Spectred Isle (2017) KJ Charles (Green Men #1) Set in London in 1923 (T)he Empire that had covered a full quarter of the earth was beginning to look less like an immutable and unchanging truth and more like hubris. As a normal sort of Englishman, Saul’s reaction to religious enthusiasm was usually to remove himself […]
Copper Script (2025) K.J. Charles Set in London in 1924 Aaron Fowler likes being a detective, likes working for the cause of justice. What he doesn’t much like is how the Met refuses to acknowledge the existence of bad coppers. He also doesn’t much care for his cousin, who expects him to fix his problems, […]
Miss Marple: The Complete Short Stories (1985) Agatha Christie The Thirteen Problems (1932) 1. The Tuesday Night Club (1927) 2. The Idol House of Astarte (1928) 3. Ingots of Gold (1928) 4. The Bloodstained Pavement (1928) 5. Motive v. Opportunity (1928) 6. The Thumbmark of St. Peter (1928) 7. The Blue Geranium (1929) 8. The […]
The Murder at the Vicarage (1930) Agatha Christie (Miss Marple) ‘I’m evidently not a housekeeper by nature. I find it better to leave things to Mary and just make up my mind to be uncomfortable and have nasty things to eat.’ Miss Marple is a white-haired old lady with a gentle, appealing manner – Miss […]
The Masquerades of Spring, Audiobook (2024) Ben Aaronovitch narrated by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith (Rivers of London) Set in New York City in 1926 I do love Kobna Holdbrook-Smith. But most of his American accents are just the slightest bit off and not quite right. Otherwise, I utterly adore everything about this novella. the show, which was […]
Subtle Blood (2021) KJ Charles (Will Darling Adventures #3) Set in England in 1924 Lord Arthur recently became notorious for the killing of man-about-town Johnnie Cheveley in shocking events at Lord Waring’s ancestral home. No blame was attached to Lord Arthur by the Coroner’s jury. “They commended him, you shits,” Will growled at the paper. […]
The Sugared Game (2020) KJ Charles (The Will Darling Adventures, #2) Set in London in 1924 “Do you ever have the feeling the whole world changed while we were away and nobody bothered to mention it to us?” “I know you’ve thought about this,” Will said. “But there are men in the world who aren’t […]
Slippery Creatures (2020) KJ Charles (The Will Darling Adventures, #1) Set in London in 1923 “My grateful nation wasn’t grateful enough to give me a job. I pawned my medals to keep a roof over my head and food in my belly, and I’ll tell you what, the Military Cross doesn’t fetch a great deal, […]
The Masquerades of Spring (2024) Ben Aaronovitch (Rivers of London) Set in New York City in 1926 This novella is everything. It’s NYC during the jazz age. Prohibition, that bizarre aberration of the American spirit, could be dashed confusing to someone raised in the free and easy metrop of old London. And Nightingale has come […]
Where There’s a Kilt, There’s a Way (2021) Ella Stainton (Kilty Pleasures) Set in Scotland and Sweden in 1930 (I)t gave Joachim a place where he could pay rent instead of sponging off his lover and not have to ask to borrow Ainsley’s motorcar. Not that Ainsley minded—he never seemed put out to share at […]
Best Laid Plaids (2020) Ella Stainton (Kilty Pleasures) Set in Scotland in 1928 said scholar had annihilated his reputation as one of the Empire’s most learned folklorists by publicly insisting that he chatted with ghosts. The steel tip of his walking stick twanged, punctuating each step in the way he’d grown accustomed in the ten […]
Bodies from the Library: Lost Tales of Mystery and Suspense from the Golden Age of Detection (2018) ‘Before Insulin’ by J.J. Connington (1936) ‘The Inverness Cape’ by Leo Bruce (1952) ‘Dark Waters’ by Freeman Wills Crofts (1953) ‘Linckes’ Great Case’ by Georgette Heyer (1923) ‘Calling James Braithwaite’ by Nicholas Blake (1940) ‘The Elusive Bullet’ by […]
The Mysterious Mr. Quin (1930) Agatha Christie The Passing of Mr. Quinn Grand Magazine (1923) The Shadow on the Glass Grand Magazine October (1923) At the ‘Bells and Motley’ A Man of Magic Grand Magazine (1925) The Sign in the Sky The Police Magazine (1925) / A Sign in the Sky Grand Magazine (1925) The […]
A Botanist’s Guide to Parties and Poisons (2022) Kate Khavari (Saffron Everleigh) Set in England in 1923 Saffron Everleigh a research assistant in University College London, and very few people believe she earned and deserved her degree and position (Because: 1923). Safforn feels she owes everything to her mentor, Dr Maxwell, so when a woman […]
Once a Rogue (2023) Allie Therin (Roaring Twenties Magic) Set in New York in 1925 I wish I’d been better able to focus, because I love Allie Therin’s stories. In fact, I was hoping that the story would allow me to focus on something outside of myself. The failing is mine, not the story’s. I’ll […]