Last Call at the Nightingale (2022) Katharine Schellman (Nightingale Mysteries) Set in New York City in 1924 Vivian Kelly and her sister Florence are glad to have jobs, a roof over the heads, and food on the table (even if it isn’t always enough food). (W)orking at a dressmaker’s shop meant they both had to […]
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 […]
Proper Scoundrels (2021) Allie Therin (Roaring Twenties Magic) Set in England in 1925. Me: I really liked this first series that this book is a spin-off of. Obviously I should not read it. (Repeat time and again for author after author) Sebastian de Leon spent the past three years enthralled, and forced to do terrible […]
Lucky Charm (2019) Chace Verity Set in Hollywood in 1928. Gilbert’s director and lover takes him out to dinner–and dumps him. “I need an actor who can go to the future with me. You can talk, but it doesn’t sound right.” I got tossed because there’s no longer any place in Hollywood for a deaf […]
In the Cards (2019) Celia Lake (Mysterious Charm) Set in England and Sicily in 1925 Yes, I still (badly) wants these books edited, but I am still reading. Explaining how they really were, that was more complicated. They’d made agreements, he and Galen, about when they’d share certain things, and when they wouldn’t. This is […]
Magician’s Hoard (2019) Celia Lake (Mysterious Charm) Set in England in 1926. Pross has been a widow for six years, raising her daughter, running a small bookstore, and taking on the occasional research project. “What did you want from the Society, then? You seem to have most of it covered.” He looked up at her […]
Goblin Fruit (2019) Celia Lake (Mysterious Charm) Set in England in 1924 Lizzie has taken a job for the ministry, hoping it will allow her and her sister to survive–especially since her work during the war hadn’t helped her to get any other jobs. Carillon also does work for the ministry, and keeps a public […]
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, […]
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 […]
A Pattern of Lies (2015) Charles Todd Set in Europe in Autumn 1918 It’s time to take a break from this series. Reading one after the other is making me notice the weaknesses rather than the strengths. It’s unfortunately, because I thought the bits about the mill were very interesting. (A) mill had to be […]
A Duty to the Dead (2009) Charles Todd Set in Europe in 1916 Bess Crawford is a nursing sister on the HMHS Britannic when its sunk by the Germans. She’s sent him to recuperate, and also to deliver a message given to her by a dying soldier. The mystery here is good, but what I […]
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 […]