Tag: historical mysteries
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Book review: The Murder of Mary Russell by Laurie King
The Murder of Mary Russell by Laurie R. King My rating: 4 of 5 stars This book is the 14th in the series of Mary Russell (wife of Sherlock Holmes). This installment is particularly enchanting as it deals with Mrs. Hudson, Sherlock Holmes’s famous landlady. It turns out that Mrs. Hudson has a backstory and…
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Book review: Deadly Engagement by Lucinda Brant
Deadly Engagement by Lucinda Brant My rating: 4 of 5 stars In this current period of “social distancing,” it’s best to have large amounts of reading material on hand. (Not that my to-be-read pile has done anything but grow over the years.) Enter a Georgian historical mystery series!This is the first in a series featuring…
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Book review: The Hanover Square Affair by Ashley Gardner
The Hanover Square Affair by Ashley Gardner My rating: 4 of 5 stars This book is the first in a historical mystery series. The protagonist is a veteran of the Napoleonic wars and has returned to England with no money, no prospects, and PTSD. This is no light-hearted and frothy mystery but, rather, a gritty…
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Book review: Absolution by Murder by Peter Tremayne
Absolution by Murder by Peter Tremayne My rating: 3 of 5 stars Historical mysteries are a tricky balancing act. On one hand, the author should paint a realistic portrait of the period and needs to include the necessary details to describe the setting in which the mystery takes place. On the other hand, the author…
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Book review: A Treacherous Curse by Deanna Raybourn
A Treacherous Curse by Deanna Raybourn My rating: 4 of 5 stars I really loathed the heroine (and narrator) of this series, Veronica Speedwell, after reading the first book in the series. But I liked the author’s previous works enough to read the next two books of this series. This particular one (#3) is my…
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Book review: Footsteps in the Dark by Georgette Heyer
Footsteps in the Dark by Georgette Heyer My rating: 3 of 5 stars 3.5 stars actual rating I adore Georgette Heyer Regency romances, and I am very fond of her mysteries as well. This particular one is completely representative of Heyer mysteries. There is a large quantity of witty dialogue, acute and funny commentary on…
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Book review: A Conspiracy in Belgravia by Sherry Thomas
A Conspiracy in Belgravia by Sherry Thomas My rating: 4 of 5 stars This is the second book in Sherry Thomas’s Lady Sherlock series, and I think it is even better than the first. Or, rather, the mystery is even better. The first book suffered (relatively speaking, as it was excellent) from having to set…
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Book review: A Study in Scarlet Women by Sherry Thomas
A Study in Scarlet Women by Sherry Thomas My rating: 4 of 5 stars The premise for this series is very interesting: it posits that Sherlock Holmes is actually a woman, Charlotte Holmes. In this first of a series, Charlotte deliberately loses her virginity in order to carve out a life as an independent woman.…
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Book review: Bonfire Night by Deanna Raybourn
Bonfire Night by Deanna Raybourn My rating: 4 of 5 stars This is the last in the Lady Julia Grey series, and I have been putting off reading it because I don’t want the series to end. I gave the novella 4 stars but would probably more honestly give it somewhere between 3 and 3.5…
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Book review: The Case of the Missing Moonstone by Jordan Stratford
The Case of the Missing Moonstone by Jordan Stratford My rating: 4 of 5 stars I love the premise of this first in a series of YA mysteries: Ada Byron (the daughter of Lord Byron) and Mary Godwin (the daughter of Mary Wollstonecraft) form the Wollstonecraft Detective Agency as young girls. Ada is better known…