Tag: Mystery

Historical, Mystery, Women

Jeweler of Stolen Dreams by MJ Rose

patriciau

Description

A captivating tale of two passionate women separated by decades but united by a shared vision. One, the famous jeweler Suzanne Belperron, fighting to protect her company and rescue the man she loves. The other, a young auctioneer whose exceptional gifts reveal a secret that endangers her very life.

My Thoughts

I am never, ever disappointed in an M.J. Rose book! She writes the perfect blend of mystery, romance, and supernatural and creates spellbinding stories that I often binge-read.

The Jeweler of Stolen Dreams continues the La Lune series which chronicles the tales of the descendants of LaLune, a 16th century French courtesan and rumored witch. There are references to earlier stories, so it helps to be familiar with the series, but this can be read as a stand-alone novel.

Often, Rose incorporates gemstones in her work, which fascinates me. Here, a cache of mysterious and spectacular jewels found in an old Louis Vuitton truck starts a rollicking and emotional tale of intrigue spanning the years from World War II France to present day New York and Paris. Rose has also incorporated the story of real-life jewelry artist Suzanne Belperron, whose work stills resonates with collectors today. Look her up. She’s fascinating!

This is the perfect book for a dreary winter weekend, because it will wrap you up in a world of warmth, light, danger, and intrigue. Recommended.

Publication Date: February 7, 2023
Published By: Blue Box Press
Thanks to Netgalley for the review copy

Book Tour, Historical, Mystery

Path of Peril by Marlie Parker Wasserman

patriciau

February 27 – March 24, 2023 Virtual Book Tour

Path of Peril by Marlie Parker Wasserman

Would the assassins plotting to kill Theodore Roosevelt on his visit to the Panama Canal succeed?

Until this trip, no president while in office had ever traveled abroad. White House secretary Maurice Latta, thrilled to accompany the President, could not anticipate the adventures and dangers ahead. Latta befriends watchful secret service agents, ambitious journalists, and anxious First Lady Edith Roosevelt on their hot and humid trip, where he observes a country teeming with inequalities and abounding in opportunities. Along the way he learns about his own strengths—what he never imagined he could do, and what he discovers he can’t do.

Theodore Roosevelt did visit Panama in 1906, accompanied by White House staffer Maurice Latta. Interweaving the stories of real-life characters with fictional ones, Path of Peril imagines what the newspapers feared to report and what historians never discovered about Roosevelt’s risky trip.

My Thoughts

Wasserman has succeeded in blending history with mystery in this fascinating look at early 20th century politics. And make no mistake – this book is *packed* with history, but not your dry, textbook history. Oh no, this is “wild west” history where protocols really didn’t exist, Presidents roamed the globe, and First Ladies were pulled into the action.

The writing style is dense with description at times, but full of witty dialog, diabolical scheming, and deftly managed impossible situations. The story is gripping, and the characters well-developed. Overall, this is a solid, enjoyable read that will appeal to fans of historical mysteries. I assign success to an historical mystery when it makes me seek out non-fiction on the time period, which I did.

Recommended.

Book Details:

Genre: Historical Crime Fiction
Published by: Level Best Books
Publication Date: January 2023
Number of Pages: 320
Book Links: Amazon

Author Bio:

Marlie Parker Wasserman

Marlie Parker Wasserman continues to write historical crime fiction. Her first book, The Murderess Must Die, was published in 2021. After spending many years in New Jersey, she now lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. She is a member of Sisters in Crime and the Historical Novel Society.

Catch Up With Marlie Parker Wasserman:
www.MarlieWasserman.com
Goodreads
Instagram – @marliepwasserman
Twitter – @MarlieWasserman
Facebook

Tour Participants:

02/27 Review @ Urban Book Reviews
02/28 Guest post @ The Book Divas Reads
02/28 Showcase @ BOOK REVIEWS by LINDA MOORE
03/01 Review @ Novels Alive
03/02 Review @ It’s All About the Book
03/03 Showcase @ Silvers Reviews
03/04 Guest post @ Mythical Books
03/10 Review @ Cozy Up With Kathy
03/13 Showcase @ The Book Connection
03/14 Interview @ Hott Books
03/15 Review @ Novel Nerd Blog
03/16 Review @ Enjoyingbooksagain
03/17 Review @ mokwip8991
03/18 Review @ Book Reviews From an Avid Reader
03/19 Showcase @ Im Into Books
03/20 Podcast interview @ Blog Talk Radio
03/20 Review @ Just Reviews
03/22 Showcase @ 411 ON BOOKS, AUTHORS, AND PUBLISHING NEWS

Action Adventure, Detective, Mystery

Racing the Light by Robert Crais

patriciau

Description


Private investigator Elvis Cole and his enigmatic partner, Joe Pike, are back on the case in this brilliant new thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling author Robert Crais.

 Adele Schumacher isn’t a typical worried mom. When she hires Elvis to find her missing son, a controversial podcaster named Josh Shoe, she brings a bag filled with cash, bizarre tales of government conspiracies, and a squad of professional bodyguards. Finding Josh should be simple, but Elvis quickly learns he isn’t alone in the hunt—a deadly team of mysterious strangers are determined to find Josh and his adult film star girlfriend first.

With dangerous secrets lurking behind every lead, Elvis needs his friend Joe Pike more than ever to uncover the truth about Josh, corrupt politicians, and the vicious business cartels rotting the heart of Los Angeles from within. And when Elvis’s estranged girlfriend, Lucy Chenier, and her son, Ben, return, he learns just how much he has to lose…if he survives.

Written with the heart, humor, and relentless suspense for which Crais is famous, Racing the Light delivers Elvis Cole’s most dangerous case yet.

My Thoughts

For years, Crais and Elvis Cole have been a go-to combo that satisfies my craving for a balls-to-the-wall detective story with a killer plot, snappy dialog, and characters as comfortable as a pair of worn in boots. Crais has mastered the art of the hard-boiled detective novel and this series never disappoints. Elvis Cole and Joe Pike are by turns rough & tumble and completely soft-hearted when it counts. The usual characters are back and as wise-cracking and world-weary as ever.

Not to throw shade at that other author who writes 1,000+ page detective novels, but ma’am THIS is how you write a detective novel.

Crais fans will devour this.

Detective, Mystery

Bleeding Heart Yard by Elly Griffiths

patriciau

Description

A murderer strikes at a school reunion—but the students are no strangers to death— in this propulsive, twisty thriller from the internationally bestselling author of the Ruth Galloway Mysteries. 

Is it possible to forget that you’ve committed a murder?

When Cassie Fitzgerald was at school in the late 90s, she and her friends killed a fellow student. Almost twenty years later, Cassie is a happily married mother who loves her job—as a police officer. She closely guards the secret she has all but erased from her memory.

Until her husband persuades her to go to a school reunion. Cassie catches up with her high-achieving old friends from the Manor Park School—among them two politicians, a rock star, and a famous actress. But then, shockingly, one of them is found dead in the school bathroom, supposedly from a drug overdose. As the victim was an eminent—and controversial—MP and the investigation is high profile, it’s headed by Cassie’s new boss, DI Harbinder Kaur, freshly promoted and newly arrived in London. The trouble is, Cassie can’t shake the feeling that one of them has killed again.

My Thoughts

Griffiths is already one of my go-to authors and I am so pleased to see her ramping up the Harbinder Kaur series at the same time she ends the Ruth Galloway series.

Kaur is a magnificent protagonist – wry, funny, brave, and well-able to hold her own in the male-dominated world of London CID. In this new entry, Kaur has moved from Sussex to London and is trying to acclimate herself to the big city. Her social awkwardness is endearing and familiar to anyone who has found themselves in a new, unfamiliar, but exciting city. That awkwardness has no effect on her ability to solve a murder, and this one is a doozie!

As usual, Griffiths’ writing is on pointe – a perfect blend of dialog and description, witty, and clever. This series is a winner and I really, really hope we see Harbinder on the screen sometime soon.

Action Adventure, Mystery, Suspense, Women

Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn

patriciau

Description

Older women often feel invisible, but sometimes that’s their secret weapon.

They’ve spent their lives as the deadliest assassins in a clandestine international organization, but now that they’re sixty years old, four women friends can’t just retire – it’s kill or be killed in this action-packed thriller by New York Times bestselling and Edgar Award-nominated author Deanna Raybourn.

Billie, Mary Alice, Helen, and Natalie have worked for the Museum, an elite network of assassins, for forty years. Now their talents are considered old-school and no one appreciates what they have to offer in an age that relies more on technology than people skills.

When the foursome is sent on an all-expenses paid vacation to mark their retirement, they are targeted by one of their own. Only the Board, the top-level members of the Museum, can order the termination of field agents, and the women realize they’ve been marked for death.

Now to get out alive they have to turn against their own organization, relying on experience and each other to get the job done, knowing that working together is the secret to their survival. They’re about to teach the Board what it really means to be a woman—and a killer—of a certain age.

My Thoughts

Red meets Kill Bill in this delicious romp featuring four of the most entertaining but deadly female characters ever put to page. This is such a different type of story from Raybourn and proves she’s one of her generation’s most accomplished writers.

Fans of her 19th century series may not appreciate the departure, but I sincerely hope they give this a chance. Every character is drawn tautly but with warmth and wit, and the story is flawless.

If you’re looking for a purely entertaining, action-packed adventure, this is your book. I will be astonished if this doesn’t get adapted to film.

Detective, Mystery, Non Fiction

The Life of Crime by Martin Edwards

patriciau

Description

In the first major history of crime fiction in fifty years, The Life of Crime: Detecting the History of Mysteries and their Creators traces the evolution of the genre from the eighteenth century to the present, offering brand-new perspective on the world’s most popular form of fiction.

The Life of Crime is the result of a lifetime of reading and enjoying all types of crime fiction, old and new, from around the world. In what will surely be regarded as his magnum opus, Martin Edwards has thrown himself undaunted into the breadth and complexity of the genre to write an authoritative – and readable – study of its development and evolution. With crime fiction being read more widely than ever around the world, and with individual authors increasingly the subject of extensive academic study, his expert distillation of more than two centuries of extraordinary books and authors – from the tales of E.T.A. Hoffmann to the novels of Patricia Cornwell – into one coherent history is an extraordinary feat and makes for compelling reading.

My Thoughts

This is a crime-lover’s dream – a comprehensive treatment of crime fiction by a master of the genre, presented in a readable and fascinating way. It took me awhile to finish this as this is the kind of book I dip in and out of, reading a chapter here and there. And reading a chapter isn’t as easy as it sounds, because I found I had to keep a notebook handy to write down all the authors and books I haven’t read, but which Edwards presents in various forms.

This will appeal to readers of crime fiction and probably not many others, so it’s a niche buy. I’d recommend for large library collections.

Cozy, Mystery

Murder Up to Bat by Elizabeth McKenna

patriciau

Description

After falling in love with the quiet lake life and a certain police detective, former Chicago Tribune reporter Emma Moore trades interviewing jocks for chasing champion cows at the county fair. As a small-town newspaper reporter, she covers local topics both big and small, but when her friend Luke is arrested for the murder of the head coach of his club softball team, she’ll need to hone her investigative skills to clear his name. Emma calls up best friend Grace for help, and together the women go up against cutthroat parents willing to kill for a chance to get their daughters onto a premier college sports team.

The game is tied with bases loaded, and murder is up to bat. Can Emma and her friends bring the heat and win the game?

My Thoughts

This second in a fun series featuring Emma Moore and her chic friend Grace is another winner. Back in 2019, I wrote about McKenna’s first Emma Moore novel – The Great Jewel Robbery – and described it as “Nancy Drew for the 21st century.” Murder Up to Bat further solidifies that statement.

Emma and Grace are two very likable, intelligent, and clever heroines matching wits with a couple of affable, good-looking men as they all chase down the clues to solve a murder. All very improbable compared to real-life murder investigations, meaning there’s very little mess here and a lot of human interaction.

There are tons of cozy mysteries on the market right now. Some of them work, some don’t. What works here is McKenna’s writing, which is colorful, informal, and very, very relatable. The reader is meant to connect with Emma – she could be us! – and McKenna does an excellent job of making that connection.

Recommended for fans of cozy mysteries.

Author Bio

Elizabeth McKenna’s love of books reaches back to her childhood, where her tastes ranged from Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys to Stephen King’s horror stories. She had never read a romance novel until her sister gave her the latest bestseller by Nora Roberts. She was hooked from page one (actually, she admits it was the first love scene).

Her novels reflect her mercurial temperament and include historical romances, contemporary romances, cozy mysteries, and dark mysteries. With some being “clean” and some being “naughty,” she has a book for your every mood.

Elizabeth lives in Wisconsin with her understanding husband and Sidney, the rescue dog from Tennessee. When she isn’t writing, reading, editing, or walking the dog that never tires, she’s sleeping.

Find her on

Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Goodreads
Amazon

Cozy, Mystery, Romance

Chapter and Curse by Elizabeth Penney

patriciau

Description

In Elizabeth Penney’s Chapter and Curse, Molly Kimball is used to cracking open books . . . but when a poetry reading ends in murder she must use her skills to crack the case.

“With its bucolic British setting, engaging heroine, and unsolved murder dating back decades, Elizabeth Penney has penned the perfect cozy.”–Ellen Byron, USA Today Bestselling Author

Librarian Molly Kimball and her mother, Nina, need a change. So when a letter arrives from Nina’s Aunt Violet in Cambridge, England requesting their help running the family bookshop, they jump at the chance.

Thomas Marlowe—Manuscripts and Folios, is one of the oldest bookshops in Cambridge, and—unfortunately—customers can tell. When Molly and Nina arrive, spring has come to Cambridge and the famed Cambridge Literary Festival is underway. Determined to bring much-needed revenue to the bookstore, Molly invites Aunt Violet’s college classmate and famed poet Persephone Brightwell to hold a poetry reading in the shop. But the event ends in disaster when a guest is found dead—with Molly’s great-aunt’s knitting needle used as the murder weapon. While trying to clear Violet and keep the struggling shop afloat, Molly sifts through secrets past and present, untangling a web of blackmail, deceit, and murder.

Review

One of my favorite cozy mystery series is the Scottish Bookshop series by Paige Shelton, and I was reminded a great deal of that as I read this new series debut. While somewhat similar in basic structure (American girl working in UK book shop), the setting here is Cambridge England and the shop the 400 year old Thomas Marlowe Books. Our heroines are a trio of family members – Aunt, Mother, and Daughter – who all are finely written cozy characters.

The writing here is the thing – Elizabeth Penney has delivered a decent plot, supported by interesting and appealing characters, and communicated through skillful description and dialog. It’s not often you find all three of these boxes ticked in cozy mysteries. There’s a great balance of serious mystery and typical cozy silliness, making this a pleasant afternoon read.

This is a fun, quick read that is perfect for a lazy fall afternoon spent lounging somewhere with a nice cup of tea at your elbow. I look forward to more from this author.

Publication Date: September 28, 2021
Published By: St. Martin’s Paperbacks
Thanks to Netgalley for the review copy

Uncategorized

Before the Ruins by Victoria Gosling

patriciau

cover189937-mediumDescription