Can't Wait Wednesday: The Winter List by S.G. MacLean

 

For this week's Can't Wait Wednesday, hosted by Tressa  at Wishful Endings, I'm featuring The Winter List by S.G. MacLean. I have only read one other book by this author, The Bookseller of Inverness, . I have not read any of the Damian Seeker series yet and so this being book six I probably won't get to it for awhile, if ever with all I have ahead of it. But I wanted to feature it for those who love the series. Hoping you've found something you can't wait to read!

September 7, 2023

Historical Mysteries/Historical Thrillers

Description courtesy of Amazon books

By the summer of 1660 the last remnants of the Republic have been swept away and the Stuarts have been restored under their king, Charles II. A list of regicides believed to be involved in the death of Charles I is drawn up. Gruesome executions begin to take place and the hunt intensifies for those who have gone into hiding at home or abroad.

Although not a regicide, staunch Republican Damian Seeker is on a list of traitors to the king. Royalist spy, Lady Anne Winter, is employed to find evidence of guilt or innocence among the names on this Winter List. Seeker has fled England but his beloved daughter Manon remains, married to Seeker's friend, the lawyer Lawrence Ingolby, and living in York.

As the conduit to her father and to others on the Winter List and surrounded by spies and watchers, Manon lives in constant danger and fear of discovery. One of those spies is closer than even she could have imagined.

Stacking the Shelves #11

 

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 :) 

I just love Kindle credits. My family (or me) is always wanting something on Amazon and I have it delivered on Thursdays and receive credits which get me new books! It's a win win. This book was free with my Kindle credits and I read a wonderful review on Between the Lines book blog about another book in the series, which got me interested in this first book. So thanks Cathy at that blog for suggesting it. The cover, setting, and time period drew me in. How many books are historical mysteries set in the 1930's in Sri Lanka? Very unique.

This was a Book Bub find and while I didn't buy it yet (because I'm cheap and it's not on sale!) I thought it looked interesting enough to download the sample. My rule is that I read a sample and if I make it all the way through and still want to know what happens, I buy or borrow it and read it. This is a series some of my fellow book bloggers have covered in reviews. It's book one of the Crispin Guest Mysteries and I think the time period is pretty unusual. He is a former knight, living in London in the middle ages around the year 1380. Not a lot of stories with that hook so I might need to give this one a try.

I am always looking for books that take place during the period of the Crusader states. They are hard to find. This one is during the very exciting period of Saladin, Richard the Lionheart, and the epic battles for the recapture of the Holy Land. 

The publisher synopsis says "Pillars of Light is a powerful and moving novel about the triumph of the human spirit against all the odds. It will delight fans of Philippa Gregory, Ken Follett and Diana Gabaldon." That is enough to sell me on it. I'm still trying to finish Penman's Lionheart so this one may have to come after. But I didn't want it to get away.

The Malabar Hotel Mystery: An Ellie Blaine 1920's Mystery (Book Six) by E.M. Bolton

 

Publication Date: March 27, 2023

Length: 181 pages

I am always looking for mysteries or historical fiction set in India, preferably prior to WW II. I find the setting exotic and fascinating and I love to see differences in British and Indian culture depicted. So this cover, title, location was one mystery I wanted to try. I knew going in it was short and probably wouldn't have time to delve deeply into more than a cute mystery but since I've joined the cozy mystery reading challenge it fit the bill. I'm having a very busy week starting school so short books are very welcome right now! This is book six and I haven't read anything else in this series but it's the only one set in India so I tried it first. 

Ellie Blaine is worried about her friend and love interest Dr. Richard Lindley. He is missing in Cochin, India and she has left England to go and search for him. She knows it is not like him to have quit writing her and is sure he has met with foul play. When she arrives, her suspicions are confirmed by what she finds in his hotel room. His watch, a gift from Ellie is found among his belongings, and as he promised her he'd never remove it, she feels certain this, along with mysteriously unfinished letters detailing a supposed crime he was involved in, are odd clues that point to something sinister befalling him. 

As she talks with hotel staff and his hospital colleagues, Ellie is unsure who is being candid and who is possibly withholding information. Her friend Georgie arrives, and having worked on previous cases with her before, begins to search with Ellie. The two women encounter some perilous situations which are designed to throw them off the trail, but stick to their intuition and continue. Is Richard guilty? Did he leave on his own? Or is there more to the story?

The first half of the book was the best. Descriptions of the city and its surroundings looked promising and I liked the way the characters spoke to each other, the dialogue sounding a lot like an old movie. Hoping the culture and atmosphere would continue throughout the book I kept going and I also thought the mystery would intensify and become more involved. Unfortunately, I found that about a third of the way through things started to fade out. It began to feel like a book that could have taken place almost anywhere at anytime. It was as if the author forgot it is supposed to be a historical mystery set in another country during another time. The mystery part was just okay, but not terribly exciting. 

This book felt somewhat amateurish and being so short at less than 200 pages, it rambled more than it should have. By the time the resolution happened I'd already figured out the gist of it so the excitement just wasn't there. Some cozy mysteries have that extra thing that makes them cute and also contain a little depth. This one just didn't have enough there to make me care about Ellie and Georgie. It had a good premise but didn't deliver. Maybe the other books are better and they take place back in England. I'm not sure if I'll read another one but I am always willing to try an author twice just to be sure.

Can't Wait Wednesday: The Royal Windsor Secret by Christine Wells

 

For this week's Can't Wait Wednesday, hosted by Tressa  at Wishful Endings, I'm featuring The Royal Windsor Secret by Christine Wells. Besides having a beautiful cover and intriguing title that made me want to stop and check it out, the premise is very original. The idea of a secret love child between the Prince of Wales and a scandalous woman? Who grows up an orphan in Cairo at the famous Shepheard's Hotel? Fascinating idea. Happy Reading! Hope you've found a book you can't wait for this week :) 

September 12, 2023

Historical Fiction/Women's Fiction

Description courtesy of Net Galley

Could she be the secret daughter of the Prince of Wales? In this dazzling novel by the author of Sisters of the Resistance, a young woman seeks to discover the truth about her mysterious past. Perfect for readers of Shana Abe, Bryn Turnbull, and Marie Benedict. 

Cleo Davenport has heard the whispers: the murmured conversations that end abruptly the second she walks into a room. Told she was an orphan, she knows the rumor—that her father is none other than the Prince of Wales, heir to the British throne. And at her childhood home at Cairo’s Shepheard’s Hotel, where royals, rulers, and the wealthy live, they even called her “The Princess.”

But her life is turned upside down when she turns seventeen. Sent to London under the chaperonage of her very proper aunt, she’s told it’s time to learn manners and make her debut. But Cleo’s life can’t be confined to a ballroom. She longs for independence and a career as a jewelry designer for Cartier, but she cannot move forward until she finds out about her past.

Determined to unlock the truth, Cleo travels from London, back to Cairo, and then France, where her investigations take a shocking turn into the world of the Parisian demi-monde, and a high-class courtesan whose scandalous affair with the young Prince of Wales threatened to bring down the British monarchy long before anyone had heard of Wallis Simpson. 

 

No Graves As Yet: World War I Book 1 by Anne Perry

Publication Date: August 26, 2003

Length: 384 pages

Anne Perry is one of my favorite authors. I can always turn to one of her books if I'm going through a reading slump and need to jump start my interest in books again. I have been reading her Thomas Pitt, William Monk, and Christmas mysteries for over 20 years. I don't know why I took so long to read this first book in her WWI series because I've had this book for years. At first I thought it wasn't a mystery but it is. Also, it combines some history of the war which is always a plus. So I'm glad I finally decided to give this a try.

Joseph Reavley is a Cambridge professor who has enjoyed a so far idyllic life along with this brother, sister, and parents, all who are oblivious in the summer of 1914 just how much their world is about to change. He receives shocking news that his parents have been killed in what appears to be an automobile accident and his brother Matthew who is in the intelligence service, lets him know that their father had planned to deliver an important document that could greatly impact England and the world. His father, being a retired member of Parliament, was in a position to see that the information ended up with those who could protect the nation from further harm and ridicule. 

As Joseph and Matthew begin to investigate the car crash they realize it was likely foul play and find the timing very questionable. They hesitate to share their findings with anyone, including their sister as they don't want to alert the wrong people to their discoveries before they've had a chance to determine what happened. Simultaneously, one of Joseph's promising University students, Sebastian, is killed and his death also begins to appear suspicious. Not knowing it all might be related, Joseph, trying to work through his personal grief at all the tragedies, while sleuthing, along with the realization that the world is on the brink of war, is cracking apart. He doesn't know who to turn to for help, who to believe, or what to do but he knows something is terribly wrong, close to home, and with the nation and the world as well.

This book was very different from any of Perry's previous ones. She still has the mystery to solve and spends time in the characters' heads, showing them pondering through deep questions and trying to make sense of things but this book felt more like historical fiction than crime. Knowing it is part of an ongoing series that sees each year of the war and the Reavley siblings part in it means I realized that it is a family saga as well. The actual mystery felt a bit more like drama than suspense as Joseph and Matthew talk to friends of the family and officials about what everyone thinks might have happened.

I can see the positives in the book and I can appreciate Perry trying something new, but I'm not sure this series is for me. I was hoping for a bit more history with the war thrown in and the way it developed felt like it dragged, rehashing the same thoughts over and over again. Some of the way the characters behaved was also a little melodramatic, with too much agonizing over what to do next. There wasn't the feel of a "detective" that you get with the Pitt and Monk novels, nor was there the Christmas spirit that runs through her holiday books. Reading the comments I know some people really love this series and have become attached to the characters so I'm sure it continues to improve. I also thought the resolution was very far fetched. It was surprising to see the answers behind it all because it really stretched the imagination to think it could be true. 

I'm not sure if and when I'll read the next book in the series, Shoulder the Sky. I already bought it on sale so I have it and will probably tackle it eventually. But this will go last on my list for her series for me. The others are worth your time first if you are looking to start reading her works.