The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies is the first book in Allison Goodman’s new Ill-Mannered Ladies series of historical mysteries. It’s nicely told, featuring two older heroines who find themselves becoming detectives, which definitely alleviates the boredom of their orderly lives. The Colebrook twins, Lady Augusta – called Gus – and Julia, are two well-heeled…
The Secret Book of Flora Lee is a genuinely interesting mystery that keeps the reader focused and keenly flipping the pages, even when the answers are sometimes frustrating. Young Flora Lee Linden is out in the middle of a wooden copse one day when she sees them. The Whisperwood, the magical creatures that she and…
Who Cries for the Lost, the eighteenth book in C.S. Harris’ series of historical mysteries featuring aristocratic sleuth Sebastian St. Cyr, opens as the people of London – and all of England – are holding a collective breath waiting for news of Napoléon’s progress following his escape from Elba. Sebastian had been planning on returning…
Diana Biller’s Hotel of Secrets is one part romance, once part historical fiction, one part mystery. Biller definitely manages to keep the suspense and the romance rollicking along, making for a delightful read. Maria Wallner has dedicated herself to restoring the Hotel Wallner, her legacy and the family’s pride and joy, to its former luster….
The Shadows of London, book six in Andrew Taylor’s fabulous series of historical mysteries set in post-Restoration London, finds our protagonists, James Marwood and Cat Hakesby (née Lovett) once again embroiled in an intricate and cleverly constructed murder mystery. Like the earlier books in the series the mystery in this one stands alone, but I’d…
After feigning her own death in Cornwall to escape from Moriarty’s perilous attention, Charlotte Holmes goes into hiding. But then she receives a tempting offer: Find a dossier the crown is desperately seeking to recover, and she might be able to go back to a normal life. Her search leads her aboard the RMS Provence,…
The Great War has finally come to an end, but that doesn’t mean Bess Crawford’s days of fighting crime are finished. In The Cliff’s Edge, the thirteenth volume in the Bess Crawford series, Bess travels to Yorkshire to sit beside a family friend as she recovers from surgery, only to stumble upon an intriguing and…
The Fossil Hunter splits its point of view between two different timelines and characters connected by a fossil. Cooper manages to keep this deft balancing act going, creating three very interesting and worthwhile heroines. Dark and engrossing and with dual timelines that are expertly captured in both time and place, it’s phantasmagorical and beautifully grounded…
Last Call at the Nightingale combines authentic-feeling prohibition era period detail with a heroine who’s easy to love, a unique cast of supporting characters, and a genuinely surprising mystery. It’s 1924, we’re in New York City, and bisexual Irish immigrant Vivian Kelly sews at a dress shop for a living, sharing a tenement apartment with…
Narrated by Jenny Sterlin The annual Sebastian St. Cyr mystery is always a cause for celebration but my anticipation this year for When Blood Lies was tempered a little by the news that Davina Porter, the narrator of all prior 16 books had retired and a new performer, Jenny Sterlin, was taking over. Let’s face…
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