Stacking the Shelves #15

 

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 :) 

Plaidy usually focuses on women's stories and so this is a departure for her to make Phillip the main tie between the three featured queens. Yes, the queens are major players but they are seen through the eyes of Philip of Spain and his story is told with detail and insight. I have read the first three chapters and am learning a lot I didn't know about him and about Spain at that time. With her simplistic style she packs in so much research and history. I just love her books.

I have wanted to start this series many times. There are 32 Miss Silver Mysteries and Wentworth is called "another Agatha Christie queen of mystery" and, "a great addition to the cozy genre of the 1920's." If you've read any of her books from this series, did you enjoy them? 

This is one of those books that intrigues me based on the cover and the subject but I probably won't be able to sit down and read every single word of. I am fascinated with the time period and the life of Edward of Woodstock, son of Edward III, but the details of all the battles and wars get dry quickly. Still, his story is interesting in that he never got a chance to rule England, dying early, and I always wonder had he lived would things have gone very differently. The Wars of the Roses might never have taken place at all, probably not. So much promise cut down too soon. So I'll skim through it and if it's really good I might enjoy it more than I think!

A Lesson in Murder by Verity Bright (A Lady Eleanor Swift Mystery Book 7)

 

Publication Date: September 14, 2021

Length: 325 pages

I have to admit, I get excited when it's time to review another Lady Eleanor book. They are by far my favorite cozy mystery series right now. The husband and wife team publish four per year and so I read them in season.  I am already looking forward to book 8 that I plan to read over the Christmas holidays. This one is the fall book, coinciding with the start of school, so as a teacher it was a bit of extra fun. 

Lady Eleanor is going back to school. Her old boarding school that is. Asked to make a speech at St. Mary's she is honored and excited. Ellie enjoys walking the halls of her alma mater and remembering good times and bad. She was always the rebel student and while she is happy to see the more modern, progressive changes that have been made since she left, she is also acutely aware of the still prevalent manners and customs of the old guard there. 

Before she can make her speech though, her beloved former teacher, Mrs. Wadsworth is murdered in the school library. As everyone dashes off to see what has happened, Ellie finds herself caught in another investigation with dashing Detective Hugh Seldon and her butler Clifford who decides to stay and help her. In order to be present on campus and help the search for the killer, Ellie takes over as guardian of one of the houses of students who grow to appreciate her. Clifford and Gladstone occupy a house nearby which Clifford of course furnishes in his customary impeccable style. When the art teacher is also found dead, Ellie and Hugh know they are running out of time. Who is knocking off innocent teachers? And why? Ellie also finds a link to her long lost Mother in a former diary, adding a personal element to the case she didn't expect. 

Being the seventh book in the series I thought I would grow tired of the formulaic aspect of the stories. And yes, they are predictable in some ways: Ellie's internal dialogue, Hugh's resistance to their romance, Clifford's perfection, and the way everything wraps up in a nice neat package at the end. But that is why it is a cozy mystery after all. This one was not as exciting as some of the others for me in that the location wasn't very exotic and I thought the secondary characters were not as interesting. But it is still a notch above many of the cozy series I have read this year. The authors have created main characters that I love and have distinct, quirky personal traits that make me want to see what they are doing lately. Some of the cozies I read could take place anywhere, at any time and there is very little effort made to drop me into the era they claim to be set in. These books do a great job of making reference to the time period and I feel like the 1920's are threaded throughout. 

If you are looking to start with a cozy series I highly recommend these books. From the gorgeous covers to the people to the intricate cases (which are usually pretty hard to figure out) to the unique settings, they are a lot of fun. I certainly have no other series I've read seven straight books from in recent memory, so there must be something that makes them stand out. 

Can't Wait Wednesday: Murder By Invitation by Verity Bright (A Lady Eleanor Swift Mystery) Book 15

 

For this week's Can't Wait Wednesday, hosted by Tressa  at Wishful Endings, I'm featuring Murder By Invitation by Verity Bright. I am currently finishing Book 7, A Lesson in Murder and enjoying it as always with these books. Eleanor, Clifford the butler, and Gladstone the bulldog are back for the new installment and although I'm choosing to read them in order, I want to promote these books for those who are ready for book 15. Hoping you've found something you can't wait to read this week!

September 27, 2023

Historical Mysteries

Description courtesy of Amazon books

Lady Swift has been cordially invited to a huge royal celebration in Little Buckford to toast the King’s birthday… but wait, is that a body in the village hall?

Lady Eleanor Swift and her loyal butler Clifford are busy lending a hand with preparations for the big day. The grand dining room at Henley Hall is overflowing with home-sewn flags, paint and royal rosettes. Even Gladstone the bulldog and his new friend Tomkins the ginger cat are invited!

But just days before the event Mr Prestwick-Peterson, the chairman of the celebrations committee, is found dead in the village hall: strangled with handmade red, white and royal blue bunting.

With the village hall in total disarray and a key part of the decorations missing, Eleanor wonders if someone dastardly is sabotaging the King’s birthday celebrations?Teaming up with her handsome beau Detective Hugh Seldon to question the local butcher, baker, and pub landlord it becomes clear that the meddlesome busybody Mr Prestwick-Peterson was not universally liked in charming Little Buckford. Indeed, the only mystery is why he wasn’t murdered before…

Searching Mr Prestwick-Peterson’s pristinely organised rooms, Eleanor is surprised to find a faded photograph of a beautiful young woman hidden within the pages of a novel. Could this be the key to untangling this very village murder? And can Eleanor catch the killer before the party is over for her, too?

A totally charming, unputdownable Golden Age murder mystery with characters readers will adore. Perfect for fans of Agatha Christie, T.E. Kinsey and Lee Strauss.