I have been reading books since the early 1950s and reviewing/posting the reviews for the past decade. I do not know how I missed Blake Pierce for all of those years. I have just read book one in the European Voyage Cozy Mystery series entitled Murder (and Baklava). It has two components that I am …
Here’s a mashup we weren’t expecting this year (oh, come on, this is a good surprise—not like, say, murder hornets): Perestroika in Paris, an equestrian fairy tale set in Paris. Written by Pulitzer Prize Winner Jane Smiley, no less. Perestroika is Paris is the story of a talking racehorse who decides to venture into the world beyond …
If you thought Horowitz’s Magpie Murders (2017) was circuitously plotted, wait till you see the puzzles offered in this closely connected sequel. We return here to the company of Susan Ryeland, the London book editor who solved the slaying of one of her authors, Alan Conway, in the previous mystery. Now living in Crete, where she runs …
M. K. Wiseman is the author of the new mystery entitled Sherlock Holmes and the Ripper of Whitechapel. As you might be able to guess, this story involves Holmes and Watson in the greatest unsolved true serial killing spree in British, if not world, history. It is the story of “Jack the Ripper” who terrorized …
The Left-Handed Booksellers of London filled a void in me. Yes, I know that’s dramatic to say, but you know when you read a book and you feel like no other book can live up to it so you’re almost afraid to pick one up when you finish? That’s what I felt with this one. This …
A wedding invitation you definitely might want to decline! Foley follows in the footsteps of Agatha Christie with a remote setting of an island off the coast of Ireland and explosive secrets between spouses, siblings, and guests you can’t wait to discover. With lives and reputations at stake, who doesn’t want a front row seat? …
I love Donna Leon’s Brunetti mysteries! To me, her latest, Trace Elements, is one of her more “Italian” stories. There is a lot about the canals of Venice and Venetian politics, as well as a mystery that starts with the deathbed whisper, “They killed him. It was bad money. I told him no.” –Wendy B., …
“If we lose one another, wait for me on the steps. Just here, by the door.” Champion is a 217-year-old dog who has sat in the same spot for a century, waiting for Valentyne to return…but waiting is hard. Adventures ensue as the dog searches 1600-1800s Europe for Valentyne. He traverses battlefields, meets alchemists, sniffs …
Early in 2020, I watched a PBS TV mini-series entitled “Vienna Blood.” While watching the series, I discovered that it was based on books by author Frank Tallis. I have now read the first book featuring Max and his circle of friends and family, A Death in Vienna. There are at least seven books in …
I read an early copy of Ruta Sepetys’ The Fountains of Silence, and it was absolutely fantastic. If you aren’t familiar with this author, she writes books about history that we often aren’t familiar with or taught in school. The Fountains of Silence takes place in Madrid, 1957 when Spain was under the fascist dictatorship …
