Hazards in Hampshire (A British Book Tour Mystery) by Emma Dakin The Author’s Sticky Toffee Pudding Recipe The George, Wallingford In the book, Claire Barclay met Detective Inspector Mark Evans at this restaurant near the Agatha Christie Museum in Wallingford. The women on her tour were impressed with the menuContinue Reading
Raymond Chandler has been reincarnated in the expressive prose of Shamus Dust. On Christmas Day, a man is found dead on the porch of a church in post-WWII City of London. By all accounts, the victim, Raymond Jarrett, was up to no good. Pictures of young boys in compromising positionsContinue Reading
You don’t have to have lived in the 1950s to enjoy The Man that got Away. However, it is eminently easier to understand if you’re from England. There is a murder, a con man, and a criminal mastermind in Brighton, a beach town on the English coast in1957. Only youngContinue Reading
Another great selection of eleven British golden-age mystery stories is found in the Christmas Card Crime and Other Stories. From Blind Man’s Hood from the great John Dickson Carr to ‘Twist the Cup and the Lip by Julian Symons, many of the authors will be familiar to those who loveContinue Reading
“Alive, I was Cleo Sherwood. Dead, I became the Lady in the Lake, a nasty broken thing.” Maddie is feeling unfulfilled in her life as a full-time wife and mother of one. It’s 1965, when women can dream of careers—and Maddie is a good dreamer. She leaves her husband ofContinue Reading
In 1894, there is a Murder in the British Museum. Private Inquiry Agent Daniel Wilson and his live-in lover Abigail Fenton, a famous archaeologist, investigate at the request of the museum director. Esteemed Professor Lance Pickering is most famous for his work on the new King Arthur exhibit and forContinue Reading
Definitely the best noir I’ve read this year! The Sleepwalker is the third dark thriller in the terrific Aidan Waits series. Down these dark hospital corridors a man must go… Aidan and his shady partner Sutty are watching a serial killer called The Sleepwalker die. The Manchester Police are hopingContinue Reading
In Truth or Die, Detective Sergeant Imogen and her partner (and friend with benefits), DS Adrian are investigating a professor’s death. The philosophy professor’s head was bashed in with a glass paperweight. Their sleuthing uncovers an awful truth playing out at the university. Both Imogen and Adrian are getting overContinue Reading
Roxane is a complex, underworked private investigator trying to save her brother from a murder charge in the Stories You Tell. When her brother Andrew calls Roxane in the middle of the night, she comes running. Andrew is worried about former co-worker and one-time (or maybe two time) lover, Addison.Continue Reading
“Clap clap. She ducked a minute too late as the coil of rope settled around her neck.” from the prologue of the Suffering of Strangers. Roberta has had a day. Her six week old son will not stop crying. Her husband calls and wants her to pick up some champagneContinue Reading
A historical mystery set in 1926, but written in 2018, describes a Death at the Wychbourne Follies. Lady Gertrude Ansley was an actress before landing her Marquess husband and retiring. Wishing to relive her youthful adventures she invites her fellow actors to her country house, Wychbourne Court. She hopes toContinue Reading
Death in the Stocks is the first Superintendent Hannasyde mystery written in 1935. Arnold Vereker is found locked in the village stocks and stabbed to death. Superintendent Hannasyde has a multitude of suspects since everyone seemed to dislike him and no one has an ironclad alibi. Maybe it is theContinue Reading
Set in the houses of Parliament in 1932, when it was also written, the Division Bell Mystery is the first mystery written by a female member of Parliament. Someone is murdered. However, the focus is on British politics. Not being British, I had a hard time following the story. ThoseContinue Reading
It’s 1969. Bryant and May are tasked with keeping a witness safe at an English Country House weekend. Unfortunately, the Army has closed the only exit road due to war games. There are nine suspects and more than one potential victim in this Hall of Mirrors. Hall of Mirrors isContinue Reading
Amateur detective Mordecai Tremaine is back is the fine mystery In at the Death. Dr. Hardene is found bludgeoned to death inside a vacant house. When Chief Inspector Boyce of Scotland Yard is called to investigate, he brings his buddy Mordecai Tremaine. Numerous questions emerge. Why was the DoctorContinue Reading
Herbert Cargate is a very unpleasant man. He is also soon to be poisoned on a train in the English countryside in Excellent Intentions. Starting a murder case at the end, in the courtroom trying to prove a mysterious person’s guilt, is an unusual plot structure. Published in 1938, fifteenContinue Reading