historical fiction – Page 48

I. M. Foster shares a fascinating post about forensics in the early 20th century #historicalmystery #cozymystery #BlogTour #TheCoffeePotBookClub

I’m delighted to welcome I.M. Foster to the blog, to share a fascinating post on Forensics at the Turn of the Century.

To start off with, I guess I should give a very basic definition of what exactly forensics is. Basically, it is the use of different scientific disciplines, such as biology, chemistry, physics, etc., to investigate crimes or examine evidence that can be used to present in court. That being the case, the techniques available at any given period in history would depend largely on the stage of scientific development that was available to the investigator at the time.

Today a multitude of investigative tools are available to detectives and medical examiners, from ballistics to DNA. Most large police departments even have their own forensics labs, as Suffolk County, New York now does. But forensic science in the day of Dr. Daniel O’Halleran was quite a bit different than it is today.

To begin with, there was no such thing as forensic science, per se, even though the use of science to determine the cause of death actually goes back to ancient Rome and Egypt. For example, it was a physician, Antisius, who determined that of the twenty-three blows Julius Caesar received it was the one below his left arm that actually killed him. Alas, after the fall of the Roman Empire, the use of science to detect the cause of death seemed to stagnate for the next thousand or so years.

Fast forward to the sixteenth century, and things began to pick up again. Interest in determining reasons for a person’s demise increased, the French and Italians studied the result of violent death on internal organs, and once again, science was being used to assist in determining the cause of death. During the nineteenth century, scientific advances produced a number of breakthroughs that aided in criminal investigations.

By the dawn of the twentieth century, poison could be detected in body tissue, handwriting analysis and the study of documents were being employed, and toxicology was being presented as evidence in jury trials. In addition, scientific tools, such as the polarized light microscope had been invented, enabling physicians to study fibers. And photography had made its appearance, making it easier to study the crime scene in detail.

Fingerprints were still relatively new on the scene however. Though a system of classifying fingerprints had been developed by the 1880s, don’t expect Daniel to be incorporating it into his investigative tool kit right away. The system used by most of Europe and North America didn’t come about until 1896 and wasn’t employed in the United States until 1903, when it was used by the New York State Prison system for criminal identification. The first use of the technique at a criminal case in the United States didn’t occur until 1910.

Before fingerprinting, something called anthropometry was used for identification, which was the measurement of body parts and their proportions to one another, not exactly foolproof. As for the twelve matching points of a fingerprint, that didn’t come along until 1918, so while Daniel might eventually play around with it, fingerprinting certainly not something he’s going to base his cases on.

The turn of the century did present some extremely helpful investigative tools however. Biologists were able to determine not only if a stain was blood, but whether it was human or animal. Ballistics was becoming more refined, though the tracing of a bullet to a specific gun wouldn’t come about until 1910. And geology was first used in 1904 by a German scientist when he identified a killer from the dirt on his pants and under his fingernails, as well as the coal soot found on a handkerchief he’d left at the crime scene. Now, that is something that Daniel might eventually employ.

Other advances were just on the horizon. The use of a microscope to compare strands of hair didn’t come along until 1910, and the study of botanicals such as plant fibers and pollen in relation to a crime scene wasn’t widely used until the 1920s, though I’m sure there were local residents who might be able to point out where a certain plant was more prevalent.

In spite of all the advances, however, using scientific principles in criminal investigations still wasn’t seen as its own discipline. But in 1904, Edmond Locard was to write a passage that one might point to as the beginning of modern forensic science. Every contact leaves a trace. Shortly after, in 1909, the first school was opened for the sole purpose of studying how to use science to determine the cause and method of death, and thus the seeds were planted for the modern study of forensic science.

Thank you for sharing such a fascinating post.

Here’s the blurb

New York, 1904. After two years as a coroner’s physician for the city of New York, Daniel O’Halleran is more frustrated than ever. What’s the point when the authorities consistently brush aside his findings for the sake of expediency? So when his fiancée leaves him standing at the altar on their wedding day, he takes it as a sign that it’s time to move on and eagerly accepts an offer to assist the local coroner in the small Long Island village of Patchogue.

Though the coroner advises him that life on Long Island is far more subdued than that of the city, Daniel hasn’t been there a month when the pretty librarian, Kathleen Brissedon, asks him to look into a two-year-old murder case that took place in the city. Oddly enough, the case she’s referring to was the first one he ever worked on, and the verdict never sat right with him.

Eager for the chance to investigate it anew, Daniel agrees to look into it in his spare time, but when a fresh murder occurs in his own backyard, he can’t shake his gut feeling that the two cases are connected. Can he discover the link before another life is taken, or will murder shake the peaceful South Shore village once again?

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Meet the author

I. M. Foster is the pen name author Inez Foster uses to write her South Shore Mystery series, set on Edwardian Long Island. Inez also writes historical romances under the pseudonym Andrea Matthews, and has so far published two series in that genre: the Thunder on the Moor series, a time-travel romance set on the 16th century Anglo-Scottish Borders, and the Cross of Ciaran series, which follows the adventures of a fifth century Celt who finds himself in love with a twentieth century archaeologist.

Inez is a historian and librarian, who love to read and write and search around for her roots, genealogically speaking. She has a BA in History and an MLS in Library Science and enjoys the research almost as much as she does writing the story. In fact, many of her ideas come to her while doing casual research or digging into her family history. Inez is a member of the Long Island Romance Writers, the Historical Novel Society, and Sisters in Crime.

Connect with IM Foster

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Follow the Murder on Oak Street by IM Foster blog tour with The Coffee Pot Book Club

The King’s Brother Research book dump

I always like to share my research with my readers. Here’s a small pile of the books that I’ve specifically used in the last few weeks while finalising the little details in The King’s Brother.

As always, there are resources not shown here. The two primary online resources that I will NEVER tire of sharing are

PASE https://pase.ac.uk

Electronic Sawyer https://esawyer.lib.cam.ac.uk/about/index.html

My two versions of The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle not shown here have also proved invaluable, my preferred version by Michael Swanton, and the version found in English Historical Documents Vol. 1 by Dorothy Whitlock, although I’ve discovered I have a first edition, and there was a subsequent second edition, which is the one most often used – mind my first edition was substantially cheaper than a second edition. (I dare you to click on the link and see how much it costs:))

Of course, I would never have started this mad, crazy journey of chronicling the lives of the earls of Mercia without the work of Stephen Baxter, The Earls of Mercia, Lordship and Power in Late Anglo-Saxon England.

Some of these books are more academic than others. For those looking for an introduction to the period, I highly recommend The Death of Anglo-Saxon England by Nick Higham which is stuffed with images and can be found quite cheaply second-hand.

books2read.com/TheKingsBrother

The families of the Earls of Mercia series

I thought a little refresh might be in order with the release of The King’s Brother, so I’m resharing some genealogy tables I put together when working on The English King and Lady Estrid. These will, hopefully, point you in the right direction for the somewhat complex family dynamics in The King’s Brother.

The House of Leofwine

The family of King Æthelred II.

The children of Lady Emma, twice England’s queen.

The House of Godwine.

The family of Gytha, wife of Earl Godwine

I hope that helps. You can click on the tables to increase their size.

Don’t forget to check out The King’s Brother and also visit The Earls of Mercia page on my blog.

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Book review for A.J. Lyndon’s The Tawny Sash, #bookreview

AJ Lyndon writes about her new book, The Tawny Sash.

The walls of Warwick Castle, England are ten feet (3.04 metres) thick. For hundreds of years they kept enemies out and prisoners in. If you screamed, no one would hear you. Australian novelist AJ Lyndon found this out the hard way a few years ago when, during a visit to the UK she was accidentally locked in a room at the top of the spiral staircase in Guy’s Tower. It was the culmination of an exciting day of research, gathering material from the castle’s archivist and visiting the dungeons where ‘witch trials’ were in progress, before her guide showed her the real one! ‘It was a creepy hole in the ground,’ Lyndon says. ‘I didn’t go in!’

It was late in the afternoon, and visiting school parties were heading back to the entrance, when Lyndon’s guide took her into Guy’s Tower, where guest accommodation became prison cells for captured Royalist officers during the English Civil War. Two of Lyndon’s fictional characters in her first novel, The Welsh Linnet were imprisoned there for months after being captured at the (real) Battle of Edgehill in 1642.

‘I had already written the first draft of the novel,’ Lyndon says, ‘But it became a compulsion to visit the actual rooms, and the governor’s quarters in the gatehouse. The guide took me from one locked room to another while I filmed. There are lots of graffiti carved into the walls. The prisoners obviously got bored. One is signed “Edward Disney 1643”!’ When I finished filming in the last of the tower rooms, the guide turned the door handle but nothing happened. “That’s funny,” he said.

And that’s how Lyndon discovered how thick the walls were and that mobile phones don’t work inside Guy’s Tower! Fortunately the guides carry radios for such situations and Lyndon’s incarceration lasted no more than ten minutes.

‘It was the highlight of the visit,’ she laughs. ‘One of the French school kids going round had slid the bolt.’

After the first novel came Covid, making research trips to England impossible. Lyndon had managed one more trip before the world locked down. She walked the battlefields of southeast Cornwall where King Charles I’s Cavaliers trapped the Roundheads with nothing but the sea at their backs. A whole army surrendered; and many of the foot soldiers died of starvation on the hard slog back to London. The orange-tawny sash (seen on the cover of the book) was how the southern Parliamentarian (Roundhead) armies showed their allegiance. Northern Parliamentarians wore blue sashes, the colours of the Fairfax family. Uniforms as we know them did not exist, which made life on the battlefield a bit interesting. Red coats were first introduced by Oliver Cromwell for his New Model Army about a year after the action in this book takes place.

Lyndon says she couldn’t have completed The Tawny Sash without Zoom. ‘The pandemic was a world-wide tragedy, but there were side-benefits. Historical societies in the UK such as the Battlefields Trust began holding their historical lectures on Zoom.’ Now overseas members like Lyndon can tune in, providing they don’t mind getting up early. ‘I hate the winter though,’ Lyndon laughs. ‘Lectures in London or Manchester at 8pm are 5am Melbourne time. I set the alarm and switch my camera on with a sweatshirt hastily pulled over my PJs.’

Lyndon, who lives in the Victorian Central Highlands, has been obsessed with history and historical fiction since high school. ‘Everyone knows about the Tudors, King Henry VIII and his six wives, but far fewer people have read books set during the time of the Stuarts. The ill-fated Stuart monarch Charles I was executed by Parliament after a trial and civil war that sent shock waves through Europe and across the Atlantic to the American colonies, where it set the stage for the American revolution.

Her second novel The Tawny Sash follows the further adventures of the Vaughan and Lucie families. Captain Gabriel Vaughan has been released from Oxford Castle prison on the authority of an order bearing the signature and family seal of Sir Henry Lucie. The problem is the order wasn’t signed by him but by his eldest son Will who stole the seal. Now Sir Henry wants revenge. Gabriel and Will are on the run from a court martial amidst the chaos of civil war, trying to clear their names before Sir Henry’s hired spy can find them. The hunt for the two men follows the course of the war from Oxford to Cornwall; and features treachery, kidnappings, daring escapes and of course sword fights.

The Tawny Sash is available now.

Here’s the blurb

Book 2 in the War Without An Enemy series. Historical novel set in England 1644 during the English Civil War between King Charles I and the English Parliament. Sequel to ‘The Welsh Linnet‘.

Welsh gentleman Gabriel Vaughan and his brother-in-law Will Lucie are on the run from the vengeful Sir Henry Lucie and the threat of a court martial. The two cavalry captains must clear their names before Sir Henry’s hired spy can find them.

But then Gabriel, a follower of the outlawed Catholic faith, becomes embroiled in religious infighting at King Charles I’s most important fortress, Basing House and when a plot to betray the garrison is hatched, Gabriel is implicated.

The Tawny Sash continues the story of the Vaughan and Lucie families in the third year of the English Civil War. The bitter war has intensified and ‘quarter’ may no longer be given to those captured on the blood-drenched battlefields of Cheriton, Cropredy Bridge and Lostwithiel. When the royalists trap the threadbare, starving Roundhead rebel army at the tip of Cornwall, Gabriel and Will face further dangers and a terrible dilemma.

My Review

The Tawny Sash is an engrossing tale of the English Civil War, when families were pitched against one another, and religious division sundered England.

For all the complicated politics, religious divide, and military endeavours that take place throughout the book, I found it to be so well written that I never floundered. The English Civil War is outside my area of expertise. I know of it, but not about it. AJ Lyndon has brought the era to life by making it about personal relationships while the wider war rages all around them. There is time for love, and hatred, all played out against a backdrop of monumental change.

A fabulous story that I highly recommend. I will have to check out book 1 in the series.

Purchase Link

https://amzn.to/3IMZr97

Lucretia Grindle shares a fascinating post about the historical women in her novel, The Devil’s Glove #blogtour

Guest Post by Lucretia Grindle on the Histroical Background to the Women in The Devil’s Glove

As I began to think about the Salem witchcraft trials, I was struck by what a distinctly female episode Salem was. Sure, you’ve got the Mathers, father and son, and the magistrates – all men. But this was a furor that was whipped up and powered by women, some of them very young women. And, while six men were executed (five hanged and one pressed to death) fourteen women were hanged. Because other women accused them.

All of which led me to consider the roles women played in 17^th century New England. As I began to contemplate The Devil’s Glove, I knew that my central character would be female, and so it seemed important to try to get past preconceptions and really understand the scope of possibility as well as the limitations on women’s lives in that time and place. What were they able to do, and not do? How did they fit, and not fit into the power structure of society?

Salem certainly seemed a ‘fracture’; an incident when teen-aged girls, some of them orphaned, most of them servants and dependents – in other words those who would usually be the most un-empowered – wielded extraordinary power. A power they used to attack some of the most powerful female figures in the Massachusetts colony. Established and respected matrons like Rebecca Nurse. Women of wealth and social standing like Mary English. Women who would normally be politically untouchable, like the governor’s sister, Anne Phipps. What other ‘fractures’ might I find, if I went looking?

One of the greatest pleasures of writing history, and historical fiction in particular, is the way in which you begin thinking you know about something, only to discover facets of a world that are a complete surprise. So as I settled into archives and began to peel back layers, I was thrilled to find a complex and unexpected past peopled with an astonishing array of women. Resolve Hammond and her mother, Deliverance, are fictional characters. But the circumstances and possibilities of their lives are based on real women, some of whom appear in The Devil’s Glove, and many of whom will appear in the second and third books of the trilogy. These are a few of their stories.

Early in The Devil’s Glove we discover that Resolve and her mother spent the bloody years of King Philip’s war (1675-1678) sheltered among the tribe led by the female sachem, Ashawonks. This is based on a true episode. I placed the Hammonds with Ashawonks specifically, both because I wanted to bring her into the story and because she is Deliverance’s mentor, and her guide – the door through which Deliverance, and thus Resolve, enter the Native world. So, who was she?

Female sachem, or saunkskwa of the Sakonnets, a tribe whose lands bordered the southern edge of the Plymouth settlement on Narragansett bay, Ashawonks was unique, not just because she was a women – there were several female sachems at the time – but because she became leader not via inheritance, but because of her formidable diplomatic skills. Her position would be challenged throughout her life, not only by the Anglo-Europeans who tried to push her off her lands, but also from within her own tribe. None of them succeeded. Instead, Ashawonks managed to walk a dangerous tightrope, keeping alliances – or at least relations – with Anglo-Europeans, while not openly alienating fellow sachems and tribes. She was especially close to the powerful militia commander, Benjamin Church, whom she often met and spoke with at length, using him as both a sounding board and conduit to The Powers that Were in Massachusetts. Thanks to skill, nerve, and an uncanny ability to read situations, Ashawonks piloted her people, and those under her protection, through one of the most dangerous episodes in early American colonial history.

At about the same time Ashawonks was steering a course through a bloody war, another extraordinary woman gave birth to a daughter in Salem, Massachusetts. The daughter would become Mary English, who appears at the end of The Devil’s Glove and is a central to book II of the Salem trilogy. But it was her mother, Elinor Hollingworth, whose life suggested to me what the realistic possibilities might be for Deliverance Hammond.

Elinor’s family arrived in Salem as part of The Great Migration, an influx of something in the area of 20,000 immigrants, primarily from the British Isles and mostly from England, who arrived in New England between approximately 1630 and 1640. At seventeen, Elinor married William Hollingworth, a sea captain and general all-round trader who wasn’t particularly good at either. His not very thrilling career came to an end when he went overboard and drowned, leaving Elinor with three small children and a mountain of debt.

There were more eligible men than marriagable women drifting around New England at the time, and Elinor might well have re-married, as most widows did. But she wasn’t having any of it. Once was apparently enough. Instead, Elinor Hollingworth went to work. Petitioning the court to gain control of what was left of her husband’s business, she set about clearing his debts.

In England at the time, women in naval cities like Bristol and Portsmouth were banding together to negotiate with the British Navy about pay and conditions while their husbands were at sea. Taking a leaf out of the same book, Elinor set herself up as a broker negotiating pay deals for working seamen in Salem, many of whom were illiterate, while taking a cut in return. She so successful that she rapidly became a sort of mini working seaman’s merchant bank.

At the same time, Elinor saw an opportunity in the wives they left behind. Harnessing their domestic labor, inviting them to produce surplus butter, beer, biscuit, shirts, shoes and other supplies needed to outfit Salem’s growing merchant fleet, she became a ship’s chandler – the person captains went to for all the supplies they needed as soon as they knew they were going to sea. Within a few years, she not only paid off all of William’s accrued debt, but also acquired The Blue Parrot tavern, a seedy drinking den down on the waterfront that she made her headquarters.

Riding the tide of Salem’s exploding maritime trade, Elinor Hollingworth became so successful, and powerful, that when she was accused of witchcraft in 1672 by a neighbor she had annoyed, she merely shrugged it off, saying she was far too busy to be a witch. Twenty years later, her daughter tried essentially the same approach, with vastly different results.

By then, Mary was married to Philip English, and they were the wealthiest tax payers in Salem, joint owners of a shipping empire that owned more than twenty vessels and included, among other things His and Hers warehouses. Mary received her warehouse from her mother as a wedding present. Elinor had not only made sure that her daughter was exceptionally well educated, she thought so much of her ability that she bypassed her son, and handed her entire business empire directly to her daughter. Philip English shared his mother in law’s esteem. Throughout their marriage, he and his wife owned their business jointly.

Along with the warehouses and the wharf and the ships, Mary and Philip English owned and inhabited a house in Salem so grand that it was known simply as The Great House. It had three stories, and housed not only their family, but also the shipping company’s counting house and a luxury goods shop which Mary oversaw and ran. And it was staffed by fifteen domestic servants, many of them indentured.

Indenture, the practice of contracting labor for a period of years in return for food and keep, and often passage to The New World was a relatively common practice, and part of the Englishes’ business. They arranged and brokered indenture contracts for a large number of, mostly young, people who came to New England from the island of Jersey. Many of them were single young women. One was called Judah White, and is Resolve’s best friend in The Devil’s Glove.

Indenture was not an easy life. You had little say over who you were indentured to, and there was no way out except to work out the years of the contract, or somehow find enough money to buy it out. But it was also a way for young men, and young women, from the lower classes to have a chance at starting a new life in The New World. For women in particular, this was otherwise close to impossible. Here was a way to take at least some of your destiny into your hands. Many made the leap, exhibiting an independence that defies common presumptions about women in the 17^th century.

Ashawonks, Elinor, Mary and Judah are only some of the women I encountered while researching The Devil’s Glove. In each case, their circumstances and lives were unexpected. I hope you enjoy getting to know them as much as I did.

Here’s the blurb

Northern New England, summer, 1688.
Salem started here.

A suspicious death. A rumor of war. Whispers of witchcraft.

Perched on the brink of disaster, Resolve Hammond and her mother, Deliverance, struggle to survive in their isolated coastal village. They’re known as healers taught by the local tribes – and suspected of witchcraft by the local villagers.

Their precarious existence becomes even more chaotic when summoned to tend to a poisoned woman. As they uncover a web of dark secrets, rumors of war engulf the village, forcing the Hammonds to choose between loyalty to their native friends or the increasingly terrified settler community.

As Resolve is plagued by strange dreams, she questions everything she thought she knew – about her family, her closest friend, and even herself. If the truth comes to light, the repercussions will be felt far beyond the confines of this small settlement.

Based on meticulous research and inspired by the true story of the fear and suspicion that led to the Salem Witchcraft Trials, THE DEVIL’S GLOVE is a tale of betrayal, loyalty, and the power of secrets. Will Resolve be able to uncover the truth before the town tears itself apart, or will she become the next victim of the village’s dark and mysterious past?

Praise for The Devil’s Glove:

“From its opening lines this historical novel from Grindle (Villa Triste) grips with its rare blend of a powerfully evoked past, resonant characters, smart suspense, and prose touched with shivery poetry.”

~ BookLife Reviews Editor’s Pick

Buy Links

This title is available to read on #KindleUnlimited.

Universal Link: https://books2read.com/u/4EN58l

Amazon UK: Amazon US: Amazon CA: Amazon AU:

Meet the author

Lucretia Grindle grew up and went to school and university in England and the United States. After a brief career in journalism, she worked for The United States Equestrian Team organizing ‘kids and ponies,’ and for the Canadian Equestrian Team. For ten years, she produced and owned Three Day Event horses that competed at The World Games, The European Games and the Atlanta Olympics. In 1997, she packed a five mule train across 250 miles of what is now Grasslands National Park on the Saskatchewan/Montana border tracing the history of her mother’s family who descend from both the Sitting Bull Sioux and the first officers of the Canadian Mounties.

Returning to graduate school as a ‘mature student’, Lucretia completed an MA in Biography and Non-Fiction at The University of East Anglia where her work, FIREFLIES, won the Lorna Sage Prize. Specializing in the 19th century Canadian West, the Plains Tribes, and American Indigenous and Women’s History, she is currently finishing her PhD dissertation at The University of Maine.

Lucretia is the author of the psychological thrillers, THE NIGHTSPINNERS, shortlisted for the Steel Dagger Award, and THE FACES of ANGELS, one of BBC FrontRow’s six best books of the year, shortlisted for the Edgar Award. Her historical fiction includes, THE VILLA TRISTE, a novel of the Italian Partisans in World War II, a finalist for the Gold Dagger Award, and THE LOST DAUGHTER, a fictionalized account of the Aldo Moro kidnapping. She has been fortunate enough to be awarded fellowships at The Hedgebrook Foundation, The Hawthornden Foundation, The Hambidge Foundation, The American Academy in Paris, and to be the Writer in Residence at The Wallace Stegner Foundation. A television drama based on her research and journey across Grasslands is currently in development. THE DEVIL’S GLOVE and the concluding books of THE SALEM TRILOGY are drawn from her research at The University of Maine where Lucretia is grateful to have been a fellow at the Canadian American Foundation.

She and her husband, David Lutyens, live in Shropshire.

Connect with the author

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Follow the blog tour for The Devil’s Glove with The Coffee Pot Book Club

Book review for Jane Dunn’s, An Unsuitable Heiress. #bookreview #blogtour

Here’s the blurb

‘Do you realise, Corinna, just how hard it is for a young woman of irregular birth, without family, fortune or friends in the world? Marriage is the only way to get any chance of a life.’

Following the death of her mother, Corinna Ormesby has lived a quiet life in the countryside with her cantankerous Cousin Agnes. Her father’s identity has been a tantalising mystery, but now at nineteen Corinna knows that finding him may be her only way to avoid marriage to the odious Mr Beech.

Deciding to head to London, Corinna dons a male disguise. Travelling alone as a young woman risks scandal and danger, but when, masquerading as a youth, she is befriended by three dashing blades, handsome and capable Alick Wolfe, dandy Ferdinand Shilton and the incorrigible Lord Purfoy, Corinna now has access to the male-only world of Regency England. And when she meets Alick’s turbulent brother Darius, a betrayal of trust leads to deadly combat which only one of the brothers may survive.

From gambling in gentleman’s clubs to meeting the courtesans of Covent Garden, Corinna’s country naivety soon falls away. But when she finds her father at last, learns the truth about her parentage and discovers her fortunes transformed, she must quickly decide how to reveal her true identity, while hoping that one young man in particular can see her for the beauty and Lady she really is.

Purchase Link

https://mybook.to/Heiresssocial

My Review

A Suitable Heiress continues Jane Dunn’s exploration of Regency-era England. Once more, we have a very different main character, young Corinna, who knows she’s a bastard, but is determined to find her father, and continue in her quest to become an artist. And how might she manage this? By masquerading as a man and running away to London.

What ensues is a delightful tale of the era, not without its peril for our heroine/hero as her disguise is discovered and her father found. But this is only half the story for Corinna must manage her friendships carefully and guard her reputation as well as her companions while seeking to fulfill her ambitions.

An Unsuitable Heiress is a delightful Regency tale sure to appeal to fans of the era.

Find my review for The Marriage Season here.

Meet the author

Jane Dunn is an historian and biographer and the author of seven acclaimed biographies, including Daphne du Maurier and her Sisters and the Sunday Times and NYT bestseller, Elizabeth & Mary: Cousins, Rivals, Queens. She comes to Boldwood with her first fiction outing – a trilogy of novels set in the Regency period, the first of which is to be published in January 2023. She lives in Berkshire with her husband, the linguist Nicholas Ostler.

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Book Review for Bradecote and Catchpoll’s medieval mystery by Sarah Hawkswood, Too Good to Hang

Here’s the blurb

April, 1145. Thorgar the Ploughman is found by the bloodied body of Father Edmund, a village priest in Ripple, and is summarily hanged for being caught in the act, despite his pleas of innocence.

When his sister goes to Worcester to seek justice for Thorgar, the lord Sheriff sends Hugh Bradecote, with Serjeant Catchpoll and Underserjeant Walkelin, to discover the truth. They soon expose strong motives for placing the blame on the ploughman’s shoulders, some unpleasant secrets festering among the villagers, as well as the whisper of a treasure long lost and now rediscovered.

The shadow the noose casts is a long one, but the Sherrif’s men will need to plumb the darkness to uncover the true killer.

Purchase Link

https://amzn.to/3pGxUj3

My Review

A new Bradecote and Catchpoll (and Wakelin) medieval mystery is always a true delight, and Too Good To Hang is a fabulous addition to the series.

This time, our trio are called upon to determine the true culprit when an overzealous village has already hanged a man they deem to be responsible for the murder of the priest without trial or even, any real proof, other than the man’s unfortunate appearance at the side of the dead man.

What transpires, with careful investigation from Bradecote, Catchpoll and Wakelin, is that there is much more going on in the small settlement than first meets the eye. One of the village priests might well be dead, but there is a good reason for that and an even better reason to suspect almost everyone else within the settlement as well. And there’s not just the matter of the dead priest and the hanged man; there are also rumours of old treasure buried close by.

As ever, I love the way the mystery slowly resolves itself. Bradecote is lordly, Catchpoll is more world, and Wakelin is slowly becoming his own man. Added to this, there is a fine cast of strong women ruled by weak men, and the author highlights this in their interactions.

An absolute joy.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my review copy.

Check out my reviews for previous Bradecote & Catchpoll mysteries.

Wolf at the Door

A Taste for Killing

Pagan Warrior went on blog tour with The Coffee Pot Book Club in May 2023 #blogtour – check out the posts #GodsAndKings #TheSevethCentury

Pagan Warrior is the story of the battle of Hædfeld, fought in the seventh century between the Northumbrians, and you got it, the Mercians – or rather, Cadwallon of Gwynedd but with Penda of Mercia as his firm ally. You can find more details here.

A quick shout out to thank all the blog hosts and Cathie at The Coffee Pot Book Club for organising.

Check out a review for Pagan Warrior on

Linnea Tanner’s Official Blog

and a guest post about Mercia’s legacy over on

The Coffee Pot Book Club

Check out

The Book Delight

An excerpt on

The Celtic Lady Reviews

Check out the review on

Stuart Rudge’s Official Blog

And a guest post on who King Edwin of Northumbria was over on

When Angels Fly

Check out a post about Penda of Mercia.

The Magic of Word(l)ds

Read an excerpt featuring Eowa, Penda’s brother on

Judith Arnopp’s Official Blog

And, read an excerpt featuring Penda on

Carolyn Hughes Official Blog

I answered Paul Walker’s questions on his blog

Paul Walker’s Official Blog

There’s an except over on Wendy J Dunn’s Official Blog featuring King Edwin

Wendy J Dunn’s Official Blog

And a fabulous review on Ruins and Readings

Ruins and Readings

Read a guest post about how we know, what we know, about the seventh century.

Deborah Swift’s Official Blog

And a fabulous author interview over on

The Writing Desk

Read an excerpt on

Elizabeth St John’s Official Blog

And read about warfare in the Saxon period on

Brook Allan’s Official Blog

Check out a fabulous review on

https://gwendalynbooks.wordpress.com/2023/03/28/pagan-warrior/

A guest post about Mercia in the later eighth century on the Historical Fiction Blog.

https://historicalfictionblog.com/pagan-warrior-guest-post/

And, the post that perhaps gave me the most fear to begin will but which was fun when I remembered all the little details, five fun facts about writing the trilogy.

maryannbernal.blogspot.com

Check out a post about two of the royal residences of Bernicia at the time, Bamburgh and Ad Gefrin (Yeavering). (There are lots of photos; thank you to Helen Hollick for uploading them all.)

Let Us Talk of Many Things

And a review from

Candlelight Reading

Check out my author interview over on Archaeolibrarian.

Archaeolibrarian

I’m sharing an excerpt over on The Historical Fiction Company.

The Historical Fiction Company

I’ve written a piece about the historical background on Pam Lecky’s official blog.

Pam Lecky’s Official Blog

Posts

Stay up to date with the latest from the blog.

Book Review for The Body at Carnival Bridge by Michelle Salter #historicalmystery #cosycrime #highlyrecommended

Here’s the blurb

How deadly is the fight for equality?

It’s 1922, and after spending a year travelling through Europe, Iris Woodmore returns home to find a changed Walden. Wealthy businesswoman Constance Timpson has introduced equal pay in her factories and allows women to retain their jobs after they marry.

But these radical new working practices have made her deadly enemies.

A mysterious sniper fires a single shot at Constance – is it a warning, or did they shoot to kill? When one of her female employees is murdered, it’s clear the threat is all too real – and it’s not just Constance in danger.

As amateur sleuth Iris investigates, she realises the sniper isn’t the only hidden enemy preying on women.

Purchase Link https://mybook.to/CarnivalBridgesocial

My Review

The Body at Carnival Bridge is the third book in the Iris Woodmore series, and it is going from strength to strength.

Some time has passed since the tragic events of book 2, and Iris is perhaps a little out of sorts with herself, but no sooner has she made contact with her old friends than tragedy strikes, and Iris is compelled to investigate the death of a young girl.

What ensues is a well-reasoned and intriguing mystery, highlighting the social inequalities of women in the aftermath of World War I and also referencing the harsh realities of the lives of women unable to access birth control. The author really excels in placing the reader in the period without overloading the narrative., and always with an eye to moving the mystery onwards.

The Iris Woodmore mysteries are fast becoming some of my favourites. The mystery is always reliable, the author has an eye for detail, and Iris herself is a likeable character, as are those surrounding her.

A fabulous mystery well-grounded in the period’s events without overloading the reader.

Check out my review for Death at Crookham Hall and Murder at Waldenmere Lake.

Meet the author

Michelle Salter is a historical crime fiction writer based in northeast Hampshire. Many local locations appear in her mystery novels. She’s also a copywriter and has written features for national magazines. When she’s not writing, Michelle can be found knee-deep in mud at her local nature reserve. She enjoys working with a team of volunteers undertaking conservation activities.

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Book review for Melissa Addey’s Beneath the Waves, to the blog #bookreview #historicalfiction #highlyrecommended

Here’s the blurb

The Colosseum is being flooded. And emotions are rising to the surface.
Rome, 80AD. The Emperor orders the Colosseum to be flooded. There must be vast battles, spectacular props and epic storytelling. Meanwhile Emperor Titus must somehow be persuaded to give up his love affair with the Jewish Queen, Berenice.

Marcus, manager of the amphitheatre, must face the dangers, mistakes and emotions of the watery depths as new members join his team. His scribe, Althea, must find out what she wants from life, now that she is a freedwoman, but a woman’s choices are not always free.

Words may be dangerous, but desires must be spoken out loud. As the backstage team takes on new challenges, a change is coming.

Beneath the Waves is the gripping second novel in the Colosseum historical fiction series. If you enjoy immersing yourself in the past and finding characters you care about, then join the Colosseum’s tough, loyal and quick-witted backstage team.

Trailer Link – https://youtu.be/CbM54gjiT20

Purchase Link

https://amzn.to/44Fh43J

My Review

Beneath the Waves is the thrilling second part of The Colosseum series by Melissa Addey.

Picking up the tale of Althea, a Greek slave woman, from where we left her at the end of From the Ashes, this is the story of the ending of the 100 days of Games, begun in From the Ashes, and also takes the reader through to the second year in the life of the Colosseum.

Our much-loved characters reappear in Beneath the Waves, along with a few new additions. While From the Ashes focused very much on surviving the events of Vesuvius, the plague and the fire that our characters suffered, book 2 is perhaps less filled with huge peril for everyone, as instead, it focuses on the peril our main characters experience. Their humanity is very evident. They are people. They don’t always do the right thing. They are perhaps beset with irrational fears. And they also perhaps do what they’re supposed to do when we, as a modern audience, would demand alternatives. Althea and Marcus are characters of their time, which is one of the huge strengths of the novel.

I adore the descriptions of the Games and the minutiae of day-to-day life, and this second novel builds very much to an impressive and potentially dangerous ending for Marcus, Althea and their young charge.

I so look forward to book 3.

Read my review for From the Ashes here.

(And, if you’re a fan of Simon Turney as well, then reading this series alongside his Domitian, will ensure you know what’s happening to the toffs as well as the plebs.)

Meet the author

Melissa Addey writes historical fiction set in Ancient Rome, medieval Morocco and 18th century China. She is a full time self-published author and runs workshops for authors wanting to be entrepreneurial. Her books have been selected for Editor’s Choice by the Historical Novel Society and won the inaugural Novel London award. She has been the Leverhulme Trust Writer in Residence at the British Library, has a PhD in Creative Writing and works with the Alliance of Independent Authors on their campaigns.

If you’d like to try her writing, visit http://www.melissaaddey.com to pick up a free novella, The Cup.

Connect with Melissa Addey

www.melissaaddey.com where readers can get a free novella that starts another series (medieval Morocco).

https://www.facebook.com/MelissaAddeyAuthor

https://twitter.com/MelissaAddey