Cathy Akers-Jordan

Rhys Bowen: We Three Queens

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Royal Spyness #18

It’s Oct. 1936 and Lady Georgie is enjoying her quiet life at home in the country, being a wife and new mother. Of course that peace is soon shattered by the arrival of the dreaded Wallis Simpson; imperious Fig; guileless Binky; their kids Podge and Addy; an American film company; Georgie’s naïve mother; and a murder!

How did this chaos ensue? First, the new King Edward VIII needs a place where Mrs. Simpson can stay out of sight of the press while Parliament decides if he can marry her. He naturally imposes on his easy-going cousin, Lady Georgie. read more

Laura Jensen Walker: Death of a Flying Nightingale

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Recently, while reading the Jungle Red Writers blog, I was entranced by Laura Jensen Walker’s description of how she got the idea for this book: a TV show about nursing orderlies in the WWII British Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF). Dubbed the “Flying Nightingales,” these women, some as young as 17, were give a mere six weeks medical training before being put in charge of the care of 24 wounded soldiers per flight. Since the planes carried supplies that included munitions, they could not be marked with a red cross, making them fair game to German fire. As Walker explained in her blog post “On the flights back to England, the nursing orderlies weren’t allowed to wear parachutes. They were expected to remain on board with the wounded if the plane crashed […]. The Nightingales changed bandages, emptied colostomy bags, cleared tracheotomy tubes, wedged sick bags beneath the chins of the wounded, and provided tea and comfort to soldiers with horrific injuries.” read more

Alan Bradley: What Time the Sexton’s Spade Doth Rust

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Flavia DeLuce #11

If you haven’t read this series, and I must admit that I have not, you are missing a treat. Flavia is the world’s most precocious 11-year-old chemist and poison expert. A British orphan with very adult British attitudes in 1950s England, Flavia nonchalantly deals with post-war rationing, dead bodies, poisons, spies, kidnapping, and murder – along with a couple of surprises I won’t spoil.

The plot revolves around the death of a neighbor, Major Greyleigh, who apparently died from eating poison mushrooms cooked by Flavia’s housekeeper, Mrs. Mullet. Surely she wouldn’t murder someone, even accidentally! Major Greyleigh was once a hangman. Could he have been murdered by a family member of someone he killed in the line of duty? Investigating the murder leads Flavia to a nearby American airbase with unexpected and surprising complications. read more

Rhys Bowen: The Rose Arbor

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Standalone

Rhys Bowen’s latest standalone mystery spans time and space with story elements set in 1943 Tyneham (a village in Dorset) and 1968 London. Reporter Liz Houghton struggles to solve the mystery of a missing child in 1968 that might be connected to missing children who disappeared in 1943. Led by information from her policewoman roommate, Liz begins exploring Dorset for clues about Little Lucy that lead her to suspect the missing child might be held in the ruins of Tyneham, a village requisitioned and destroyed by the Army in 1943. What unfolds are parallel tales of villagers displaced from homes their families had lived in for generations, children displaced by the war, and displaced children lost in the wartime shuffle from city to country. During her investigation, Liz meets the son of the displaced Lord of the village manor and together they explore surprising yet believable clues that tie Liz to Tyneham. read more

Cathy Akers-Jordan: A look at Lilian Jackson Braun

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Essay

Editors note:  Cathy wrote this essay in 2008, Braun died at age 97 in 2011.  In 2022, the Mystery Writers of America established the Lilian Jackson Braun award to honor cozy fiction, awarding it for the first time at the Edgar ceremony in 2023.  This was a long overdue move, in my opinion.

Lilian Jackson Braun

This summer I am listening to the audio books of one my favorite mystery series: The Cat Who…by Lilian Jackson Braun. For those who aren’t familiar with the series, each title begins with the words “The Cat Who” as you can see by following this link to a list of the books. read more

Craig Johnson: Daughter of the Morning Star

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This review is by our frequent guest reviewer, Cathy Akers-Jordan.

Walt Longmire has been in some awkward and dangerous situations during his decades as Sheriff of Absaroka county. This year he faces one he had no way of anticipating: guarding a Indian teenage girls’ basketball team. Longmire, big, tough, and a man of few words, is clearly out of his depth. He survives but only due to the help of best friend Henry Standing Bear and Deputy Vic Moretti.

The story focuses on Jaya Long, niece of Tribal Police Chief Lolo Long. A year after Jaya’s sister Jeanie disappears, Jaya begins to receive threatening notes. Knowing she’s unlikely to keep her niece safe when she’s off the rez, Chief Long recruits Walt and Henry to do so and to find whoever is sending notes. Complicating the situation is Jaya’s status as a superstar basketball player. Traveling to other schools for away games means there are more opportunities for someone to kidnap or kill Jaya. read more

Sofie Kelly: Hooked on a Feline

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This review comes to us from guest reviewer Cathy Akers-Jordan.

Have you ever lost your cat indoors? You know what it’s like. You look all over the house, in all the cat’s favorite places, call its name, shout “treat!” while shaking the a container of the same, only to turn around and find the cat sitting in the exact spot you’ve already looked five times? Welcome to the life of Kathleen Paulson. Unlike our cats though, her gray tabby Owen can literally disappear. His brother, tuxedo cat Hercules, can walk through walls and other solid surfaces. Neither cat cares who knows about his magical ability but Kathleen tries to hide it so everyone will avoid the feral cat colony on Wisteria Hill where Owen and Hercules were born. Of course, the cats assist Kathleen in solving murders. If you like light-hearted cozy mysteries with a touch of magic, this is the series for you. read more

Reavis Wortham: The Rock Hole

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Review by Cathy Akers-Jordan.

For its 10th anniversary, Reavis Wortham’s The Rock Hole has been reissued with a new cover and a forward by Joe R. Lansdale.

In the 1964 the town of Center Springs, (East) Texas a series of increasingly violent animal mutilations takes place. Most corpses are found with a hint that the killer is looking for human prey. Then a grandfather finds footprints under his grandson’s bedroom window…

The Rock Hole features dual protagonists Constable Ned Parker and his grandson Texas Orrin Parker (called Top), who are based on Wortham and his grandfather. The book reflects Wortham’s childhood memories of daily life in a peaceful small town where no one locks their doors, neighbors listen to each other on the party line telephone, and sit on the front porch of the general store swapping gossip and telling stories. It’s so small that Constable Ned Parker’s main job is running his farm with his Choctaw wife, whom everyone lovingly refers to as “Miss Becky.” read more

Craig Johnson: Next to Last Stand

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While waiting for Craig Johnson’s new Longmire novel, Daughter of the Morning Star (available Sept. 21), I couldn’t resist re-reading last year’s novel, Next to Last Stand.

What do a million in cash and a small study piece of Cassily Adams’s famous painting Custer’s Last Fight have in common? Both are found in the footlocker of veteran Charley Lee Stillwater after he dies of an apparent heart attack at the Wyoming Home for Soldiers and Sailors. Did Charlie have a connection to the famous painting which burned in 1946? read more

Rhys Bowen: The Victory Garden

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We are welcoming a new reviewer, Cathy Akers-Jordan, an avid mystery fan, long time Aunt Agatha’s customer and all around lovely human.  Her more official bio follows this review.

Towards the end of WWI, 21-year-old Emily Bryce is determined to contribute to the war effort. She defies her parents and joins the Women’s Land Army. What follows is a coming-of-age story full of history, romance, and a little mystery with a satisfying twist at the end.

What makes the story fascinating is the focus on how British women adapt to their new roles while the men are at war. Even in the tiny village of Bucksley Cross on the edge of Dartmoor, where Emily ends up, social dynamics are turned upside down. There are no more servants because women are busy doing men’s work: planting, tending, and harvesting crops; caring for livestock; and running all the shops in the village, including the Blacksmith’s forge. Women from all classes of life work together side by side, freeing themselves from their corsets and social classes, in order to feed Britain. read more