Career diplomat Alec Halsey has been elevated to a marquessate he doesn’t want and Polite Society believes he doesn't deserve; his lover has decided she won’t marry him after all and the suspicion he murdered his brother still lingers in London drawing rooms. So returning to London after seven months' seclusion may have been a mistake. Alec’s foreboding deepens when a nobody vicar drops dead at a party-political dinner; he witnesses the very public humiliation of an up and coming portrait painter, and his rabble-rousing uncle Plantagenet is bashed and left for dead in a laneway. When the vicar's true identity is revealed, Alec suspects the man was poisoned. But who would want a seemingly harmless man of God murdered, and why?
It is the early summer of 1917. Bess Crawford has returned to England from the trenches of France with a convoy of severely wounded men. One of her patients is a young pilot who has been burned beyond recognition, and who clings to life and the photo of his wife that is pinned to his tunic. While passing through a London train station, Bess notices a woman bidding an emotional farewell to an officer, her grief heart-wrenching. And then Bess realizes that she seems familiar. In fact, she's the woman in the pilot's photo, but the man she is seeing off is not her husband. Back on duty in France, Bess discovers a newspaper with a drawing of the woman's face on the front page. Accompanying the drawing is a plea from Scotland Yard seeking information from anyone who has seen her. For it appears that the woman was murdered on the very day Bess encountered her at the station. Granted leave to speak with Scotland Yard, Bess becomes entangled in the case. Though an arrest is made, she must delve into the depths of her very soul to decide if the police will hang an innocent man or a vicious killer. Exposing the truth is dangerous—and will put her own life on the line.
It was published in 2010 and has 352 pages. This is a digital loan from the library on my Kindle.
Ok, off you go.
Much love,
PK the Bookeemonster
Oy, it’s a tough week at work. I’m making it through it though.
I’ve decided ~not~ to go the Friends of the library sale when it opens on Friday. I may go on Sunday for the buck a bag deal but right now I don’t need any books.
I finished my re-reading of last two books of THE HUNGER GAMES trilogy after seeing the movie on Sunday. The story just gets into my brain and won’t let go … in a good way. It is just amazingly done. I may have to revise my answer to the meme question: what book would you memorize (a la Fahrenheit 451) in order to save it? In the past I have answered either PRIDE AND PREJUDICE or PERSUASION by Jane Austen. I will probably now answer with this trilogy. There are such important issues in it besides being a terrific story, characters, and world building.
I’m now starting SACRILEGE by SJ Parris. This is 3rd of 3 in series featuring Giordano Bruno, a monk, philosopher, and astronomer on the run from the Roman Inquisition, serving as an agent for Queen Elizabeth I, in late 16th century England
London, summer of 1584: Radical philosopher, ex-monk, and spy Giordano Bruno suspects he is being followed by an old enemy. He is shocked to discover that his pursuer is in fact Sophia Underhill, a young woman with whom he was once in love. When Bruno learns that Sophia has been accused of murdering her husband, a prominent magistrate in Canterbury, he agrees to do anything he can to help clear her name. In the city that was once England's greatest center of pilgrimage, Bruno begins to uncover unsuspected secrets that point to the dead man being part of a larger and more dangerous plot in the making. He must turn his detective's eye on history—on Saint Thomas Becket, the twelfth-century archbishop murdered in Canterbury Cathedral, and on the legend surrounding the disappearance of his body—in order to solve the crime. As Bruno's feelings for Sophia grow more intense, so does his fear that another murder is about to take place—perhaps his own. But more than Bruno's life is at stake in this vividly rendered, impeccably researched, and addictively page-turning whodunit—the stability of the kingdom hangs in the balance as Bruno hunts down a brutal murderer in the shadows of England's most ancient cathedral.
It was released April 10th (yesterday) and has 432 pages. Love this author. I’ve been waiting for this for, like, eleven months and three weeks.
There is nothing on TV for me tonight. Steve has shooting. It’s supposed to start raining/storming tonight-ish and for the next few days (woot!). I was kind of hoping for a long walk with the boys if it stays nice. Otherwise, I suppose I’ll read. And then dream.
Much love,
PK the Bookeemonster
Detective Simon Ziele lost his fiancée in the General Slocum ferry disaster—a thousand perished on that summer day in 1904 when an onboard fire burned the boat down in the waters of the East River. Still reeling from the tragedy, Ziele transferred to a police department north of New York, to escape the city and all the memories it conjured. But only a few months into his new life in a quiet country town, he’s faced with the most shocking homicide of his career to date: Young Sarah Wingate has been brutally murdered in her own bedroom in the middle of an otherwise calm and quiet winter afternoon. After just one day of investigation, Simon’s contacted by Columbia University’s noted criminologist Alistair Sinclair, who offers a startling claim about one of his patients, Michael Fromley—that the facts of the murder bear an uncanny resemblance to Fromley’s deranged mutterings.But what would have led Fromley, with his history of violent behavior and brutal fantasies, to seek out Sarah, a notable mathematics student and a proper young lady who has little in common with his previous targets? Is Fromley really a murderer, or is someone mimicking him?This is what Simon Ziele must find out, with the help of the brilliant but self-interested Alistair Sinclair—before the killer strikes again.
The hot button isn’t so much the total tab — $823,000, which is a pittance in an era of trillion-dollar deficits and $500 million grants to politically connected solar companies.
The outrage lies in the casualness with which 300 employees took their fellow citizens to the cleaners. Bosses knew and approved, with one saying the conference should be “over the top.” It certainly was. They spent months planning, with hardly a peep of dissent. If nothing else, the incident reveals the banality of chiseling."
NO MARK UPON HER by Deborah Crombie 14th of 14 in series featuring Duncan Kincaid, a Scotland Yard superintendent, and Gemma James, a Detective Inspector, in London. “When a K9 search-and-rescue team discovers a woman's body tangled up with debris in the river, Scotland Yard superintendent Duncan Kincaid finds himself heading an investigation fraught with complications. The victim, Rebecca Meredith, was a talented but difficult woman with many admirers—and just as many enemies. An Olympic contender on the verge of a controversial comeback, she was also a high-ranking detective with the Met—a fact that raises a host of political and ethical issues in an already sensitive case.” It was published in February 2012 and has 384 pages. I like this series and this was fine.
WHEN MAIDENS MOURN by CS Harris. 7th of 7 in series featuring Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, an investigator in Regency England. “When Gabrielle Tennyson is murdered, aristocratic investigator Sebastian St. Cyr and his new reluctant bride, the fiercely independent Hero Jarvis, find themselves involved in an intrigue concerning the myth of King Arthur, Camelot, and a future poet laureate” It was published in March 2012 and has 352 pages. I love love love this series.
THE JANUS STONE by Elly Griffiths 2nd of 4 in series featuring Dr. Ruth Galloway, a forensic archaeologist, and Harry Nelson, a detective chief inspector, in the Saltmarsh area near Norfolk, England. “When constructions workers demolishing a large old mansion to make way for a new development uncover the bones of a child beneath a doorway—minus its skull—Ruth is once again called upon to investigate. Is it a Roman-era ritual sacrifice, or is the killer closer at hand? When carbon dating proves that the child’s bones predate the home and relate to a time when the house was privately owned, Ruth is drawn more deeply into the case. But as spring turns into summer, it becomes clear that someone is trying very hard to put her off the trail by frightening her, and her unborn child, half to death.” It was published in 2010 and has 352 pages. Characters and story are good enough for me to overlook present tense.
THE COMPLAINT OF THE DOVE by Hannah March 1st of 5 in series featuring Robert Fairfax, a private tutor in the 1760s in London. “Seductive Lucy Dove is the toast of the London stage in 1760-until she is strangled. When lovestruck Matthew Helmsley is found drunk on her doorstep, private tutor and amateur sleuth Robert Fairfax must save his young pupil from the hangman.” It was published in 2003 and has 272 pages. It is a quick and pleasant read. I like the time period.
ACT OF MERCY by Peter Tremayne 8th of 23 in series featuring Sister Fidelma, a 7th century Celtic sister and legal advocate in Kildare, Ireland. “In the late autumn of 666 A.D., Fidelma of Cashel - an advocate of the Brehon Courts, sister to the King of Cashel, and religieuse of the Celtic Church -- is at a crossroads. Needing to reflect upon her commitment to the religious life and her relationship to the Saxon monk Eadulf, she joins a small band sailing from Ireland on a pilgrimage to the Shrine of St. James in modern-day Spain. Her first surprise on-board is the appearance of Cian, her first love, a man who had deserted her ten years ago, and who stirs up memories she'd rather forget. On the first night out the ship is tossed by a turbulent sea and a pilgrim disappears, apparently washed overboard. But the appearance of a blood-stained robe raises the possibility of murder and death continues to dog the tiny band of pilgrims trapped within the close confines of the ship.” It was published in 2001 and has 288 pages. This is a great series and in this, Fidelma (in flashbacks) shows emotion!
THE HOUSE AT SEA’S END by Elly Griffiths. 3rd of 4 in series featuring Dr. Ruth Galloway, a forensic archaeologist, and Harry Nelson, a detective chief inspector, in the Saltmarsh area near Norfolk, England. “Just back from maternity leave, Ruth is finding it difficult to juggle motherhood and work. The presence of DCI Harry Nelson—the married father of her daughter, Kate—does not help. The bones, skeletons of six men with their arms bound, turn out to be about seventy years old, which leads Nelson and Ruth to the war years, a desperate time on this stretch of coastland. Home Guard veteran Archie Whitcliffe reveals the existence of a secret the old soldiers have vowed to protect with their lives. But then Archie is killed and a German journalist arrives, asking questions about Operation Lucifer, a plan to stop a German invasion, and a possible British war crime. What was Operation Lucifer? And who is prepared to kill to keep its secret?” It was published in 2011 and has 384 pages.
Nonfiction:
IN MY TIME: A Personal and Political Memoir by Dick Cheney
IN THE GARDEN OF BEASTS Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin by Erik Larsen.
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Tonight on TV are the premieres of the second seasons of two miniseries: The Killing and The Game of Thrones. Luckily, the two hour of The Killing starts at 6 and The Game of Thrones repeats at 8. The problem is, right in the middle there's a show that Steve likes to watch, The Ax Men. I don't particularly care for that show though it can be amusing. I keep expecting death or terrible injury as these loggers go at it. (shudder)
Last night, defying the laws of physics, Coda shook his head and a spot of saliva flew into my eye, somehow bypassing my glasses. How? I don't know. So I put eye drops in and took a Benedryl because I'm notoriously allergic to anything "dog" touching my eye -- no really, I'm very careful not to touch my eyes if I've been petting them. So... I have a Benedryl hangover today -- a little tired and lacking ambition. We'll see what I can get done today.
After a gorgeous day yesterday -- high of 78 -- it is really windy today and not supposed to reach 60.
It's 10:30, all the boys are sleeping. I'm sure there's a nap in my future. :) I gotta get dinner going in the crockpot. Get some laundry going.
I haven't settled on my next read yet. Many possibilities, of course. That's never a problem. I just don't know what my mood is yet. What "flavor" of book do I want?
Much love,
PK the Bookeemonster
