Dead Dead Girls (2021) Nekesa Afia (Harlem Renaissance Mystery) Set in Harlem, NYC in 1926 Louise Lloyd became famous as a teenager, when she escaped a man who had kidnapped her and two other girls–girls who would have been ignored because they were Black and in Harlem. Ten years later, someone is killing young women, […]
Where There’s a Kilt, There’s a Way (2021) Ella Stainton (Kilty Pleasures) Set in Scotland and Sweden in 1930 Joachim Cockburn and Ainsley Graham have been looking for summer positions to broaden their fields; specifically Jochaim wants to change how patients in asylums are treated, and hopes that working at a prestigious university will give […]
Subtle Blood (2021) KJ Charles (The Will Darling Adventures) Set in London ~1924 Will Darling is finally somewhat comfortable in his relationship with Kim Secretan, even if they continue to have to hide they are more than just acquaintances. Will is also finally doing a decent job with the bookstore he inherited–due in part to […]
Spectred Isle (2017) KJ Charles (Green Men) Set in England in 1923 Saul’s professional instincts were shaped by his doctorate in archaeology from Oxford and two years working on excavations in Mesopotamia. Major Peabody believed that if the ravens left the Tower of London, the city would fall. He hadn’t given a damn about Saul’s […]
The Secret Casebook of Simon Feximal (2013) KJ Charles Set in England 1894 to 1914 He was covered in writing. It was scrawled in black and red ink, from wrist to shoulder of both muscular arms, across his broad, powerful shoulders and chest. None of it was in a language I recognised, or could read, […]
Wonderstruck (2021) Allie Therin (Magic in Manhattan) Set in New York and other locales in 1925 Arthur and Rory are searching for a way to destroy the magical artifact that could be used to enslave non-magical minds, not just because it is evil, but because an evil man is searching to control it himself. But […]
Why Shoot a Butler? (1933) Georgette Heyer This story was all over the place. Barrister Frank Amberley gets lost taking a shortcut to visit his aunt and uncle, and comes upon a car alongside the road, and a young woman beside it. A closer look find a man dead in the drivers seat, and the […]
The Unfinished Clue (1934) Georgette Heyer Sir Arthur Billingham-Smith and his wife Fay are throwing a house party. Except that the general didn’t want to have the party, doesn’t want to see his son and the woman he wants to marry, and is pretty much a complete bastard. He dislikes his son almost as much […]
Tales: Short Stories Featuring Ian Rutledge and Bess Crawford (2015) Charles Todd This collection is four short stories with Bess Crawford and Ian Rutledge. “The Kidnapping” “The Girl on the Beach” “Cold Comfort” “The Maharani’s Pearls” “The Kidnapping” – Ian Rutledge, London 1920 I actually have a copy of this short story, but it had […]
No Wind of Blame (1939) Georgette Heyer (Inspector Hemingway) Ermyntrude Carter married Wally Carter, but has come to regret doing so, as Wally isn’t a great human. Yet Ermyntrude and her daughter Vicki Fanshawe, and Wally and his ward (and cousin) Mary Cliffe lived together on the money Ermyntrude inherited from her fist husband. Although […]
Best Laid Plaids (2020) Ella Stainton (Kilty Pleasures) Set in Scotland in 1928. Well, I’ve now completely ruined my search history, trying to find when top and bottom were first used as gay slang. And the worst part is, I didn’t find the answer. Joachim Cockburn fought in WWI. He’s now trying to finish his […]
The Sugared Game (2020) K.J. Charles (The Will Darling Adventures) Set in London in 1924. Will Darling has settled in as proprietor of the bookstore he inherited from his uncle. He’s cleaned out the upstairs so he has room to sleep, and is slowly organizing the books. Unfortunately, all that is not keeping his mind […]
The Boy in the Red Dress (2020) Kristin Lambert Set in New Orleans in 1930. It’s New Year’s Eve and Millie Coleman is in charge of her aunt’s speakeasy for the evening. When a rich young woman comes looking for her aunt’s star performer, Marion Leslie, Millie does what she can to protect Marion. When […]
Starcrossed (2020) Allie Therin (Magic in Manhattan) Set in New York in 1925. This is set immediately after the events of the first book. Rory and Arthur are in Hyde Park where Rory is helping to authenticate some of Arthur’s brother’s supposedly antique compasses, and Arthur is visiting his family. “Speaking of children,” Arthur said […]
Spellbound (2019) Allie Therin (Magic in Manhattan) Set in New York in 1924. Rory Brodigan works for a woman he calls his aunt, helping assess the authenticity of antiques. But there is no science–only magic–behind his abilities. Arthur Kenzie needs someone who can read the history of objects, and he thinks Mrs Brodigan is the […]
Slippery Creatures (2020) K.J. Charles (The Will Darling Adventures) Will Darling returned from the Great War at a bit of a loss. Will had gone to the War at eighteen, and come back five years later to find himself useless and unwanted. In Flanders he’d been a grizzled veteran, a fount of professional expertise who […]
Miss Marple: The Complete Short Stories (1985) Agatha Christie (Miss Marple) These stories were published between 1927 and 1957. “(S)o many people seem to me not to be either bad or good, but simply, you know, very silly.” The Thirteen Problems (previously published as The Tuesday Club Murders) (1932) The Tuesday Night Club (1927) The […]
The Murder at the Vicarage (1930) Agatha Christie (Miss Marple) I was listening to Read or Dead and they were talking about Agatha Christie’s first book, which had been published in 1920–100 years earlier, and one of them mentioned her being a comfort read, and I was immediately, “YES. I need to re-read Miss Marple. […]
Lady Cop Makes Trouble (2016) Amy Stewart (Kopp Sisters) Set in New York and New Jersey in 1915. Constance Kopp has been working as a deputy, but since the county won’t allow her a badge and official position, she ends up relegated to prison matron. At the start of the book, she meets with Mrs. […]
Another Place in Time (2014) by Tamara Allen, Joanna Chambers, K.J. Charles, Kaje Harper, Jordan L. Hawk, Aleksandr Voinov This is an anthology of historical M/M romances. “Office Romance” by Tamara Allen “Introducing Mr. Winterbourne” by Joanna Chambers “The Ruin of Gabriel Ashleigh” by K.J. Charles “Unfair in Love and War” by Kaje Harper “Carousel” […]
A Blunt Instrument (1938) Georgette Heyer The 4th Inspector Hannasyde mystery. Ernest Fletcher seems to have been a likable man, so his death–bludgeoned to death in his story–came as a surprise to everyone. The obvious suspect is his nephew Neville, his heir who seems to owe money to everyone, and who was heard to have […]
They Found Him Dead (1937) Georgette Heyer The third Inspector Hannasyde mystery. This one I was pretty sure who the murderer, even if I couldn’t figure out why. Or quite how the second murder was managed. Silas Kane is found dead the day after his 60th birthday celebration. He’s survived by his mother, and a […]
Behold, Here’s Poison (1936) Georgette Heyer The second Inspector Hannasyde mystery. Gregory Matthews is found dead in his bed one morning, with a terrible look up on his face. Everyone assumes it’s a natural death, except for his sister who insists upon an autopsy. The list of possible culprits is quite large, especially since two […]
Death in the Stocks (1935) Georgette Heyer This is, as best I can tell, set around the time it was published, the mid 1930s. What I found fascinating was that I was totally unable to pin down the time. I was pretty sure it was post WWI, but wasn’t quite certain. I think the police […]
Spectred Isle (2017) K.J. Charles Set in London in 1923 Archaeologist Saul Lazenby was disgraced during the war, and the only work he has been able to find is working for a retired Major with an interest in finding historical places and items with supernatural significance. Saul believes none of this, but is glad for […]