Peacocks and weddings and some not-so-cold crime… The Meg Langslow series is one of a very few series that I have to read by myself, because I end up unexpectedly laughing out loud at least a couple of times in every book – and often more than a couple! And in Round Up the Usual …
Review of Round Up the Usual Peacocks by Donna Andrews – recently published Read More »
A bit disappointing… I have been a big fan of Lindsey Davis’ original Falco series and spin-off Flavia Albia books for years. I’ve enjoyed Falco’s snark, Helena Justina’s class, Falco and Helena Justina’s odd and happy partnership, Falco’s odder and somewhat hapless family, Helena Justina’s almost as hapless brothers, Flavia Albia’s own style of snark, …
Review of A Desperate Undertaking by Lindsey Davis – recently published Read More »
Excellent, but don’t try to read them all in a hurry… Reviewing an anthology of short stories, and especially short stories by different authors, can be difficult, since it’s likely that there will be some stories that will work for some readers, and some stories that won’t. And it probably won’t be the same ones …
Author Simon Scarrow has written a taut and enjoyable mystery, set in Berlin during the ice-cold winter of 1939-40. Although much better known for his Eagles of the Empire series, which takes place during the first-century AD, Scarrow moves to “recent past history” with no apparent effort or problems. And he also transitions smoothly to …
Review of Blackout by Simon Scarrow – recently published Read More »
A nice mystery and great historical background…. I had read several early titles in Catriona McPherson’s Dandy Gilver series back in “real paperback book” days, and remember them fondly. However during my transition to reading e-books almost exclusively, I had somehow kind of lost track of this series. So I was happy to be offered …
Review of The Mirror Dance by Catriona McPherson – recently published Read More »
SJ Rozan’s latest Lydia Chin/Bill Smith title, Family Business, is a wonderful look at New York’s Chinatown, full of atmosphere and a strong sense of place. But it also addresses some complicated topics, starting on a small scale with Lydia’s own family dynamics, including her unstated “don’t ask/don’t tell” bargain with her very Chinese mother …
Review of Family Business by SJ Rozan – recently published Read More »
Light and fun… In my last review of a Henrietta Hamilton book, I expressed hope that Agora Books would continue re-issuing her books. And not only have they done so, they’ve even managed to acquire the rights to some of her previously unpublished books, including this one, The Man Who Wasn’t There, which is part …
Review of The Man Who Wasn’t There by Henrietta Hamilton – just published Read More »
High-placed shenanigans during World War II Burying the Crown is the second in TP Fielden’s historical mystery series featuring Guy Harford as a courtier at Buckingham Palace, serving King George VI and the royal family during World War II. Harford, who would rather be a painter in Tangier, where he lived before the war, is …
A review of Burying the Crown by TP Fielden, just out Read More »
Crime and mayhem in post-Civil-War Chicago… I have read and enjoyed most (all?) of the books in Jeanne Matthews’ Dinah Pelerin series, but haven’t seen a new title in that series for several years. So I was a little surprised to see that Matthews had a brand-new book in a brand-new series coming out in …
Review of Devil by the Tail by Jeanne Matthews – just out Read More »
A fun time-capsule of a mystery I remember reading and enjoying several of Nicholas Blake’s Nigel Strangeways mysteries many many years ago, in “real paper” editions. But I had never read The Morning After Death, which is the last in the series, and features Strangeways as a visiting scholar at a fictional Ivy League school, …
The Morning After Death by Nicholas Blake – a review Read More »
