David Lewis: A Beacon in the Night

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Secret Churchill Files #2

London, 1941. As the Blitz winds down the Nazis begin a series of terror-bombings focused on British churches, stately homes, hospitals, and other emotional landmarks in an attempt to destroy cultural heritage and demoralize the British. Can Caitrin Colline, agent of the all-female 512 counterespionage unit track down the source of the beacons that lead the planes to the bomb sites?

Despite Caitrin’s success in saving the Crown Jewels almost single-handedly in the first book in the series, Churchill is threatening to improve his budget by absorbing the 512 into the Special Operations Executive (SOE). Head of the 512, Bethany Goodman, is determined to prove her unit’s usefulness by sending Caitrin to track down the source of the homing beacons. read more

Dianne Freeman: A Daughter’s Guide to Mothers and Murder

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Countess of Harleigh #8

A Daughter’s Guide to Mothers and Murder is the eighth book in Dianne Freeman’s series about the American-born Frances, Countess of Harleigh, and her second husband, George Hazelton, a secret investigator for the British government.  The series is set in the late 1890s/early 1900s, usually in London, but this book and the previous one take place in Paris during the 1900 Exposition (World’s Fair).  Frances and George have recently returned to Paris from their honeymoon, which was delayed at least twice because of murder, and are awaiting the arrival of Frances’ mother.  Frances and her mother have not had the best of relationships, to put it mildly.  She finds her mother overbearing, and her mother is always criticizing her and her sister.  Frances’ mother has spent much of her daughters’ adulthood trying to marry them off, much like Mrs. Bennet in Pride and Prejudice. read more

Kathleen Marple Kalb: A Fatal Waltz

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Ella Shane #5

A Fatal Waltz is the fifth book in Kathleen Marple Kalb’s wonderful series about opera singer Ella Shane, set in Gilded Age New York.  Ella, a mezzo-soprano who specializes in singing male roles, and is an expert swordswoman, grew up in a tenement.  She is the daughter of a Jewish mother and an Irish Catholic father, who both died when she was a child, and she practices both faiths, lighting Shabbat candles on Friday nights and going to Mass on Sundays.  After a famous opera singer took her under her wing, Ella went on to have a very successful career, and by now she has overcome the poverty of her childhood, but she has never forgotten it, or the people who were kind to her. read more

Nilima Rao: A Shipwreck in Fiji

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Sgt. Akal Singh #2

This series takes the reader on a journey to the complex society of Fiji in 1915.  At that time the island was naturally populated by Fijians, but there also by many Indians who had been imported as indentured labor, some of whom chose to stay on the island after working through their service.  Since the islands were a colony at the time, there’s the added ingredient of the British overlords, the mixture sometimes finding a hard time cohering.

Main character, Sergeant Akal Singh, is stationed in the capitol, Suva, but he’s come to Fiji from Hong Kong (originally from the Punjab) somewhat under a cloud.  He’s still on a short leash as far as his commanding officer is concerned and given what he views as a simple babysitting job.  He’s to escort two Australian ladies aiming to clean out the home of their brother and uncle, the newspaper editor in Suva on the island of Ovalau. He’s also to check out one Constable Kumar, an incredibly young, inexperienced, and slightly hysterical young man who claims to have seen Germans on the island, which, as world war was raging at the time, is something to be investigated. Accompanying Akal is his second in command, a native of Ovalau named Taviti. read more

Katherine Reay: The English Masterpiece

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Katherine Reay’s novel, The English Masterpiece, isn’t a murder mystery. Rather, it follows a high profile art forgery and the young assistant caught up in it. Lily Summers lands a job at the Tate Gallery in London, working under the first female Modern Collections keeper, Diana Gilden. The year is 1973, and Picasso has just died, rocking the art world. Diana and Lily rush to put together a show highlighting his career, and are able to do it in less than a month. One of the stars of the show is Woman Laughing, lent by prominent donor Edward Davies. read more

Krista Davis: The Diva Poaches a Bad Egg

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Domestic Diva #18

When she’s not busy solving mysteries, Domestic Diva Sophie Winston writes a column on decorating and entertaining. If you like cozies, this is the series for you! Sophie lives in a historical house in Old Town Alexandria with her dog Daisy, ocicat Mochie, and possibly the ghost of her ex-husband’s Aunt Faye. Sophie’s split with Mars was amicable and they share custody of Daisy. He lives nearby with his old friend Bernie Frei, a Brit who owns the Laughing Hound restaurant, and both share Sophie’s adventures. Her best friend Nina rounds the close group of friends who spend lots of time enjoying food, drink, and solving mysteries. Each book is prefaced with a list of the characters and ends with Sophie’s recipes. The only thing missing is a map! (I love those old mysteries with maps.) read more

Craig Johnson: Return to Sender

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Longmire #21

After the flashback settings of First Frost (2024) and the novella Tooth and Claw (also 2024), Return to Sender brings us back to present day* Absaroka County, Wyoming: the least populated county in the least populated state in the US, jurisdiction of Sheriff Walt Longmire. Walt is asked by a cousin to search for missing mail carrier Blair McGowan. There are just two problems. First, she went missing from her 307 mile postal route in the Red Desert. Second, the desert, which is not Walt’s jurisdiction, is 9,320 square miles of desolation. read more

Ashley Weaver: One Final Turn

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Electra McDonnell #5

This is the last instalment in Ashley Weaver’s series following the exploits of safecracker turned intelligence agent Electra McDonnell in 1940s London. She came to live there with her “locksmith” (and safecracker) uncle after both her parents died. Her cousins Colm and Toby are like brothers to her, but since the start of the war Toby has been missing, feared dead.

Electra has a real pall of gloom hanging over her in general – not only because of the war, but also because her last assignment with one Major Ramsey ended with him injured and her dismissed.  Realizing too late that she was actually in love with him, she’s trying mightily to forget the whole fiasco. When an assignment comes through via Archie Blandings, an underling of Ramsey’s, she’s off to Lisbon, hoping to locate her long lost cousin.  Much to Electra’s discomfort, it turns out that Ramsey is a part of the operation as well. read more

Freya Sampson: The Busybody Book Club

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I loved this book and its Cornwall setting. It begins with the heroine, former Londoner Nova, fretting that no one will show up for the book club she runs at the local Community Center.  Luckily a few people do straggle in, led by the overwhelming Phyllis, who is so entirely bossy that she’s allowed to bring her smelly dog with her wherever she goes. She’s joined by the affable, older Art, who reads romances to his now blind wife who loves them, a painfully shy teen, Ash, and a man named Michael who seems to have come from afar to join the club but seems to have read little of the book they’re discussing. read more

Ann Clair: A Cyclist’s Guide to Villains and Vines

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Cyclist Guide #2

A Cyclist’s Guide to Villains and Vines is Ann Clair’s second Cyclist’s Guide Mysteries novel. Sadie Green owns and operates Oui Cycling Bicycling Tour Company, and runs various tours throughout France. Sadie is passionate about cycling and France, happy to be fortunate enough to make a living doing what she loves. Having moved here from America, she is striving to fit into the new life she has built for herself, alongside her fellow tour guides and coworkers. It’s not an easy thing to do when murders keep happening on her tours, as it tends to make the wrong kind of reputation for the business. Even though she helped solve the last murder, it seemed to just increase her notoriety and give her the reputation of the detective tour guide rather than just the cyclist tour guide. read more