Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade (2007) Diana Gabaldon This novel falls between the novellas Lord John and the Succubus and Lord John and the Haunted Soldier. Which makes for slightly complicated reading if you want to read in order, since the two novellas are in the same book. There are two story […]
Lord John and the Hand of Devils (2007) Diana Gabaldon Another re-read. I enjoyed these the first time around, and I’m enjoying them just as much the second time around. This is NOT a novel, this is, instead, three novellas. Because, apparently, this is as close to a short story as Diana Gabaldon can get. […]
Lord John and the Private Matter (2003) Diana Gabaldon I’m in another mood where I don’t know what I want to read, so I instead chose to re-read something I enjoyed. This time it was Lord John and the Private Matter. Lord John Gray is a Major in the British Army. Additionally, as next oldest, […]
The Mammoth Book of Historical Crime Fiction (2011) edited by Mike Ashley Introduction: Return to the Crime Scene by Mike Ashley Archimedes and the Scientific Method by Tom Holt Something to do with Diana by Steven Saylor Eyes of the Icon by Mary Reed and Eric Mayer Night of the Snow Wolf by Peter Tremayne […]
A Spell of Vengeance (2012) D.B. Jackson I’m not quite sure how I missed this story when it first came out, especially considering that I read the first Ethan Kaille book last year. But I’m not sorry I didn’t read this first, because it might have made me reluctant to read the first book, which […]
Kitty (1979) Marion Chesney and M. C. Beaton Anymore, Kitty just wants to be warm. But her mother wants her to make a good marriage, to move the family socially upward, and is willing to do almost anything to achieve that marriage. There’s also a mystery–after Kitty becomes a very rich heiress, it appears someone […]
An Affair of Honor (2011) Candice Hern This was both enjoyable and frustrating. First the frustrating. She was in the process of removing a jaunty black beaver hat with a green plume, to reveal hair of a remarkable shade of russet, and eyes of almost the exact same color. What? She has red eyes? That’s… […]
Desperate Measures (2011) Candice Hern Lydia Bettridge is in love with a gentleman who seems not the slightest bit interested in her. So her brother and his best friend, Philip Hartwell, cook up a plan to make this gentleman jealous. Unfortunately for Lydia, not knowing who the gentleman in question is her brother and Philip […]
A Change of Heart (2011) Candice Hern Lady Mary Haviland is quite content being a spinster. In fact, she enjoys being a somewhat eccentric spinster, making friends with all sorts, including rakes. “I much prefer the man who is open adn straightforward in his dealing with people, even if he does not often stay strictly […]
A Proper Companion (2011) Candice Hern Emily Townsend is of good birth, but impoverished (her mother ran away with her father, and was disowned by her parents), so Emily takes one of the only options available to a genteel lady: a companion to an older woman. Robert, Lord Bradleigh is a recently betrothed Earl with […]
Lady of Quality (1972) Georgette Heyer Annis Wychwood is twenty-nine and an old maid. Her beauty led to previous offers for her hand, but she turned them down, none from a man for whom she was willing to give up her independence. Of course, she is still young enough she must keep someone with her, […]
Cotillion (1953) Georgette Heyer Another re-read, because there’s nothing quite like foolish young people to distract from the real, modern world. Kitty Charing was adopted by the very rich and very unpleasant Matthew Penicuik. When he makes his will, he states that she will inherit his entire fortune–if she marries one of his great-nephews. The […]
These Old Shades (1926) Georgette Heyer This was a reread. I got so depressed by the news I needed something comforting, and this is what I ended up reading. Some of the bits are somewhat horrifying–and probably not the bits that were originally so. More the whole fact that Alistar will not–cannot even!–marry anyone so […]
Thieftaker (2012) D.B. Jackson Ethan Kaille is a thieftaker and a conjurer living in Boston in 1765. Around him, discontent with Britain and taxes swirl, but Ethan, having already paid the price years earlier for mutiny, wants nothing to do with the Sons of Liberty. However, a girl–young woman–is killed during a riot, and the […]
A Caribbean Mystery (1964) Agatha Christie This has always been my favorite Miss Marple mystery, probably because I got to watch part of it on TV, with Jameson Parker as Tim Kendal, which is important, because I was a HUGE Simon & Simon fan. (And I just now realized that Brock Peters played Dr. Graham!) […]
A Caribbean Mystery (1964) Agatha Christie (Miss Marple) This was my first Miss Marple, and remains on of my favorites. This is Miss Marple at her fluffiest and most dithering, yet still able to cause action to be taken. And still a product of her time. “Sex” as a word had not been mentioned in […]
The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side (1962) Agatha Christie This is probably the Miss Marple mystery that has embedded itself most firmly in my mind. There are so very many thing from here that randomly pop up. Out flew the web and floated wide; The mirror crack’d from side to side; ‘The curse is […]
The Rake to Ruin Her (2013) Julia Justiss This is a straight up historical romance (with boinking) which hasn’t been anything I’ve particularly liked in the past, but after enjoying Darlene Marshall’s Sea Change, I thought I’d give it a try, since it was relatively inexpensive. So. It wasn’t bad, but it also wasn’t my […]
They Do It With Mirrors (1952) Agatha Christie Another Miss Marple mystery–comfort reading for when I’m sick. Miss Marple is asked by her friend Ruth to look into the circumstances of Ruth’s sister, Carrie Louise. Jane Marple and Ruth and Carrie Louise were school mates, and remained in touch through the years. Ruth feels there […]
A Pocket Full of Rye (1953) Agatha Christie Rex Fortescue dies in his office, immediately after drinking his morning tea. Besides the strange poison used to kill me, police are confused by the fact he coat is full of cereal–rye. Miss Marple doesn’t make her appearance until almost halfway through the story, but Inspector Neele […]
What Darkness Brings (2013) C.S. Harris The 8th book in the Sebastian St. Cyr series finds Sebastian Lord Devlin and Hero (now Lady Devlin) setting into married life. They are still keeping secrets from each other–Sebastian his past, and Hero, her father’s secrets, but they are also clearly in love with each other, and working […]
Heaven’s Net is Wide (2007) Lian Hearn This is the tale of Lord Otori Shigeru, heir to the Otori clan. But it is so very much more. We learn not just of the Otori–Shigeru’s family, but of The Tribe, and of the Hidden, and of the Maruyama and of the amazing and fabulous world that […]
The Kidnapping (2010) Charles Todd This is a single short story, and three excerpts, which I sort of found annoying, although I have to admit, that as far as excerpts go, they were interesting. The Kidnapping is a very brief story that finds Ian Rutledge drug into a kidnapping case, when a wild-eyed and disheveled […]
The Sleeping Partner (2012) Madeleine E. Robins Huzzah! The return of Sarah Tolerance! I came across the first two books around the time they were published (2003 and 2004) and was disappointed when no further volumes were forthcoming. Luckily, the series (or at least this book) was picked up by another published, which gives us […]
Petty Treason (2004) Madeleine E. Robins Sarah Tolerance is a fallen woman. Although she lives with her aunt (another Fallen) in her brothel, she has not chosen to become a prostitute, but as society will not forgive her, so she has chosen an unconventional life as an Agent of Inquiry. She does well enough for […]
4:50 from Paddington (1957) Agatha Christie Mrs. Elspeth McGillicuddy is taking the train from London to visit her friend Miss Marple, when she looks into the windows of a passing train and sees a woman being throttled–she alerts the conductor, the station master, and the local police, but–strangely–no body is discovered. Her curiosity piqued, Miss […]
Search the Dark (1999) Charles Todd This is the third Inspector Ian Rutledge mystery. A man goes made on a train, believe he’s seen his wife and children, who were killed when their house collapsed and burned during the war. When a woman’s body appears–badly beaten and disfigured–suspicion falls upon the man. But no one […]
A Murder Is Announced (1950) Agatha Christie Next up on my Miss Marple reading binge was A Murder is Announced. The residents of Chipping Cleghorn are startled when their weekly paper has a strange personal announcement: ‘A murder is announced and will take place on Friday October 29th, at Little Paddocks at 6:30 p.m.’ And […]
An Unmarked Grave (2012) Charles Todd The fourth Bess Crawford mystery finds the Spanish Influenza doing more damage to the soldiers fighting–and the civilians at home–than the Great War itself was doing. I’ve been morbidly fascinated by this flu since I learned about it. It was truly a horrible disease, killing the young and healthy […]
The Thirteen Problems (1928, 1929, 1930, 1933) Agatha Christie (Also published as The Tuesday Club Murders) I read several stories in this collection, but not all, so I don’t think I’d previously read this collection as is. After dinner seems a good time to sit around and discuss crime, and see how clever everyone is, […]
The Body in the Library (1942) Agatha Christie Colonel and Mrs. Bantry are quite shocked to discover a body in their library–a very young blonde body. The Colonel calls the police, but Mrs. Bantry knows better, and calls Miss Marple. Again, like Murder at the Vicarage, I noticed that much of the story seemed timeless. […]
The Murder at the Vicarage (1930) Agatha Christie It’s been years since I’ve read an Agatha Christie, but she’s always been on of my favorites, and so I decided it was the perfect thing to read while I’m sick and feeling somewhat miserable. This is the first Miss Marple mystery, and is told from the […]
Wings of Fire (1998) Charles Todd The second Ian Rutledge mystery finds Rutledge sent to Cornwall, to look into the deaths of a prominent family: a double suicide and a fall. Adding to the confusion, one of the suicides turned out to be a famous poet, O.A. Manning, whose poems of love and war and […]
A Bitter Truth (2011) Charles Todd In the third Bess Crawford mystery, Bess has returned home for Christmas leave, but before she makes it to her parent’s home, she discovers a young woman huddled in her doorway. Taking pity on her, she ends up returning home with the woman, to make sure she is safe. […]
A Test of Wills (1996) Charles Todd This was a re-read. After reading and thoroughly enjoying the Bess Crawford mystery, I remembered I had several books in Charles Todd’s Ian Rutledge series, and decided to reread them. Inspector Rutledge of Scotland Yard served in the Great War, and he’s suffering shell shock from his experiences […]
An Impartial Witness (2010) Charles Todd Bess Crawford is escorting wounded soldiers back to London, including a pilot who was badly burned, and whose thoughts of his wife seem to be what is pulling him through the horror of his injuries. Bess sees the wife, making a tearful plea to a soldier, but before Bess […]
A Duty to the Dead (2009) Charles Todd Bess Crawford is serving as a nurse in the Great War. The hospital ship on which she was serving was sunk, and although she survives, a badly broken arm sends her back to London to recuperate. A promise made to a soldier who died from his wounds […]
Darker Still: A Novel of Magic Most Foul (2011) Leanna Renee Hieber This is a YA/Historical/Fantasy/Romance (got all that?). We are reading the journal of Miss Natalie Stewart, who recently left the Connecticut Asylum, where she spent several years, not because she is a lunatic, but because she has been mute since the age of […]
The Custom of the Army (2012) Diana Gabaldon This is a Lord John novella. During an electric eel party, Lord John ends up in a duel (he’s not entirely sure how). When he opponent dies, Lord John is sent by his commander (also his brother) to Canada, where his presence is requested as a character […]
Lord John and the Hand of Devils (2007) Diana Gabaldon This is a collection of three Lord John novellas: “Lord John and the Hellfire Club,” “Lord John and the Succubus,” and “Lord John and the Haunted Soldier.” The first two stories follow in time after the novel, Lord John and the Private Matter. The third […]
Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade (2007) Diana Gabaldon I am really enjoying this series, and REALLY like Lord John. Lord John’s mother is getting remarried. Hal and John choose to meet with General Sir George Stanley, so Hal can make sure he’ll be acceptable for their mother, at which time they also […]
And Only to Deceive (2005) Tasha Alexander I read And Only to Deceive back in 2007 and found it a disappointment–I wanted a straight up mystery, but instead god a romance with elements of mystery. So how did I feel upon a re-read? I still very much liked the arc of Lady Emily discovering who […]
Lord John and the Private Matter (2003) Diana Gabaldon I read a Lord John short story by Diana Gabaldon in the anthology Down These Strange Streets, and if you know anything about my reading preference, you should be impressed when I tell you it was a zombie story, and I still wanted to search out […]
A Fatal Waltz (2008) Tasha Alexander Lady Emily’s marriage to Colin Hargreaves was put off when Lord Fortescue arranged to have Hargreaves sent overseas on a mission. Fortescue opposes Emily’s marriage to Colin and will do everything possible to end their engagement. Thus it is with some surprise that Lady Emily finds herself invited to […]
A Poisoned Season (2007) Tasha Alexander I read the first book in this series several years ago, and was singularly unimpressed. Not the the writing or the characters, but because it was (like this book) subtitled: A Novel of Suspense. I still disagree with that subtitle, but after enough time had passed, I decided to […]
Akitada and the Way of Justice (2011) I. J. Parker This is a collection of eleven short stories featuring the 11th century Japanese “detective” (there wasn’t such a term at the time) Akitada, over the span of his career, from the first mystery he was involved in to one towards the end of his career. […]
Rashomon Gate (2002) I.J. Parker Akitada, is an official in the Ministry of Justice, who is bored with his job. But he has to support his mother and two younger sisters, so he does his best. His mother wants him to make a good marriage so he’ll move ahead in the world, but Akitada likes […]
Brook Street: Thief (2012) Ava March Oh. Oh my. This is a boinking book. And I mean A BOINKING book. Guess that’s a major problem with Kindle books, is that when I “pick one up” to read, I don’t see the cover. I… I’m not quite sure what I was thinking when I got this […]
Lady of Quality (1972) Georgette Heyer Miss Annis Wychwood believes she is too old for marriage, and not wanting to spend the rest of her life being little more than an aunt to her brother’s children, she insists on setting up house for herself. Of course, no unmarried woman can live alone, so her cousin […]
The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Hidden Gallery (2011) Maryrose Wood and Jon Klassen Miss Penelope Lumley continues to be the governess of Alexander, Beowulf, and Cassiopeia Incorrigible, the three children raised by wolves and adopted by Lord Ashton. Penelope (or Lumawoo as the children call her), continues to be both protector and educator […]