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Book a Week 2022 - BW18: Historical Mysteries

Robin M

By Robin M,
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Robin M

Robin M

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Welcome to May! It's time to join Sandy and Amy in reading some tantalizing and tempting historical mysteries. 

The genre of Historical Mysteries is fairly recent with our dear Agatha credited with writing the first historical mystery novel in the 1940s (Death Comes at the End set in Ancient Egypt.) The genre remained stagnant until the 1970s when Elizabeth Peter’s (Amerlia Peabody series) and Ellis Peter’s (Brother Cadfael) cause the genre to become legitimate and then the late 1990’s when it grew wildly.

Common historical mystery era:

 

 

Challenge: Harken back to a simpler time before we had to worry about DNA evidence or even fingerprints and swipe a historical mystery to read.

Thank you, ladies.  Which brings us to our letter and word of the week - T and Twist 

Have fun diving into these tantalizing mysteries. 

 

 

 

Link to book week 17

Visit  52 Books in 52 Weeks where you can find all the information on the annual, mini and perpetual challenges.

Edited by Robin M
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Robin M

Robin M

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Since we're saying goodbye to April, it's time for a reading wrap up.  I finished eight books in April; all of which were dusty books except for The Bone Shard Daughter.  I cheated once, and broke my buying ban in February for Bone Shards Daughter, which was so worth it.  However, I've been good since then and haven't added any new books to my stacks. My wish list though is growing ever longer.  One more month.... maybe. 

Bone Shard Daughter - Andrea Stewart (Historical Fantasy)

Ice Hunt - James Rollins (Thriller, reread)

Klara and the Sun - Kazuo Ishiguro (Dystopian Fiction)

Library of the Unwritten (#1 Hell's Library) - A.J.Hackwith (Fantasy, e)

A Cold Day for Murder (#1 Kate Shugak) - Dana Stabenow (Mystery, e)

The Round House - Louise Erdrich (Native American mystery)

City of Dark Magic  (#1 Dark Magic) - Magnus Flyte (Fantasy, Prague, e)

Reliquary (#2 Pendergast) - Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child (Thriller, e)

Stats wise: 

4 physical books with 1782 pages and 4 ebooks with 1506 virtual pages for a total of 3288 pages.  I noticed that although it hasn't been my intention, I read the same number of ebooks as the number of the month. Interesting.  We'll see what next month brings.  Genre wise, three fantasies and one dystopian fiction, along with two thrillers, and two mysteries. I seem be to be sticking with fantasy, sci fi, and mystery genres. Six are new to me authors.  

I'm still sipping on George Eliot's Middlemarch, one chapter at a time in the mornings with breakfast. My current chunkster is Brandon Sanderson's The Way of Kings which is really good.  I'm currently on page 732 out of 1200+ pages but enjoying the heck out of it. 

I'm taking a mini break at the moment for our May historical mysteries reading month to read dusty book And Only to Deceive by Tasha Alexander which has been on my virtual shelves since 2014.  

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Kareni

Kareni

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Some bookish posts ~

From the Word Wenches: What We Are Reading!

https://wordwenches.typepad.com/word_wenches/2022/04/what-we-are-reading.html

 

ANNA LEE HUBER'S TOP 10 FEMALE SLEUTHS IN LONG-RUNNING HISTORICAL MYSTERY SERIES

https://crimereads.com/anna-lee-hubers-top-10-female-sleuths-in-long-running-historical-mystery-series/

 

Cozy mysteries recommendations!

Regards,

Kareni

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mumto2

mumto2

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Thank you, Robin!

I love historical mysteries!   I have the latest Lady Darby in my stack and plan to read it this week. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58505173-a-perilous-perspective I am also near the top on the hold’s list for the latest Maisie Dobbs.  So I definately have plans for this category!

I just started The Good Turn (my T) this morning.  It’s by Dervla McTiernan and part of a series  that has been a bit uneven so far……The Ruin was awesome,  TheScholar was not so good,  and The Good Turn is promising.  The fourth book releases soon so I need to catch up.

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Lady Florida.

Lady Florida.

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Historical mysteries is a favorite genre of mine. I might consider a few of the ones you listed @Robin M. It's been a while since I read a Lady Julia Grey or a Lady Emily book. I didn't care for Ian Rutledge (read the first one years ago) but maybe I'll like Bess Crawford better. I'm still on the library wait list for CS Harris' latest Sebastian St. Cyr mystery. And I can't resist continuing with the Shardlake novels so I have Revelation (#4) on my Kindle. 

I read 6 books in April - 4 ebooks and 2 audio books. All four ebooks were fiction and both audio books were nonfiction though one walked a fine line.

 Fatal Remedies - Commissario Brunetti #8
The first three Matthew Shardlake books - Dissolution, Dark Fire  and Sovereign

 Audio books - 
The Far Land - A part travelogue, part history, part historical fiction book about the Bounty mutineers and their descendants
Tokyo Vice -  A memoir about an American crime reporter in Japan. As the title suggest he reported on vice, often a his and his family's peril as he exposed the Japanese Mafia

I get frustrated at how Goodreads calculates pages for audio books. Some say zero pages, others go from as little as 1 or 2 up to the 20s. I've been thinking of using a paperback or ebook when adding to my "read" list, then just putting it under an audio books tag.

If I do that, I read  2,814 pages. 

 

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Kareni

Kareni

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I just finished Run by Ann Patchett for my upcoming book group meeting. I enjoyed the book (even though aspects strained credulity) and found it a quick read.

"Since their mother's death, Tip and Teddy Doyle have been raised by their loving possessive and ambitious father. As the former mayor of Boston, Bernard Doyle wants to see his sons in politics, a dream the boys have never shared. But when an argument in a blinding New England snowstorm inadvertently causes an accident that involves a stranger and her child, all Bernard Doyle cares about is his ability to keep his children--all his children--safe.

Set over a period of twenty-four hours, Run takes us from the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard to a home for retired Catholic Priests in downtown Boston. It shows us how worlds of privilege and poverty can coexist only blocks apart from each other, and how family can include people you've never even met."

**

I also enjoyed reading Earth and Air: An Earth Girl Novella (EGN Book 2) by Janet Edwards which is a prequel to a young adult series I recently read.

"Into the fire! In the year 2788, only the handicapped live on Earth. While everyone else uses interstellar portals to travel between hundreds of colony worlds, 17-year-old Jarra is among the one in a thousand people born with an immune system that cannot survive on other planets. Sent to Earth at birth to save her life, abandoned by her parents to be raised a ward of Hospital Earth, she lives a regimented life in one of their impersonal residences.


Tortured by the knowledge the stars are forever out of her reach, Jarra dreams of learning to fly a plane so she can at least make the skies of Earth her own. She gets her chance to become a qualified pilot, but learning to fly turns out to be far more difficult and dangerous than she imagined, sending her into a literal trial by fire."

Regards,

Kareni

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Granny_Weatherwax

Granny_Weatherwax

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My public library just released the summer reading program theme - Read Beyond the Beaten Path. None of the challenge categories have been released yet so I have no idea if any of them will coincide with my book bingo categories. It is still exciting and I'll be creating a page in my journal for tracking my progress.  I totally geek out with the reading programs and enjoy having dedicated pages for doodles and checking off the categories.

My April reading stats were

7 books

2100 pages


Highest rated book in April:   Angela's Ashes    4.25/5 🌟


I read a couple of short books in April (James and the Giant Peach and Nancy Drew #12) which helped with the book count but not page accumulation.

My current reads are :The Midnight Library by Matt Haig and Beartown by Fredrik Backman. Both are Book Bingo category books, Book about Books and Book Recommended by My Sister.  I began Beartown many months ago and set it aside for some reason. I will finish it this month.

My reading goals this month are to finish 4 books, select my chunky read for the summer, register for the summer reading program. and complete the journal layout for the summer reading program.

I have done well with the no spend reading challenge. I only goofed when I forgot to cancel the Kindle Unlimited subscription past the free 90 day trial.

I have been using the Libby app for my audiobooks but have recently discovered Axis 360. I have been having lots of good luck with a wider selection of books (lots of Terry Pratchett) and have been able to download both the audio and ebook versions so I can transition from one to the other. It makes it difficult to select which category a book goes under but I have enjoyed being able to pick up a book when I can read and/or listen and continue with one story.

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Storygirl

Storygirl

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I've finished one print book and several audiobooks over the past few days.

Portrait of a Thief by Grace D. Li is a new debut heist novel. Five college-aged Chinese-American students set out to steal back five important pieces of Chinese art that are in five different museums around the world. They have various motives but all are drawn in by the $10 million prize offered for the artworks' return to China. I found the story to be heavy on the characters' introspection (the chapters alternate among their POVs) and light on action, which made it drag for me. This book has been much hyped and is in contract to be made into a film by Netflix. Although the writing is stellar and bodes well for the author's future success, the story didn't pull me in as much as one would hope.

Romeo and Juliet. I listened to a BBC production, so that I could scratch it off my 100 books poster. I found the volume to be inconsistent; I had to turn it up to hear some speakers, then the next speaker would be yelling in my ear, which was annoying. Otherwise, it was a nice refresher, though I can't say I'm a Shakespeare devotee, in general.

Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk on audio. I knew of this movie, though I haven't seen it, and didn't even realize it was a book, but it's on my poster, so DH and I listened to it in the car while making a trip to DD20's college this past weekend. There is a BIG twist in this story, which DH knew, since he had seen the film, but which I didn't see coming. That was well done, though I didn't care for the violence and theme of anarchy.

State of Terror by Hilary Rodham Clinton and Louise Penny. I enjoyed this thriller more than I expected to. Ellen Adams, a new U.S. Secretary of State, has to uncover a threatening plot by international terrorists. The story includes some obvious jabs at a few thinly disguised real politicians, but that doesn't overshadow the rest of the story. Clinton's background knowledge and Penny's writing prowess combine to create a fun, well-written political thriller

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mumto2

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The Good Turn was much better than The Scholar.  I stayed awake to finish it!  I am now waiting for the release of Dervia McTiernan s next book.

On the historical mystery front I listened to a book from a pretty long long running British cozy series yesterday for one of the book chains.  Mrs. Jeffries Reveals Her Art https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37774125-mrs-jeffries-reveals-her-art was a super light audiobook to have playing in the background while sewing.  This is a series that I use for book challenges and just skip around in.  The servants lead by the housekeeper in this Victorian mystery secretly assist their Scotland Yard detective employer solve his cases.  Rather too cute but not bad in small doses.  I used it to connect to Jennifer Ashley’s  book Alex Mackenzie’s Art of Seduction https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28408511-alec-mackenzie-s-art-of-seduction.

I like a good Flufferton type historical romance and the Mackenzie series is a fun one because it’s a little bit different.  Years ago @Karenirecommended I read the first in the series The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie which features an autistic hero.   This first book in the series always seems to appear on historical romance “best of” lists and is worth a look if you like historicals.   From Goodreads……

The youngest brother, Ian, known as the Mad Mackenzie, spent most of his young life in an asylum, and everyone agrees he is decidedly odd. He’s also hard and handsome and has a penchant for Ming pottery and beautiful women.

Beth Ackerley, widow, has recently come into a fortune. She has decided that she wants no more drama in her life. She was raised in drama—an alcoholic father who drove them into the workhouse, a frail mother she had to nurse until her death, a fussy old lady she became constant companion to. No, she wants to take her money and find peace, to travel, to learn art, to sit back and fondly remember her brief but happy marriage to her late husband.

And then Ian Mackenzie decides he wants her.

 

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Lady Florida.

Lady Florida.

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I finished The Sentence yesterday and agree with all those who loved it. It was my first 5 star nonfiction in more than a year. I put off reading it for a few reasons. One is that I don't care for magical realism, ghosts, or anything supernatural in my novels. The other is I was afraid to relive the early pandemic and George Floyd incident. I was wrong. The ghost bit was fine mostly because it fit with Native American traditions. It also wasn't traumatic even though the story made me feel as though I was back in time two years.

Highly recommend to those who haven't already read it. If you read only one pandemic novel make it this one. It will give you a book hangover. 

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Lady Florida.

Lady Florida.

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Current reading update:

Audio nonfiction -  Death in Florence - A mildly interesting account of the struggle for control of Florence and the clash between The Medici and Savonarola. It's one of those "included with your membership" books and that's the main reason I chose it when trying to find something to listen to.

Kindle nonfiction - Storm of the Century: The Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 - I thought I read this but it seems I read about it elsewhere, not this particular book.

Fiction -

Black Diamond - A Bruno, Chief of Police novel. 
"France's Perigord region is the home of the exquisite black truffle, and at 5000 Euros a kilo, it's a treasured local asset. When reports come in that this unique delicacy is being adulterated with a cheaper Chinese version, Chief of Police, Captain Bruno Courreges is asked to investigate the scam."

I borrowed Convenience Store Woman from the library but haven't started it yet. I've been meaning to give it a try for some time now.

I also have the next Matthew Shardlake novel, Revelation on my Kindle but haven't started that one either.

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Kareni

Kareni

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I recently finished several books.

 A Feather To Fly With (Regency Charades Book 1) by Joyce Harmon was an entertaining regency romance. I would happily read more by this author.

"It's not a Season...

... it's a scam!

Proper young ladies make their fortune by marrying it. Not Cleo - she's going to make her fortune by stealing it!

She'll take part in the London social whirl, dances and visits to the opera and delicate flirtations, and pose as a young lady on the Marriage Mart. But that's all an act. Her real plan is much more complex. And not exactly legal.

He's not just a Duke - he's a scientist!

Arthur knows it's time to settle down. So he scientifically sets about finding a suitable wife and duchess. Some sweet biddable young thing to bear his children and manage his estate, and leave him alone with his telescope.

That's what he's looking for. Instead he finds Cleo."
**

I also enjoyed a young adult science fiction novel, Telepath (Hive Mind Book 1) by Janet Edwards, though I admit that I preferred the author's Earth Girl series. Were the follow on books present themselves, I'd happily read on.

"Amber is one of over a million eighteen-year-olds in one of the great hive cities of twenty-sixth century Earth. She’s about to enter the Lottery of 2532, which will assess her abilities and decide her hive level, her profession, her whole future life. Amber’s dream is to be level 10 or above, her nightmare is to be a level 99 worker in the depths of the hive.

When Lottery discovers Amber is a rare and precious telepath, she must adapt to a new life protecting the people of the crowded hive city. Her job is hunting down criminals before they commit their crimes, but she doesn’t know she’s being hunted herself."

**

I also enjoyed rereading Double Share (Trader's Tales from the Golden Age of the Solar Clipper Book 4) by Nathan Lowell.

Regards,

Kareni

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bookbard

bookbard

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On 5/3/2022 at 12:51 PM, Kareni said:

Fans of Katherine Addison's The Goblin Emperor might enjoy this story in which Thara Celehar plays a small part.

 

Thanks so much, that was like a small gift. I'm looking forward to her next book.

 

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Laurel-in-CA

Laurel-in-CA

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Another, more recent historical mystery: Faith Martin's Ryder & Loveday series, set in early 1960s Oxford. Ryder is a coroner, retired for surgery due to his illness and concealing parkinson's disease. Loveday is one of the first female constables in the police force and gets assigned to help the nosy coroner because none of her superiors want to give her a "real" job. They make quite a detective pair.

I read Anne Rice's The Wolf Gift, which was way more metaphysical than I thought it would be. Feeling no need to read the next book in the series.

On to The Mask of Mirrors by M.A. Carrick, recommended here.

I wish I could submit recommendations to my library more often than one every 8 days! Y'all give me so many good ideas!

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Vintage81

Vintage81

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Hello everyone 👋

I've read 6 books since my last post...

  • True Biz by Sara Novic - I really wanted to like this one, but it fell short for me. I enjoyed learning about cochlear implants, sign language, and the deaf culture. However, there was too much other stuff that I didn't care for. 2.5 stars 
  • Better Than the Movies by Lynn Painter - I loved this one. Liz is obsessed with rom-coms. Her mother, who has passed away, and her always used to watch them when she was growing up. She kind of wants her senior year to be like a rom-com story, but she also struggles with not having her mom there. Her long lost crush from elementary school shows up and her pesky next door neighbor tries to help her get the guy. This was so fun and being a lover of rom-coms myself, I loved all of the references. 5 stars 
  • Angelfall by Susan Ee - I read this for book club. Penryn, her sister, and mother are stuck in an apocalypse situation...angels have invaded the world and street gangs rule. After coming into contact with some angels and seeing them cut the wings off of one of their own, Penryn tries to help. However in the process, they kidnap her sister. She goes on a journey with the wingless angel to try and find her sister. The book started out find, but sh*t got real weird at the end! 🤣 3.5 stars (I got the two sequels so hopefully they're better.)
  • How Not to Fall in Love by Jacqueline Firkins - Another YA rom-com. Harper works in her moms wedding shop and doesn't believe in happily ever after. Theo, her next door neighbor, falls in love every week and gets his heart broken all the time. Harper tries to help Theo, but of course ends up developing feelings. This one was just okay. 3 stars
  • Sweet Home Alaska by Carole Estby Dagg - I read this with my DD as part of our US geography study. It's set in 1934. FDR setup a New Deal colony in Alaska for families struggling during the Great Depression. This was a really sweet book with a fun story. We enjoyed it. 4 stars
  • The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley - This is the story of two London evacuees during WWII. Ada, who has a clubfoot, and her brother Jamie. Both are abused by their mother and are actually happy to be leaving their mother. Their transition to living with their new caretaker isn't easy, but this was a heartwarming story. 4 stars
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Robin M

Robin M

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Waving hi from my corner of the world.  I'm currently at the shop and it's quiet.  We were all hit with colds last weekend. Technicians hung on for a couple days before they took to their beds. I only got a couple days to be miserable.  John felt worse than me, so guess who got to hold the fort down at the shop for the past couple days.   Guess moms are more durable.  Thank goodness for Dristan.  James started coming down with cold last night.  Spent most of my down time reading and finished Sanderson's The Way of Kings and Tasha Alexander's And Only to Deceive. Love Lady Emily. Will probably read more of her stories. 

Currently reading Genevieve Cogman's final installment (as far as we know) in the Invisible Library series with Untold Story 

 

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mumto2

mumto2

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I hope everyone feels better soon, Robin!

You already know I love Lady Emily so time well spent my friend. I really like The Untold Story btw after being a bit ambivalent towards the two previous books in the series.

I had to abandon Smallbone Deceased or waste a ton of time reading it because I kept flipping around the internet every time I tried to read it.  So I have ruined my overall love for all Golden Age mystery authors!  😉
 

I did start a new historical cozy mystery series by Kate Parker this week.  Deadly Scandal was quite good in that sort of WW2 way a la Maisie Dobbs.  My library has this series so I will keep reading. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58090147-deadly-scandal</p>

 

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Storygirl

Storygirl

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I listened to two classics on audiobook this week.

Moby Dick by Melville. I read this one in college, so it was a reread for me. I admit that I skipped through many of the technical nonfiction sections about the history of whaling and the anatomy of the whale, to shorten the 25 hour listening time (also read it on double speed). I think there were three chapters about the color white and it's significance related to good and evil in different cultures. Sigh. I think there is little chance this book would have survived in its final form with today's book editors! So rambling. However, the audio narration was top notch, and I enjoyed listening to it much more than reading it on paper. I scratched this title off of my scratch-off book poster.

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque. DS17 is reading this for his English class, and it's on my book poster, so I decided it was a good time to listen to it. It was not a fun read, being about the brutality of war, but it's easy to see why this was a bestseller upon publication and has remained a classic.

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Storygirl

Storygirl

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I also finished Verity by Colleen Hoover. I would not typically have chosen this book, but since it's been on the bestseller list for an eon, I thought I would see what the big deal is. The main character is hired to finish the series of a famous author, Verity, after she becomes incapacitated after an accident. She moves into Verity's home along with Verity's husband and young son and discovers their horrible family secrets. Interesting twists, and a somewhat creepy element, along with an illicit romance explain the mass appeal. However, the focus on shock factor -- from the first page -- and the unbelievability of it all confirmed that, despite Hoover's great popularity, she is not an author for me.

I also finished an audiobook of Girl, 11 by Amy Suitor Clarke. I enjoyed listening to the full-cast audio of this thriller. The main character is a podcaster, and part of the story contains episodes of her true-crime podcast, so it was ideal on audio. Elle investigates the case of a serial killer from the past who was never caught, and stopped killing years ago, and she also gets caught up in a current missing-person case. Could the current culprit be the old serial killer? I thought this thriller was really well done.

Still working my way through my long reads: Don Quixote (a little over halfway, reading it through the Serial Reader app), The Stand by King (probably 80% done), and Catcher in the Rye (about 50% through, reading along with DS18 for his English class). All of these are on my scratch off 100 best books poster.

I have gone overboard with my stack of library books and am not sure I will get through them all before they are due back. I think I have about 10 😏.

 

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Kareni

Kareni

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3 hours ago, Storygirl said:

I have gone overboard with my stack of library books and am not sure I will get through them all before they are due back. I think I have about 10 😏.

Only ten? I probably have that number or more which I've been ignoring in favor of other books!

Incidentally, I am all admiration as you scratch off each book from your book poster.

Regards,

Kareni

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Kareni

Kareni

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Currently FREE for Kindle readers ~

Noble Pleasures: A Regency and Victorian Romance Collection by Anthea Lawson

The King's Favorite (Daughters of Avalon Book 1) by Tanya Anne Crispy

Breaking Silence (Delta Force Strong Book 1) by Elle James

 

Regards,

Kareni

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Storygirl

Storygirl

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5 hours ago, Kareni said:

Only ten? I probably have that number or more which I've been ignoring in favor of other books!

Incidentally, I am all admiration as you scratch off each book from your book poster.

Regards,

Kareni

Thanks! It's fun! So far I've decided that I will reread things before scratching them off, but we will see if I stick to that or not. There are certain things that I'm not eager to tackle again. War and Peace, for example! Never would have anticipated reading it twice. I may or may not cave in to just scratching some things off, due to having read them in the past. But I'll make that decision later on.

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