DOWN A DARK RIVER: The Crooked Lane to Inspector Corravan [INTERVIEW]

January 12, 2022 by Leave a comment

Karen Odden in Bournemouth, England
“I’m in Bournemouth, England… because I got on the wrong train and ended up there instead of in London. Truly the dumb American mistake.”(Photo courtesy Karen Odden)

We love stories that can transport us to another time and place. Today’s guest, author Karen Odden, is one woman who is quite adept at doing just this. Her latest novel, Down a Dark River, takes us to Victorian London where a rash of murders is causing quite the stir. Our exclusive interview with the author is one of our most in depth pieces ever, and we hope you enjoy it as much as we did! —J&H

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Christine Trent’s ‘A Murderous Malady’ [EXCERPT]

May 20, 2019 by Leave a comment

Florence Nightingale

When a murderer arrives in London, Florence Nightingale is on the case in Christine Trent’s A Murderous Malady.
(Photo courtesy Boston Public Library, Flickr)

 

I love a good old-fashioned mystery. There’s nothing more exciting than using my little grey cells to solve a crime, as Agatha Christie’s Belgian detective Hercule Poirot would say. I particularly enjoy when an author turns a historical figure into a sleuth, blending fiction and fact to create a story that simply jumps off the page. That’s exactly what Christine Trent has done with the legendary Florence Nightingale. In A Murderous Malady, she proves she’s just as effective at catching a villain as she is at healing the sick. We hope you enjoy this exclusive excerpt! —J&H
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Queens Don’t Play: Fear and Gender Equality in Elizabeth’s Court [GUEST POST]

December 19, 2018 by Leave a comment

Elizabeth Receiving Dutch Ambassadors, 1560s

Queen Elizabeth I lived during a precarious time for women. Still, she had a knack for handling the men in her life. (Elizabeth Receiving Dutch Ambassadors, 1560s by Levina Teerlinc, Public Domain)

We love a good mystery… especially when it transports us to a time and place we could never go on our own. In Suzanne M. Wolfe’s new novel, A Murder by Any Name, readers are taken to Elizabethan England, where the queen’s ladies in waiting are being killed off one by one, and only one man can find the killer. This premise made us wonder if while researching this story, whether or not Ms. Wolfe discovered any disparities between how the Queen dealt with men versus women. If so, to what extent did fear play a factor in how she dealt with each gender? The author answers all our questions in today’s fascinating guest post. Enjoy! —J&H Read more of this post

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