Colleen Cambridge

Colleen Cambridge: Murder Takes the Stage

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Phyllida Bright #3

Murder Takes the Stage is the fourth addition to Colleen Cambridge’s Phyllida Bright series. Our protagonist is obviously Phyllida Bright, housekeeper of Mallowan Hall. She also happens to be good friends with the lady of the hall, Agatha Christie. Living with the mystery writing legend also gives Phyllida Bright early access to her favorite detective stories featuring Hercule Poirot. Both women have a knack for mysteries, and have helped the local authorities to solve several murders. Now they are traveling to London for a bit of a vacation. Mrs. Christie and her husband are, anyway, and Phyllida isn’t exactly thrilled about it, which isn’t surprising given her rather complicated past revolving around her deceased husband. However, she isn’t about to let a little discomfort keep her from performing her duties. read more

Colleen Cambridge: A Murder Most French

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An American in Paris #2

A Murder Most French is the second book in Colleen Cambridge’s delightful American in Paris Mystery series featuring Tabitha Knight, the fictitious best friend of Julia Child.  The book is set in 1950, as Paris is recovering from World War II and the German occupation.  Tabitha, the daughter of an American police officer father and a French mother, grew up in a Detroit suburb and was a Rosie the Riveter during the war.  In the first book in the series, Mastering the Art of French Murder, she accepted an invitation to go to Paris to stay with her maternal grandfather and his partner, Oncle Rafe.  Tabitha loves her two “messieurs,” but she is not a good cook and is unable to make the French meals they love.  Very luckily for her, she becomes friends with her neighbor, none other than Julia Child, and learns to cook under her direction.  Without Julia, however, Tabitha is still hopeless in the kitchen.  Julia loves to use the spacious kitchen in Tabitha’s grandfather’s mansion, which is much larger than her own tiny kitchen, so she often comes to the house to cook, and everyone gets a delicious meal. read more

Colleen Cambridge: A Trace of Poison

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The second book in Cambridge’s delightful series about Agatha Christie’s housekeeper, Phyllida Bright, does not disappoint.  The first one was a take on The Body in the Library; this book takes place at a “Murder Fête,” an early version of a mystery book conference.  In this iteration, there are just a few authors, but they are Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, G.K. Chesterton, and Anthony Berkley.  Pretty swoon-worthy.  There’s also a short story contest judged by the celeb authors, and the outcome is hotly anticipated by the local mystery writing group. The prize is publication. read more

Best of: History Mystery 2021

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After we closed the store and my reading was slightly less proscribed by authors visiting or the latest new thing, I realized that one of the genres I truly love is historical mysteries. The range is so wide – in story telling style, in time period, in characters, and the armchair history lessons always, always add to my reading enjoyment.  The fact that the books are set in the past makes the detective rely much more on old fashioned, golden age style sleuthing methods, another attraction, as far as I’m concerned.  Thanks to Mystery Scene Magazine as well as my own reading, I find I read pretty widely in this subgenre.  Here are my 10 favorites this year. One of them I liked so much it’s on my all around top 10 list (stay tuned!) read more