Book reviews featuring history, historical fiction, and mysteries, as well as my thoughts on all things bookish.
Thursday, August 29, 2024
Noteworthy News #5: Royals, Rebels, and Romantics: From Wars of the Roses to Jane Austen meets Agatha Christie
Sunday, August 25, 2024
Intrigue in Istanbul by Erica Ruth Neubauer (A Jane Wunderley Mystery Book 4)
Publication Date:
March 28, 2023
Length:
288 pages
Summary:
This is book 4 in the series. I've read book one and thought the location of this one was fun. The cover and title caught my eye as well. Reading series books out of order has become something I've been doing lately but I'd like to try to go back to the beginning of many of them. It is hard to understand some of the backstory in this one without having read the others.
After spending some wonderful time abroad in England, American Jane Wunderley is excited to be bringing home her English fiance, Mr. Redvers, to meet her father. Unfortunately, when they arrive in Boston her father is not at home. It seems he has left on an adventure overseas to find the long lost heart of Sultan Sulelman the Magnificent. It is said to have spiritual powers and worth a fortune. Jane is concerned that her father seems to have left no details as to who he is with and his exact location. Also, he hasn't taken his luggage and her Aunt Millie is worried that something more suspicious has taken place. When Jane discovers that her father is in financial trouble and in danger of losing her childhood home as well, the couple decides they must travel to Istanbul, Turkey to see if they can locate the Professor and get to the bottom of things. Their journey will take them from Turkey to Hungary and involve murder and shady characters all of whom seem to be suspects.
Wednesday, August 21, 2024
Can't Wait Wednesday: A Corpse in Christmas Close by Michelle Salter (The Iris Woodmore Mysteries Book Five)
When a pantomime turns deadly, Iris investigates a cast of killers…
Christmas, 1923. When reporter Iris Woodmore is sent to cover the Prince of Wales’ visit to historic Winchester, she discovers more than just royal gossip.
The leading lady in Winchester Cathedral’s charity pantomime is found dead in mysterious circumstances. And the chief suspect is Cinderella’s handsome prince, played by Percy Baverstock’s younger brother, Freddie.
For the sake of the Baverstocks, Iris must investigate the murder, even though it means confronting an old enemy. And as the line between friend and foe blurs dangerously, she’s ensnared by someone she hoped she’d never see again…
Sunday, August 18, 2024
Stacking the Shelves #34
Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Reading Reality. It's a place to showcase any books I have purchased, borrowed, or been lucky enough to have been given an advance copy of. Hope you find something that looks interesting to you or that makes you remember a favorite book you need to finish. Enjoy your reading this week!
Saturday, August 17, 2024
A House Divided by Michael Phillips and Judith Pella (The Russians Book Two)
Publication Date:
January 1, 1968
Length:
304 pages
Summary:
This is book two of a seven part series called The Russians, written by the Christian husband and wife team of Michael Phillips and Judith Pella. I have read their Stonewycke books which are excellent and I had read book one of this collection years ago. I decided to read book two because it has been in my Kindle for awhile and I wanted to see how the story progressed. It was something different from my cozy mystery kick I've been on.
When the story opens it picks up where book one left off, the main character, Anna Burenin is ladies maid to Princess Katrina Fedorcenko and has developed a relationship with Katrina's brother, Sergei who has been away fighting in the Russo-Turkish War along with his friend Dimitri, Katrina's love interest. Their stories converge as the war ends, soldiers return and the Russian Revolution's seeds begin to develop into a full blown crisis.
Anna's brother Paul has his own set of troubles. Away at University in Pskov, he experienced a traumatic event involving a student who was bullied and ultimately driven to suicide. Through a series of events that spiral he becomes involved with radical revolutionaries who pose as friends, seeming to take him under their wing, all while convincing him that overthrowing the government and killing the Tsar is the only way to true freedom for the Russian people. Paul travels to St. Petersburg to be a part of the underground group plotting mayhem and violence, calling themselves, The Will of the People.
Wednesday, August 14, 2024
Can't Wait Wednesday: The Royal Rebel by Elizabeth Chadwick (Jeanette of Kent Book 1)
Although both know their romance is forbidden, their love for each other grows stronger than the danger they face, and they marry in secret. But before they can make their tryst known, Thomas has to leave for war, and in his absence, Jeanette is forced into a second marriage and locked away from the world.
Then Thomas returns, and the real fight begins. As hostile family members battle to keep Jeanette and Thomas apart, the defiant lovers vow to be reunited - whatever the cost...
Tuesday, August 13, 2024
Top Ten Tuesday: Books Whose Plots Involve Travel
This week's Top Ten Tuesday hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl features books that involve travel. This took some thinking to come up with ten. I tend to over think and so my running inner monologue went something like this..."how far is the traveling? Is it to another time and place? Another country? Down the block?"
I decided it had to be at least characters traveling through time or to another country, across the ocean, etc. So that was my criteria. It will be fun to see others' lists and compare! Also, you could choose to focus on covers with planes, trains, and automobiles. That will be interesting as well. I'm not the best at adding just covers to my blog yet (not user friendly with this particular format) so I'm just going to make a list. If I reviewed it on my blog I have included the link. Happy Reading ya'll! :)
1. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon- Because of course this one is my favorite with time travel throughout the whole series.
2. The Seekers by John Jakes- This was a favorite of mine from Jakes' series about America. It includes the time of the Oregon Trail and the pioneers. That is traveling I love to read about. I probably need to re-read and review this wonderful book.
3. Into Africa by Martin Dugard- The amazing story of Stanley and LIvingstone's journey into the continent that fascinated the world. I absolutely loved this historical account of their journey.
4. Crocodile On the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters- The first in the series and my favorite still. The journey down the Nile is so well written you feel like you are there. As usual, the original is the best!
5. Lionheart by Ben Kane- A great account of Richard I's journey on Crusade. It's part of a trilogy and well worth picking up.
6. Secret of the Scarab by Isabella Bassett- One of my favorite cozy mystery series of the year. The heroine and her eccentric Uncle are adorable and their journey to Egypt to uncover artifacts sees them caught up in of course, what else, but murder and mayhem. A fun read.
7. Murder On the Orient Express by Agatha Christie- This one has to be included on a list like this. Especially since it is train related. Not necessarily my favorite Christie book but a definite classic everyone should read.
8. Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick- A fabulous accounting of the Pilgrims' journey to America. It read more like a novel than a history book and that is the style I love best.
9. Leaving Ireland by Ann Moore- I really feel like this author has been overlooked. This is probably because she hasn't written a lot of books but her trilogy about a young girl, Gracelin O'Malley and her life during the 1840's potato famine in Ireland is well written historical fiction. This is the third book which I have yet to finish.
10. Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brien- This is another classic book that I haven't read but plan to. I love sea voyage themed novels. Everyone says it is a good one. And the movie was excellent.
Sunday, August 11, 2024
Stacking the Shelves #33
Saturday, August 10, 2024
Noteworthy News #4: 850th Anniversary of Thomas Becket and Henry II's Fued
Wednesday, August 7, 2024
Can't Wait Wednesday: Death By Misadventure: A Lady Emily Mystery (Book 18) by Tasha Alexander
For this week's Can't Wait Wednesday, hosted by Tressa at Wishful Endings, I'm featuring, Death By Misadventure by Tasha Alexander. I have read the first book in this series and hope to read more. I love the locations she chooses and the covers are gorgeous. Hope you found something you can't wait to read this week!
Almost forty years earlier, Niels, a young German lord, sings to himself in the forest surrounding those same alps, capturing the attention of a not-yet-mad King Ludwig. Niels and the king become fast friends, their relationship deepening into something more as their time together stretches on. But while King Ludwig is content to live out a fantasy where their responsibilities don't matter and the outside world doesn't affect them, Niels knows that their bliss cannot last forever...
Decades later, Emily continues to investigate Kaspar's increasingly lethal “mishaps" when tragedy strikes, ensnaring the guests in a web of fear and suspicion. It’s up to Emily to sift through old secrets and motivations, some stretching far into the past, to unmask the killer.