Thanks to NetGalley and St.Martin's Press for this fine review book. It is obvious why Ann Cleeves has such success with her mysteries and this one may be the best one I have read.
A new series, this tale begins in North Devon with Matthew Venn's sadness at the early part of his life and ends on an upturn of those same facts. This was one book I essentially "read right through" unusual for me!
In between comes a cast of interesting and complex characters who were developed exceptionally well which include Detective Matthew Venn, his husband Jonathon, Matthew's team and a cast of characters portrayed with warmth and dignity. Entrancing.
Several women who had varied developmental disabilities were introduced to us, all of them very vibrant and likeable. Cherished by their parents and their educators they were drawn into a complicated plot to defraud where they and others were in harms way.
I am so looking forward to the next book in this unique series
"Karen Harper tells the tale of Consuelo Vanderbilt, her “The Wedding of the Century” to the Duke of Marlborough, and her quest to find meaning behind “the glitter and the gold.”"
5 Stars! What a terrific book.. I wanted to read it after I read Robin Paige's, "Murder at Blenheim Palace", and I will try to get Consuelo Vanderbilt's own memoir, which is on kindle also I think.
What a life she led and much of it she made happen herself. Yes, of course she was a millionaire, but..
She ended up having a good and memorable life, despite a marriage she did not choose or want herself..
Sons, grandchildren and charitable foundations and a very happy 2nd marriage. Recommended!!
#AprisonerOfPrivilege #NetGalley I received this ARC from NetGalley and Severn House for an honest review. I gave it 4.5 stars rounded to 5 and enjoyed it a lot. There are times when Libertus' adventures are a bit too much for me, but this time I was happily surprised.
Libertus was being a normal Roman official ( Born a Celt) as duumvir for Glevum and not trying to do anything extraordinary. A series of deaths and the insistence by his patron, Marcus, inserts him in the middle of the "who is the spy" mystery.
Since most of the story takes place between his roundhouse and the town apartment at his disposal, I had a good taste of Roman British life. Rosemary Rowe, the author has a fine foreword where she describes the living situations and the current political situation in Rome. In 194 AD Britannia was still being rocked but a succession of rulers, each one being deposed or killed.Suspicion was rife and it was every man for himself.
A murder of the official sent to spy on the city occurs in Libertus townhouse and he discovers it. A sort of odd ingestion of a poison renders him almost unable to defend himself, but finally recovers and the ending is quite satisfactory.
A fun series in my favorite Roman Britain, preorder yours now .and start reading earlier volumes.
A great and fun read- it ended with Georgie's honeymoon after a wedding with the royal family! What more could you ask for in a book?
"In the days leading up to her wedding to Darcy O’Mara, Lady Georgiana Rannoch takes on the responsibilities of a grand estate, but proving she can run a household just may be the death of her in the new Royal Spyness Mystery "
Not sure there were four actual funerals but four deaths and a mystery that embroiled Georgiana's mother, grandfather, Darcy, Queenie and ultimately her ex-stepfather. The cast of characters at the end may change the focus of future books. Cannot wait!!
#ListenToTheWind #NetGalley I received this ARC for a review, and found it enjoyable. It was a bit reminiscent of Roland at Roncevaux., although a different era..
"Two orphans flee for their lives during the last crusade of the French against the Cathar heretics in the Midi. With no knowledge of their past, they are drawn onward to an uncertain future where they face unimaginable peril. Will they discover the secret of their origins and fulfill their destiny?"
Azalais and Azemar, together through some mysterious circumstance as children, and separated by warfare they did not understood, reunite as adults. This is the first of a trilogy and there is sample of part 2 for us to think about. Will the Cathar mystery and that of their own parentage find solutions?
Will they reunite with Johana and Jordane, and what does the future hold for all of them?
#AconspiracyOfWolves #NetGalley
Thanks to NetGalley and Severn House for this hoped for 11th book in the Owen Archer series. Owen is considering employment Prospects. but has has more than one "iron in the fire" as the tale begins. He is mourning his wife' s aunt Dame Phillipa, as well as his former long time employer John Thoresby, Archbishop of York.
Enter Crispin Poole, merchant and former soldier bitten by a dog or ...a wolf? .. into his life as well as Geoffrey Chaucer on a mission from the Prince Edward. Wolves or dogs are woven through most of the tale in a complicated mystery of retribution.
I had to reorient myself to all the players in Dame Lucie and Owen's life which took awhile. I enjoyed the last chapter immensely with it's suggestion of things to come.
Thanks to NetGalley and Severn House Publishers for this ARC/eDoc of my first Priscilla Masters Mystery, Blood on the Rocks. DI Joanna Piercy, pregnant, was directed to find ninety-six year old Zachary Foster, suffering from dementia who had wandered out of a residential care home. Zachary was said to be looking for his teddy bear he had had for over 90 years- this was not the case.
Since this is my first DI Joanna experience, I was unaware of the particulars leading up to what seems like a lot of animosity between the DI and some of her peers. Perhaps things are less "rocky "normally in the Staffordshire Moorland and Joanna's life ( no pun intended).
Because of her zealousness as a law officer, she has some seriously wild and dangerous enemies on the street and also with a knowledge of moorland caves. I will tell you that all was well at the end of the story, for Joanna and Zachary- less so for others. I plan to try another in the series.
