A PERILOUS UNDERTAKING
Veronica Speedwell #2
Deanna Raybourn
Berkley Books
January 10, 2017

Veronica Speedwell and Stoker are cooling their heels at the Marylebone estate of their patron, Lord Rosemorran. They have had to delay their plans for an expedition to Fiji where Veronica was to collect butterflies,and Stoker, mammal specimens for taxidermy. The delay came when Rosemorran, an inveterate collector of everything fell over his giant tortoise, Patricia, and broke his leg. Sadly, they will have to do what they were originally hired for, catalog the vast Rosemorran collection rather than set off on adventures. The arrival of an elderly aunt, ostensibly to look after the estate during Rosemorran's recuperation, sets the two on a new set of perilous adventures. Lady "Wellie", though, is not all that she seems to be and not entirely to be trusted. A very highly placed Royal Family member, Princess Louise, in fact, wants them to investigate a recent scandalous murder. The man convicted and scheduled to hang is a dear friend of Princess Louise and she is certain that he is not guilty, even though he has refused to present an alibi. The investigation takes them into the art world, opium dens and wannabe "hellfire clubs". It is scandalous stuff, indeed, and very dangerous for Veronica and Stoker. It also draws them even closer into the lives of the Royal Family, something that Veronica, in particular, wants to avoid.

I am a huge fan of Deanna Raybourn's Lady Jane series, and now, of the Veronica Speedwell series. They are witty and charming, with just enough slowly simmering romance. I am convinced that Stoker and Veronica are made for each other, if only because no one else could put up with them. Both are stubborn, arrogant and intelligent, and sure of how they plan to live their lives. It's extremely entertaining to see all their plans being upended. Highly recommended!

I received A Perilous Undertaking courtesy of Goodreads.

RATING-4.5 Stars

Lady Hardcastle and Flo Are Deep in Mysteries, Again.

IN THE MARKET FOR MURDER (Lady Hardcastle # 2)
T. E. Kinsey
Thomas & Mercer
December 20, 2016

Just in time for the holidays, Lady Hardcastle and her "tiny servant", Florence Armstrong, are back with new adventures. Lady Hardcastle's injuries sustained in the first book, A Quiet Life in the Country, have been slow to heal but both ladies are ready to get back to normal life in the village of Littleton Cotterell in Gloucestershire. No longer considered "incomers" they both have the acceptance and liking of the village and a respectful relationship with Inspector Sunderland of the Bristol CID.

Their friend, Lady Farley-Stroud, persuades them both to attend Market Day in the nearby town of Chipping Bevington. Neither Lady Hardcastle nor Florence is very interested in the outing, especially in a torrential downpour. Florence, in particular, has an aversion to cows. While the three ladies are having lunch in the crowded pub, a farmer named Spencer Caradine falls over dead in his beef pie. No one is at all upset, though, as Caradine was universally disliked. Inspector Sunderland asks them to look into the matter as they have a knack for solving mysteries and can get villagers to talk who might be reticent with him. While they investigate, other mysteries pop up; a break-in at the local cricket club and a seance with an aggressive ghost. It also seems that there is a very wide field of suspects in the death of Caradine.

The Lady Hardcastle Mysteries are a delightful way to spend an afternoon or evening in a place and time that probably never really existed. The whole village of Littleton Cotterell seems bathed in a golden glow, even with the amount of mayhem going on. Lady Hardcastle is wonderfully eccentric and there is much more to Florence than meets the eye. For instance, her knowledge and practice of martial arts learned in her travels with Lady Hardcastle in India and China make her unique in 1909. Their close relationship and banter make the women more like sisters than mistress and servant. I highly recommend this series for pure enjoyment.

Thanks to Thomas & Mercer and Netgalley for an advance digital copy in return for an honest review.

RATING- 4 Stars

THE INHERITANCE (Charles Lenox # 10)
Charles Finch
St. Martins Minotaur
November 1, 2016

It's a snowy, cold day in London and Charles Lenox is awaiting a visit from an old school friend, Gerald Leigh. Both men were at Harrow 30 years earlier and Lenox has seen him only a few times since. Leigh was a complete misfit at Harrow, eventually expelled, and Lenox was his only friend. So when Lenox receives a letter from Leigh, asking for his help, Charles is eager to see him. Gerald Leigh, however, never arrives and upon visiting his hotel the next day, Lenox finds that he was absent all night. As a detective and friend, Lenox sets out to find him. When he does, Leigh has a strange story to tell. He was living in France and received a letter informing him of an anonymous bequest of twenty-five thousand pounds sterling; a huge fortune in those days. Far from being a failure as Harrow predicted, Leigh is an internationally known scientist, much in demand among scientific circles. He is required to claim the bequest in person and also has a speaking engagement at the Royal Society. The inheritance echoes an earlier bequest in Leigh's life; an anonymous benefactor paid his school fees. Charles and Gerald tried to solve that mystery as boys but failed. Since arriving in England, Leigh has had two failed attempts on his life. As is ofter the case in the Charles Lenox novels there is a secondary mystery. The Lenox Agency is on retainer with Parliament. When there is a break-in at Parliament, Lenox's associates, Sir John Dallington and Polly Buchanan take the lead, sending Sir John in particular into great danger.

The Charles Lenox Mysteries are perennial favorites and I think that The Inheritance is one of the best. Charles Finch achieves a splendid balance between plot, characterization, and historical detail. As a history geek, I love the small details that make the era come alive; such as the origin of the phrase, "by hook or by crook", and how fish and chips became so popular in England. As always, I highly recommend the series in general and The Inheritance in particular. 

RATING- 4.5 Stars

Becoming the Queen

VICTORIA
Daisy Goodwin
St. Martin's Press
November 22, 2016

Victoria is a fictionalized account of the brief period of the future Queen's life just before her eighteenth birthday, the subsequent death of her uncle, the King, and her ascension to the throne. It ends with her proposal to Prince Albert and his acceptance. Having been raised in almost total seclusion at Kensington Palace by her over-protective mother and her mother's smarmy, power-mad equerry, Victoria is ill-equipped for her role. She is naive, innocent, and very badly educated. She does, however, take steps to free herself from her mother's control. With the help of her Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne, she begins to grow into a Queen who will have an entire age named after her. There are some serious missteps in the first year of her reign, but Victoria learns from them. In Victoria, the relationship between Lord Melbourne grows from respect, trust, and a shared sense of humor, to something much more. Victoria thinks that she is in love with him, and Lord Melbourne has a great affection for her. Thankfully, he understands that a match between a man some forty years her senior, plagued by scandals of his own, would be an impossibility. He steps aside when the time comes with considerable grace.

I love coming-of-age stories and historical fiction with some romance. Victoria has all of those elements backed up with known facts. Victoria and Lord Melbourne had a long-lasting and close relationship. Whether it was romantic, or simply mentoring can only be guessed at. There is no doubt that he did a splendid job of mentoring her through the rough first days. I can see why she might have fallen for the Prime Minister if he was anything like the version presented here, especially as her own father had died early. Prince Albert, however, is almost an afterthought in the story, and one that I did not find all that appealing. I enjoyed Victoria and am looking forward to seeing the mini-series based upon it when it comes to PBS in 2017.

Thanks to St. Martins and NetGalley for a digital copy in return for an honest review.

RATING- 4 Stars

Superstition, Feuds and Murder in Hertfordshire

DEATH COMES TO THE FAIR
A Kurland St. Mary Mystery
Catherine Lloyd
Kensington Books
November 29, 2016


It is autumn in Kurland St. Mary and the plans for the nuptials of Miss Lucy Harrington, the vicar's daughter, and Major Robert Kurland are proceeding, but not nearly quickly enough for the Major. As Lucy is the niece of an Earl, her highly born London family wants everything to be just so. Both Robert and Lucy want a quiet village wedding but Lucy doesn't want to offend the family. The trouble in the village starts when Robert is called upon to judge the vegetable competition. Lucy warns him that it is a highly political competition, one in which each contestant should be rewarded in some way or peace in the village will be destroyed. Stubbornly, Robert insists on judging solely on merit. The result is that the church verger, Ezekial Thurrock, wins the bulk of the prizes. Sentiment turns ugly quickly but no one knows how ugly until Lucy finds Thurrock dead in the church, his head crushed by a stone gargoyle. His death is ruled an accident, but Lucy is not so sure. As she and Robert investigate, they turn up dark secrets that Lucy is unaware of even though she has lived in Kurland St. Mary all her life. More murder and suggestions of witchcraft place Lucy and Robert in real danger.

Death Comes to the Fair is the fourth book in this highly enjoyable cozy mystery series. I recommend it for its excellent plotting and period setting. The characters have been well developed throughout. I particularly enjoy the fact that Robert is finally learning to listen to Lucy and granting her freedom that the average man of the period would not. Thanks to Kensington Books and NetGalley for an advance digital copy in return for an honest review.

RATING- 3.5 Stars

LONE WOLF (FBI K-9 #1)
Sara Driscoll
Kensington Books
November 29, 2016


Lone Wolf opens with Meg Jennings, FBI K-9 agent and her Labrador, Hawk, in hot pursuit of a child murderer. The two track him down to his home and bring in waiting units to capture him. It has been a grueling chase and Meg is expecting some down time. That expectation quickly disappears when she and Hawk are summoned to the scene of a bombing at the US Department of Agriculture in DC. Not only are the Secretary of Agriculture and his employees at risk, but a classroom of children is also in the building. Ten grueling hours later, Meg and Hawk are pulled out of the scene of carnage, totally exhausted and heartsick. The bomb was delivered by drone and the FBI's first assumption is foreign terrorism. However, when an anonymous letter is emailed to Clay MCord, an investigative reporter at the Washington Post, it becomes clear that the bomber is home grown and isn't finished, not  by a long shot. The bombings escalate and Meg, the FBI, and Clay McCord scramble to find out who he is and stop him.


I  enjoyed Lone Wolf tremendously, so much in fact that I was up way past my bedtime reading. There are all sorts of K-9 and FBI terms that I had never heard before and the look into the mind of the bomber was chilling. This is the kind of person who has failed at everything in life, from personal relationships to business ventures. The government has become a convenient scapegoat for all his troubles and he doesn't care who he hurts or kills in order to make his point. The heart of the book, however, is the relationship between Meg and Hawk. Since I am the sort of person who has been trained by rather than trained the dogs in my life, I am awed by their closeness and trust. The secondary characters, however, are not as well developed as Meg and Hawk. Hopefully, this will change in future books, which I will certainly  read. Thanks to Kensington and NetGalley for an advance digital copy in return for an honest review.

RATING- 4 Stars

A WHOLE LATTE MURDER (A Java Jive Mystery # 3)
Carline Fardig
Random House Alibi
November 8, 2016


Life seems to be setting down for Juliet Langley. Business is good at Java Jive, the Nashville coffee house that Juliet manages for her best friend, Pete Bennett. She finally has a staff that works well together, and her romance with police detective, Ryder Hamilton, is simmering nicely. Things begin to go awry when Ryder is promoted to Homicide. Juliet is dismayed that Ryder will be dealing with more dangerous criminals, knowing how obsessed he can get with cases. Things get even worse when a girl in Juliet's apartment building, the roommate of one of her employees is murdered. Her employee, Kira, then goes missing. It's Ryder's case and it seems to tie back to the murder of his wife several years previously. Juliet and Ryder are immediately at loggerheads; he wants her to stay out of the investigation, and she can't, even though she tries.

Sometimes, pure escape reading is just what the doctor ordered. A Whole Latte Murder fits the bill nicely. I enjoyed the previous two books in the series but this seemed a bit too convoluted and it bogged down somewhat in the description of the search for Kira. I enjoy the characters and Juliet's feisty attitude and loyalty.  A Whole Latte Murder has the humorous touches that I look for in a cozy/chick-lit type mystery. Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Alibi for an advance copy in return for an honest review.

RATING- 3 Stars