Mostly Mysteries

The Alpine Recluse by Mary Daheim is on sale in the US and the UK

The Alpine Recluse is the “Rth” title in the alphabetically named Emma Lord series by Mary Daheim. It has dropped to $2.99 at Kindle and Kobo US, and £1.99 at Kindle UK. Buy at Kindle US | Kobo US | Kindle UK

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Jane and the Ghosts of Netley by Stephanie Barron is £1.99 right now at Kindle UK

3 Comments / Price Drops / By Sue

Jane and the Ghosts of Netley is the 7th in the enjoyable historical mystery series by Stephanie Barron featuring Jane Austen as the protagonist. It £1.99 at Kindle UK right now (March 9, 2021). Buy at Kindle UK

Jane and the Ghosts of Netley by Stephanie Barron is £1.99 right now at Kindle UK Read More »

No Cure for the Dead by Christine Trent is on sale in the US and the UK right now

Wash This Blood Clean from My Hand by Fred Vargas is $1.99 in the US right now

1 Comment / Price Drops / By Sue

Wash This Blood Clean from My Hand is the second in the Commissaire Adamsberg series by Fred Vargas. It has dropped to $1.99 at Kindle and Kobo US as of today, March 9, 2021. I’ve liked several of the titles in this series – although I’m a little bit biased towards mysteries set in France,

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Upon the Midnight Clear (short story) by Tasha Alexander is free right now in the US

Aunt Dimity Digs In by Nancy Atherton is on sale for $1.99 in the US

6 Comments / Price Drops / By Sue

Aunt Dimity Digs In is the fourth in the Aunt Dimity series by Nancy Atherton. I read quite a few of the early titles in this series back in paperback days, and enjoyed them, although I’ve kind of lost track of the series in the last few years. Digs In has dropped to $1.99 at

Aunt Dimity Digs In by Nancy Atherton is on sale for $1.99 in the US Read More »

Review of The Dark Heart of Florence by Tasha Alexander, coming soon

Leave a Comment / Historical Mysteries and Thrillers / By Sue

Don’t need to say much more than Florence…aah, Florence… Readers who like their historical mysteries with even more history than usual will enjoy Tasha Alexander’s latest Lady Emily mystery, The Dark Heart of Florence, set in the years leading up to World War I. Britain and Germany are starting to bump elbows, and as an

Review of The Dark Heart of Florence by Tasha Alexander, coming soon Read More »

Three omnibuses of titles in Deryn Lake’s John Rawlings series are on sale in the US and the UK

2 Comments / Price Drops / By Sue

I’ve quite enjoyed Deryn Lake’s John Rawlings historical mystery series over the years, and the individual titles go on sale pretty often. But there are also four omnibuses that comprise all of the sixteen titles in the series, four per omnibus. And right now, three of those four omnibuses (the first, second and fourth) are

Three omnibuses of titles in Deryn Lake’s John Rawlings series are on sale in the US and the UK Read More »

Crosscut by Archer Mayor is free right now in the US

DUKE: Inspector Mislan and the Expressway Murders by Rozland Mohd Noor – coming soon (review)

2 Comments / Contemporary Mysteries and Thrillers / By Sue

A very enjoyable police procedural set in Kuala Lumpur… Having read and really enjoyed the first book in Rozland Mohd Noor’s Inspector Mislan series, I was happy to receive an advance review copy of the second book in the series, DUKE: Inspector Mislan and the Expressway Murders. And I was even happier to find that

DUKE: Inspector Mislan and the Expressway Murders by Rozland Mohd Noor – coming soon (review) Read More »

About Mostly Mysteries

Whether you are a non-stop reader looking for your next series to binge-read, or someone without much spare time, wanting to make sure the next book you read is great, I hope my reviews will help you out. I hate reading reviews that just say “five stars” or “I loved the book, it was great”, and I’m sure you do too. So you won’t find any of those here! Instead, I take the time to read and think about a book, and then write a review that (1) doesn’t just parrot the blurb, (2) talks about what I liked and didn’t like, and (3) has some additional info to help you decide if the book might be right for you.

I’ve been a huge fan of mysteries since my earliest days of reading, cutting my teeth on Encyclopedia Brown and Nancy Drew, and quickly moving on to Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie. From there, I bounced around a bit, trying some thrillers, like Alistair MacLean, and some romantic suspense, mainly Mary Stewart. And then I started branching out. I discovered historical mysteries, and British mysteries (Sarah Caudwell is my idol), and cozy mysteries, and police procedurals, and mysteries set in foreign climes, and noir, and…well, you get the idea! Just about the only mysteries I’ve never quite gotten into are psychological thrillers.

This blog reflects my own personal tastes, so, as you might guess, you’ll mostly find reviews of mysteries here. But, over the decades, I’ve also picked up some other reading habits. I read a fair amount of history, especially books about the Great Game rivalry between Britain and Russia. I’ve gone through all the Asterix comics (a big thank-you to my middle-school French teacher), and I even read a bunch of them out loud to my son when he was young. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read and re-read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and those books have led me into a little bit of fantasy and science fiction as well. Oh yeah, and recently, I’ve been reading some social and political science books too. So check out the Science Fiction/Fantasy, Nonfiction, Romance and Other Stuff tabs up in the menu as well!

Finally I’d love to hear from you too, so please make use of the comments sections available for most of my posts, or use the contact form, down at the bottom of the page.

Reviewing and Rating Info

I rate books on a scale from 1 to 5 stars, with occasional half-stars when a full star just won’t do.

Many of the books I review are provided to me by the publisher or author as a reading copy – in other words, at no cost to me. In other cases, usually for older books, I’m reviewing books I borrowed from the library or bought myself. My rating and review do not depend on whether I was provided a free reading copy. However if I did receive a free reading copy, I will disclose this in the review.

I do not post reviews of every book I read – not even close. It takes a lot of time and effort to craft a good review, and so I tend to be biased towards reviewing books that I enjoy or that excite me. As a result, you’ll find mostly 4- and 5-star reviews on my blog. Also, I do not post 1- or 2-star reviews on my blog unless the author or publisher asks me to.