It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

This weekly meme is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.

My greatest accomplishment last week was that I finally finished The Dead Secret  by Wilkie Collins. I struggled with this book, but something happened around Chapter 3 where the story became very interesting and I found I couldn't put the book down.  

In the previous week I'd enjoyed The Highwayman's Footsteps  by Nicola Morgan so much that I wanted more of Bess and Will's story and so picked up the sequel, The Highwayman's Curse. This was another great read.

I set aside what I was currently reading last week to make way for a novel offered to me by Authoright. On Track For Murder by Stephen Childs, due out in September, is a historical crime novel set in late 19th century Western Australia. It has a railway connection and a very unusual heroine. My review will be posted shortly. 

This week I am back to reading Kit by Marina Fiorato and The Castle Inn by Stanley J. Weyman, and have started The Tide Watchers  by Lisa Chaplin, a spy story set during the Napoleonic Wars.

Once again I'm not sure what will take my fancy next, but in my reading pile are the first two books of Kate Tremayne's 18th century Cornish family saga which follows the fortunes of the Loveday family. There are eleven books in the series, said to be on a par with the Poldark novels by Winston Graham. I've been meaning to read these for a while. I'm just not sure I can commit to such a long series at this time.

What I Read Last Week

The Dead Secret by Wilkie Collins

... Like much of Collins's work, "The Dead Secret" explores the consequences of a single, hidden act. The Cornish mansion Porthgenna harbors the secret of such an act, one that has ruined the life of the servant girl Sarah Leeson. This same secret lies hidden for fifteen years until the heiress to Porthgenna, Rosamund Treverton, returns and exposes it. Her detective work may reveal the truth, but her revelation of a long-forgotten crime could mean disaster for her and the entire estate ...

The Highwayman's Curse by Nicola Morgan

On the run from the redcoats, the two young highwaymen, Will and Bess, find themselves in Galloway, Scotland, blamed for a murder they did not commit. Here, they are captured by smugglers and become embroiled in a story of hatred and revenge that goes back for generations, to the days of the Killing Times. Whose side will they take? Can anything they do end the cycle of religious hatred? And will their own friendship survive?

On Track For Murder by Stephen Childs

Travelling from England to Australia in the late nineteenth century, Abigail Sergeant and her brother,Bertrand, are looking forward to their new life. Leaving behind the prejudices that would likely have seen Bertrand committed to an institution before he reached adulthood, Abigail hopes their new life will offer freedom and security.But what awaits them on the shores of the Swan River dashes any prospects of a blissful life. A murder is committed and Abigail's family is thrown into turmoil. The evidence is damning. Only the guilty would be found standing over the body clutching the bloodied murder weapon. But something is not right. Police are convinced they have their killer. Abigail is certain they are wrong. As their one potential witness is missing, Abigail persuades the detective to allow time for a search. But that time is limited. Chasing across Western Australia with a reluctant Constable Dunning as her chaperone, Abigail is determined to uncover the truth. If only she had an inkling of what that may be. Through deception, kidnap, sabotage and arson, Abigail finds a resolve she didn't know she possessed. Her understanding of mechanical principles surprises everyone, as does her tenacity. She turns out to be a capable young woman. But is that enough to save an innocent from injustice?

What I'm Reading Today

Kit by Marina Fiorato

Dublin 1702...and Irish beauty Kit Kavanagh has everything she could want in life. Newly married, she runs a successful alehouse with her beloved husband Richard. The wars that rage in Europe over the Spanish throne seem a world away. But everything changes on the night that Richard simply disappears. Finding the Queen's shilling at the bottom of Richard's tankard, Kit realizes that her husband has been taken for a soldier. Kit follows Richard's trail across the battlefields of Italy in the Duke of Marlborough's regiment. Living as a man, risking her life in battle, she forms a close bond with her wry and handsome commanding officer Captain Ross. When she is forced to flee the regiment following a duel, she evades capture by dressing once more as a woman. But the war is not over for Kit. Her beauty catches the eye of the scheming Duke of Ormonde, who recruits her to spy upon the French. In her finery she meets Captain Ross once again, who seems just as drawn to the woman as he was to the soldier. Torn between Captain Ross and her loyalty to her husband, and under the orders of the English Crown, Kit finds that her life is in more danger now than on the battlefield. Of all the dangers that she faced, the greatest was discovery...

The Castle Inn by Stanley J. Weyman

About a hundred and thirty years ago, when the third George, whom our grandfathers knew in his blind dotage, was a young and sturdy bridegroom; when old Q., whom 1810 found peering from his balcony in Piccadilly, deaf, toothless, and a skeleton, was that gay and lively spark, the Earl of March; when "bore" and "boreish" were words of "haut ton, " unknown to the vulgar, and the price of a borough was 5,000"l."; when gibbets still served for sign-posts, and railways were not and highwaymen were -- to be more exact, in the early spring of the year 1767, a traveling chariot-and-four drew up about five in the evening before the inn at Wheatley Bridge, a short stage from Oxford on the Oxford road. A gig and a couple of post-chaises, attended by the customary group of stablemen, topers, and gossips already stood before the house, but these were quickly deserted in favor of the more important equipage. The drawers in their aprons trooped out, but the landlord, foreseeing a rich harvest, was first at the door of the carriage, and opened it with a bow such as is rarely seen in these days. "Will your lordship please to alight?" he said. "No, rascal!" cried one of those within. "Shut the door!"

The Tide Watchers by Lisa Chaplin

In the winter of 1803, one woman stands between Napoleon and the fall of Great Britain. The free-spirited daughter of an English baronet, Lisbeth defies convention by eloping to France. When her husband abandons her, she must find a way to survive and be reunited with her young son, who is in the care of her mother-in-law. A seasoned spy known as Tidewatcher, Duncan apprenticed under Lisbeth's father and pledged to keep his mentor's pretty daughter safe—a promise complicated by the wily Napoleon Bonaparte. The British believe he is planning an attack, and Duncan is sent to search for signs of invasion on the French coast—where he draws dangerously close to adventurous and unpredictable Lisbeth. A sensational new invention may shift the tide of a French victory. A brilliant and eccentric American inventor named Robert Fulton has devised a deadly weapon that can decimate an enemy's fleet. To protect English ships, Tidewatcher must gain control of Fulton's invention and cross enemy lines . . . but he cannot do it alone. Left with no other options, he enlists Lisbeth's help in outwitting the American inventor and uncovering Bonaparte's secret plans. Going undercover for the handsome and duty-bound spy, Lisbeth risks her freedom and her life as she navigates double agents and submarine warfare to outwit the greatest military tactician in history. The only question is . . . who can she trust?

What I Hope to Read Next

Adam Loveday by Kate Tremayne

For all those who were entranced by Ross Poldark in Winston Graham's Poldark comes a dramatic series of novels that will sweep you away to 18th century Cornwall. Cornwall, 1786. Twenty years ago, fate denied Adam Loveday his birthright: the family estate, Trevowan, and the boatyard that his father is struggling to maintain. And the intense childhood rivalry between Adam and his elder twin St John continues to govern their fated passions and chequered fortunes. St John has become a dissolute wastrel but Adam, with a talent for ship design and a thirst for adventure, has fierce family pride in Trevowan and the yard. Aware of his father's increasing disapproval, St John fears that the Loveday yard will be given to Adam after all, and puts into motion a plan to ensure that Adam will never get what his heart desires: the boatyard - and Meriel Sawle, the seductive daughter of the local innkeeper, whose violent family are infamous in the smuggling trade...

The Loveday Fortunes by Kate Tremayne

Cornwall: 1791. As the civil unrest in France gathers force, ripples of conflict are also reaching across the Channel, for the Loveday family are fighting their own private battles. Charles Mercer - Edward Loveday's brother-in-law - has been found dead, the reputation of his eminent bank in tatters. Charles has left the Lovedays facing emotional trauma and financial ruin. But risk comes as second nature to the Lovedays. Adam Loveday finds refuge from the pressures of keeping the family boatyard solvent in the arms of gypsy-bred Senara - whom he is determined to marry despite his father's threats of disinheritance. And his twin, St John, angry at having to curb his spending, throws in his hand with the Sawle brothers - the notorious smugglers who rule Penruan by intimidation and violence. Each one of the Lovedays must sacrifice personal ambition in the face of adversity. But to some of them, sacrifice does not come easily...