Can't Wait Wednesday: Murder at the Merton Library by Andrea Penrose (A Wrexford and Sloane Mystery Book 7)

 

For this week's Can't Wait Wednesday, hosted by Tressa  at Wishful Endings, I'm featuring Murder at the Merton Library by Andrea Penrose. I have seen this series of books before and wanted to read the first one. And of course when I see "library" in the title I'm interested. This time period and cover drew me in so maybe I need to just jump in and read this one out of series order. That's hard for me but this one looks pretty intriguing. There seems to be a lot of interesting subplots and hidden agendas too. Hoping you have found something you can't wait to read this week!

September 26, 2023

Historical Mystery/Thriller

Description courtesy of Amazon books

Responding to an urgent plea from a troubled family friend, the Earl of Wrexford journeys to Oxford only to find the reclusive university librarian has been murdered and a rare manuscript has gone missing. The only clue is that someone overheard an argument in which Wrexford’s name was mentioned.
 
At the same time, Charlotte—working under her pen name, A. J. Quill—must determine whether a laboratory fire was arson and if it’s connected to the race between competing consortiums to build a new type of ship—one that can cross the ocean powered by steam rather than sails—with the potential to revolutionize military power and world commerce. That the race involves new innovations in finance and entrepreneurship only adds to the high stakes—especially as their good friend Kit Sheffield may be an investor in one of the competitors.
 
As they delve deeper into the baffling clues, Wrexford and Charlotte begin to realize that things are not what they seem. An evil conspiracy is lurking in the shadows and threatens all they hold dear—unless they can tie the loose threads together before it’s too late . . .

A Christmas Promise by Anne Perry (The Christmas Stories: Book Seven)

 

Publication Date: October 13, 2009

Length: 209 pages

It's time for a little Christmas in July! I only have two more Anne Perry Christmas books to read and with her recent passing, that will be all that is left. Normally I read them during the holiday season, but I was able to get this one now and wanted to go ahead with it. 

Having read several books in the Thomas Pitt series, this was an interesting backstory featuring their maid, Gracie Phipps as a young girl of thirteen and seeing her humble beginnings before she joins the Pitt household. Shortly before Christmas, Gracie finds little Minnie Maud Mudway, just eight years old, alone on a snowy street, frantic to find her beloved Charlie, a donkey that serves to pull the cart of her Uncle Alf. Charlie and Alf are missing and Minnie Maud worries something terrible has happened to them. Gracie feels an immediate instinct to help and doesn't want to leave Minnie Maud on her own. 

As the two girls start to do a little digging into what might have happened, they find that Alf didn't take his usual route and aren't sure why. It appears that whatever befell him it was something unplanned and since it is an unfamiliar path, they aren't sure who would recognize him or be able to assist them. They set out to follow the scant clues they have and eventually are given some insight into what Uncle Alf was carrying in his cart and that the mysterious object could be something sinister. It is a golden box, but what is inside is anyone's guess. How is the box related to Alf's disappearance? And how would anyone have known the different route he would take with Charlie?

Like all of Perry's Christmas novels, this one is short and has a fairly simple storyline. It also has a sweetness to it that makes it very endearing. Gracie and Minnie Maud's relationship blossoms as they work to find Alf and Gracie has a protective, mothering way with her even as she becomes exasperated with trying to protect Minnie Maud from her naive, childlike way of being too trusting with venturing out on her own to investigate. We are given insight into the home life of both girls and as always in these Victorian stories, are shown the harshness of life in 1800's London for those less fortunate. Perry has a way of depicting both the desperation of this time and place while demonstrating the resilience and scrappiness of the people. I always find myself simultaneously sad and admiring of the children in her stories. Gracie and Minnie Maud are so young but are expected to take on so much in order to survive. But this was the reality of the times. And very few adults have the time or patience to want to help them. It is made very clear how fast children had to grow up and learn to do for themselves. 

I enjoyed this story very much. The plot wasn't super detailed but there was enough to make it intriguing and mysterious until the end. And the ending is what makes her Christmas stories worth it. They can be dark and gritty but the last page will always put you in the holiday spirit. It was fun to read one in the summer for a change. 

Can't Wait Wednesday: Blood On the Tiber by B.M. Howard (The Gracchus and Vanderville Mysteries Book Two)

 For this week's Can't Wait Wednesday, hosted by Tressa  at Wishful Endings, I'm featuring Blood On the Tiber by B.M. Howard. I really hope I can get an ARC copy of this one! It's a mystery set in the 1700's with an exotic location and taking place during the Napoleonic Wars...everything good about an historical mystery. This looks like one to watch for sure. Hope you have found something you can't wait for this week :) 

August 10, 2023

Historical Mystery/Thriller

Description courtesy of NetGalley

When Rome falls, so too will the world…

Christmas, 1797. Erstwhile magistrate Felix Gracchus wakes in the French embassy beside the Tiber after a serious bout of malaria. Despite his poor health, the intricate puzzle of a local inheritance scandal proves irresistible.

To his delight Lieutenant Vanderville has been assigned to the embassy intelligence section, tasked with pacifying the rabidly pro-revolutionary local patriots who seek to overthrow the state and install a republic in Rome.

But a sudden, terrible development threatens to bring disaster upon the whole embassy. Can the pair resolve it before Napoleon Bonaparte brings the full force of the republic down upon Rome in vengeance? Will Vanderville succeed in persuading the patriots from setting the city aflame? And why, amidst all this chaos, is Gracchus more interested in finding a missing nurse?

An engrossing historical mystery rich in period detail and fascinating characters, perfect for fans of Steven Saylor and C. J. Sansom.

A title in the Gracchus & Vanderville Mysteries series