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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Danger Lurks Behind Every Corner in Candace Robb’s ‘A Murdered Peace’ [BOOK BLAST]

December 21, 2018 by Leave a comment

Candace Robb's A MURDERED PEACE book blast banner

Royal secrets. Dangerous liaisons. A conspiracy that could destroy the throne. All the best literary elements are here in Candace Robb’s third installment of the Kate Clifford saga, A Murdered Peace. But this time out, someone close to Kate is hiding something, and she doesn’t know if he can be trusted. Will she discover what lurks behind the facade before it is too late? Welcome to York, where nothing and no one is what it appears.  Read more of this post

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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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A Lot of Work for a Little Snow [GUEST POST]

November 19, 2018 by Leave a comment

Wintertime at the Monastery
Sometimes the smallest detail creates the largest amount of work for an author, like trying to pick the perfect time for a setting to have snow. E.M. Powell explains in this guest post regarding her new novel, The Monastery Murders. (Photo by Paul R. Robinson, Flickr)

Whenever we pick up a book by one of our favorite authors, we may not realize just how much research went into writing a certain character, choosing a setting, or crafting a particular scene, especially when the author does her job as seamlessly as historical mystery author, E.M. Powell. Reading her latest novel, The Monastery Murders, she excels at luring us into the story’s disarming setting and made us ask: How did holiday traditions differ way back in 1176 and how does she utilize these details to build suspense? Thankfully she explains in today’s guest post. Enjoy! —J&H

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Mary Kubica’s ‘When the Lights Go Out’ Is A Definite Snooze [REVIEW]

September 27, 2018 by 2 Comments

Insomnia

Ready to rebuild her life, a young woman is suddenly forced to confront the truth about her past in Mary Kubica’s When the Lights Go Out. (Photo courtesy BookClubbish, YouTube)

Enrolling in college usually marks the beginning of a new chapter in one’s life. But for a young woman who put everything on hold in order to care for her ailing mother, it is about to make life much more complicated than she ever dreamed possible after a shocking revelation turns her entire world on its ear. Is she prepared to discover the truth about her past? Find out in Mary Kubica’s new thriller, When the Lights Go Out.  Read more of this post

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