Can't Wait Wednesday: A Measure of Menace by Jennifer Ashley (A Kat Holloway Mystery)

 

For this week's Can't Wait Wednesday, hosted by Tressa at Wishful Endings, I'm  featuring, A Measure of Menace by Jennifer Ashley. It is a continuation novella of her popular series Below Stairs Mysteries. Set in 1883 with a Downton Abbey vibe it is a murder mystery involving Lords and Ladies and their loyal staff. This author also writes as Allyson James and Ashley Gardiner. Her list of published works is impressive: fantasy, historical fiction, mysteries. She does it all! This is due out end of the month and looks like a great historical mystery. I hope you've found something you can't wait to read this week :) 

September 30, 2024

Historical Mysteries/Historical Fiction

Description courtesy of Amazon

October 1883

When cook Kat Holloway and the kitchen staff maintain the empty Mayfair house while the family resides in the country, Lord Clifford, Lady Cynthia’s confidence-trickster father, arrives in London and asks Kat and Daniel McAdam for help. Lord Clifford has might be accused of murder but won't go to the police because his involvement with the victim will implicate him in another crime.

Kat and Daniel must pool their resources and unravel this tricky situation before Lord Clifford is arrested. Kat will do anything to spare her friend Lady Cynthia disgrace and ruin, even when the investigation leads her into grave peril.

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Plan To Read This Fall 2024

 

This week's Top Ten Tuesday hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl is books on your to be read pile this fall. I chose to title it "books I plan to read this fall." Call me obsessive but the word "plan" lets me off the hook if I don't get to them! And ten books by December 21st is a tall order for me right now. But here is what I'd read if I had all day to do it! No links as I didn't have time but at least I got a list out. Happy Fall ya'll :) 

1. The Virgin in the Ice by Ellis Peters- I am working my way through the Cadfael Chronicles over the years and this is the next in line. I am excited to to catch up and see what is going on with the monks of Shrewsbury.

2. The Agincourt King by Mercedes Rochelle- This is a new to me author I just discovered and I'm enjoying her topics. This one is of course about Henry V.

3. The Mirror Crack'd From Side to Side by Agatha Christie- This is the October Read Christie choice. I am waiting for the Libby copy to arrive!

4. Valley of the Kings by Cecilia Holland- This one is started already and I am loving it. It is the story of Howard Carter's discovery of King Tut's tomb in 1922. Holland is an author I've been meaning to read for a long time now. So far I'm loving her style of writing.

5. The Castle Abductions by David Field- This is the first book in his Tudor era mystery series. I've reviewed several of his historical fiction books on my blog. He is always informative and entertaining.

6. Henry V by Dan Jones- This seems to be very popular now even though it has yet to be released in the U.S. It will be out October 1st.  I love Jones' narrative style and have read many of his books. Looking forward to this one.

7. Death Down the Aisle by Verity Bright- I read these each season they are set in. This is one for fall. My favorite cozy mystery series.

8. Betrayal at Ravenswick by Kelly Oliver - I read and reviewed this author's mystery Covert in Cairo recently and enjoyed it. Having jumped into the series without knowing the beginning backstory made me want to go back and get the very first book with these characters in it. I am trying not to do this again but it's hard when I like a certain setting and the covers suck me in too.

9. We Three Queens by Rhys Bowen- I received this book as an ARC from Net Galley. I plan to read and review it soon as it is being published in November. 

10. A Christmas Vanishing by Anne Perry- This is the last Perry Christmas novel. I am planning to read and review it early in November. It will be sad to see them end as she passed away recently. I just love these books each year at the holidays.

Stacking the Shelves #37

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!

Kindle sample I'm going to buy with upcoming points: $1.99 

I have this sample and am going to start reading it soon. I really need to get more of O'Brien's books. This one is about Alice Perrers who was the mistress of Edward III. She lived a colorful life at court trying to walk a fine line between the King and Queen and all those who wished her downfall. I know little about her except that she had an interesting window into the time period and O'Brien is a highly respected historical fiction author. It should be a good one!

Kindle sale:  $1.99

This is the story of Queen Victoria's granddaughter, Duchess Victoria Melita "Ducky" and her marriage to Russian Grand Duke Kyrill. She is caught up in the Russian revolution and all the danger that it brings to her family. Laurie Graham, the author has written several historical fiction novels about a range of topics in different eras. It is hard to pin down one "type" of novel from her website. I know a lot about Victoria's daughters and some of ther grandchildren but not much about Ducky so I'm looking forward to it.

Kindle sale:  $3.99 (free with my points!)

I must be on a queen/royalty kick again this week. My Mom says I'm always in one and always have been, lol. Facts. This book is also about relatively obscure sisters....Joanna and Maria of Naples. As sisters and heirs to the throne of Naples, they must work hard to maintain their rule over their 14th century kingdom dominated by ambitious male relatives who feel they should be King. I know nothing about them or this story and Amazon states the author is an award winning historical novelist of other figures. I'm always happy when I find new authors. 

The French For Murder by Verity Bright (A Lady Eleanor Swift Mystery Book 10)

 

Publication Date: 

May 30, 2022

Length:

302 pages

Summary:

Lady Eleanor, her butler Clifford, and her beloved bulldog Gladstone are all set to enjoy their villa in the south of France. As usual, Clifford sets out to make it as comfortable as their English estate, Henley Hall. As he is working in the wine cellar, he discovers the body of Rex Armstrong, an American movie star shooting a film in the nearby area. He has been stabbed and inexplicably left in the villa. The police are sure Clifford is guilty. After all, he "found" the body and he isn't French, so they are naturally suspicious of him as an outsider. When he is arrested, Eleanor is frantic to clear his name. But since Clifford is always the one helping her out of sticky situations, she is hard pressed to know just wnat to do this time. 

Can't Wait Wednesday: To Kill a King: (The Bailiff Mountsorrel Tudor Mysteries Book Five)

 

For this week's Can't Wait Wednesday, hosted by Tressa at Wishful Endings, I'm  featuring, To Kill a King: The Bailiff Mountsorrel Tudor Mysteries Book Five) by David Field. I love his historical fiction books and have reviewed several. This is one of three historical mystery series he's written. His books are always entertaining and informative of the time period. His research is solid and on point and I always learn something new. I hope you have found something you can't wait to read this week!

October 18, 2024

Historical Mysteries

Not everyone is ready to welcome the new king of England…

Nottingham, England, 1603

Queen Elizabeth’s long reign has finally come to an end and the Tudor era is over. Scottish King James has been handed the crown of England, but not everyone is happy about that, and there are several plots being hatched to replace him with an alternative.

Bailiff Edward Mountsorrel already has his hands full with an increase in destitute vagrants flooding the county, who seem to be victims of a human trafficker. But before he can find the man responsible, he is tasked by an official with royal authority to infiltrate a local group, who it is rumoured are plotting to assassinate the new king.

Edward enlists the help of fellow bailiff, Francis Barton to find the group, who are hiding out in Sherwood Forest.

But the only way to discover the plot is to place themselves right in the heart of the danger. And there’s a good chance they will be killed before they can save the king…

Who is leading the band of rebels? Can he be stopped?

And is there a connection between the treasonous plot and the desperate vagrants Edward is trying to assist…?

To Kill A King is the fifth historical thriller in the Bailiff Mountsorrel Tudor Mystery Series – private investigation crime novels set during the reign of Elizabeth I and beyond.