I finished THE BODY IN THE THAMES by Susanna Gregory last night. Good as always. I’m now in the process of figuring out what to read next. These are the strongest contenders and are currently in my home:
Dickinson, David – DEATH AND THE JUBILEE
2nd of 10 in series featuring Lord Francis Powerscourt, an ex-Indian army intelligence officer and Irish peer, working as an investigator in the late Victorian England. Here is a summary:
England, 1897. London is preparing for Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, the celebration to mark her sixtieth year as queen and empress of a quarter of the surface of the globe. Fifty thousand troops from across her vast empire will gather in the capital — and the immense importance of the occasion inevitably brings danger in its wake. The troubles begin when a body is found floating in the Thames at London Bridge. Scotland Yard calls in Lord Francis Powerscourt, whose investigation leads him to a mysterious mansion in Oxfordshire with ancient temples in its gardens and more recent secrets in the house. There a second corpse is found, burned to death, in a room locked from the outside. Following the deaths by water and fire, Powerscourt is led into the arcane world of bonds and futures in the City of London, before a cryptic message from an old friend takes him back to his native Ireland and a terrifying night encounter deep in the Wicklow Mountains. Powerscourt's own life, and that of his family, is in terrible danger unless he can crack the riddle of the Jubilee.
Tremayne, Peter – VALLEY OF THE SHADOW
6th of 21 in series featuring Sister Fidelma, a 7th century Celtic sister and legal advocate in Kildare, Ireland. Here is a summary:
Sister Fidelma has withdrawn from her religious house to represent her brother, the King of Muman, and the bishop of Imleach when mountain chieftain Laisre invites negotiations for a Christian church in his Druidic stronghold. On the threshold of Laisre's remote valley she and her escort, Brother Eadulf, stumble across 33 ritually slain bodies. Strangely, Laisre prevents Fidelma, a credentialed Brehon investigator, from pursuing inquiries. At the same time, she learns that Laisre's advisers, powerful sister Orla and Druid leader Murgal, did not approve his invitation to Christianity and are hostile to his plan and to all outsiders. Then why is Brother Solin, secretary to the bishop of Imleach's northern rival, welcome in this hidden valley? No sooner do Fidelma and Eadulf realize the political significance of his presence than Solin is murdered and Fidelma accused. Can Roman Eadulf learn enough about Celtic law to exonerate Fidelma? Are the ritual slaughter and Solin's murder linked? Is there a traitor on the inside?
Finch, Charles – THE FLEET STREET MURDERS
3rd of 4 in series featuring Charles Lenox, a gentleman sleuth, in 1860s London. Here is a summary:
It’s Christmas, 1866, and amateur sleuth Charles Lenox, recently engaged to his best friend, Lady Jane Grey, is happily celebrating the holiday in his Mayfair townhouse. Across London, however, two journalists have just met with violent deaths--one shot, one throttled. Lenox soon involves himself in the strange case, which proves only more complicated as he digs deeper. However, he must leave it behind to go north to Stirrington, where he is fulfilling a lifelong dream: running for a Parliamentary seat. Once there, he gets a further shock when Lady Jane sends him a letter whose contents might threaten their nuptials. In London, the police apprehend two unlikely and unrelated murder suspects. From the start, Lenox has his doubts; the crimes, he is sure, are tied, but how? Racing back and forth between London and Stirrington, Lenox must negotiate the complexities of crime and politics, not to mention his imperiled engagement. As the case mounts, Lenox learns that the person behind the murders might be closer to him--and his beloved--than he knows.
Penny, Louise – BURY YOUR DEAD
6th of 6 in series featuring Armand Gamache, Chief Inspector of the Sûreté du Québec, in the village of Three Pines, in southern Quebec, Canada. Here is a summary:
It is Winter Carnival in Quebec City, bitterly cold and surpassingly beautiful. Chief Inspector Armand Gamache has come not to join the revels but to recover from an investigation gone hauntingly wrong. But violent death is inescapable, even in the apparent sanctuary of the Literary and Historical Society— where an obsessive historian’s quest for the remains of the founder of Quebec, Samuel de Champlain, ends in murder. Could a secret buried with Champlain for nearly 400 years be so dreadful that someone would kill to protect it? Although he is supposed to be on leave, Gamache cannot walk away from a crime that threatens to ignite long-smoldering tensions between the English and the French. Meanwhile, he is receiving disquieting letters from the village of Three Pines regarding events from the previous book. As past and present collide in this astonishing novel, Gamache must relive the terrible event of his own past before he can bury his dead.
Ash, Maureen – SHROUD OF DISHONOUR
5th of 5 in series featuring Bascot de Marins, a Templar Knight recovering from imprisonment in the holy lands, in the early 1200s, in England. Here is a summary:
Templar Bascot de Marins is preparing to rejoin the Holy Wars when he is called upon to investigate a gruesome murder in the Order's own chapel... The shocking discovery of a strangled prostitute in the Templar chapel throws the Order into disarray. Alongside the corpse is a purse containing thirty pence-the same amount of silver Judas received for betraying Christ. Is the murder revenge for a Templar brother's betrayal? Has one of their own broken his vow of chastity? The Order's preceptor turns to Bascot to determine whether an outsider is seeking to dishonour the Templars or a murderer walks among their ranks.
Morson, Ian – FALCONER’S JUDGEMENT
2nd of 9 in series featuring William Falconer, a 13th century university regent master in Oxford, England. Here is a summary:
In 1261, England's King Henry III faces nobles and commoners disaffected with his foreign advisers, while factions in Europe vie for control of the papacy as Alexander IV lies dying in Rome. Into this turbulent stew falls William Falconer, Regent Master of the University of Oxford, who attempts to save some students accused of killing Sinibaldo, the master of cooks and brother of the much-unloved Bishop Otho, Papal Legate to England and a candidate for the Holy See. After the chief suspect is murdered, Falconer applies Aristotle's deductive logic, which he has learned from his friend Roger Bacon, to sift though ecclesiastic and worldly plots. He is aided by Knight Templar Guillaume de Beaujeu, sent from Rome to pursue his own order's ends, and Ann Segrim, the unhappy wife of one of the local plotters.
Lake, Deryn – DEATH IN THE VALLEY OF SHADOWS
9th of 13 in series featuring John Rawlings, an apothecary and associate of John Fielding, in 18th century London. Here is a summary:
Preparing to become a father for the very first time, Apothecary John Rawlings leaves the heavily pregnant Emilia occupied with maternal matters and turns his attention to his business, rather neglected of late. Working in the shop one early afternoon, John is taken aback when a middle-aged stranger rushes in through the door looking panic-stricken. The man is not seeking a cure for a terrible ailment, however, but a place to hide. John agrees and a moment or two later a formidable woman comes to the counter enquiring if the Apothecary has seen anyone answering the description of the stranger he has in his back room. Honoring his promise to the man, John sends her on her way and, intrigued, goes to question the fellow. The man's name is Aidan Fenchurch and his pursuer is Mrs. Ariadne Bussell, a former lover who is reluctant to give up the chase. So reluctant, in fact, that she has been shadowing him for years. Feeling sympathy for Aidan, John agrees to do him a good turn, but is shocked when a few days later the man is dead, ostensibly the result of a street robbery. Suspicious, Sir John Fielding sends the Flying Runners to arrest Mrs Bussell. However, the lady is taken ill in the coach and before she can be thoroughly questioned she dies. The Apothecary recognizes the signs of fatal poisoning. Soon there are more victims, some poisoned and some killed by less subtle methods.
Jecks, Michael – THE ABBOT’S GIBBET
5th of 30 in series featuring Simon Puttock, medieval West County bailiff, and Sir Baldwin Furnshill, ex-Templar Knight, in 14th century Devon, England. Here is a summary:
With scores of merchants streaming into Devon to participate in the Tavistock fair of 1319, a goodly amount of unlawful activity is expected. No one, however, anticipates a murder. The guests of Abbot Robert Champeaux, former Knight Templar Sir Baldwin Furnshill and Simon Puttock, bailiff of Lydford, have been asked by their host to investigate the grisly discovery of a headless corpse by a local butcher. Hunting a killer in the din and bustle of the fair could prove a daunting task, especially with the victim's identity a mystery. But Sir Baldwin and Simon are determined to unravel the complex weave of intrigue, rage, and violence that has brought death to Tavistock -- even if it means courting their own destruction.
Knight, Bernard – THE NOBLE OUTLAW
11th of 14 in series featuring Sir John de Wolfe, the crowner (coroner), in 12th century Devon, England. Here is a summary:
Renovations of a school in 12th-century Exeter are disrupted by the shocking discovery of a partially mummified corpse hidden in the rafters, and the county coroner Sir John de Wolfe is called in to investigate. Richard de Revelle, Sir John's brother-in-law and founder of the school, immediately blames Nicholas de Arundell, a young outlawed knight. As Sir John discovers, Nicholas has good reason to bear a grudge against the unscrupulous de Revelle. With the victim's identity unknown and the motive a mystery, however, the murder remains unsolved. But then comes news of a second violent death, and Sir John is forced to track down the culprit in order to find the answers.
Sedley, Kate – THE WICKED WINTER
6th of 20 in series featuring Roger the Chapman, a medieval chapman (peddler) in England. Here is a summary:
Despite the wintry weather, Roger the traveling Chapman is once again relishing the freedom of his calling. As he journeys west, he finds himself following in the footsteps of an itinerant preacher, Brother Simeon, whose fiery sermons are the talk of the countryside. Roger, who has met the Dominican friar before, and finds his zeal wearying, is less than enthused when they meet at Cederwell Manor, where Simeon has come to pray with Lady Cederwell and Roger to sell her his wares. But scarcely have the two men arrived when Lady Cederwell is found dead, sprawled on the frozen earth beneath the ancient tower she had converted into her private chapel, the circumstances strangely fulfilling the prophecy of a babbling hermit Roger had met on the road. Suddenly the friar and the Chapman are united by their aim--to discover the truth behind the death at Cederwell Manor.
Saylor, Steven – ARMS OF NEMESIS
2nd of 12 in series featuring Gordianus the Finder, a private investigator in the 1st century BCE in Rome. Here is a summary:
The hideously disfigured body of Lucius Licinius was found in the atrium. The only clues are a blood-soaked cloak, and, carved into the stone at the corpse's feet, the word Sparta...For Gordianus the Finder, summoned from Rome to a luxury resort on the Bay of Naples, the case is agonizing. The overseer of Marcus Crassus's estate has been murdered, apparently by two slaves bent on joining Spartacus's revolt. The wealthy, powerful Crassus vows to honor an ancient law and kill his ninety-nine remaining slaves in retaliation. From the brutal stench of a slave galley to the limpid, sea-glazed beauty of Baiae and the sulphurous pits of the Sybil at Cumae, Giordanus draws closer to the terrifying truth. Enmeshed in a world of desperate slaves and duplicitous masters, extravagant feasts and sordid secrets, he must risk all he loves, including his life, to stop a senseless slaughter-and save the very future of Rome itself.
Stanton, Mary – DEFENDING ANGELS
1st of 4 in series featuring Brianna Winston-Beaufort, a lawyer who inherits a haunted law firm, in Savannah, Georgia. Here is a summary:
With a long list of ethereal clients who need her help, Savannah lawyer Brianna Winston Beaufort's career choice is beginning to haunt her… An already dead businessman needs Bree's help to find his murderer and prove his innocence against the charge of greed, which comes from the mightiest hand of the law, the Celestial Court. And the verdict in this case could put Bree's life on the line--as well as her client's afterlife.
By sheer numbers of books remaining to be read in a series, I should read the Jecks book and I have several in my possession already and need to get moving on it. The Finch and the Stanton books are out from the library, although they are not 14-day books, they need to be returned eventually therefore that might have a priority.
And let me just tell you, this is just the tip of the iceberg. I have sooooo many – in my current possession – to read that I didn’t even include here. It keeps my mind occupied.
I think I’ve narrowed it down to three: THE FLEET STREET MURDERS, DEFENDING ANGELS, and THE ABBOT’S GIBBET because of the library involvement and it has been too long since I’ve read a Jecks.
Much love,
PK the Bookeemonster
