It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

This weekly meme is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.

Another seven days have flown by, but don't ask me what I did with them because I don't really know. I managed to finish one book, start two and write one book review (The Haunting by Alan Titchmarsh) and I also collected some books from the library. Not much for a whole week is it?

What I Read Last Week
 
The Girl in the Photograph by Kate Riordan

I'm gathering my thoughts together to write a review of this novel. I did enjoy it, although certain aspects were a little disturbing.

When Alice Eveleigh arrives at Fiercombe Manor during the long, languid summer of 1933, she finds a house steeped in mystery and brimming with secrets. Sadness permeates its empty rooms and the isolated valley seems crowded with ghosts - none more alluring than Elizabeth Stanton, whose only trace remains in a few tantalizingly blurred photographs. Why will no one speak of her? What happened a generation ago to make her vanish? As the sun beats down relentlessly, Alice becomes ever more determined to unearth the truth about the girl in the photograph - and stop her own life from becoming an eerie echo of Elizabeth's...




What I'm Reading Today

Plague by C.C. Humphreys

I'm halfway through this book and eager to keep reading.

London, May 1665. On a dark road outside London, a simple robbery goes horribly wrong - when the gentlemanly highwayman, William Coke, discovers that his intended victims have been brutally slaughtered. Suspected of the murders, Coke is forced into an uneasy alliance with the man who pursues him - the relentless thief-taker, Pitman. Together they seek the killer - and uncover a conspiracy that reaches from the glittering, debauched court of King Charles to the worst slum in the city, St Giles in the Fields. But there's another murderer moving through the slums, the taverns and palaces, slipping under the doorways of the rich. A mass murderer ..... Plague .......




A Fine Summer's Day by Charles Todd

I'm two chapters into this book, but The Plague has grabbed my attention.

On a fine summer's day in June, 1914, Ian Rutledge pays little notice to the assassination of an archduke in Sarajevo. An Inspector at Scotland Yard, he is planning to propose to the woman whom he deeply loves, despite intimations from friends and family that she may not be the wisest choice. To the north on this warm and gentle day, another man in love-a Scottish Highlander-shows his own dear girl the house he will build for her in September. While back in England, a son awaits the undertaker in the wake of his widowed mother's death. This death will set off a series of murders across England, seemingly unconnected, that Rutledge will race to solve in the weeks before the fateful declaration in August that will forever transform his world .........



What I Hope to Read Next

These two novels were part of last week's library borrowings. They should be lower down on my to read list, but as is usually the case when I bring books home, the new titles look more interesting than the ones I had planned to read next.

 The Widow's Confession by Sophia Tobin

I enjoyed Sophia Tobin's first novel The Silversmith's Wife and hope this will be just as good.

 Broadstairs, Kent, 1851. Once a sleepy fishing village, now a select sea-bathing resort, this is a place where people come to take the air, and where they come to hide...

Delphine and her cousin Julia have come to the seaside with a secret, one they have been running from for years. The clean air and quiet outlook of Broadstairs appeal to them and they think this is a place they can hide from the darkness for just a little longer. Even so, they find themselves increasingly involved in the intrigues and relationships of other visitors to the town.

But this is a place with its own secrets, and a dark past. And when the body of a young girl is found washed up on the beach, a mysterious message scrawled on the sand beside her, the past returns to haunt Broadstairs and its inhabitants. As the incomers are drawn into the mystery and each others' lives, they realise they cannot escape what happened here years before.....

Loxley by Sally Wragg 

I'm a fan of dual time historical novels so couldn't pass on this one.

When Harry Loxley, the 11th Duke, is called away to the Western Front, he leaves behind his young wife Bronwyn to run the estate and cope alone with her formidable mother-in-law, Katherine the Dowager.

Aware her marriage is already in trouble, Bronwyn finds herself increasingly drawn to the life of Nell, the 5th Duchess of Loxley and guardian of its ancient walls, at a time when the country is engaged in a bloody civil war. What is Nell's secret, and why is her tortured ghost said to haunt the hall? Bronwyn's search for answers reveals parallels with her own that she could never have imagined.

Book Review: The Haunting by Alan Titchmarsh

Gardening enthusiasts, especially those living in the U.K. will know of Alan Titchmarsh from his television appearances and his books on gardening. However, he also writes romantic fiction and has written several novels in this genre.

The Haunting is part history, part mystery, part romance and part ghost story, as the title suggests. It is not a “frightened to turn the lights off” ghost story, but a tale of a sad spirit lying dormant until disturbed. The supernatural element does not happen until later in the book and is a very small part of the story.

In 1816, Annie Flint, a young housemaid, disappears. A body is retrieved from the chalk stream, a place Annie frequents, but it is not Annie.

In 2010, divorced and disillusioned with his life, Harry Flint decides it is time for a change. He resigns from his job as a history teacher and buys a cottage in need of renovation. Harry is also an amateur genealogist attempting to solve the mystery of one of his ancestors.

The novel switches back and forth between the two centuries.  Harry’s is a simple love story, with plenty of heart warming scenes and also some sad ones involving minor characters. Annie’s story is a little more gritty, one of betrayal and tragedy.

I selected this book because of the historical setting and also the family tree aspect. Anyone who has researched their family tree and have leads peter out will empathise with Harry. From the start, it is obvious there is a connection between Annie and Harry because they share the same surname, but the  revelation regarding Harry's ancestor is unexpected and adds a nice little twist to the story

The Haunting is an easy read. The characters were developed enough to engage and the time switching was handled well. The romantic outcome was predictable, but it was the historical aspect that kept me interested to the end. A perfect book for that lazy afternoon.

This Week's Library Borrowings

My borrowings this week are a bit of a mixture, all except one from authors I've not read before.

 The Widow's Confession by Sophia Tobin

I enjoyed Sophia Tobin's first novel, The Silversmith's Wife, so when I spied this in the library it was a must read for me. Plus I was taken with the cover. Who was the woman signalling to?

 Broadstairs, Kent, 1851. Once a sleepy fishing village, now a select sea-bathing resort, this is a place where people come to take the air, and where they come to hide...

Delphine and her cousin Julia have come to the seaside with a secret, one they have been running from for years. The clean air and quiet outlook of Broadstairs appeal to them and they think this is a place they can hide from the darkness for just a little longer. Even so, they find themselves increasingly involved in the intrigues and relationships of other visitors to the town.

But this is a place with its own secrets, and a dark past. And when the body of a young girl is found washed up on the beach, a mysterious message scrawled on the sand beside her, the past returns to haunt Broadstairs and its inhabitants. As the incomers are drawn into the mystery and each others' lives, they realise they cannot escape what happened here years before.....

Loxley by Sally Wragg 

When I first read this title I thought it was a novel about Robin Hood, but I was so wrong.

When Harry Loxley, the 11th Duke, is called away to the Western Front, he leaves behind his young wife Bronwyn to run the estate and cope alone with her formidable mother-in-law, Katherine the Dowager. Aware her marriage is already in trouble, Bronwyn finds herself increasingly drawn to the life of Nell, the 5th Duchess of Loxley and guardian of its ancient walls, at a time when the country is engaged in a bloody civil war. What is Nell's secret, and why is her tortured ghost said to haunt the hall? Bronwyn's search for answers reveals parallels with her own that she could never have imagined.





The Good Soldier by Ford Maddox Ford

I've not read any novels by Ford Maddox Ford, but know of Parade's End due to the mini-series shown on television recently.

Before the First World War, two wealthy and sophisticated couples - one English, one American - travel, socialise and take the waters in the spa towns of Europe. They are 'playing the game' in style. That game has begun to unravel, however. With compelling attention to the comic and the tragic results, the American narrator reveals his growing awareness of the social intrigues and emotional betrayals that lie behind its facade...

The Two Hotel Francforts by David Leavitt

It is the summer of 1940, and Lisbon is the only neutral port left in Europe. it is a city overcrowded with exiles, forced there by Hitler's invasion of France; a city filled with spies, with refugees of every nationality, tipping back absinthe to while away the time until they can escape.

In this precarious atmosphere, both glamourous and seedy, two couples awaiting safe passage to New York on the SS Manhattan meet. The Winters, Julia and Pete, are middle-class expatriate Americans fleeing their sedate life in Paris; the Frelengs, Edward and Iris, are elegant, independently wealthy, bohemian. Both are beset by all the social and sexual anxieties of their age.

As Europe sinks inexorably into war, the hidden threads which bind these four characters begin to unravel.

The Norfolk Mystery by Ian Sansom 

This novel looked like a fun read, especially when it was pitched to those who love Miss Marple. I've read a few Miss Marple novels, but I'm a great fan of the Miss Marple series on television.

The Norfolk Mystery  is the first of a new detective series where every county is a crime scene. As there are 39 counties, this series will go on forever!

It is 1937 and disillusioned Spanish Civil War veteran Stephen Sefton is stony broke. So when he sees a mysterious advertisement for a job where 'intelligence is essential', he applies. Thus begins Sefton's association with Professor Swanton Morley, an omnivorous intellect. 

Morley's latest project is a history of traditional England, with a guide to every county. They start in Norfolk, but when the vicar of Blakeney is found hanging from his church's bellrope, Morley and Sefton find themselves drawn into a rather more fiendish plot. Did the Reverend really take his own life, or was it - murder? 

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

This weekly meme is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.

It has been very hot here over the past week. Autumn is just around the corner, but we're still experiencing temperatures of over 35°C and still no rain. Trapped inside with the air-conditioner and a stack of books, I had no option but to read and happily reduced my reading pile by three.

What I Read Last Week


Mortal Arts by Anna Lee Huber

"Scotland, 1830." Lady Kiera Darby is no stranger to intrigue--in fact, it seems to follow wherever she goes. After her foray into murder investigation, Kiera must journey to Edinburgh with her family so that her pregnant sister can be close to proper medical care. But the city is full of many things Kiera isn't quite ready to face: the society ladies keen on judging her, her fellow investigator--and romantic entanglement--Sebastian Gage, and ultimately, another deadly mystery. Kiera's old friend Michael Dalmay is about to be married, but the arrival of his older brother--and Kiera's childhood art tutor--William, has thrown everything into chaos. For ten years Will has been missing, committed to an insane asylum by his own father. Kiera is sympathetic to her mentor's plight, especially when rumors swirl about a local girl gone missing. Now Kiera must once again employ her knowledge of the macabre and join forces with Gage in order to prove the innocence of a beloved family friend--and save the marriage of another...


When Gods Die by C.S. Harris

The young wife of an aging marquis is found murdered in the arms of the Prince Regent. Around her neck lies a necklace said to have been worn by Druid priestesses-that is, until it was lost at sea with its last owner, Sebastian St. Cyr's mother. Now Sebastian is lured into a dangerous investigation of the marchioness's death-and his mother's uncertain fate. As he edges closer to the truth-and one murder follows another-he confronts a conspiracy that imperils those nearest him and threatens to bring down the monarchy.









Forget the Glory by Elizabeth Darrell (a.k.a Emma Drummond)

Captain the Honourable Rowan DeMayne has served for six boring years with the 43rd Light Dragoons in an isolated Indian outpost. He and his commrades-in-arms yearn for honour and glory in battle.

Mary Clarke, born in a barrack room and twice widowed at eighteen, yearns only to rise above her lowly destiny. To avoid a third marriage she takes on menial work in the fetid camp hospital, and there tends Rowan, who is suffering terrible wounds on return from a dangerous solo mission.

The long-awaited call to arms is cheered by the 43rd, but the war is in the Crimea, where they are to replace the lost Light Brigade. They must cross oceans and continents for the glory they desire, taking with them wives, children, furniture, horses, equipment and weapons. During this hazardous trek, Rowan is forced to compare his self-centred wife with Mary, a true daughter of the regiment.

Socially poles apart the pair are slowly drawn close by the demands of war and they have to face painful reality when they reach journey's end at the gates of Sebastapol.

Shirley by Charlotte Brontë

I did intend to continue reading Shirley after I'd finished Mortal Arts but things didn't go to plan and once again it has been abandoned. Perhaps I'm just not in the right mood for a classic.

What I'm Reading Today


Plague by C.C. Humphreys

London, May 1665. On a dark road outside London, a simple robbery goes horribly wrong - when the gentlemanly highwayman, William Coke, discovers that his intended victims have been brutally slaughtered. Suspected of the murders, Coke is forced into an uneasy alliance with the man who pursues him - the relentless thief-taker, Pitman. Together they seek the killer - and uncover a conspiracy that reaches from the glittering, debauched court of King Charles to the worst slum in the city, St Giles in the Fields. But there's another murderer moving through the slums, the taverns and palaces, slipping under the doorways of the rich. A mass murderer ..... Plague .......




The Girl in the Photograph by Kate Riordan

When Alice Eveleigh arrives at Fiercombe Manor during the long, languid summer of 1933, she finds a house steeped in mystery and brimming with secrets. Sadness permeates its empty rooms and the isolated valley seems crowded with ghosts - none more alluring than Elizabeth Stanton, whose only trace remains in a few tantalizingly blurred photographs. Why will no one speak of her? What happened a generation ago to make her vanish? As the sun beats down relentlessly, Alice becomes ever more determined to unearth the truth about the girl in the photograph - and stop her own life from becoming an eerie echo of Elizabeth's...

Hoping to Also Read This Week 

The Secret of Pembrooke Park by Julie Klassen

Abigail Foster is the practical daughter. She fears she will end up a spinster, especially as she has little dowry, and the one man she thought might marry her seems to have fallen for her younger, prettier sister.

 Facing financial ruin, Abigail and her father search for more affordable lodgings, until a strange solicitor arrives with an astounding offer: the use of a distant manor house abandoned for eighteen years. The Fosters journey to imposing Pembrooke Park and are startled to find it entombed as it was abruptly left: tea cups encrusted with dry tea, moth-eaten clothes in wardrobes, a doll's house left mid-play...

 The handsome local curate welcomes them, but though he and his family seem acquainted with the manor's past, the only information they offer is a stern warning: Beware trespassers drawn by rumors that Pembrooke Park contains a secret room filled with treasure.

This catches Abigail's attention. Hoping to restore her family's finances--and her dowry--Abigail looks for this supposed treasure. But eerie sounds at night and footprints in the dust reveal she isn't the only one secretly searching the house.

Then Abigail begins receiving anonymous letters, containing clues about the hidden room and startling discoveries about the past. As old friends and new foes come calling at Pembrooke Park, secrets come to light. Will Abigail find the treasure and love she seeks...or very real danger?

A Lack of Temperance by Anna Loan-Wilsey

 On the eve of the heated presidential election of 1892, Miss Hattie Davish arrives in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, a scenic resort town where those without the scent of whiskey on their breath have the plight of temperance on their tongues. Summoned for her services as a private secretary, Hattie is looking forward to exploring the hills, indulging her penchant for botany--and getting to know the town's handsome doctor. But it's hard to get her job done with her employer nowhere to be found...

An army of unassuming women wielding hatchets have descended on the quiet Ozark village, destroying every saloon in their path--and leaving more than a few enemies in their wake. So when their beloved leader, Mother Trevelyan, is murdered, it's easy to point fingers. Now that she's working for a dead woman, Hattie turns to her trusty typewriter to get to the truth. And as she follows a trail of cryptic death threats, she'll come face to face with a killer far more dangerous than the Demon Rum..

Book Review: Winter Siege by Ariana Franklin & Samantha Norman

It is autumn 1180. The Abbott of Perton Abbey is dying, but before he dies “he has something important to do. He has to record a tale of treachery and murder, also a story of courage and love”.  A record of a tale of events that happened over 40 years before, during the war for the crown of England between King Stephen and his cousin, the Empress Matilda. Too weak and ill to write it himself, he dictates the story to a young scribe.

Gwilherm de Vannes (Gwil) is a leader of a band of mercenaries and a crossbow man “one of the finest arbalists in Christendom”.  While crossing the Cambridgeshire fens in winter,  an act of betryal sees him lose his horse and his crossbow. Without these, he is powerless to intervene when his men chase and capture a young red-headed girl and ride off with her. One of these men is  an evil, malodourous monk with a penchant for red-heads and murder. 

Gwil believes his soul is lost for good, but still offers up a prayer to God for the deliverance of the courageous little girl - and the return of his crossbow “so that he could kill the men who had taken both”.

By chance Gwil discovers the young girl left for dead. In her hand she clutches a quill case containing some parchments, an item that Gwil believes belongs to the evil monk and will endanger her further.  He nurses her back to health, but the trauma of the attack leaves her with amnesia. Unable to abandon her, Gwil names her Penda, instructs her in archery and keeps her identity hidden by dressing her as a boy.

In their travels they cross paths with the Empress Matilda and her bodyguards, who are being pursued by King Stephen's men. Their destination is the strategically placed castle of Kenniford. Here they ask for sanctuary from Maud of Kenniford. Maud swears fealty to the Empress, but soon has cause to regret her decision once her castle is besieged.

I loved all the characters, especially Gwil, a hardened mercenary, trying to atone for some of the things he’s been a part of by honouring his promise to God to protect Penda. Penda slowly healing from her ordeal, coming to trust Gwil and showing great fortitude. Maud of Kenniford, shocked by events that turned her ordered world upside down, determined to be a good chatelaine of the castle despite her young years and to do right by the people that look to her for guidance and protection. Milburga, whose mannerisms and speech reminded me so much of  Pam Ferris’ character in Call the Midwife that if a movie should ever be made of this book I hope she is asked to play the part. The Empress Matilda, haughty, stern and imposing, but also a woman of courage, revealing a sense of humour at the end. Alan of Ghent, a man of honour, loyal to his Empress. Even Maud's brutish husband and his strange mistress left an impression, as did the evil monk and his stench. It is the memorable characters that make this novel so successful.

There are snippets of humour throughout the novel, mostly through Gwil’s conversations with God, but also with Maud’s inner thoughts and of course, the character of Milburga. Even the conversations between the dying Abbott and the scribe managed to raise a smile or two.

Winter Siege is like an adventure story of old: not too graphic in the portrayal of the unsavoury scenes and battles, filled with good and evil characters to love or hate, murder, plenty of action, a heart-warming romance and lots of poignant moments. The narrative flows at a steady pace, rolling on to the action-packed siege and final confrontation involving the evil monk, Penda and Gwil. Just when I thought it could get no better, there is a surprise revelation at the end.

This is the first novel I have read by Ariana Franklin. It was the last one she wrote and was finished by her daughter, Samantha Norman.  I really enjoyed it.

I was saddened by her death and that there would be no more novels from this author. However, I discovered she has left a huge body of work which includes numerous historical crime novels and other historical fiction written under her own name of Diana Norman. I look forward to reading these.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

This weekly meme is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.

What I Read Last Week

I finished two books last week. Enjoyed them both, especially The Winter Guest. Reviews coming for both.

It's 1811, and the threat of revolution haunts the upper classes of King George III's England. Then a beautiful young woman is found savagely murdered on the altar steps of an ancient church near Westminster Abbey. A dueling pistol found at the scene and the damning testimony of a witness both point to one man-Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, a brilliant young nobleman shattered by his experience in the Napoleonic Wars.

Now a fugitive running for his life, Sebastian calls upon his skill as an agent during the war to catch the killer and prove his own innocence. In the process, he accumulates a band of unlikely allies, including the enigmatic beauty Kat Boleyn, who broke Sebastian's heart years ago. In Sebastian's world of intrigue and espionage, nothing is as it seems, yet the truth may hold the key to the future of the British monarchy, as well as to Sebastian's own salvation.

Life is a constant struggle for the impoverished eighteen-year-old twins Helena and Ruth Nowak as they raise their three younger siblings in rural Poland under the shadow of the Nazi occupation. The constant threat of arrest has made everyone in their village a spy, and turned neighbour against neighbour.

Though independent Helena and gentle Ruth couldn't be more different, they are staunch allies in protecting their family from the threats and the hardships the war brings closer to their doorstep.

Then Helena discovers an Allied paratrooper stranded outside their village, wounded, but alive. Risking the safety of herself and her family, she hides Sam—a Jew—but Helena's concern for the American grows into something much deeper and the dream of a life beyond the mountains beckons.

 Defying the perils that render a future together all but impossible, Sam and Helena make plans for the family to flee. But Helena is forced to contend with the jealousy her choices have sparked in Ruth, culminating in a singular act of betrayal that endangers them all—and setting in motion a chain of events that will reverberate across continents and decades.

What I'm Reading Today

"Scotland, 1830." Lady Kiera Darby is no stranger to intrigue--in fact, it seems to follow wherever she goes. After her foray into murder investigation, Kiera must journey to Edinburgh with her family so that her pregnant sister can be close to proper medical care. But the city is full of many things Kiera isn't quite ready to face: the society ladies keen on judging her, her fellow investigator--and romantic entanglement--Sebastian Gage, and ultimately, another deadly mystery. Kiera's old friend Michael Dalmay is about to be married, but the arrival of his older brother--and Kiera's childhood art tutor--William, has thrown everything into chaos. For ten years Will has been missing, committed to an insane asylum by his own father. Kiera is sympathetic to her mentor's plight, especially when rumors swirl about a local girl gone missing. Now Kiera must once again employ her knowledge of the macabre and join forces with Gage in order to prove the innocence of a beloved family friend--and save the marriage of another...

The library came through with a copy of Shirley so I've read a few more chapters. I've decided reading this classic piecemeal is not doing it justice, so I'll finish Mortal Arts, which I'm halfway through, and give Shirley my undivided attention.

Hoping to Also Read This Week 

Here is a selection of books in my reading pile that I may get to this week:

When Alice Eveleigh arrives at Fiercombe Manor during the long, languid summer of 1933, she finds a house steeped in mystery and brimming with secrets. Sadness permeates its empty rooms and the isolated valley seems crowded with ghosts - none more alluring than Elizabeth Stanton, whose only trace remains in a few tantalizingly blurred photographs. Why will no one speak of her? What happened a generation ago to make her vanish? As the sun beats down relentlessly, Alice becomes ever more determined to unearth the truth about the girl in the photograph - and stop her own life from becoming an eerie echo of Elizabeth's...



On a fine summer's day in June, 1914, Ian Rutledge pays little notice to the assassination of an archduke in Sarajevo. An Inspector at Scotland Yard, he is planning to propose to the woman whom he deeply loves, despite intimations from friends and family that she may not be the wisest choice. To the north on this warm and gentle day, another man in love-a Scottish Highlander-shows his own dear girl the house he will build for her in September. While back in England, a son awaits the undertaker in the wake of his widowed mother's death. This death will set off a series of murders across England, seemingly unconnected, that Rutledge will race to solve in the weeks before the fateful declaration in August that will forever transform his world .........

 Billie Challinor's mother dies during an air raid, but the child grows up confident that in her jazz musician father Chas she has the best dad in the world. Seeking refuge from the London Blitz by moving to Leeds, kindly landlady Liz Morris befriends them: the scarred, wisecracking man, who isn't afraid to overstep the mark if the cause is a good one, and his clever and resilient little girl. Billie needs every ounce of courage she possesses when her father joins the Army just before the D-Day landings and fails to return .....

Book Review: A Cruel Necessity by L.C. Tyler

The theatres are padlocked. Christmas has been cancelled. It is 1657 and the unloved English Republic is eight years old. Though Cromwell's joyless grip on power appears immovable, many still look to Charles Stuart's dissolute and threadbare court-in-exile, and some are prepared to risk their lives plotting a restoration.

For the officers of the Republic, constant vigilance is needed. So, when the bloody corpse of a Royalist spy is discovered on the dung heap of a small Essex village, why is the local magistrate so reluctant to investigate? John Grey, a young lawyer with no clients, finds himself alone in believing that the murdered man deserves justice. Grey is drawn into a vortex of plot and counter-plot and into the all-encompassing web of intrigue spun by Cromwell's own spy-master, John Thurloe.

So when nothing is what it seems, can Grey trust anyone?

John Grey, returning home after a night’s drinking in the village inn, meets a stranger who enquires after the innkeeper. Thinking nothing of this until a body is discovered and  no-one in the village admits to seeing the stranger, John sets off to solve the murder and becomes embroiled in more deaths and espionage along the way.

He lurches from one suspect to another in his investigation,  always one step behind and manipulated by those around him. For all his academic learning, John is outwitted by those less educated than himself. Early on in the novel I had a feeling that John was the only person in the village not in on the conspiracy and was being indulged.

John Grey is just one of  a cast of amusing and eccentric characters that populate the village, where Republicans and disenfranchised Royalists live side by side. John once held Royalist views, but now supports the Commonwealth. This all adds to John's dilemma of who to trust.

Told from John Grey’s point of view, the story held my interest. There were enough clues and suspects along the way to keep the momentum going to the surprise revelation at the end.

 

I found this an unusual historical mystery. The style of writing left me puzzled. It read like a comedy. I wasn't sure this was the effect the writer intended, but an internet search revealed Len Tyler is a writer of comic crime fiction and so the writing style made sense.

This was Len Tyler's first historical mystery. While being an entertaining read, I’m not sure I enjoyed this novel enough to read another in the series for no other reason than I discovered I am not a great fan of comic fiction.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

This weekly meme is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.

I did manage to get some reading done this week. Not as much as I would have liked, but two books finished and two started is not too bad a result for the week, plus a number of reviews written just needing some finishing touches before being posted.

What I Read Last Week

Scotland, 1830. Following the death of her husband, Lady Darby has taken refuge at her sister's estate, finding solace in her passion for painting. But when her hosts throw a house party for the cream of London society, Kiera is unable to hide from the ire of those who believe her to be as unnatural as her husband, an anatomist who used her artistic talents to suit his own macabre purposes. Kiera wants to put her past aside, but when one of the house guests is murdered, her brother-in-law asks her to utilize her knowledge of human anatomy to aid the insufferable Sebastian Gage--a fellow guest with some experience as an inquiry agent. While Gage is clearly more competent than she first assumed, Kiera isn't about to let her guard down as accusations and rumors swirl. When Kiera and Gage's search leads them to even more gruesome discoveries, a series of disturbing notes urges Lady Darby to give up the inquiry. But Kiera is determined to both protect her family and prove her innocence, even as she risks becoming the next victim...

Patrick Paniter was James IV's right-hand man, a diplomatic genius who was in charge of the guns at the disastrous battle of Flodden in September 1513 in which the English annihilated the Scots. After the death of his king he is tormented by guilt as he relives the events that led to war. When Louise Brenier, daughter of a rogue sea trader, asks his help in finding out if her brother Benoit was killed in action, it is the least he can do to salve his conscience. Not satisfied with the news he brings, Louise sets off to find out the truth herself, and swiftly falls foul of one of the lawless clans that rule the ungovernable borderlands. After Flodden is a novel about the consequences of the battle of Flodden, as seen through the eyes of several characters who either had a hand in bringing the country to war, or were profoundly affected by the outcome. There have been very few novels about Flodden, despite its significance,and none from this perspective. It's a racy adventure, combining political intrigue and romance, and its readership will be anyone who loves historical fiction, or is interested in the history of Scotland and the turbulent, ungovernable borderlands between Scotland and England.

Reading Today

I read the first chapter of Shirley on my laptop. Not finding this a comfortable way of reading, I've decided to wait for the copy I've ordered to arrive in the mail or borrow a copy from the library.

The Shirley of the title is a woman of independent means; her friend Caroline is not. Both struggle with what a woman's role is and can be. Their male counterparts - Louis, the powerless tutor, and Robert, his cloth-manufacturing brother - also stand at odds to society's expectations. The novel is set in a period of social and political ferment, featuring class disenfranchisement, the drama of Luddite machine-breaking, and the divisive effects of the Napoleonic Wars. But Charlotte Brontë's particular strength lies in exploring the hidden psychological drama of love, loss and the quest for identity. Personal and public agitation are brought together against the dramatic backdrop of her native Yorkshire. As always, Brontë challenges convention, exploring the limitations of social justice whilst telling not one but two love stories.



I didn't intend to start this book as I had others on my week's to read list, but sorting through my reading pile on Saturday, I made the mistake of reading the prologue and now I'm 23 chapters in, roaming the streets of London with Sebastian St. Cyr as he tries to clear his name....

It's 1811, and the threat of revolution haunts the upper classes of King George III's England. Then a beautiful young woman is found savagely murdered on the altar steps of an ancient church near Westminster Abbey. A dueling pistol found at the scene and the damning testimony of a witness both point to one man-Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, a brilliant young nobleman shattered by his experience in the Napoleonic Wars.

Now a fugitive running for his life, Sebastian calls upon his skill as an agent during the war to catch the killer and prove his own innocence. In the process, he accumulates a band of unlikely allies, including the enigmatic beauty Kat Boleyn, who broke Sebastian's heart years ago. In Sebastian's world of intrigue and espionage, nothing is as it seems, yet the truth may hold the key to the future of the British monarchy, as well as to Sebastian's own salvation.

Hoping to Also Read This Week 

Still on my list from last week are Run Them Ashore by Adrian Goldsworthy and The Riddle of the River by Catherine Shaw. However, there is one book that has been in my reading pile for a while, The Winter Guest by Pam Jenoff, so have added this title to my list for the week.

Life is a constant struggle for the impoverished eighteen-year-old twins Helena and Ruth Nowak as they raise their three younger siblings in rural Poland under the shadow of the Nazi occupation. The constant threat of arrest has made everyone in their village a spy, and turned neighbour against neighbour.

Though independent Helena and gentle Ruth couldn't be more different, they are staunch allies in protecting their family from the threats and the hardships the war brings closer to their doorstep.

Then Helena discovers an Allied paratrooper stranded outside their village, wounded, but alive. Risking the safety of herself and her family, she hides Sam—a Jew—but Helena's concern for the American grows into something much deeper and the dream of a life beyond the mountains beckons.

 Defying the perils that render a future together all but impossible, Sam and Helena make plans for the family to flee. But Helena is forced to contend with the jealousy her choices have sparked in Ruth, culminating in a singular act of betrayal that endangers them all—and setting in motion a chain of events that will reverberate across continents and decades.

Zemindar by Valerie Fitzgerald: A Classic Re-issued

This post was prompted  by a recent one from Sarah at  Reading the Past entitled Two New and Substantial Historical novel reissues: Zemindar and Csardas. I've not read Csardas by Diane Pearson, but Zemindar by Valerie Fitzgerald is an old favourite of mine and I'm so pleased that this classic is being re-issued. My copy, a 1982 Bantam edition, is well used as I re-read this novel regularly and it is definitely in my pile of "keepers". I've even included it in my list of books for The Re-read Challenge 2015.

In her post Sarah links to a newspaper article and a radio interview. The interview with Valerie Fitzgerald, who is now in her eighties, is very interesting. In it she explains why there were no more novels after Zemindar. A shame, but life took her in other directions.

Cover: 1982 Bantam Paperback

From the back cover:

A magnificent love story unfolds against a backdrop of exotic splendour and stirring deeds as young Englishwoman Laura Hewitt journeys to the East – and to the fabled fiefdom of the Zemindar, Guardian of the Earth.

He is Oliver Erskine, the hereditary ruler of his private kingdom, commander of his own native army – and brother of the man she loves.

Subject of Britain’s Queen, but also a son of India, he walks the tightrope between treason to the Crown and betrayal of his own beloved land.

Challenging Laura to discover “the real India”, he guides her through a world both beautiful and dangerous, lit with splendour and torn by despair.

Laura is alternately bewitched and repelled by Oliver’s world – and by the Zemindar himself: arrogant and demanding, lustful and compassionate, tender and persuasive. He infuriates her, invades her soul – and claims her as his own. Then, as a tidal wave of rebellion engulfs even the enchanted reaches of Oliver’s estate, Laura is forced to confront her own divided loyalties, her own mutinous heart.

Not since The Far Pavilions has a novel so captured the essence of the fabulous East; not since Gone With the Wind has there been a love story so intense and so memorable.
 

Cover: 2015 Head of Zeus Paperback

From the back cover:

An epic love story, in the tradition of The Far Pavilions set during the Indian Mutiny.

From M M Kaye's The Far Pavilions to Julia Gregson's East of the Sun the Indian Raj has been a rich source of bestsellers. Zemindar is one of the greatest ever written.

A magnificent, twisting, turning love story unfolds against a backdrop of exotic splendour as Englishwoman Laura Hewitt accompanies her cousin and fiance, first to Calcutta and then to the fabled fiefdom of Oliver Erskine, Zemindar - or hereditary ruler - of a private kingdom with its own army.

But India is on the verge of the Mutiny, which will sweep them all up in its turbulence. Not one of them - not even the Zemindar himself - will remain unchanged by this violent rebellion against the Raj.

 Zemindar  won the Georgette Heyer Historical Novel Prize in 1981. The jury that year included none other than M.M. Kaye herself.

What more can I say about this wonderful book? If you like exotic settings, history and a strong hero and an equally strong heroine then grab a copy. You won't be disappointed.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

This weekly meme is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.

Once again not much reading or blogging has happened over the past week. I've signed up for all the reading challenges I'm participating in this year and now I'm ready to do some serious reading and review writing.

What I Read Last Week

The Winter Siege by Ariana Franklin & Samantha Norman

Run, run, girl. In the name of God, run. It's 1141 and freezing cold. Gwil, a battle-hardened mercenary, watches in horror as a little girl with red hair is dragged away by his own men. Caught in the middle of the fight for England she is just one more victim in a winter of atrocities. But a strange twist of fate brings them together again. Gwil finds the girl close to death, clutching a sliver of parchment - and he knows what he must do. He will bring her back to life. He will train her to fight. And together, they will hunt down the man who did this to her. But danger looms wherever they turn. As castle after castle falls victim to siege, the icy Fens ring with rumours of a madman, of murder - and of a small piece of parchment the cost of which none of them could have imagined....

You can read my review here.

What I'm Reading Today

The Anatomist's Wife by Anna Lee Huber

Scotland, 1830. Following the death of her husband, Lady Darby has taken refuge at her sister's estate, finding solace in her passion for painting. But when her hosts throw a house party for the cream of London society, Kiera is unable to hide from the ire of those who believe her to be as unnatural as her husband, an anatomist who used her artistic talents to suit his own macabre purposes. Kiera wants to put her past aside, but when one of the house guests is murdered, her brother-in-law asks her to utilize her knowledge of human anatomy to aid the insufferable Sebastian Gage--a fellow guest with some experience as an inquiry agent. While Gage is clearly more competent than she first assumed, Kiera isn't about to let her guard down as accusations and rumors swirl. When Kiera and Gage's search leads them to even more gruesome discoveries, a series of disturbing notes urges Lady Darby to give up the inquiry. But Kiera is determined to both protect her family and prove her innocence, even as she risks becoming the next victim...

Hoping to Also Read This Week

These books are still in my reading pile from last week's It's Monday! What are You Reading? meme.

I would also like to read one book towards my Reading England 2015 challenge, which will cross-over into a few other challenges:

Shirley by Charlotte Brontë

The Shirley of the title is a woman of independent means; her friend Caroline is not. Both struggle with what a woman's role is and can be. Their male counterparts - Louis, the powerless tutor, and Robert, his cloth-manufacturing brother - also stand at odds to society's expectations. The novel is set in a period of social and political ferment, featuring class disenfranchisement, the drama of Luddite machine-breaking, and the divisive effects of the Napoleonic Wars. But Charlotte Brontë's particular strength lies in exploring the hidden psychological drama of love, loss and the quest for identity. Personal and public agitation are brought together against the dramatic backdrop of her native Yorkshire. As always, Brontë challenges convention, exploring the limitations of social justice whilst telling not one but two love stories.

Reading Challenges 2015

I've finally signed up for all the challenges I'm participating in  this year. Last year I only participated in one and came into that rather late: it had four months left to run. So this year I decided to get in at the beginning of the year and do more than one. Saying that January is nearly over, but I'm organized.

These are the challenges with links to my sign up pages:

• Aussie Author 2015
• Australian Women Writers Challenge 2015
• Back to the Classics 2015
• British Books 2015
• Historical Fiction Reading Challenge 2015
• Reading Challenge 2015 (Popsugar)
• Reading England 2015
• The Re-read Challenge 2015
• The Classics Club

I totalled up the minimum number of books to be read this year: 165. This total excludes any crossovers and includes an average of 10 books per year for The Classics Club challenge.

I've also signed up for the Goodreads Reading Challenge 2015, but as this will encompass all books
planned for the various challenges it won't add to my book count.

Have I taken on too much? Time will tell. 

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

This weekly meme is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.

Regretfully not much reading has been happening over the past week. I'm still trying to sort out what reading challenges I will sign up for this year. However, I did manage to finish three novels, though the reviews are still to be written.

What I Read Last Week

The theatres are padlocked. Christmas has been cancelled. It is 1657 and the unloved English Republic is eight years old. Though Cromwell's joyless grip on power appears immovable, many still look to Charles Stuart's dissolute and threadbare court-in-exile, and some are prepared to risk their lives plotting a restoration.
For the officers of the Republic, constant vigilance is needed. So, when the bloody corpse of a Royalist spy is discovered on the dung heap of a small Essex village, why is the local magistrate so reluctant to investigate? John Grey, a young lawyer with no clients, finds himself alone in believing that the murdered man deserves justice. Grey is drawn into a vortex of plot and counter-plot and into the all-encompassing web of intrigue spun by Cromwell's own spy-master, John Thurloe.
So when nothing is what it seems, can Grey trust anyone?

 
 A powerful novel set in Gallipoli, that's part war-story and part mystery. 'Amid Gallipoli's slaughter he hunted a murderer ...' It is 1915 and Thomas Clare rues the day he and his best friend Snow went to war to solve the murder of his father. The only clues - a hidden wartime document and the imprint of an army boot on the victim's face - have led the pair from the safety of Queensland to the blood-soaked hills of Gallipoli. Now not only are Thomas's enemies on every side - from the Turkish troops bearing down on the Anzac lines, to the cold-blooded killer in his own trench - but as far away as London and Berlin. For, unbeknown to Thomas, the path to murder began thirteen years earlier in Africa with the execution of Breaker Morant - and a secret that could change the course of history ...

To any passer-by, Eleanor Lee might be almost invisible - just another elderly lady - but beneath the surface lies a powerful secret she has kept hidden for decades . . . At the dawn of the Second World War, Eleanor is a fiercely independent young woman, determined to write her own future, rejecting marriage for passion security for adventure. But now, seventy years later, alone in her big old house, she is anxious to erase the past. Peter Mistley, a young man escaping his own ghosts, is employed to help Eleanor sort through her lifetime of possessions. For amongst them are things that her children and grandchildren must never find. Together, Eleanor and Peter uncover traces of another life - words and photographs revealing a story of forbidden love, betrayal, guilt and self-sacrifice. But by releasing her memories at last, can Eleanor still protect those who must never know the truth? 

Reading Today

Run, run, girl. In the name of God, run. It's 1141 and freezing cold. Gwil, a battle-hardened mercenary, watches in horror as a little girl with red hair is dragged away by his own men. Caught in the middle of the fight for England she is just one more victim in a winter of atrocities. But a strange twist of fate brings them together again. Gwil finds the girl close to death, clutching a sliver of parchment - and he knows what he must do. He will bring her back to life. He will train her to fight. And together, they will hunt down the man who did this to her. But danger looms wherever they turn. As castle after castle falls victim to siege, the icy Fens ring with rumours of a madman, of murder - and of a small piece of parchment the cost of which none of them could have imagined....

Hoping to Also Read This Week

As the fifth novel in acclaimed historian Adrian Goldsworthy's Napoleonic series opens, British fortunes in the Peninsula War are at their lowest ebb. Lieutenant Hamish Williams of the 106th Foot will soon discover just how precarious their situation is, and what bloody sacrifices are necessary to prevent total victory for the French. While the Navy keeps the British foothold at Cadiz from falling to the enemy, help from the valiant but divided Spanish geurrillos will be vital if the French advance on land is to be halted. Alongside the experienced 'exploring officer' Lieutenant Hanley, Williams joins the Spanish partisans behind enemy lines, but while he learns much about the viciousness of guerrilla warfare - not least that women can sometimes fight with all the ferocity of their male counterparts - he quickly finds that the greatest danger comes from his own side. Carrying vital knowledge of a traitor, Williams must find his way back to the British lines before a deadly French trap can be sprung, but with the British commanders determined to go on the attack, will he be able to avert disaster?

Patrick Paniter was James IV's right-hand man, a diplomatic genius who was in charge of the guns at the disastrous battle of Flodden in September 1513 in which the English annihilated the Scots. After the death of his king he is tormented by guilt as he relives the events that led to war. When Louise Brenier, daughter of a rogue sea trader, asks his help in finding out if her brother Benoit was killed in action, it is the least he can do to salve his conscience. Not satisfied with the news he brings, Louise sets off to find out the truth herself, and swiftly falls foul of one of the lawless clans that rule the ungovernable borderlands. After Flodden is a novel about the consequences of the battle of Flodden, as seen through the eyes of several characters who either had a hand in bringing the country to war, or were profoundly affected by the outcome. There have been very few novels about Flodden, despite its significance,and none from this perspective. It's a racy adventure, combining political intrigue and romance, and its readership will be anyone who loves historical fiction, or is interested in the history of Scotland and the turbulent, ungovernable borderlands between Scotland and England.

On a balmy summer in 1898 Vanessa Wetherburn is contentedly feeding a clotted cream scone to her young son in her Cambridge garden when she is startled by the abrupt arrival of her long-time friend, the journalist Patrick O'Sullivan. Eager to discover the identity of a beautiful young woman found floating in the River Cam, Pat has called on the one woman he knows is sure to be able to solve the mystery. Over recent years Vanessa has garnered a reputation for solving crimes - including murders, thefts and blackmail attempts - but never before has she faced an unknown victim. She is at a loss to know where to begin. As Vanessa considers what to do, her first important clue arrives in the form of Ernest Dixon, who is worried by the disappearance of his favourite actress; a young woman named Ivy Elliot, who was playing the part of Ophelia.Could the missing girl and unidentified body be one and the same woman? Forced to go undercover to continue her research, Vanessa stumbles across an amazing and revolutionary discovery, which not only helps her to solve the case but will have a major impact worldwide. Beautifully written and thoroughly researched, this latest case for the talented Mrs Weatherburn proves to be her most perplexing yet.