#England Archives - Page 3 of 3

Review of Blood Runs Thicker by Sarah Hawkswood – out today

10 Comments / Historical Mysteries and Thrillers / By Sue

Sarah Hawkswood has written a thoroughly engaging historical mystery, set in England in the 1100s. Lord Osbern de Lench has been found dead, and it’s obvious from the knife wounds that he has been murdered. But who did it? A number of possibilities present themselves, both close-at-hand, among his family, and farther away, in neighboring […]

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review of The Postscript Murders by Elly Griffiths (coming in the US on March 2, 2021)

3 Comments / Contemporary Mysteries and Thrillers / By Sue

I would have loved to have seen more of Peggy… The Postscript Murders is the second in Elly Griffiths’ new series with Detective Sergeant Harbinder Kaur as the protagonist – although in this enjoyable read, the focus is actually just as much on an unlikely trio of amateur sleuths as it is on DS Kaur.

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Review of Murder in the Belltower by Helena Dixon

Leave a Comment / Historical Mysteries and Thrillers / By Sue

An enjoyable classic English cozy… Murder in the Belltower is the fifth title in Helena Dixon’s Miss Underhay series. I’m a fan of historical mysteries, and have had my eye on this series, for a while. So I was happy to receive an advance copy of this newest book in the series from the publisher

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A Sinister Service by Alyssa Maxwell (review)

1 Comment / Historical Mysteries and Thrillers / By Sue

An enjoyable post-WWI mystery… Although I had read a couple of titles in Alyssa Maxwell’s Gilded Age series, I had not read any of the books in her Lady and Lady’s Maid series. So I was happy to receive an advance review copy of the latest title in the series, A Sinister Service, from the

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Review of The Canterbury Murders by EM Powell

1 Comment / Historical Mysteries and Thrillers / By Sue

An engaging historical mystery… I am a big fan of historical mysteries, and I have had my eye on EM Powell’s books for a while. But I had not yet read any of them. So I was happy to be offered a review copy of the most recent title in Powell’s Aelred Barling/Hugo Stanton series,

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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.