Tag Archives: historical mystery

#BookReview ‘Leeward’ by Katie Daysh #historicalfiction #adventure #navalwarfare

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I’m new to historical naval fiction and wasn’t sure what to expect from Leeward by Katie Daysh, first in the Nightingale & Courtney mystery series. Life at sea is brutal, and beautiful. It is lonely, and companionable. It is exhilarating, it is terrifying. Katie Daysh1800 Antigua. For Hiram Nightingale, naval captain and veteran of the Battle of the Nile, the sea is everything. ‘The sea. The sea… Nearly everything of importance in his life had happened on the ocean.’ Horribly injured, physically and emotionally, after the famous battle of the Napoleonic Wars and grieving for his lost crew, Hiram is encouraged back to sea by his father and father-in-law who arrange a captaincy in the West Indies. Expecting a quiet commission, instead he finds himself captain of the ‘Scylla’ charged with hunting down and apprehending a mutinied ship, the ‘Ulysses.’ His mission is to chase the ‘Ulysses’ wherever she goes, even around Cape Horn into the Pacific. It soon becomes clear that Hiram hasn’t been told the real reason for his mission or why the ‘Ulysses’ crew mutinied. He is uncertain who to trust either onboard or on shore and uncertain about his own capability to do the job.
I took a while to settle into the story but after that I didn’t want to put it down. For me there is just enough nautical detail to be interesting but not so much that I started to skip sections. Naval warfare tactics are fascinating as are the politics of the region and the character clashes on board, but professionalism, talent and justice mean nothing in the face of ostentatious wealth and overwhelming greed. Nightingale becomes a detective, hunting his prey, trying to decipher the truth of the crime. He is on a nautical journey, making his peace with the sea and grieving those he lost in battle; he’s also on an emotional journey, being honest with himself about his deepest nature. The gay sub-plot complements the main storyline but doesn’t dominate. As Hiram struggles with the lonely responsibility of command, his dreams are full of flashbacks to his loss of the ‘Lion’ at the Nile, moments with his wife Louisa, and an unforgettable, unforgiveable incident in his childhood. The journey parallels throughout to Homer’s Odyssey are handled with a light touch: Hiram’s ship the ‘Scylla’ is named after Homer’s multi-headed monster, while ‘Ulysses’ is the Roman name for Odysseus.
What a surprising delight this novel is, an insight into the professionalism of the Royal Navy, a fight to catch the criminals, the ocean, the unpredictable elements and a naval trial.

Read my review of the next book in the series:-
THE DEVIL TO PAY #2NIGHTINGALE&COURTNEY

If you like this, try:-
‘The Silver Wolf’ by JC Harvey #1FISKARDO’SWAR
‘Nero’ by Conn Iggulden #1NERO
‘The Surfacing’ by Cormac James

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview LEEWARD by Katie Daysh https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-8Qr via @SandraDanby

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

#BookReview ‘Peace and Love’ by JC Harvey @JCollissHarvey #historical

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Peace and Love by JC Harvey is third in the Jack Fiskardo historical adventure series but is a step aside from Jack’s story. It takes place in another century, telling the tale of the grandson of one of Jack’s rogues. I didn’t know what to expect, it is charming and short; only 125 pages. JC HarveyIn Uppsala province, Sweden in 1720, Magnus, the grandson of Jack Fiskardo’s youthful ensign, Karl-Christian von Lindeborg, is high-born, rich and alone. His bones ache. He is an old soldier with no place in the world. He drifts around his empty castle as day merges into day, emotionally shuttered to those around him. And then into his life with a bang arrives a ward, a young girl, the grand-daughter of his childhood teacher, Dr Excelsior, recently deceased. Magnus, who has never interracted with children, takes Elise into his castle, tells her she is safe and then forgets about her. Elise finds a place with the staff but feels adrift. Both know the situation is unsatisfactory, neither knows how to change it. Until one night, Elise sleepwalks and the two shy, introverted people begin to talk.
When the count’s sister arrives at the remote castle for a visit, she tells him Elise needs proper parenting as she is approaching marriageable age. And so Elise returns to Uppsala with Margrit and everything changes. The count’s life is empty again, without purpose. ‘And he missed her. No sooner was he accustomed to her than she was gone. He missed her more than if he had known her all her life; precisely because she had been plucked away when he had hardly come to know her at all.’
Peace and Love is a charming, unexpected step aside from the tales of Jack Fiskardo. There is a fleeting mention of Jack, a louring portrait in a long gallery, surrounded by his fellow fighters.
Next in the series is The Wanton Road.

Here are my reviews of the Jack Fiskardo series:-
THE SILVER WOLF #1FISKARDO’SWAR
THE DEAD MEN #2FISKARDO’SWAR
THE WANTON ROAD #4FISKARDO’SWAR

If you like this, try:-
‘Rush Oh!’ by Shirley Barrett
‘Orphans of the Carnival’ by Carol Birch
‘At the Edge of the Orchard’ by Tracy Chevalier

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview PEACE AND LOVE by JC Harvey @JCollissHarvey https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-8IH via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:- Abir Mukherjee

#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 ‘A Rustle of Silk’ by Alys Clare #historical #mystery

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April 1603. The Scottish King James is to sit on the English throne after the death of Queen Elizabeth I. In Devon, former ship’s surgeon and now rural physician Gabriel Taverner is called to examine a corpse found with a blade in his stomach. I’ve found a new historical mystery series and the first book is A Rustle of Silk by Alys Clare. Alys ClareI started the tale not sure what to expect but found myself racing through the pages, not wanting to put the book down. Clare is a new author for me and as well as this series, there are many other Clare mysteries to explore.
The dead man is Gabe’s brother-in-law, a silk trader. Jeromy Palfrey is an assistant to a local wealthy dealer in silks, Nicolaus Quinlie. Celia’s house is much grander than Gabe’s quiet house, Rosewyke. She dresses in silk, the colourful home furnishings are silk and she spends much time alone in her luxurious house while her husband travels for work. Until he doesn’t return his body is found.
Immediately I was drawn to the complex character of Gabe. A man with a colourful past travelling, and fighting, on the oceans until a head injury forced him to find an occupation on land. Now a qualified doctor, he continues to study current medical tomes which he combines with avant-garde experience picked up on his travels around the globe and medical techniques learned onboard in the heat of battle. Now his feet are firmly on dry land and he is trying to establish a name in his local area. Unfortunately someone objects to his presence; deposited on his doorstep has been a series of ‘little gifts’ – faeces, dead mice, a headless rat, a square of linen soaked in blood, and worse. Not one to be threatened easily, Gabe knows he must stop the person making these threats. But then Plymouth coroner Theophilius Davey knocks on his door.
Is there a connection between the threats to Gabe and the death of his brother-in-law. Was Palfrey involved in money-making schemes to pay his debts and could his employer have found out. Two more deaths follow.
The portrayal of medical treatment at the beginning of the 17th century is fascinating – formally-trained doctors such as Gabe, barber surgeons, midwife Judyth and herbalist Black Carlotta. Both female medics live in danger of being denounced as witches. Clare also shows the social restrictions on women at that time. Once married, all wealth and property transfers to her husband. An unscrupulous husband may spend his, and his wife’s, wealth without recourse to her.
A Rustle of Silk is not a long book, unlike some historical crime novels, and I read it easily in two days. An easy entertaining read though it does include some gruesome medical descriptions. I would describe this as a historical mystery rather than historical crime. Gabe is a doctor in search of the truth but he is also an able amateur investigator. I enjoyed the circle of professionals around him; coroner Theo and his assistant Jarman Hodge, and local preacher Jonathan Carew. I anticipate many hours spent reading the rest of this series.

Here are my reviews of other novels in this series:-
THE ANGEL IN THE GLASS #2GABRIELTAVERNER
THE INDIGO GHOSTS #3GABRIELTAVERNER

If you like this, try:-
‘Winter Pilgrims’ by Toby Clements #1KINGMAKER
‘The Confessions of Frannie Langton’ by Sara Collins
‘The Drowned City’ by KJ Maitland #1DANIELPURSGLOVE 

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview A RUSTLE OF SILK by Alys Clare https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-7EN via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:- Emily Gunnis

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

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The Giordano Bruno historical mystery series by SJ Parris is into its stride now. Treachery is fourth in the series and my favourite so far. It is 1585 and Sir Francis Drake is assembling a fleet of ships to attack the Spanish. Bruno, with poet and gentleman Sir Philip Sidney, visits Plymouth as the covert expedition is about to leave. But departure is delayed by a murder on board the flagship ‘Elizabeth Bonaventure’ and Bruno agrees to solve the crime. SJ ParrisA slow-build that turns into a page-turning mystery, Parris twists the plot this way and that, suspects come, go, and return as Bruno tracks the murderer on water and on land. Plymouth is a colourful setting for the mystery. Set three years before Drake plays bowls on Plymouth Hoe as the Spanish Armada approaches, Parris weaves a complicated tale of European politics, spies, military strategy plus old-fashioned greed and revenge. Bruno follows clues in the city via an upmarket brothel to Drake’s Island in Plymouth Sound, a small fortified island reached only by boat. Or, according to local legend, through a maze of secret underground tunnels used by smugglers and villains.
Giordano Bruno, the Italian who longs for his home but cannot return, is no longer a monk but a philosopher, academic, a foreigner wherever he lives and works; all things that make him the man he is. A modern man in the sixteenth-century. ‘My face, my voice, my ideas mark me as different. Perhaps, as I have often feared, a man like me belongs everywhere and nowhere.’ Is that why he makes such a good spy, a good solver of crime? He is brave and has a poker face which is useful when confronting suspects, but is sensitive also to emotion and fear. And in the background lurk the influence of master spy Sir Francis Walsingham and political demands of Queen Elizabeth I. Parris mixes fact, particularly the lasting impact of Drake’s earlier voyages and the friends and foes, and some characters are real.
For one said to be good at solving mysteries, Bruno does have a tendency to backing his latest theory and throwing accusations around. But perhaps causing trouble is his gift as a detector as his efforts invariably upset some people, so he makes enemies but also uncovers new clues and suspects. Bruno is such a likeable hero, brave but not macho, lacking the peacock posturing of Sidney and the politicking of Drake. In his position in society as an outsider in a foreign country in politically uncertain times, he is cautious but given to moments of recklessness. It is these moments that enable Parris to kick-start the plot to a new level of tension.
A sprawling story with connections to characters from the previous books in the series, I approached the end turning pages quickly and reading into the night to finish it.

Read my reviews of other books in the series:-
HERESY #1GIORDANOBRUNO
PROPHECY #2GIORDANOBRUNO
SACRILEGE #3GIORDANOBRUNO
CONSPIRACY #5GIORDANOBRUNO
EXECUTION #6GIORDANOBRUNO
ALCHEMY #7GIORDANOBRUNO

If you like this, try:-
‘The Fire Court’ by Andrew Taylor #2FIREOFLONDON
‘The Swift and the Harrier’ by Minette Walters
‘The Key in the Lock’ by Beth Underdown

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

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:- Dinah Jefferies

#BookReview ‘The Shadows of London’ by @AndrewJRTaylor #Historical

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When a body without a face is discovered on the site of Cat Hakesby’s latest building venture, Whitehall secretary James Marwood is ordered to investigate. The Shadows of London by Andrew Taylor is sixth in the Marwood & Lovett series that started on the night of the Great Fire of London. Andrew TaylorCat’s renovation of a city almshouse is delayed for the coroner’s verdict, putting extreme financial pressure on her architecture business. Marwood soon discovers two possible identities for the dead man – a French tutor to the daughter of the almshouse’s owner, or a civil servant at the Council of Foreign Plantations. Both suspects suggest a foreign connection to the affair. This excellent series about Restoration London is a wonderful portrayal of the squalor, smells and grime of daily reality juxtaposed with the corruption of wealth, power and politics. Stink, disguised by a clove-studded orange pomander. Meanwhile the eye of King Charles II is distracted by a young French newcomer to court, Louise de Keroualle. Surrounded by panders, English and French, who see advantage to a dalliance between monarch and maid of honour, Louise longs for a lost love and attempts in vain to stop the inevitable happening.
Set in 1671, this novel is a wonderful mixture of murder mystery, political thriller, seventeenth-century fashion [gorgeous shoes] and romantic suspense, set in the complex Restoration period. Eleven years after the restoration of King Charles to the throne and five years since the Great Fire, London still bears the marks of destruction. As Marwood investigates the murder, pulled this way and that by the demands of his political paymasters, Cat struggles to find skilled workers when all the ruined City of London is being redeveloped. The plot is complex, with modern echoes to pick up, and Taylor pulls the strings of tension this way and that. I stayed up late to finish it.
Cat remains one of my favourite fictional characters; independent, spiky, steadfast, a little solemn with endless determination. Marwood is alternately frustrating, arrogant and impulsive but also loyal, brave and honest. It is this last quality that is most pressed in The Shadows of London as, finding himself in unfamiliar territory, he questions what he is doing and why. Cat and Marwood are a brilliant pairing.
Excellent.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT THIS BOOK AT AMAZON

Read my reviews of the first five books in this series:
THE ASHES OF LONDON #FIREOFLONDON1… and read the first paragraph of THE ASHES OF LONDON.
THE FIRE COURT #FIREOFLONDON2
THE KING’S EVIL #FIREOFLONDON3
THE LAST PROTECTOR #FIREOFLONDON4
THE ROYAL SECRET #FIREOFLONDON5

And a World War Two novel by the same author:-
THE SECOND MIDNIGHT

If you like this, try:-
‘The Lady of the Ravens’ by Joanna Hickson #1QueensoftheTower
‘The Drowned City’ by KJ Maitland #1 Daniel Pursglove
‘Wakenhyrst’ by Michelle Paver

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview THE SHADOWS OF LONDON by @AndrewJRTaylor https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-6Qd via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:- HG Wells

#BookReview ‘Little Deaths’ by Emma Flint #mystery #suspense

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This is another of those novels which is an uncomfortable read. What kept me reading? The characters. I wanted to know what really happened. But of course this is fiction and characters don’t always tell the truth, only their version of the truth. Little Deaths by Emma Flint is an accomplished debut, as I read I could tell she had got under the skin of her characters. Emma FlintThere is an intriguing set-up, we first hear Ruth’s voice. She is in prison. We don’t know why, but she compares her life now with her life before. When she was a single mum with two small children. As I read, I felt a shiver down my back: where are her children now? Starting the story with Ruth in prison surely gives away the ending, doesn’t it? Not really. This is a nuanced tale of trial by jury in 1960s America [though until the Sixties were mentioned, it seemed to be set in a curiously non-time specific period] where prejudices about women could wrongly influence outcomes, where social pre-conceptions coloured witness statements, and hearsay evidence seemed admissible if the accused was disliked. It is a tale of presumed guilt, and it should make all readers stop and think.
Ruth, separated from her husband Frank, works as a cocktail waitress to support her children. It is a hard life when Frank’s support cheques bounce and the children don’t want to eat the only food she has to feed them. Ruth puts on a persona when she leaves the house, it is her way of coping. She is a proud woman, who doesn’t want to admit her struggles or to ask for help. She is attractive and uses make-up and tight clothes to attract boyfriends who give her cash, cash which helps her to survive. And then one morning when she goes to the children’s bedroom, Cindy and Frank Junior are not there. The police questioning starts, and the make-up, short skirts and lack of friendly neighbours come back to haunt her.
We are told Ruth’s story, first by Ruth herself, and also by Pete Wonicke, a young journalist who reports on the case. As the months go on and no-one is arrested we see Ruth’s anger and helplessness in the face of police who wait to convict her rather than investigate other clues. Meanwhile, Pete becomes obsessed with Ruth and with proving her innocence.
This novel stayed with me for days afterwards. It made me question how quick we are to judge others by what we see on the outside, how easy it is to allow our prejudices to dominate our views on life. Sometimes the guilty-looking person will be guilty. But sometimes they won’t.
You will have to read right to the end to find out if Ruth is guilty or not guilty.
The novel was inspired by a real life case, read more about this in The Alice Crimmins Case by Kenneth Gross.

If you this, try:-
‘Stolen Child’ by Laura Elliot
‘The Girls’ by Lisa Jewell
‘Disclaimer’ by Renee Knight

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview LITTLE DEATHS by Emma Flint http://wp.me/p5gEM4-2iW via @SandraDanby 

#BookReview ‘The Penny Heart’ by Martine Bailey @MartineBailey #historical

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This is the sort of novel which creates a world into which you can sink. It is a story of revenge, cookery and two women in 18th century England, connected by one man. The story of The Penny Heart by Martine Bailey is told by the two women, who cannot be more different. It is about the nature of truth, the passage of time and the difficulty of deciphering the lies hidden within truth. Martine BaileyIn 1787 when Mary Jebb is caught playing a confidence trick on a young man, she is sentenced to the colonies. Before she leaves, she sends two pennies, each engraved with a promise, to the two men she blames for her fate. These are the penny hearts. In contrast, virtuous and timid Grace Moore marries handsome Michael Coxon in a property deal arranged by her father and husband. She soon learns that her husband is not what he seems. At the isolated and rundown Delafosse Hall she is lonely but finds a friend in her new cook, Peg.
By halfway through I really didn’t want to put the book down and the last third runs along with an ingenious ending that was impossible to foresee. Whose story to trust? Mary, resourceful and struggling to survive in a world which gives her nothing. Or Grace, who escapes a drunken father and finds herself marooned with an exploitative husband? Will Grace realize Peg is not what she seems? Will Peg’s plans work out? And which facts are true, and which lies? This is not a pretty historical story set in which involves a few recipes. It is a dark story of murder, double-crossing and lies.

And here are my reviews of other novels by Martine Bailey:-
AN APPETITE FOR VIOLETS
THE ALMANACK #1TABITHAHART
THE PROPHET #2TABITHAHART

If you like this, try:-
‘The Miniaturist’ by Jesse Burton
‘Gone are the Leaves’ by Anne Donovan
‘The Other Eden’ by Sarah Bryant

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview THE PENNY HEART by Martine Bailey @MartineBailey via @SandraDanby http://wp.me/p5gEM4-2ii