Tag Archives: book review

#BookReview ‘Shadows in the Ashes’ by @PiaCCourtenay #romance #Pompeii

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Shadows in the Ashes is the new dual-timeline romance novel by Viking specialist Christina Courtenay. Alternating between the present day and AD79 Pompeii, it tells the story of gladiator Raedwald and Aemilia, a wealthy Roman woman trapped in a loveless marriage; and Caterina, an English-Italian woman who flees to Italy leaving behind an abusive husband, and Connor a red-hair volcanologist she meets in Sorrento. Christina CourtenayThe story opens in AD73 with Raedwald, a young man in Frisia (today’s Netherlands) who, after being betrayed and sold into slavery, finds himself training as a gladiator in Pompeii. In 2022 in North London, Cat works from home as a translator, shielding young daughter Bella from her manipulative husband Derek. Both Raedwald and Cat fall in love when it is most inconvenient; Cat because she is on the rebound and not looking for a boyfriend, Raedwald because he is planning to escape from Pompeii and return home to Frisia to seek revenge for his betrayal. To earn extra money, Cat takes a live-in position at a hotel in Sorrento where Connor is a guest; Raedwald and his fellow gladiator Duro take on extra work as bodyguards, their client is Lucius Licinia, husband of the beautiful Aemilia.
The two stories switch effortlessly between the centuries as Courtenay creates a mirroring effect as the people in each timeline face similar, but not identical, situations. The story becomes more mystical when Cat visits the ruins at Pompeii and starts to have visions. The actual date of the real Vesuvius eruption isn’t known so this adds tension to the Pompeii timeline as days pass and the warning signs increase. Minor earthquakes become bigger, smoke rises from the ground.
I had a few quibbles – there are a few easy coincidences, some difficult actions are achieved too simply or without mention, and the Pompeii research sometimes lies heavily on the page – but this is an easy read to sink into after a difficult day. The author treads a careful path through her narrative, including the tragic volcanic explosion and an abusive marriage, counter-balancing these threats by emphasizing the security of true love, of family, of friends, of partners. Even if the romance and flirting at times edges into over-the-top ‘teenage crush’ territory, the characters quickly return to the hard reality of daily life. I particularly enjoyed the scenes with Cat’s Italian family, particularly her two uncles who are just the men to have on your side in a tough situation.
Included as ‘Bonus Material’ is an intriguing short story called Alaric’s Dilemma which hints at a sequel to Shadows in the Ashes.
Welcome escapism.

Here’s my review of TEMPTED BY THE RUNES by the same author.

If you like this, try:-
‘Glorious Exploits’ by Ferdia Lennon 
‘The Wolf Den’ by Elodie Harper #1WolfDen
‘The House with the Golden Door’ Elodie Harper #2WolfDen

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#BookReview SHADOWS IN THE ASHES by @PiaCCourtenay https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-7RW via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:- SW Perry

#BookReview ‘Munich Wolf’ by Rory Clements #crime #thriller

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A standalone thriller by Rory Clements is to be treasured, though I wonder if Munich Wolf is the first of a new between-the-wars crime series. Munich in June 1935 is the spiritual home of Nazism. The vibrant city is full of young people having a good time. Except pretty girls are being killed. Can maverick police detective Sebastian Wolff find the murderer before another girl dies. Rory ClementsWolff faces an uphill battle in investigating the murder of a young English woman, the Honourable Miss Rosie Palmer, daughter of a lady-in-waiting to Queen Mary, and friend of Adolf Hitler’s supporter Unity Mitford. Politicians fear a diplomatic incident, Hitler wants the murderer to be apprehended immediately, the Bavarian Political Police wants to send Wolff to Dachau, his boss wants a quiet life, and his Hitler Youth enthusiast son thinks he is a traitor to Germany. Sebastian, who believes police work is about apprehending villains regardless of social class, politics, race, gender or wealth, must uphold the law within a political landscape evolving into a dictatorship where people vanish overnight and onlookers feign ignorance.
What is the meaning of strange lipstick marks on the corpse; random scribbles, Hebrew writing or something mythical. When Wolff asks a specialist for help, he complicates the case further. Only his mother, who is constantly trying to feed him, and his girlfriend Hexie, who is something of a rebel, seem to be on his side.
After a slowish-start, this turns into a thrilling read. A complex crime story set at the time of momentous political upheaval. Munich is full of a toxic combination of people. Hitler, his intimates and fanatical supporters; followers of the Völkisch racial ideology; power-hungry aristocrats; brutal thugs, and young upper-class English women happy to party with handsome SS officers in their black uniforms tailored by Hugo Boss. While the in-crowd party to excess – one celebration features endless champagne and naked women writhing in ecstasy as they fight on a lawn for a flag – Jews are being deported and homosexuals terrorised.
The Lancia-driving anti-Nazi Wolff is a likeable hero and defender of the word of the law. He is not perfect; he works too hard, lacks diplomacy and has a short fuse. But he doesn’t respond well to being bullied and continues to investigate when he has been threatened, attacked and locked up.
As a fan of the Tom Wilde, series, I’m happy to find another Rory Clements character to root for.

Click the title to read my reviews of the Tom Wilde thriller series by Rory Clements:-
CORPUS #1TOMWILDE
NUCLEUS #2TOMWILDE
NEMESIS #3TOMWILDE
HITLER’S SECRET #4TOMWILDE
A PRINCE AND A SPY #5TOMWILDE
THE MAN IN THE BUNKER #6TOMWILDE
THE ENGLISH FUHRER #7TOMWILDE

If you like this, try:-
‘Eeny Meeny’ by MJ Arlidge #1HelenGrace
‘The Guest List’ by Lucy Foley
‘A Fatal Crossing’ by Tom Hindle

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#BookReview MUNICH WOLF by Rory Clements https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-7Qs via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:- Christina Courtenay

#BookReview ‘Execution’ by SJ Parris @thestephmerritt #historical #crime

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Italian heretic and spy Giordano Bruno becomes embroiled in a Catholic plot to kill Queen Elizabeth I and replace her with Mary, Queen of Scots. Execution by SJ Parris, sixth in the excellent Bruno series, starts fast and doesn’t slow down. SJ ParrisBased on the true Babington Plot of 1586 to assassinate the queen, this is the best so far of this historical mystery series. Well-researched with lots of unexpected twists and turns, London seethes with threat around every corner. Bruno, keen to find patronage again in London after fleeing Paris, finds himself unable to say no to his former boss, Elizabethan spymaster Sir Francis Walsingham. He must impersonate a Spanish priest and infiltrate a group of Catholics conspiring with Mary to kill her cousin.
There are secret letters written in code, horrible torture, turncoats, double agents, a brave lady spy and a wonderful boy bodyguard Ben. Bruno the heretic must remember quickly how to say mass and give extreme unction to the dying, get one word wrong and his co-conspirators will suspect he is false. Danger lurks as Bruno goes from the grand houses of the north bank of London to the filth, flesh pots, rowdy playhouses and bear pits of the south bank. Characters reappear from his past, some more welcome than others, while the solemn forger and codebreaker Thomas Phelippes and the publican’s son Ben are fascinating additions.
Parris maintains the tension as Bruno makes errors and escapes by the skin of his teeth, all the time wondering if Walsingham has erred in his character judgement of allies within the plotters. Yes, Bruno sometimes gets it wrong. He is not perfect, he is not a professional spy. He is a philosopher who wants nothing more than to write his books and settle down with the woman he loves. But trouble always seems to find him.
A skilfully-written fictional take on a historical event. Colourful, smelly, foul and vibrant, London deserves a special mention as an additional character in Execution.

Read my reviews of other books in the series:-
HERESY #1 GIORDANOBRUNO
PROPHECY #2 GIORDANOBRUNO
SACRILEGE #3 GIORDANOBRUNO
TREACHERY #4GIORDANOBRUNO
CONSPIRACY #5GIORDANOBRUNO

If you like this, try:-
‘A Rustle of Silk’ by Alys Clare #1GabrielTaverner
‘The Swift and the Harrier’ by Minette Walters
‘The Western Wind’ by Samantha Harvey

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview EXECUTION by SJ Parris @thestephmerritt https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-7Ru via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:- Rory Clements

#BookReview ‘Glorious Exploits’ by Ferdia Lennon #historical #Medea #Syracuse

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412BC. Syracuse, Sicily. Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon is a wild ride and something of a surprise. There is the ancient setting, rattling modern dialogue and irreverent humour, a combination of ancient Syracusans and Athenians, and the tragi-comedy double act of Lampo and Gelon who decide to stage Medea with a cast of half-starved enemy soldiers. Ferdia LennonSuch a distinctive voice from the first paragraph, the story moves quickly, initially disorientating until the dialogue rhythm settled in my head and I went with the flow. With a flick of a word, Lennon turns the mood from funny to sad to hopeless, to consoling, to hopeful, to drunken to horror and pain. Lampo the narrator is not a sympathetic character, at times downright unpleasant but the story becomes addictive.
Syracuse, post-war is a city that cannot escape the memories of battle. Men walk the street with amputations and visible injuries, loved ones are dead, jobs are scarce, hundreds of Athenian soldiers are held captive in a quarry while out at sea beneath the surface are shipwrecks. ‘The sea-skins a gentle swishing blue, and it’s hard to imagine that whole forests of sunken ships lie underneath it, a second city.’ The war in question is the Peloponnesian War of 415-413BC when Athens fought the combined forces of Sparta, Syracuse and Corinth, and lost. But all is not well in Syracuse either. In Glorious Exploits, Lampo and Gelon are out-of-work potters, they raise funds for their theatre production by selling a heap of Athenian armour they find. Driven by Gelon’s love of Euripides and Lampo’s need of gold, the unlikely theatre production approaches. Costumes designed, actors auditioned, lines learned, music rehearsed. Are Gelon and Lampo a team, truly co-directors, or just two ordinary men out of their depth.
There are funny moments and episodes of horrific cruelty and ignorance. Via the ambition, idealism and naivety of these two potters, Glorious Exploits shows the impact of war on ordinary people – the foot soldiers, the angry grieving families left behind, the men on both sides following the orders of officers who escape – long after the fighting has stopped and surface wounds have healed. An enemy becomes another man just following orders. Damage hidden below the surface may, like the wrecked ships, be out of sight but it is still there and when unleashed, the unexpected can happen.
A unique voice. Something completely different.

If you like this, try:-
‘The Silence of the Girls’ by Pat Barker
‘Stone Blind’ by Natalie Haynes
‘The Wolf Den’ by Elodie Harper #1WolfDen

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#BookReview GLORIOUS EXPLOITS by Ferdia Lennon https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-7OP via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:- SJ Parris

#BookReview ‘Normal Rules Don’t Apply’ by Kate Atkinson #shortstories

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Normal Rules Don’t Apply by Kate Atkinson is a collection of eleven inter-connected stories that as soon as you finish reading them you’ll want to start again. As the title hints, nothing is as it seems. Is someone alive, or could they be dead. Does that voice belong to a person, or a cat? Will Franklin ever find the right girl? Kate AtkinsonThe first story ‘The Void’ sets a dark tone as the Universe blinks. Atkinson shows us the arbitrariness of life, the obsessions and minutia of daily living that become irrelevant as people suddenly drop dead. Things mentioned in passing in this first story may be referenced later, it is worth paying attention. The tone doesn’t stay dark, it shifts from story to story. There are laugh-out-loud moments and then Atkinson will turn the mood on a sixpence.
‘Puppies and Rainbows’ made me smile. The key character, Skylar Schiller is a child actress turned film star filming in England, her daily routine sustained by a stream of tablets and potions. Then at the party following the film’s premiere in Leicester Square, she bumps into an ordinary looking guy who is anything but.
My favourite character Franklin, a producer on television soap Green Acres, pops up regularly and knits together some of the disparate storylines. He is a ‘man of straw, buffeted and blown around on the winds of change. Sometimes he had the feeling that he existed only on the fringes of other’s people’s lives, not at the heart of his own.’ If Normal Rules Don’t Apply was a Venn diagram, Franklin would be at the centre. You’ll enjoy spotting the links as you go along.
Atkinson has such a wonderful way with words, down-to-earth and ordinary, set in a disorientating strange world. For example, in ‘Blithe Spirit’ Mandy is dead but the description seems reassuringly bland. ‘Seventeen years old when she started work, armed with her RSA certificate and a fuschia lip-gloss and already thinking with nostalgic fondness of the drunken and careless youth she had exchanged in order to be tethered to a Dictaphone.’ Just as Mandy is settling into one world, she is transported to another. The truth of her death, when it is revealed, is a surprise and another link to the Venn diagram.
These stories rattle along at a high pace, at times I needed to catch my breath. I know that a lot of references, and chuckles, passed me by. The writing is beautiful, as always with Atkinson, and I enjoyed the Yorkshire settings. Some of it seems a bit mad but she takes the reader by the hand and leads them on her rollercoaster.
Original. One to read and read again and to think about. Just because a story makes you laugh, doesn’t mean there’s isn’t a serious theme.

Read my reviews of these other novels by Kate Atkinson:-
A GOD IN RUINS
LIFE AFTER LIFE
SHRINES OF GAIETY
TRANSCRIPTION
BIG SKY #5JACKSONBRODIE
DEATH AT THE SIGN OF THE ROOK #6JACKSONBRODIE
… and try the #FirstPara of EMOTIONALLY WEIRD

If you like this, try:-
‘Last Stories’ by William Trevor
‘An Unfamiliar Landscape’ by Amanda Huggins
‘The Dreams of Bethany Mellmoth’ by William Boyd

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview NORMAL RULES DON’T APPLY by Kate Atkinson #shortstories https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-7Nt via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:- Ferdia Lennon

#BookReview ‘The Whispering Muse’ by Laura Purcell #historical #mystery

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The Whispering Muse by Laura Purcell is a haunted mystery full of suspense, superstition and danger. Set at the Mermaid, a London theatre specialising in tragedies, the story is told by Jenny Wilcox, dresser to lead actress Lilith Erikson. Laura PurcellRecruited by Mrs Dyer, wife of the theatre owner, to be dresser to Lilith, Jenny is grateful for the wage which enables her to support her three siblings at home. Left alone after their elder brother, a scene painter at the Mermaid, ran away with one of the actresses, Jenny cannot believe her luck. Until Mrs Dyer, suspecting her husband of an affair with Lilith, sends Jenny to spy on her rival. The two women vie over one man, and over a mysterious watch that seems to give power to the holder. But the previous owner of the watch, an actor, died on stage.
I raced through this book in two days; there isn’t a pause or a breath without the action progressing. Jenny finds herself involved in plots, unable to say no, beholden to her benefactor, divided by the powerful two women and unsure if she should trust either, agreeing to things she knows are wrong and dangerous, regretting she got involved. Purcell is excellent at creating a dark and menacing atmosphere in the theatre, a place ridden with superstitions that seems to crumble around them, rotting and smelling rank as the lies increase and the betrayals intensify.
This is a dark story I didn’t want to put down until I knew the ending. The theatrical world adds to the gothic setting, the costumes and special effects, the scenery and superstitions, the bitchiness. The self-obsession of the actors contrasts with the down-to-earth backstage staff who, after all, are there for the wage and cannot rock the boat when odd things begin to happen. And happen they do, as the company progresses through the season from Macbeth, The Duchess of Malfi, Antony and Cleopatra, Romeo and Juliet, finally to Faust, Part One.
One of my favourite books of 2024.

Here’s my review of THE SILENT COMPANIONS, also by Laura Purcell.

If you like this, try:-
‘The Night Child’ by Anna Quinn
‘Inheritance’ by Nora Roberts #1LostBrideTrilogy
‘The Lamplighters’ by Emma Stonex

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#BookReview THE WHISPERING MUSE by Laura Purcell https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-7LT via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:- Kate Atkinson

#BookReview ‘Murder at the Fair’ by @BrightVerity #cosymystery #crime

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When one raft fails to finish the race at the May Fair, honorary guest and amateur sleuth Lady Eleanor Swift is the only person to be suspicious. And so starts Murder at the Fair, sixth in the 1920s cosy mystery series by Verity Bright. And as is the way of these things, the murder at the fair is not the only death in Little Buckford. Verity Bright Warned off any further investigations by Detective Chief Inspector Seldon –  who Eleanor sometimes called Inspector, and sometimes Hugh – she believes her suspicions are correct when a spiteful obituary is published in the local newspaper. ‘For Solemn Jon’s death was not an accident, dear reader. It was murder!’ The obituary is signed Willie Green, who just happens to be assistant to ‘Solemn’ John Jon, who was the local undertaker. Green is the argumentative kind of man who exists on the fringe of the village, his brain sloshing with booze, a sharp tongue in his mouth, and so an obvious suspect. Perhaps too obvious?
When a second murder happens, another nasty obituary is published. This death looks like a horse-riding accident until Eleanor sets out to prove otherwise. Her on-off relationship with Seldon continues as they behave awkwardly around each other, not helped by the guilt Ellie feels at going behind his back to investigate the murders. These investigations are fun, supported as she is by loyal butler Clifford who has an astonishing range of suspect skills and tools, including skeleton keys and a pistol, and useful contacts amongst his fellow butlers. Things take a turn for the worse when a third obituary is published, for someone who is still alive.
The series is established now and key characters are familiar, this is the time when the narrative can run out of steam and become formulaic. But Murder at the Fair has a twisty plot with plenty of  unexpected hiccups and u-turns. The deathly events occur at a time of great upheaval at Henley Hall, the annual spring clean, when a newcomer to the hall causes early excitement followed by disaster.
Enjoyable, fun, clever and charming, a great book to sink into when relaxation is required.

Read my review of other books in the Lady Eleanor Swift series:-
A VERY ENGLISH MURDER #1LADYELEANORSWIFT
DEATH AT THE DANCE #2LADYELEANORSWIFT
A WITNESS TO MURDER #3LADYELEANORSWIFT
MURDER IN THE SNOW #4LADYELEANORSWIFT
MYSTERY BY THE SEA #5LADYELEANORSWIFT
A LESSON IN MURDER #7LADYELEANORSWIFT
DEATH ON A WINTER’S DAY #8LADYELEANORSWIFT
A ROYAL MURDER #9LADYELEANORSWIFT
THE FRENCH FOR MURDER #10LADYELEANORSWIFT
DEATH DOWN THE AISLE #11LADYELEANORSWIFT
MURDER IN AN IRISH CASTLE #12LADYELEANORSWIFT

If you like this, try:-
‘The Killing of Polly Carter’ by Robert Thorogood #2DeathinParadise
‘The Lost Ancestor’ by Nathan Dylan Goodwin #2MortonFarrier
‘A Mansion for Murder’ by Frances Brody #13KateShackleton

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview MURDER AT THE FAIR by @BrightVerity https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-7CZ via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:- Laura Purcell

#BookReview ‘The Spice Maker’s Secret’ by @RenitaDSilva #historical #India

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The Spice Maker’s Secret by Renita D’Silva is a sad, heartbreaking tale of two young women trapped by circumstance, by events beyond their control, different but in some unknown way connected. D’Silva is a magical writer about India, this time the scent, taste and power of spices is dominant. And she always writes intriguing, determined female characters, often difficult but always inspiring. Renita d'SilvaThere are two alternating timelines, of Bindu in 1930s India and Eve in 1980s London; their circumstances so different that a link between the two seems impossible. But both are trapped. Eve is weighed down by grief, struggling to leave the house, to eat, to return to a life that will never feel normal again. Bindu is weighed down by poverty, her small village suffering as drought hardens and everyone scratches a meagre survival. To protect those she loves, she takes a decision that finds her surrounded by obscene wealth, weighed down by elaborate jewellery. Bindu, the beautiful village girl who won a scholarship to college, who helps her grandmother Ajji cook wonderful curry feasts. Bindu who, according to spiteful gossipy villagers, thinks she is better than everyone else. When things get bad, Bindu remembers Wordsworth’s golden daffodils and she cooks.
Bindu’s narrative dominates and although this is good, I found myself wishing for a little more of Eve’s story before the life-changing event that shaped her world in 1980. After a start that wasn’t slow exactly but had me itching for things to develop, The Spice Maker’s Secret takes off at around 30%.
In Bindu’s India in the Thirties, the country is struggling towards independence as the world faces another global war. There are opportunities for women to be independent and Bindu wants to be one of them but instead finds herself in a traditional household; she is not allowed to mix with men, not able to enter the kitchen, forbidden to cook, daily newspapers are removed. Strong-willed, intelligent and brave, Bindu’s marriage starts to falter as she is unable to connect with her equally strong-willed husband Guru. She is expected to produce an heir, a son; but Bindu knows she is carrying a daughter. When full of despair and anger at her situation, she remembers the calm, soothing advice of her grandmother. Sometimes she listens to Ajji’s words, sometimes she doesn’t. So she makes plans to escape the elaborate mansion just as years ago she skived off school, enduring the nuns’ disapproval, to help her frail grandmother cook the catering commissions which helped them survive. But now Ajji is dead and Bindu must face childbirth alone.
D’Silva builds the tension layer by layer, chapter by chapter, passing through phases of happiness then sadness, a little hope and contentment then more sadness and happiness. It is a very emotional book.

Read my reviews of these other novels by Renita D’Silva:-
A DAUGHTER’S COURAGE
A MOTHER’S SECRET
BENEATH AN INDIAN SKY
THE GIRL IN THE PAINTING
THE ORPHAN’S GIFT
THE WAR CHILD

If you like this, try:-
‘The Wolf Den’ by Elodie Harper #1WolfDen
‘Restless Dolly Maunder’ by Kate Grenville
‘The Blue Afternoon’ by William Boyd

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview THE SPICE MAKER’S SECRET by @RenitaDSilva https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-7Ip via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:- Verity Bright

#BookReview ‘Murder at the Playhouse’ by Helena Dixon @NellDixon #cosymystery #crime

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Murder at the Playhouse is another good adventure for Kitty Underhay, hotelier and amateur detective. Third in this nicely developing between-the-wars mystery series by Helena Dixon, Kitty now finds herself drawn into the theatrical world. Helena Dixon Starting weeks after the ending of the previous book, Murder at Enderley Hall, Kitty is still not on speaking turns with her fellow investigator, Captain Matthew Bryant. And she isn’t only missing their cooperation as detectors. But before she can work out how to break the ice after their quarrel, everyday turns into drama when Matt is arrested on suspicion of murder. A young girl taking part in a treasure hunt at a party, is found dead on the golf course. She was strangled with a bootlace, the bootlace given to her and her friend by Matt when they knocked on his door to enquire about clues. Kitty, who soon discovers that the party was hosted by Matt’s next door neighbours, the theatrical Davenport family, volunteers for charity work with the Davenport’s daughter Genny and goes undercover.
Kitty and Matt’s relationship has reached an interesting stage, past their acknowledgement of mutual attraction they must now face up to their differing social expectations. Kitty is determined to prove her credentials as a detective, able to handle difficult and dangerous assignments as well as Matt himself. Soon she is part of the theatre company as it prepares for a charitable production. Burning the candle at both ends, Kitty’s assessment of likely risk becomes a little wobbly as she pushes on in her objective to clear Matt’s name. The cast of theatrical characters includes some colourful, and distasteful, people, so there are plenty of suspects. Assigned as prompter, Kitty fears sitting in the wings will prevent her ability to eavesdrop and discover clues. So she engages the Dolphin Hotel’s housemaid Alice to assist her again. Alice, deft with a needle and thread, proves adept at organising the theatrical costumes and props and rallying the troop of child performers.
Needless to say, Kitty takes one risk too many and, not wanting to worry Matt while also wanting prove herself to him, does not tell him everything that is happening. In the background is the longer-running mystery of Kitty’s lost mother; where did she disappear to during the war?
Kitty is a very likeable heroine while Matt has a complicated history. He is a widow and a war veteran, more of both in this book. The plot moves on nicely and the whodunnit is full of possibilities without being so complex that the clues become entangled in an impenetrable knot. More please.

Here are my reviews of other books in the series:-
MURDER AT THE DOLPHIN HOTEL #1MISSUNDERHAY
MURDER AT ENDERLEY HALL #2MISSUNDERHAY
MURDER ON THE DANCE FLOOR #4MISSUNDERHAY
MURDER IN THE BELLTOWER #5MISSUNDERHAY
MURDER AT ELM HOUSE #6MISSUNDERHAY
MURDER AT THE WEDDING #7MISSUNDERHAY
MURDER IN FIRST CLASS #8MISSUNDERHAY
MURDER AT THE COUNTRY CLUB #9MISSUNDERHAY

And my reviews of the first in a new series by Helena Dixon:-
THE SECRET DETECTIVE AGENCY #1SECRETDETECTIVEAGENCY
THE SEASIDE MURDERS #2SECRETDETECTIVEAGENCY

If you like this, try:-
‘An Expert in Murder’ by Nicola Upson #1JosephineTey
‘The Cornish Wedding Murder’ by Fiona Leitch #1NoseyParker
‘The Anarchist Detective’ by Jason Webster #3MaxCamara

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview MURDER AT THE PLAYHOUSE by Helena Dixon @NellDixon https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-7Bd via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:- Renita d'Silva

#BookReview ‘Conspiracy’ by SJ Parris @thestephmerritt #historical #crime

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Paris 1585. In Conspiracy by SJ Parris, Italian philosopher spy Giordano Bruno is finding the French capital more difficult to negotiate than London. ‘God this city!… So many factions, so many plots; everyone an informer with two faces, playing one party off against the others.’ SJ ParrisFifth in this series, Bruno arrives in a Paris riven by religious fear and violence, when the reign of King Henri III is under threat from the Catholic League led by the Duke of Guise. Henri is ruled by his mother, Catherine de Medici, features regularly in scurrilous scandal sheets and seems unable to sire an heir. When a fellow priest is murdered, Bruno is drawn into the Parisian web of secrets, spies and court intrigue. Always balancing on a knife edge, Bruno must use his detecting skills to identify the murderer. He is ordered by two powerful men – neither knows of the other’s contract – to discover the truth of the murder. Bruno trusts neither and, though his knowledge of how the royal court functions is useful, he finds himself drawn deeper into danger.
A second most unexpected murder within the royal court itself threatens to reveal secrets about Henri, his wife Queen Louise, and his mother Catherine de Medici. This court is a world of courtesan spies where courtiers may be working for both sides, where everyone could be considered two-faced, their word untrustworthy. Bruno survives on his wit, bravery, and sheer damn luck. As Bruno is working for two bosses, he must also consider that everyone he meets is a spy, a double or triple agent, or may be lying to protect themselves, for ambition or for money. The plot ties itself in knots, at times the sheer number of suspects is bewildering.
I particularly enjoyed Bruno’s meetings with fellow spy Charles Paget whose wry remark that Bruno doesn’t look over his shoulder often enough would spoil some of the plot twists. The plot of Conspiracy continues some threads and recurring characters from earlier novels. Scandal and rumour combine in the echo chamber of the royal court as Bruno uncovers one conspiracy after another, or has he. Jumping to conclusions too early gets him into some scrapes and brings him into contact with a wide variety of personalities including an acting troupe I Gelosi.
These are long and complicated books and Bruno has enviable diplomatic and survival skills. The Parisian royal court is poisonous, the city is dirty and dangerous, there are sexy men, gorgeous women and gambling clerics.
A really good historical thriller. If you’re new to this series, please start with the first book to appreciate all the plot twists and themes.

Read my reviews of other books in the series:-
HERESY #1 GIORDANOBRUNO
PROPHECY #2 GIORDANOBRUNO
SACRILEGE #3 GIORDANOBRUNO
TREACHERY #4GIORDANOBRUNO

If you like this, try:-
‘The Burning Chambers’ by Kate Mosse #1Joubert
‘The Silver Wolf’ by JC Harvey #1FiskardosWar
‘Winter Pilgrims’ by Toby Clements #1Kingmaker

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview CONSPIRACY by SJ Parris @thestephmerritt https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-7Hl via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:- Helena Dixon