book review – Page 2

I’m delighted to welcome a returning Helen Golden to the blog with her new book, A Husband is Hushed Up #bookreview #historicalmystery #blogtour #avidreader

I’m delighted to welcome a returning Helen Golden to the blog with her new book, A Husband is Hushed Up #bookreview #historicalmystery #blogtour #avidreader @rararesources @rachelsrandomresources @helengoldenauthor

Here’s the blurb

A fatal fall. A duchess determined to uncover the truth. And barely any time for tea.

Fenshire, 1891. It was meant to be a birthday celebration weekend in the country—cucumber sandwiches, polite conversation, and maybe a waltz or two. But when the Duke of Stortford is found dead in a crumpled heap at the foot of the stairs everything goes dreadfully sideways. The police declare it a tragic accident. His wife, Alice, has her doubts. After all, only hours before, the Duke had promised to give up his mistress and make a go of their marriage. Now he’s inconveniently deceased.

Driven by a need for answers, and helped by her fiercely loyal maid Maud, her observant footman George, and her childhood friend Lord Rushton, Alice sets about uncovering the truth. But as she navigates a house full of secrets, simmering tensions, and more than one guest with murderously bad manners, her suspect pool grows to include those closest to her. Can she piece together the truth? Or will her husband’s murderer get away with it after all?

The guests are leaving. The killer may be among them. Time is running out…

Purchase Link

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Husband-Hushed-Duchess-Stortford-Mystery-ebook/dp/B0FB916FDV

https://www.amazon.com/Husband-Hushed-Duchess-Stortford-Mystery-ebook/dp/B0FB916FDV

My Review

A Husband is Hushed Up is the first full-length novel in Helen Golden’s new historical mystery series (I have read the prequel).

The first book takes readers to a very familiar location, and alas, also quite a familiar tragedy as a body is discovered on the staircase early one morning. Alice determines to find the truth of what happened, even though everyone else is sure it’s simply a tragic accident. While she’s driven by the need to discover the truth, it is quite possible that she might regret her actions as the story unfolds.

This is another well-plotted mystery from Helen. I do love her mysteries. They’re always a sure-fire hit for me, and a treat because a bit of a curse of also writing mysteries is that I often realise the threads and clues along the way. For this one, my suspicions were leaning in the right direction, but I’m not going to say why. That’s a writer trick:)

Another excellent mystery, and I look forward to the series continuing.

Check out my reviews for the books in Helen Golden’s Right Royal Mystery series, featuring one of Lady Alice’s descendants.

Spruced Up For Murder

For Richer, For Deader

Not Mushroom For Death

A Dead Herring

A Cocktail to Die For

A Death of Fresh Air

I Kill Always Love You

A Murder Most Wilde

And my review for the prequel in the new historical mystery series.

An Heir is Misplaced

Meet the author

Helen Golden spins mysteries that are charmingly British, delightfully deadly, and served with a twist of humour.

With quirky characters, clever red herrings, and plots that keep the pages turning, she’s the author of the much-loved A Right Royal Cozy Investigation series, following Lady Beatrice and her friends—including one clever little dog—as they uncover secrets hidden in country houses and royal palaces. Her new historical mystery series, The Duchess of Stortford Mysteries, is set in Victorian England and introduces an equally curious sleuth from Lady Beatrice’s own family tree—where murders are solved over cups of tea, whispered gossip, and overheard conversations in drawing rooms and grand estates.

Helen lives in a quintessential English village in Lincolnshire with her husband, stepdaughter, and a menagerie of pets—including a dog, several cats, a tortoise, and far too many fish.

If you love clever puzzles, charming settings, and sleuths with spark, her books are waiting for you.

Connect with the author

Posts

Stay up to date with the latest from the blog.

I’m sharing my review for the delightful, The Dog Sitter Detective’s Christmas Tail, a cosy-mystery by Antony Johnston #bookreview #festiveread

Here’s the blurb

It’s almost Christmas, and Gwinny Tuffel’s thoughts are on what she’ll buy for DCI Birch (retired) and whether she can adopt another furry friend. But sorting through her late father’s papers leads her into his mysterious past, pointing to an enigmatic liaison now living in a Somerset commune. Gwinny and Birch find themselves unexpectedly snowed in with a group of retired spies, along with an energetic Cocker Spaniel, and embroiled in a murder case. Will they uncover the culprit and escape in time for Christmas?

My Review

The Dog Sitter Detective’s Christmas Tail is the second book in the series I’ve read.

I find the writing to be so easy to read, and Gwinny is a fun character. (I read the book in 2 sittings).

This mystery takes a little while to come together, (and for a while, I was chuckling along at some of the revelations Gwinny was making with a bit of a feeling of deva vu) and then the solution seems to be undeniable. But is it?

Very much a locked-room mystery, thanks to being snowed in, Gwinny determines to found out the truth before the snow can thaw and the police can arrive.

A very enjoyable, quick read. Did I guess ‘who dun it?’ I did not!

Purchase Link

https://amzn.to/4nT7t2l

Check out my review for The Dog Sitter Detective Plays Dead

Posts

I’m sharing my review for Pilgrim’s War by Michael Jecks #newrelease #histfic #blogtour #bookreview

Here’s the blurb

The tale of a journey that will shape the world for centuries to come…

France, 1096. Crowds gather in Sens, Northern France, to hear the Hermit speak. He talks of a great pilgrimage to Jerusalem, a quest filled with promise for those Christian soldiers who march with him.

Sybill knows the perils of the road ahead, but follow it she must. Her husband is a reckless gambler, easily swayed by the Hermit’s words. For Odo, the pilgrimage provides the chance to demonstrate his unshakeable piety, while his brother Fulk craves adventure and excitement.

Jeanne and Guillemette have been mistreated by the men in their lives and are desperate for this chance of redemption and a brighter future – but for the two women alone on the journey, life on the road will be full of perils…

As the lines between love and hate, virtue and sin, good and evil become blurred, each must survive as best they can. Who will live to reach the holy city, and will the sacrifices they make to get there be worth the price they all must pay?

Book cover for Pilgrim's War by Michael Jecks

Purchase Link

https://mybook.to/PilgrimsWarBook

My Review

Pilgrim’s War is a multiple-character story of the First Crusade, told through the eyes of those seeking something on their journey to the Holy Land. Some are swept away with the promise of better things to come, some by the promise of redemption, others are simply leaves in the wind, taken on the way by events outside their control. Not many of them, admittedly, are actually ‘in it’ to serve their God. As a result of this, few of the characters are actually very ‘nice’. Indeed, quite a few of them are quite awful as the journey begins – but of course, if they’re to suffer any sort of epiphany, they need to be bad eggs from the beginning. The narrative doesn’t shy away from depicting the hatred between Christians and any other faith encountered on the journey to the Holy Land, and the hypocrisy of these seemingly ‘holy’ knights as they venture towards their destination.

Two main journeys are undertaken: one heading towards Rome, featuring a collection of knights, and another towards Byzantium, which follows Sybill, Odo, Jeanne, and Guillemette. That way lies peril. But so too is the route through Rome, where politics are once more at play. The cast is vast and from all reaches of society. It will not end well for them all.

The Crusades are far from an easy topic to cover, and the author is at pains to reveal the motivations behind the actions of those the story follows. It’s not always an easy read, or a particularly fast-flowing one with so many characters, but it shouldn’t be an easy read. I do appreciate the determination to show the event for what it was – a war perpetrated in the name of religion, but really, at the heart of it, something else altogether.

Meet the author

Michael Jecks is the author of over 50 novels inspired by history and legend. He is the founder of Medieval Murderers, and has served on the committees of the Historical Writers’ Association, the CWA and he Detection Club. He was International Guest of Honour at the Bloody Words festival in Toronto, and Grand Master of the first parade in the New Orleans Mardi Gras.

Newsletter Sign Up: https://bit.ly/MichaelJecksNews

Bookbub profile: @michaeljecks

Posts

Stay up to date with the latest from our blog.

I’m sharing my review for The Queen Who Came in From the Cold by SJ Bennett, released today #bookreview #newrelease #mystery

Here’s the blurb

It’s 1961 and the Queen is planning her state visit to Italy aboard Britannia. But before she goes, an unreliable witness claims to have seen a brutal murder from the royal train. Did it really happen, and could the victim be a missing friend of Princess Margaret’s new husband, Tony Armstrong Jones?

The Queen and her assistant private secretary, Joan McGraw, get to work on their second joint investigation, little imagining that this time it will take them all the way to Venice in a tale of spies, lies and Cold War skulduggery.

Purchase Link

https://amzn.to/46SWGOS

My Review

The Queen Who Came in from the Cold is my second foray into the Queen mystery series.

I was intrigued by the set up for this one, the Cold War, the Queen, spies etc. And it is a very good mystery, with an unexpected couple of twists.

The story is told with wonderful humour and there are some fabulous characters (as well as a lot of men who say inappropraite but period-specific comments about women) that really made me chuckle, and the mystery is delightfully simple and complicated, all at the same time involving a lot of people who don’t really speak to other people, and who can’t be seen speaking with other people. If this is how MI5 and MI6 really worked in the 1960s then it’s unsurprising that they missed so much. I did love all the historical research elements as well.

A fun, well-crafted mystery with a high level of peril for those involved.

Check out my review for The Windsor Knot (the first book in the series, although our Queen character is in her 90s in this one).

Posts

I’m sharing my review for The Angel Prophecy by Rob Jones #actionandadventure #blogtour #bookreview #newrelease

I’m sharing my review for The Atlantis Covenant by Rob Jones #actionandadventure #blogtour #bookreview

Here’s the blurb

A mission like no other, will test the team to the limit ⚠️

Dr Max Hunter, Special Agent Amy Fox and the rest of the HARPA Team are on the most important mission of their lives to rescue their teammate Quinn Mosley, HARPA Director Jim Gates and his wife Susanna, and Hunter’s UNESCO manager Professor Juliette Bonnaire who have all been kidnapped by a mysterious organisation claiming to be the Illuminati.

The group’s leader, Oriax, says he will trade their friends’ lives for the Sword of the Archangel Michael and gives them a 24 hour deadline to meet his demands. 🗡️

In a race against time, from Europe to Moscow and beyond, Hunter leads his small team on a high-speed rollercoaster ride, attempting to track down Oriax before the deadline expires and rescue Quinn and the others as well as keeping the ancient sword out of Oriax’s depraved hands, but will they succeed in this most lethal of challenges?

Purchase Link

https://mybook.to/TheAngelProphecy

My Review

This new installment in the Hunter Files starts with a bang, and the reader is thrown straight into a worrying situation for the team (I’m not sure if this carries over from the previous book, but I suspect it might). This time, members of the team are in peril and Max Hunter and his fellow team members resolve to outwit the person holding them captive in exchange for St Michael’s sword, and with very little to go on in terms of leads.

Tracking down every potential lead, the team make their way from Cornwall to London, Paris and then beyond, their destination not quite where they think it will be, as the tension ramps up in this fun action and adventure story, where the ‘baddie’ is definitely quite bonkers, powerful, and seemingly, able to do anything he wants with his captives.

Like The Atlantis Covenant, the story is fast-paced and fun, the interactions between the characters flippant and somewhat light-hearted, considering the peril they’re in. The series will certainly appeal to those who like National Treasure (as I’ve said before) and their history with a little bit of conspiracy.

Check out my review for The Atlantis Covenant.

Meet the Author

Rob Jones has published over forty books in the genres of action-adventure, action-thriller and crime. Many of his chart-topping titles have enjoyed number-one rankings and his Joe Hawke and Jed Mason series have been international bestsellers. Originally from England, today he lives in Australia with his wife and children.

Connect with the author

Posts

I’m delighted to share my review for Murder at the Wedding by Anita Davison #bookreview #blogtour #historicalmystery #newrelease

Here’s the blurb

Hannah Merrill is about to marry the love of her life…

The couple are determined their low-key celebration will go without a hitch, but there can’t be an ‘I do’ while the vicar is missing. And when he’s found dead – a victim of a poisoning – in the crypt behind the church, Hannah knows only she and Aunt Violet can find out who did it.

Hannah’s beloved thinks she shouldn’t interfere. But if he fails to remember that an independent woman in 1918 doesn’t do what she’s told to by a man, the dead vicar may be the least of his worries…

Then the vicar’s own fiancé appears on the scene, even though nobody knew he was engaged. And suddenly it becomes clear someone has a secret, one shocking enough to kill for.

Will the intrepid pair of amateur sleuths catch the murderer before they kill again? Or will it be til death parts them all?

Purchase Link

https://mybook.to/MurderattheWedding

My Review

Murder at the Wedding is a fabulous new mystery in the Miss Merill and Aunt Violet mystery series.

Hannah is finally married but no sooner has she said, ‘I do,’ than she finds a body. (What a horror on her wedding day). What they determine is a matter of suicide becomes something much worse as murder is soon suspected. Hannah and her aunt determine to find the solution because the new police inspector isn’t up to the task.

It’s good to see Hannah and Violet working together in this book. They’re a great team (I felt in the previous book that there wasn’t quite enough of Aunt Violet). The mystery is well structured, seemingly impossible to solve for much of the novel and I didn’t guess the resolution, which I always appreciate.

This is another enjoyable read in the on-going historical mystery series.

Check out my reviews for the earlier books in the series, beginning with Murder in the Bookshop, Murder in the Library, Murder at Midwinter Manor and Murder in Covent Garden.

Meet the author

Anita Davison is the author of the successful Flora Maguire historical mystery series.

Connect with the author

Newsletter Sign Up

Bookbub profile

Posts

I’m reviewing Woden’s Storm by Donovan Cook #blogtour #newrelease #historicalfiction the second book in the First Kingdom series

Here’s the blurb

A storm is coming.
A storm that will banish the old and deliver the new.

450AD Britain

Octa has the spear of Woden, but the redemption he sought is out of his grasp. With his banishment and the death of his father, he can no longer return to his Saxon homelands. His only salvation is to join forces with Hengist and Horsa, and their Jutish army that beaches itself on Brittania’s shores. But can he trust their motivation or are there greater plans afoot?

The Gods have their own plans, though, and Octa’s fate is not his own to control as Friga, the mother of the Saxon gods, battles to avoid a war with the gods of the Britons and Saxons using Octa as her weapon.

Prince Vortimer, the son of High King Vortigern, is angered by his father’s agreement with Hengist and Horsa as they remain unchecked and their numbers swell. He suspects treachery and encouraged by some well-placed words of a stranger, he rebels against his father and gathers his army to attack the unwelcome visitors.

War is coming to Britannia and as Octa struggles to understand his role and fate, he knows he has one question to answer. Will he run or will he stand and fight?

Purchase Link

https://bit.ly/wodensstorm

My Review

Woden’s Storm is the second book in The First Kingdom series by Donovan Cook. We’re once more in a recreated Britain of the middle fifth century, where everyone’s actions are guided by their Gods. And there are a lot of Gods who want to have a say in what’s happening, and not all of them, on the ‘same side’ as it were, hope to achieve the same ends. Octa, Vortimor, and the rest of the characters are constantly being tested by their deities, told half the story and left to work the rest out for themselves. Will they interpret their meetings with the Gods correctly, or will they make everything more chaotic by muddying these messages with their own intentions?

I do enjoy the element of the Gods walking amongst the characters and interfering in what’s happening. I mean, I doubt it would be peaceful without them, but with them, it certainly isn’t:) It adds a new dimension to this period and perhaps helps to account for some of the more eccentric decisions the characters make as they all endeavour to accomplish their goals. There is still much to play for and the series will continue.

An entertaining and intriguing series with a whole host of ‘named’ characters, people who love the era will recognise.

Check out my reviews for Odin’s Betrayal, Loki’s Deceit, Thor’s Revenge, Valhalla’s Fury and Woden’s Spear.

Meet the author

Donovan Cook is the author of the well-received Ormstunga Saga series which combines fast-paced narrative with meticulously researched history of the Viking world, and is inspired by his interest in Norse Mythology.  He was born in South Africa and currently lives in Lancashire, UK.

Connect with Donovan

Newsletter Sign Up

BookBub Profile

Posts

I’m delighted to share my review for Adam Lofthouse’s War Lord: Scourge of Rome #historicalfiction #blogtour #Roman

Here’s the blurb

And so we have reached the end of my tale. But what are endings if not new beginnings?

Alaric has been home for a year. He went north and saved the Cimbri, just as he said he would. But the cost has been higher than he ever thought. A shadow of the War Lord he once was, he now trades in amber and dotes on his children.

A simple life. And with it, contentment. But he knew this couldn’t last forever; peace isn’t for someone like him, and sure enough trouble finds him once again. A routine journey south turns into a new and unknown wave of danger as red-cloaked legionaries attack, causing confusion and carnage.

Warriors dressed as Romans have been scouring the country, slaughtering innocent people, and leaving Roman footprints wherever they march. But things are not what they seem, and it falls to Alaric to don his armour once more, and march his Ravensworn in pursuit of a mysterious enemy that could destabilise his world beyond repair.

Purchase Link

https://mybook.to/WarLord

My Review

War Lord, as the blurb states, is the end of Alaric, or is it a beginning for him?

Once more, we’re thrust straight back into the action, and Alaric, while accepting he’s an old man these days, does indeed not seem to have ‘grown up’ at all, as he’s so fond of reminding himself. From one hairbrained scheme to another, Alaric realises that perhaps, after all, there is a great deal at stake, and he is, of course, the man to solve everyone else’s problems, for all he likes to pretend he doesn’t care about anyone but himself, his children and his wife.

Adam writes fabulous books. I do love Alaric. He’s a bad egg, and yet, we all can’t help liking him, as indeed, does everyone who comes into contact with him. There’s no end of action and adventure, no end of peril, and through it all, Alaric sails with his usual charm and determination. But, is this one quest too much for our epic second-century hero, living on the outskirts of the Roman empire, but admiring them all the same? Has he finally found an enemy he can’t hope to beat, even if he unites the tribes? Or will he have to prove as quick-thinking as ever?

While all this is happening, there is also an intriguing backstory, reliving a moment in Alaric’s life when everything changed for him. It adds a certain poignancy to our character, making his wild ways more understandable.

This is a cracking finale for Alaric’s story. Enjoy it. I know I did.

Check out my review for Raven.

Meet the author

Adam Lofthouse is the author of action-packed historical thrillers. His brand new series for Boldwood, ‘Enemies of Rome’, will focus on the boundaries at the edge of the Roman Empire. The first book Raven, will be published in February 2025.

Connect with Adam

Newsletter Sign Up: https://bit.ly/AdamLofthouseNews

Bookbub profile @AdamLofthouse

Posts

I’m sharing my review for Desolation by Keith Moray, a brand new historical mystery #bookreview #blogtour #newrelease

Here’s the blurb

A BRAND NEW wickedly dark medieval mystery from Keith Moray. If you like your murder truely gruesome – this series is for you! 🩸☠️🗡️

The Black Rood of Scotland, stolen.

A coroner of York, murdered

An evil worse than plague itself, at large…

1361, York. As the country recovers from the war with France, and whispers that the pestilence has returned to England grow louder, fear is in the heart of every nobleman and commoner alike. Sir Ralph de Mandeville, ex-solider and newly appointed Justice of the Peace is sent to Langbarugh, just outside York, to investigate the murder of Coroner Sir Boderick de Whitby.

More deaths quickly follow, and while these are swiftly dealt with as plague victims, Sir Ralph and his two assistants Merek and Peter soon uncover something altogether more horrifying… A greater evil is at large in the northern wapentakes.

As panic escalates and the lines between plague and murder blur, Sir Ralph is thrust into a desperate race against time. Every shadow hides a potential killer, every cough could be a death knell. Can he unmask a murderer lurking in the terrifying shadow of the Black Death before they’re all consumed by a terror more sinister than any plague?

Purchase Link

https://mybook.to/desolationsocial

Here’s my review

Desolation is the first book I’ve read by Keith Moray. I think the cover is fabulous and very evocative.

The story is intriguing, with a wide cast and it takes quite some time until we finally meet Ralph de Manville because there are so many other characters to meet first. I do hope that in later books in the series, Ralph will enter the narrative a little quicker.

It is quite a complex plot, because the narrative switches between characters so much. The reader does have to work to make sense of what’s happening. We are told certain things, but not others – so we know what’s happening but not necessarily who is doing it. The body count is HUGE!

When Ralph finally begins to make sense of what’s happening, the resolution comes quite quickly, and the ending is certainly satisfying.

I read a lot of mysteries. If I don’t work out ‘who did it’ I am always impressed, although with Desolation there are so many people implicated, it does feel as though there are a lot of people to guess. I worked out some elements, but not others, and I did very much enjoy the mystery element of the story.

Meet the author

Keith is a retired GP, medical journalist and novelist, writing in several genres. As Keith Moray he writes historical crime fiction in the medieval era and in ancient Egypt, The Inspector Torquil McKinnon crime novels set on the Outer Hebridean island of West Uist, and as Clay More he writes westerns. Curiously, his medical background finds its way into most of his fiction writing.

Connect with the author

Posts

I’m delighted to share my review for Kalahari Passage by Candi Miller #histfic #blogtour #bookreview

Here’s the blurb

Koba and Mannie have been in jail. Their crime, loving each other across the Apartheid colour bar in southern Africa. Koba escapes her captors and using her bush skills, finds her way across the semi-desert to her former tribal home. But adapting to a hunter-gatherer lifestyle after a decade away, has challenges. And her mortal enemy is on her trail.

Meanwhile Mannie absconds during his parole and sets off on a sub-continental road trip to find his beloved Koba. But will his new comrades persuade him to join them across the border for training in deadly guerrilla warfare? And what will that mean for his future with Koba?

Under tragic circumstances the lovers meet, but the danger they are in means they face heart-breaking choices.

Kalahari Passage is an action-packed story of a search for identity and love. Readers will be spellbound by Koba’s world where an ancient culture dances, trances and lives in harmony with the land.

Key ideas

● Unique FMC from world’s oldest living culture, largely unknown outside anthropology. The lineage of Koba’s people goes back to the dawn of humankind.

● Dispossession – ancestral land, cultural identity, freedom

● Interracial love – romantic and family

● Racial discrimination and defiance

● Recent black history – Apartheid South Africa 1960s

Purchase Links

Kalahari Passage: https://mybook.to/7qAtkQA

Koba series: https://mybook.to/T81RWsf

My Review

Kalahari Passage is the second book in the Koba books. I confess, I was a little perplexed to begin with. But, I took myself into another room, and just sat and read, and I’m so pleased I did (perhaps, my friends, start with the first book). It is a beautiful book, telling the story of people caught up in events they have little control over. It describes a time we should still be horrified to read about, yet it accurately reflects the beliefs of people at that time. It is a richly imagined and intricately recreated world that most of us in the Western world would fail to understand and comprehend, but we should.

The story is both complex and straightforward – will our divided lovers ever meet again, or will people, events and politics play their part in keeping them apart, as well as societal constraints? But all that pales into insignificance as we journey into the Kalahari with Koba. You can taste the sand, feel the heat and grow very thirsty reading this story.

While half of the cast are worrying about being overheard saying something they shouldn’t on ‘party telephone lines’, the other half are simply trying to find drinking water and enough food to eat. The contrast is stark, but essentially, concerns surviving in a harsh world where politics or the environment could see you in a great deal of trouble.

I loved this book. It opened my eyes, it made me think, and it taught me about a past I know very little about. Go read it.

Meet the author

Candi Miller was born in southern Africa and has spent more than twenty years researching the first peoples of the region, a group who have now adopted the exonym of San or Bushmen. She taught creative writing at UK universities. She now lives in Cornwall where she is writing the last book of the Koba trilogy. She is republishing her novels to support a school feeding scheme she co-founded for San children in 2017.