Category: Historical

Book Tour, Historical, Mystery, Partners In Crime

Murder at Midnight by Katharine Schellman

Patricia McDonald Uttaro

September 18 – October 13, 2023 Virtual Book Tour

Description

Regency widow Lily Adler is looking forward to a quiet Christmastide away from the schemes and secrets she witnessed daily in London. Not only will she be visiting the family of her late husband; she will be reunited with Captain Jack Hartley, her friend and confidante, finally returned after a long voyage at sea.

But secrets aren’t only found in London. Jack’s younger sister, Amelia, is the center of neighborhood scandal and gossip. She refuses to tell anyone what really happened, even when an unexpected snowstorm strands the neighborhood families together after a Christmas ball. Stuck until the snow stops, the Adlers, Hartleys, and their neighbors settle in for the night, only to be awakened in the morning by the scream of a maid who has just discovered a dead body.

The victim was the well-to-do son of a local gentleman–the same man whose name has become so scandalously linked to Amelia’s.

With the snow still falling and no way to come or go, it’s clear that someone in the house was responsible for the young man’s death. When suspicion instantly falls on Jack’s sister, he and Lily must unmask the true culprit before Amelia is convicted of a crime she didn’t commit.

My Thoughts

This is the second book I’ve read in the series and was pleased to find the same skillful writing and attention to detail. The author continues to develop the characters, and pays special attention to Lily who once again defies the conventions of the time.

The love triangle introduced earlier in the series is resolved here in what was an unexpected but not disappointing way. Lily’s ability to get along despite the constraints of the time placed upon women, particularly widows, sets her up as a daring role model for other characters.

Schellman’s work has been compared to Deanna Raybourn and Tasha Alexander, both giants in the historical mystery genre. She more than meets the expectations here. I’ll be recommending this to fans of historical mysteries for a very long time.

Praise for Murder at Midnight:

“Delightful . . . Historical mystery fans will devour this holiday treat.” 
~  Publishers Weekly

“A plummy period whodunit with a colorful collection of suspects.”
~ Kirkus Reviews

Perfect for fans of Deanna Raybourn and Ashley Weaver, when a body is found shot to death after an unexpected snowstorm, Lily Adler quickly realizes that some people will stop at nothing to bury their secrets.

Book Details:

Genre: Historical mystery
Published by: Crooked Lane Books
Publication Date: September 2023
Number of Pages: 320
ISBN: 9781639104321 (ISBN10: 1639104321)
Series: A Lily Adler Mystery, 4
Book Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | BookShop.org | Goodreads | Penguin Random House

Book ShortLinks:

Amazon – https://amzn.to/3DbYQKQ
Barnes & Noble – https://bit.ly/3OdZePh
BookShop.org – https://bit.ly/3pMTpPo
Goodreads – https://bit.ly/3pOPMIM
Penguin Random House – https://bit.ly/3NV6YUU

Author Bio:

Katharine Schellman

Katharine Schellman is a former actor and one-time political consultant. These days, she writes the Lily Adler Mysteries and the Nightingale Mysteries. Her books, which reviewers have praised as “worthy of Agatha Christie or Rex Stout” (Library Journal, starred review), have received multiple accolades, including being named a Library Journal Best Crime Fiction of 2022, a Suspense Magazine Best Book of 2020, and a New York Times editor’s pick in June 2022. Katharine lives and writes in the mountains of Virginia in the company of her husband, children, and the many houseplants she keeps accidentally murdering.

Catch Up With Katharine Schellman:
www.KatharineSchellman.com
Goodreads
BookBub – @KatharineSchellman
Instagram – @katharinewrites
Facebook – @katharineschellman

Providence Book Promotions
Historical, Mystery

The Human Trial by Audrey Gale

Patricia McDonald Uttaro

Description

In her latest work, author Audrey Gale merges three genres: historical fiction, medical thriller and coming-of-age story, cast with imperfect, relatable characters.

After an agonizing climb to earn his pathology specialty from Harvard Medical, early discoveries in the microscopic realms threaten not only Dr. Randall Archer’s hard-won place in the field of medicine, but his very life.

Dr. Randall Archer has always been a misfit…

 …in the brutal blue-collar home where he grew up

…as a 16-year-old escaping to college, then medical school, on a full scholarship to Harvard.

…in the highest echelons of Boston society, where the woman he marries and the blueblood research partner with whom he shares his laboratory belong.

Archer’s brilliance as a pathologist catapults him into direct and dangerous conflict with the medical establishment he fought so hard to join. As the Great Depression presses down around him, Archer teeters at the edge of a precipice. He must choose between his hard-won career and the sacred oaths he took as a doctor and scientist—before all his choices are lost forever.

My Thoughts

This is a difficult book to classify. There are elements of suspense, mystery, and intrigue but also history and a little bit of romance. For this reader, the suspense, mystery & history worked most successfully; I could have done without the romance. Even with that minor issue, I found the story engaging and well-written.


The rapid pace of scientific advancement in the early-mid 20th century always makes for a fascinating and mysterious topic. The concept of scientific advances being quashed because of profit isn’t a new one, but Gale paints a vivid and gripping picture of one scientist’s story and persecution.

Clocking in at just over 260 pages, this makes a nice rainy afternoon read.

Publication Date: September 26, 2023
Published By: Books Fluent
Thanks to the publisher for the review copy

Historical, Romance, Suspense, Women

Ghost Ship by Kate Mosse

Patricia McDonald Uttaro

Description

Next in the #1 Sunday Times bestselling series, New York Times bestselling author Kate Mosse returns with The Ghost Ship, a sweeping historical epic of adventure on the high seas.

The Barbary Coast, 1621. A mysterious vessel floats silently on the water. It is known only as the Ghost Ship. For months it has hunted pirates to liberate those enslaved by corsairs, manned by a courageous crew of mariners from Italy and France, Holland and the Canary Islands.

But the bravest men on board are not who they seem. And the stakes could not be higher. If arrested, they will be hanged for their crimes. Can they survive the journey and escape their fate?

A sweeping and epic love story, ranging from France in 1610 to Amsterdam and the Canary Islands in the 1620s, The Ghost Ship is a thrilling novel of adventure and buccaneering, love and revenge, stolen fortunes and hidden secrets on the high seas.

My Thoughts

Kate Mosse is one of those authors who could write the alphabet and I’d gladly read it. She is one of the best builders-of-worlds writing today, and her historical research is impeccable. She tends to focus on women’s roles in various historical periods, throwing bright light on the horrible conditions and restrictions women endured. However, Mosse’s female protagonists are always those who rise above or go right through the patriarchy and she has outdone her previous characters with Louise.

There’s action, there’s adventure, there’s love all wrapped up in Mosse’s gorgeous prose. This one is a winner for sure and is one I’ll be adding to my print collection.

Publication Date: July 11, 2023
Published By: St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books
Thanks to Netgalley for the review copy

Food & Drink, Historical, Non Fiction

Eating with the Tudors by Brigitte Webster

Patricia McDonald Uttaro

Description

Eating with the Tudors is an extensive collection of authentic Tudor recipes that tell the story of a dramatically changing world in sixteenth-century England. This book highlights how religion, reformation and politics influenced what was served on a Tudor’s dining table from the very beginning of Henry VII’s reign to the final days of Elizabeth I’s rule.

Discover interesting little food snippets from Tudor society, carefully researched from household account books, manuscripts, letters, wills, diaries and varied works by Tudor physicians, herbalists and chronologists. Find out about the Tudor’s obsession with food and uncover which key ingredients were the most popular choice. Rediscover old Tudor favourites that once again are being celebrated in trendy restaurants and learn about the new, exotic food that excited and those foods that failed to meet the Elizabethan expectations.

Eating with the Tudors explains the whole concept of what a healthy balanced meal meant to the people of Tudor England and the significance and symbology of certain food and its availability throughout the year. Gain an insight into the world of Tudor food, its role to establish class, belonging and status and be tempted to re-create some iconic Tudor flavours and experience for yourself the many varied and delicious seasonal tastes that Tudor dishes have to offer. Spice up your culinary habits and step back in time to recreate a true Tudor feast by impressing your guests the Tudor way or prepare a New Year’s culinary gift fit for a Tudor monarch.

My Thoughts

Serious foodie historians will adore this engaging and well-written history of food in Tudor times. There’s an interesting overlay with 20th/21st century nutrition with Tudor food preparation and consumption, paired with a fascinating look at who ate what and when. It’s fascinating to read about how cooks and people in general were trying to understand the properties of food and how different foods affected different people. There was a lot of superstition associated with food preparation and consumption, which adds another layer of interest to the narrative.

I also had no idea the Church controlled so much of what, when, and how people ate. The restrictions associated with all the holy days were just mind-boggling!

Recommended for large library collections, serious foodies, and anyone who prepares food at the Renaissance Festival!

Publication Date: July 30, 2023
Published By: Pen & Sword
Thanks to Netgalley for the review copy

British, Detective, Historical, Mystery, Victorian

Immortalized to Death by Lyn Squire

Patricia McDonald Uttaro

Description

Death strikes England’s foremost novelist Charles Dickens, his latest tale only half told. Was he murdered because someone feared a ruinous revelation? Or was it revenge for some past misdeed? Set in the Kent countryside and London slums of 1870, Lyn Squire’s “Immortalised to Death” (Level Best Books, September 26th, 2023) reveals the ending to Charles Dickens’s unfinished “The Mystery of Edwin Drood,” while diving deep into Dickens’ evolving and ultimately tragic double life.

Debut author Lyn Squire kicks off his electrifying Dunston Burnett Trilogy with legendary Victorian novelist Charles Dickens dead at his desk, pen still in hand. The mystery unravels as Dickens’ nephew and unlikely detective Dunston Burnett, tries to find the solution of his uncles’ unfinished novel. Convinced that the identity of Dickens’ murderer lies in the book’s missing conclusion, Dunston becomes obsessed with investigating those closest to Dickens. A stunning revelation crowns this tale about the mysterious death of England’s foremost novelist, and the long-held secret hidden in his half-finished manuscript.

The deft plotting will remind readers of Agatha Christie and the evocative prose will have them questioning which parts of the book are fiction and nonfiction. Squire seamlessly reimagines Dickens’ untimely death and final unfinished story while tying it neatly into a thrilling whodunnit. Is Dunston Burnett, a diffident, middle-aged, retired bookkeeper, able to crack the case of his uncle’s murder, or does he only find buried secrets in his brilliant continuation to Dickens’ novel?

My Thoughts

One of my favorite forms of the mystery novel are those that feature familiar characters from history or from other novels. In this case, it is the murder of Charles Dickens that kicks off one of the most unexpected and inventive mysteries I’ve read recently.

Squire’s introduction of Dunston Burnett as the family member turned accidental detective sets off as twisty a mystery as a reader could wish for, peppered with witty dialog, just-right narrative description, and an eyebrow-raising ending.

Immortalised to Death is an auspicious debut and left me looking forward to the next entry in the Dunston Burnett series. I’ll be recommending this novel and author to fans of historical mysteries.

Publication Date: September 26, 2023
Published By: Level Best Books
Thanks to the author for the review copy

About the Author

LYN SQUIRE was born in Cardiff, South Wales. He earned his bachelor’s degree at the University of Wales, his master’s at the London School of Economics and his doctorate at Cambridge University.

Lyn is now an American citizen living in Virginia. During a twenty-five year career at the World Bank, Lyn published over thirty articles and several books within his area of expertise. Lyn also served as editor of the Middle East Development Journal for over a decade, and was the founding president of the Global Development Network, an organization dedicated to supporting promising scholars from the developing world.

Lyn has always been an avid reader of whodunits and has reviewed scores of mysteries for the City Book Review (Sacramento, CA), but it was the thrill of solving Charles Dickens’ unfinished ‘Mystery of Edwin Drood’ that convinced him to put aside his development pen and turn to fiction. Finding a solution to the mystery has attracted massive interest since the author’s death in 1870. A 1998 bibliography lists over 2,000 entries, with continuations ranging from the obvious (a Sherlock Holmes pastiche) to the absurd (The Mysterious Mystery of Rude Dedwin). Lyn’s version of what happened to Edwin is revealed in his first novel, Immortalised to Death. The adventures of his protagonist, Dunston Burnett, a non-conventional amateur detective, continue in Fatally Inferior and The Séance of Murder, the second and third stories in The Dunston Burnett Trilogy.

Find more about Lyn on his website.

http://www.booksforward.com | 3014 Dauphine Street, Suite E,
New Orleans, LA 70117
Corrine Pritchett | corrine@booksforward.com

Fantasy, Historical, Horror, Magical, Magical Realism, Witches, Women

Red Rabbit by Alex Grecian

Patricia McDonald Uttaro

Description

From bestselling author Alex Grecian comes a folk horror epic about a ragtag posse that must track down a witch through a wild west beset by demons and ghosts—and where death is always just around the bend.

Sadie Grace is wanted for witchcraft, dead (or alive). And every hired gun in Kansas is out to collect the bounty on her head, including bona fide witch hunter Old Tom and his mysterious, mute ward, Rabbit.

On the road to Burden County, they’re joined by two vagabond cowboys with a strong sense of adventure – but no sense of purpose – and a recently widowed schoolteacher with nothing left to lose. As their posse grows, so too does the danger.

Racing along the drought-stricken plains in a stolen red stagecoach, they encounter monsters more wicked than witches lurking along the dusty trail. But the crew is determined to get that bounty, or die trying.

Written with the devilish cadence of Stephen Graham Jones and the pulse-pounding brutality of Nick Cutter, Red Rabbit is a supernatural adventure of luck and misfortune.

“Impossible to put down.” —Kelly Link, author of Pulitzer Prize finalist Get In Trouble

My Thoughts

Imagine if Stephen King wrote The Sisters Brothers; you would have this unexpectedly bewitching yet unceasingly horrifying story. Truly unlike anything I’ve read recently, author Alex Grecian blends an American Old West posse story with witch-hunters, demons, ghouls, ghosts, shapeshifters, and witches to create one of the best horror stories I’ve read in years.

The premise is basic to the genre – suspicious and frightened townspeople put out a bounty on the local witch with disastrous consequences. Everything else is completely off the rails, making this oddly refreshing.

The success here lies in the excellent character development that Grecian weaves throughout. From the mail-order-bride Rose who is made of sterner stuff than anyone imagines, to the apparently mute girl-child who is so much more than she seems, to the variety of cowboy caricatures who appear throughout – all elicit some level of pity or admiration from the reader. I was especially drawn to The Huntsman and would love a follow up book about him!

The narrative moves quickly and is filled with remarkably visceral description and dialog, and more than a few surprises, all leading up to a spectacular ending. Fans of horror and history will enjoy the ride.

This one will make my “Best Of” list for 2023.

Publication Date: September 19, 2023
Published By: Tor Publishing; Tor Nightfire
Thanks to Netgalley & the Publisher for the review copy

Book Tour, Historical, Mystery, Mythology, Partners In Crime, Women

In the Shadow of the Bull by Eleanor Kuhns

Patricia McDonald Uttaro

In the Shadow of the Bull
by Eleanor Kuhns
July 17 – August 11, 2023 Virtual Book Tour

Ancient Crete, 1450 BC. In a world of Goddess worship, sacred snakes and sacrifice, human jealousy, resentment, and betrayal still run wild . . .

When her sister Arge drops to the floor in convulsions and dies at her wedding, fifteen-year-old Martis, a young poet and bull leaper in training, is certain she was murdered. The prime suspect is the groom, Saurus, from the Greek mainland, but when Arge’s shade visits Martis, swearing Saurus is not the murderer, Martis vows to uncover the truth.

As Martis begins asking questions, she discovers that while Arge may have had no secrets, many of the people around her certainly do.

My Thoughts

Years of reading mystery novels have taught me one thing – people are the same, no matter the time period. Strong emotions such as love, hatred, and jealousy have caused humans to behave in terrible ways for centuries, and Eleanor Kuhns skillfully demonstrates her understanding of the human psyche in this well-constructed novel.

The characters here are especially well drawn. Martis is a headstrong young woman who chafes at the restrictions preventing her from following her dream of bull leaping, even though she is good at it. She doesn’t understand her sister’s eagerness to marry, and also does not appreciate her other sister’s rough treatment.

Imagine Martis’ heartbreak when Arge dies on her wedding day, then imagine her confusion as it becomes clear the death was not a natural one. The route to a solution is not an easy one for Martis or for the former bridegroom, Saurus, who is the prime suspect. Martis perseveres, leading up to an even greater emotional reveal of the murderer.

Kuhns delivers a readable, engrossing mystery full of vivid narrative depicting Ancient Crete, along with a set of memorable characters who will stay with you even after you turn the final page. I’ve not read Kuhns’ work before, but will be looking for it now.

Praise for In the Shadow of the Bull:

“This complex, character-driven mystery is loaded with fascinating historical details” 
~  Kirkus Reviews

Book Details:

Genre: Historical Mystery
Published by: Severn House
Publication Date: July 2023
Number of Pages: 224
ISBN: 9781448310869 (ISBN10: 1448310865)
Series: An Ancient Crete Mystery (#1)
Book Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | BookShop.org | Goodreads | Severn House

Book Links:
Amazon -https://amzn.to/3oKwrrw
Barnes & Noble -https://bit.ly/3OI8bAX
BookShop.org – https://bit.ly/3qe6LUK
Goodreads – https://bit.ly/3qlhJYp
Severn House – https://bit.ly/3OLwC0p

Author Bio:

Eleanor Kuhns

Eleanor Kuhns is the 2011 winner of the Minotaur/Mystery Writers of America first mystery prize for A Simple Murder. That was the first in the Will Rees series. She went on to write ten more.
In the Shadow of the Bull is the first in the Ancient Crete Mystery series.

Catch Up With Eleanor Kuhns:
www.Eleanor-Kuhns.com
Goodreads
BookBub
Instagram – @edl0829
Twitter – @EleanorKuhns
Facebook – @writerkuhns

Links:
www.Eleanor-Kuhns.com – https://bit.ly/3N2ZOPd
Goodreads – ttps://bit.ly/3OMOXdI
BookBub – https://bit.ly/42fvmG7
Instagram – @edl0829 – https://bit.ly/3N4v9Bk
Twitter – @EleanorKuhns – https://bit.ly/3BZWq1p
Facebook – @writerkuhns – https://bit.ly/3ouDwg5

Folktales, Ghosties, Historical

The Lady in White: a Tale Set in Rochester by Zachary Finn

Patricia McDonald Uttaro

Description

In the fall of 2015, PhD candidate Jason Green made his way to the decrepit Hotel Celeste hoping to conduct an interview of disgraced historian Richard Dawdson, an academic with once unlimited prospects who had disappeared from the tenure track with enough drama to have become an urban legend himself within the department.

The conversation that followed would not be cited in any dissertation, but here, for your consideration, is the tale Dr. Dawdson told that evening.

This is her story.

My Thoughts

Anyone who has lived in Rochester NY certainly knows the local legend of The Lady In White who haunts Duran Eastman Park. Legends and stories about ghostly “White Ladies” abound in local folklore all over the world. Rochester’s White Lady is a grieving and vengeful mother looking for the men who murdered her daughter. Accompanied by ghostly hounds (another common trope in world folklore), she roams Durand Eastman Park on the south shore of Lake Ontario, looking for revenge.

Zachary Finn has taken that old legend and fleshed it out with a well-researched and imaginative story that draws on quite a bit of Genesee Valley and Rochester history. He imagines what happened to Mary Browncroft, the aforementioned daughter, leading up to the event that essentially resurrected the spirit of her mother.

Finn immerses the reader in mid-19th century Rochester when the Spiritualism Movement was at its height and the Fox Sisters were demonstrating their psychic abilities on stages all over the region. Our protagonist, Mary, eagerly attends these sessions, hoping to make a connection with her departed mother. At one of the events, Mary’s own psychic abilities come forth when a murdered boy talks to her from beyond the grave and identifies his killers. Mary passes this information on to the law, which results in a series of events that end very tragically.

Finn starts and ends the story in the present time, with the present day protagonist seeking out a disgraced scholar who holds the key to this story. Both time periods are knitted together to form a cracking good ghost story. Rochester natives will recognize lots of landmarks and names, and will certainly know the White Lady legend.

Highly recommended for fans of local lore and legends.

Historical, Mystery, Suspense, Women

Woman in the Castello by Kelsie James

Patricia McDonald Uttaro

Description

Set in 1960s Italy, this stylish, atmospheric debut spins a bewitching web of ruthless ambition, family secrets, and the consequences of forbidden love, as an ambitious American actress snags the starring role in a mysterious horror movie shooting on location in a crumbling medieval castle outside Rome…

Rome, 1965: Aspiring actress Silvia Whitford arrives at Rome’s famed Cinecittà Studios from Los Angeles, ready for her big break and a taste of la dolce vita. Instead, she learns that the movie in which she was cast has been canceled. Desperate for money, Silvia has only one choice: seek out the Italian aunt she has never met.

Gabriella Conti lives in a crumbling castello on the edge of a volcanic lake. Silvia’s mother refuses to explain the rift that drove the sisters apart, but Silvia is fascinated by Gabriella, a once-famous actress who still radiates charisma. And the eerie castle inspires Silvia’s second chance when it becomes the location for a new horror movie, aptly named The Revenge of the Lake Witch—and she lands a starring role.

Silvia immerses herself in the part of an ingenue tormented by the ghost of her beautiful, seductive ancestor. But when Gabriella abruptly vanishes, the movie’s make-believe terrors seep into reality. No one else on set seems to share Silvia’s suspicions. Yet as she delves into Gabriella’s disappearance, she triggers a chain of events that illuminate dark secrets in the past—and a growing menace in the present . . .

My Thoughts

2023 is shaping up to be an awesome year for books and this one is no exception. A riveting and rambunctious historical mystery set in a dilapidated castle in 1960s Italy, it has everything – a resourceful but flawed heroine, a sick mother, a feisty and mysterious aunt, a handsome leading man, and a boatload of family secrets.

The writing is neat and engrossing, with plenty of attention to descriptive narrative that beautifully evokes the eeriness and creepiness of the castello, and the character development is spot on. Silvia is a strong, resourceful, realistic protagonist and immensely likable. Her tenaciousness is admirable! The relationship between Silvia’s mother and aunt is also fraught with tension and emotion. Such a good story! Add this one to your summer reading pile.

Advance Praise

“The 1960s in Rome, a crumbling Italian castle on the edge of a volcanic lake, a glamorous aunt she’s never met, and a starring role in a horror movie that begins to feel a bit too real…Kelsey James’s debut novel is a delicious Gothic filled with atmosphere, twists, romance, and dark secrets. Readers will devour it.” – Megan Chance, bestselling author of A Splendid Ruin

“Cinematic and spooky…Readers will be swept up in the glamorous—and sometimes grungy—1960s movie scene” – Nicole Baart, bestselling author of Everything We Didn’t Say

“Like Jess Walters’s Beautiful Ruins, the glamour and heady indulgence of the era take center stage in this captivating, multilayered story.” – Susan Wiggs, # 1 New York Times bestselling author

Publication Date: July 25, 2023
Published By: Kensington Books
Thanks to Netgalley for the review copy

Books About Books, British, Historical, Makes You Think, Reading, Women

The Little Wartime Library by Kate Thompson

Patricia McDonald Uttaro

Description

An uplifting and inspiring novel based on the true story of a librarian who created an underground shelter during World War II, perfect for readers of The Paris Library or The Last Bookshop in London. 

London, 1944. Clara Button is no ordinary librarian. While the world remains at war, in East London, Clara has created the country’s only underground library, built over the tracks in the unused Bethnal Green tube station. Down here, a whole community thrives with thousands of bunk beds, a nursery, a café, and a theatre offering shelter, solace, and protection from the bombs that fall above.

Along with her glamorous best friend and library assistant Ruby Munroe, Clara ensures the library is the beating heart of life underground. But as the war rages on, the women’s determination to remain strong in the face of adversity is tested to the limits when it seems it may come at the price of keeping those closest to them alive.

My Thoughts

This delightful book will give you ALL the feelings. Part romance, part mystery, part feel-good story, it’s got everything. Character development is nicely done, and paired with a sometimes startling and lovely descriptive narrative.

The importance of books is underscored here in a more serious side to the story. History has shown us that, in wartime, libraries and books are often one of the first targets for destruction. Books are dangerous to fascists, despots, and tyrants because they contain ideas and stories of the good and the different and the beauty in the human race, which is a threat to those who wish to conquer.

For the people in this story, books were a lifeline to a country and lifestyle they hoped would not be destroyed, and one they desperately wanted back.

A beautiful reminder of the power of story.

Published By: Grand Central Publishing
Publication Date: February 21, 2023
Thanks to Netgalley for the review copy