of arsons, very perilous in Medieval times in cities due to flimsy construction, close proximity to other dwellings within the city walls.

Bradecote had gone home after his service and appointment to his wife's anticipated lying-in for his first child. He has a son now but his wife did not survive and he has been confused, morose and guilty every since. It has been 3 weeks, and when he receives his summons from the castellan of Worcester to lead the investigation into the series of fires, he at least has a purpose.

The fires and their perpetrator remained a mystery for most of the book, deaths resulted and the ending was both sad and hopeful a young boy's future. I am off to the next book, Marked to Die. Great Series!!

Wednesday, January 22, 2020

The Irish Princess- Elizabeth Chadwick- A "Must Read"~ 5 Stars~

What a fascinating historical novel about a pivotal time for many people. Elizabeth Chadwick is a favorite author, of course, but the supporting characters in addition to Richard de Clare are known to me ancestrally.

My maternal ancestors are from Ireland, Faunt from Limerick (13th century castle), who came in the retinue of the Norman Kings.They were knights and mercenaries, from the very south of France along the Mediterranean. In addition, my father's Kirwans were from the Wexford border and his mother a Carrow, (Raymond le Gros was born in Carew Castle) from The Welsh Marches. I am a lot Irish but mostly Norman Irish (per DNA results also). I have Pendergast cousins still in County Wexford, (characters Maurice Pendergast and his family.

The history here was superb, I knew little about Aoife and her parents but a good bit about Isabelle who married William, Henry, John and Henry III's marshal both in Wales and Ireland.It was delightful to read about how the Normans came to Ireland initially and what they did there (not all of it savory by any means).My Great Grandfather was Patrick Faunt born in Limerick to a Soldier in the British army in 1865( yes, they stayed as military people and "nailers" or blacksmiths in the armies over the centuries.

I loved this book for many reasons, not the least that it was so carefully written with extraordinarily vivid characters who, I feel were true to what they were in life. Recommended to many, including my Irish relatives.

Sunday, January 19, 2020

Servant of Death - Sarah Hawkswood- The First Bradecote and Catchpoll Mystery- Great read!

Book # 1 of Bradecote and Catchpoll did not disappoint, it was a great read! I started the series with Book # 4 which is Hostage to Fortune which I got as an ARC at NetGalley. I plan to review all of them there and also at Edelweiss.

Hugh Bradecote is performing some obligatory rounding up of a lawless band for his overlord the Sheriff of Worcester. They stop for the night at Pershore Abbey,to find the Sheriff was to be sent for as Eudo, clerk of the Bishop of Winchester had been murdered.

The Sheriff quickly deputizes Bradecote as Undersheriff to fill a temporary vacancy and leaves him and Serjeant Catchpoll to solve the mystery. A rough five days ensues with all suspects kept in the Abbey, where murders kept happening.

A great entry into this series, which leaves Hugh as permanent Undersheriff to fill a now permanent vacancy, thereby yoking he and the Serjeant together.

Wednesday, January 1, 2020

Vale of Tears- Sarah Hawkswood- Bradecote and Catchpoll # 5 - Well written series !!

My first book finished in 2020 ( well shortly before 2020 actually)

I reviewed book #4 for NetGalley and liked it a lot, but as it was a bit violent, this next book was almost perfect. Vale of Tears, Book #5 was all about a complicated mystery which happily was resolved.This Bradecote and Catchpoll mystery brings Walkelin, "sergeant-in-training" right into the very good mystery and puts him in danger.

There were a lot of deaths, solved and mostly solved all of which lead to a lord of the manor of Harvington, whose wife was recently deceased and her brother's body found floating in a mill leat. This of course takes them only to river Avon communities starting in Fladbury and ending at the Sheriff's Castle in Worcester.

Agatha and Leofwine reuniting after many years as friends after being bereaved brings a more hopeful ending to this story. Sarah Hawkswood is a very fine author and I am n on to the next in the series.