Level Best Books

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

Kathleen Marple Kalb: A Fatal Reception

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Ella Shane #4

A Fatal Reception is the fourth book in Kathleen Marple Kalb’s series featuring Ella Shane, an opera singer in New York City in the early 1900s, and the first with its new publisher, Level Best Books.  This is an excellent series, so I was disappointed to hear that the original publisher had dropped it and very glad when it found a new home.  Ella, a mezzo soprano “trouser diva” who sings male roles and is an expert swordswoman, is a wonderful protagonist.  She’s an orphan, the daughter of a Jewish mother and an Irish Catholic father, who grew up in the tenements of the Lower East Side, and was rescued from a life of poverty when a famous singer discovered her voice and trained her for opera.  Ella observes both her parents’ faiths, lighting candles for the Jewish Sabbath on Friday nights and going to Mass on Sundays, and she has never forgotten her origins, and helps the poor people of the tenements whenever she can. read more

Heather Weidner: Twinkle, Twinkle Au Revoir

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Mermaid Bay Christmas Shoppe #2

Twinkle Twinkle Au Revoir is Heather Weidner’s second book in her Mermaid Bay Christmas Shoppe series. The story follows Jade Hicks and her trusty side kick, French bulldog Chloe, as their town is invaded by Hollywood.  The popular television program ‘My Costal Valentine’ has decided Mermaid Bay is the perfect place to film their next instalment. The Hollywood invasion is received with the grace and poise one might expect, in that it turns the whole town completely on its head. Fans and reporters flood the streets, blocking traffic, getting into people’s yards for a hopeful glimpse of stardom. At least the local businesses are booming. Other than the surplus population in town and the sudden loss of privacy, the Hollywood shoot promises to put Mermaid Bay on the map. Unfortunately, the atmosphere sours when an overzealous reporter is found dead in one of the actor’s rooms. Then someone tries to kill the show’s male star, heartthrob to hundreds, Raphael Allard. Mermaid Bay starts to look a bit more nefarious than romantic. read more

Kathleen Marple Kalb: The Stuff of Murder

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Old Stuff #1

It’s no secret I’m a big fan of Kathleen Kalb’s.  The fact that her maiden name was actually Marple might be reason enough to love her, but she’s also an incredibly adept and enjoyable cozy writer.  She kicked off her career with an historical fiction series featuring an opera singer, but she’s written various cozies, one based on her actual profession (radio host), one featuring a secret hit woman, and this latest one featuring historical society head and antiques expert Christian Shaw. read more