Mariah Fredericks: The Wharton Plot

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I am a big fan of Mariah Fredericks’ vivid historical fiction.  I adore her Jane Prescott series, featuring a lady’s maid in 1910 New York, in which Jane ends up investigating crimes with the blessing of the family she works for, often with the help of a friendly investigative reporter.  Mariah’s now moved toward standalone historical novels – in 2022’s The Lindbergh Nanny she followed the kidnapping through the eyes of the nursemaid to the baby.  In The Wharton Plot, Edith Wharton herself takes on the true murder of a well known (at the time) author, David Graham Phillips. read more

Amy Pease: Northwoods

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This debut by Amy Pease takes on a lot.  Her flawed hero, Eli North, is a vet with PTSD and a drinking problem.  He’s lost the job he loved, and his wife has left him – plus he works on sufferance for his mother, the sheriff, at the understaffed sheriff’s department in tiny Shaky Lake, Wisconsin.  His co-workers don’t think much of him but his mother is doing her very best to pull him forward.  He defeats her efforts at almost every turn as addicts tend to do.

As the book opens, Eli ignores a call from work and when he does get to it, it’s a noise complaint.  He finds an empty resort cabin with the music playing full blast.  He turns it off, and, checking out the nearby dock, finds a boat tied up with a dead body inside.  His first panicked thought is that it’s the body of his boy, Andy, but he sees the boy in the boat is too old – he’s a teen.  It also becomes clear that the girl he was with is missing. read more

Kat Ailes: The Expectant Detectives

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Expectant Detectives #1

This charmingly goofy, messy, funny mystery follows a very pregnant Alice and her partner Joe as they forsake the busy (and expensive) chaos of London for “the country.”  They’ve chosen the tiny village of Penton in the Cotswolds on the theory that a “posh hippy” community will be a good fit.  They bring along their gorgeous, if stupid, dog, Helen, who makes the moving trip to Penton extra nightmarish by vomiting all over the car.

They jam their things into their cute, tiny rental cottage, sleeping on an air mattress.  Alice and Joe seem to have mixed feelings on their upcoming blessed arrival and make a stab at joining their new community (and reality) by attending a pre-natal class, where they meet other pregnant mums in the vicinity. read more

Jeri Westerson: The Twilight Queen

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King’s Fool #2

I am a hardcore Tudor fan, mostly because of the long ago 70’s TV series The Six Wives of Henry VIII and Elizabeth R.  I inhaled everything Tudor during high school and went on to major in history in college.  So when Jeri Westerson asked me if I’d care to read her book about Will Sommers, Henry VIII’s jester, the answer was easy.  Set a few months before Anne Boleyn’s ultimate demise, Will is called to the Queen’s presence one evening as she’s discovered a corpse under her bed.  She doesn’t know who the man is, but she does know that a dead body in her chamber will be bad and she asks Will to move it. Reluctantly, he agrees, and moves the man to the garden. read more

Darcie Wilde: The Secret of the Lady’s Maid

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Rosalind Thorne #7

The Secret of the Lady’s Maid is Darcie Wilde’s seventh book about Rosalind Thorne, a Regency gentlewoman who has fallen on hard times after her father abandoned his family, and who makes a living undertaking discreet investigations for ladies who find themselves in difficult situations.  (But see below for my complaint about the series numbering).  By this time, Rosalind has acquired quite a reputation, and whenever she is seen visiting a family, people know that the family must be having difficulties. read more

Jess Armstrong: The Curse of Penryth Hall

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Debut

This was an interesting and unexpected read. Set just post WWI, it’s the story of Ruby Vaughn, an orphaned heiress who makes a living selling books. She works for an elderly Exeter bookseller, and as the novel opens, he’s sending her to Cornwall to deliver a trunk full which he warns her not to open. Mystified, she complies. The village where he’s sending her is the home of her former best friend and perhaps former lover, Tamsyn. Tamsyn is married to Sir Edward Chenowyth of Penryth Hall, a marriage that broke their friendship. read more

Teresa Peschel: Agatha Christie, She Watched

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The subtitle: “One woman’s plot to watch 201 Agatha Christie movies without murdering the director, screenwriter, cast, or her husband.” This is a fabulous and useful reference book.  If you think you are familiar with all the Marple-Poirot-And Then There Were None adaptations, you probably aren’t.  It’s encyclopedic, with each film rated regarding fidelity to text and quality of movie, along with a cast list, director and screenwriter for each film.  The real plus are the snarky little end comments.  I started putting post its on the ones she recommends as fabulous. read more

Paige Shelton: Lost Hours

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Alaska Wild #5

I’ve been following this series since book one, and I’m glad I have, because I might have been a bit confused if I hadn’t read all the adventures of Beth Rivers.  A few years back, Beth had been abducted and kept in a van.  She escaped – with grievous injuries – with her kidnapper still on the loose.  She headed to tiny Benedict, Alaska, to hide out more or less on a whim, leaving her Missouri home behind.  The “hotel” she found was actually a halfway house, but it still suits her, as do the residents of Benedict, who don’t make a fuss but form a solid community around her. read more

January Book Club: The Appeal

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Join us on Sunday, January 14 at 2 p.m. on zoom for our book club discussion of Janice Hallett’s The Appeal.  Email us at store (at) auntagathas.com or message us on facebook for a zoom link.  Anyone is welcome.  Publisher’s description:  The Fairway Players, a local theatre group, is in the midst of rehearsals when tragedy strikes the family of director Martin Hayward and his wife Helen, the play’s star. Their young granddaughter has been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, and with an experimental treatment costing a tremendous sum, their castmates rally to raise the money to give her a chance at survival. But not everybody is convinced of the experimental treatment’s efficacy—or of the good intentions of those involved. As tension grows within the community, things come to a shocking head at the explosive dress rehearsal. The next day, a dead body is found, and soon, an arrest is made. In the run-up to the trial, two young lawyers sift through the material—emails, messages, letters—with a growing suspicion that the killer may be hiding in plain sight. The evidence is all there, between the lines, waiting to be uncovered. read more

Best of 2023

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I was unable to limit my list to ten and present twelve titles this year, and the “also notables” at the end are excellent too.  My criteria is always a book that stayed with me and moved me throughout the year.  When I cast my mind back to reading these books the feeling of being captured by prose returns to my mind.  It’s such a magical experience – I think one hoped for by every reader – and sharing the books that provide that kind of reading experience is a real joy.  As will be obvious I have a real love for traditional detective work (Crombie, Cleeves, Griffiths, Stewart Taylor).  I also love the odd and memorable (Cotterill, Bennett) and I have a fondness for kick ass women (Allen, Lillie, Khan). I love a good gothic mystery (Goodman) and there are a couple of outstanding debuts: Danielle Arceneaux’s Glory Be and Michael Bennett’s Better the Blood.  Mysteries are finding a glorious diversity lately as illustrated here, with Muslim, Cherokee,  African American and Maori sleuths finding a voice. Full reviews can be found by searching the site, though with a few exceptions they are only to be found at Deadly Pleasures. read more