Robin Agnew

Kemper Donovan: Loose Lips

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Ghostwriter #2

I really enjoy this quirky new series featuring a nameless ghostwriter as the main character.  In the first book, the writer trailed a Hilary Clinton-esque figure and wound up solving a crime with her.  In this follow up, she’s now an established professional after publishing an account of her previous adventure and is recruited for a private cruise for wannabe writers.  She’s the “mystery writer” instructor, along with a poet, a memoirist, and an ultra successful romance writer.  We eventually learn her pen name, Belle Currer, which certainly makes things simpler from a logistical point of view. read more

Nicholas George: A Lethal Walk in Lakeland

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A Walk Through England #2

This series, one of the sweetest around, centers on Widower Chase, a retired policeman, who, enthralled by the beauty of the British countryside, goes on frequent walking tours.  This is the second book in the series and so far every time Chase goes on one of these journeys, someone gets murdered.  In the first one, he met a man, Mike, a coroner in the UK (Chase is American) and sparks flew.  In this installment they will be reunited, but Chase’s walk through Lake Country is the real focus, and the pair don’t even get together until nearly the end. read more

Laurie L. Dove: Mask of the Deer Woman

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Debut

Laurie Dove’s debut novel, Mask of the Deer Woman, is a mystery centering on the many missing and murdered indigenous women who have vanished throughout the southwest and beyond. There have been several books on this topic, recently William Kent Krueger’s Spirit Crossing and Vanessa Lillie’s Blood Sisters, as well as a searing television show, True Detective: Night Country. Dove frames her story with a strong and troubled female character.  Carrie Starr, an ex-Chicago cop, has made her way to her long ago childhood home, Oklahoma, where she has ties to the rez and is the newly appointed Federal Marshal for the BIA (Bureau of Indian Affairs). read more

Ellen Yardley: Eleanor and the Cold War

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Eleanor Roosevelt #1

This is a pleasant read, with the added bonus of having Eleanor Roosevelt, a remarkable human being and perhaps our greatest first lady, as one of its main characters.  In this novel, which takes place in 1951, we find her in the middle of the cold war, a widow and a former first lady working for human rights in every possible manner.  The action begins when Eleanor and her secretary, Kay Thompson, discover the body of a young woman in the bathroom of a train. The girl proves to be the missing daughter of a friend who had asked Eleanor to look into her disappearance. read more

S.J. Bennett: A Death in Diamonds

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Her Majesty the Queen Investigates #4

I love this series, and with this title its excellence continues.  It was originally published in the UK last year, but thanks to a change of publishers, readers in the US have had to wait until now to get their hands on it.  While the central premise of Queen Elizabeth having a private secretary who helps her with undercover investigations may sound a bit silly, Bennet pulls it off thanks to her way with smart plots, great characters and humor.  The Queen has access to all kinds of things, of course, but there are also topics that the people around her think a royal should not concern herself with.  As portrayed by Bennett, Elizabeth loves solving puzzles, and her private secretary becomes her eyes and ears out in the world. read more

Author Interview: Rob Osler

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Rob Osler kicks off a new historical mystery series with The Case of the Missing Maid, featuring a young LGBTQ woman at the turn of the 20th century who has just landed a job as the first female operative at a detective agency in Chicago.  His sleuth, Harriet Morrow, is intrepid and intelligent, and a great new character to enjoy.  In addition, Osler crafts an excellent mystery surrounding Harriet which she, of course, solves. Rob was nice enough to answer a few questions about his new novel, which publishes on Christmas Eve. read more

Rob Osler: The Case of the Missing Maid

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Harriet Morrow Investigates #1

This fun historical mystery from Rob Osler features an unusual heroine: Harriet Morrow, an LGBTQ woman at the turn of the 20th century who has just secured a job as the first female operative at a detective agency in Chicago.  In 1898, law enforcement remained somewhat haphazard, so private detectives did lots of investigative work that today would be handled by regular law enforcement. Consequently, when Harriet tells someone she’s an investigator, they tend to pay serious attention and respond to her questions. read more

Kristi Jones: Murder in the Ranks

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Debut

Another WWII book….nooooo….but, wait.  It was a big war with lots of unexpected corners and revelations, and this book highlights a bit of the war I hadn’t ever known about.  It’s focused on the WAACs, or Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps.  As originally created, the women who volunteered to serve had none of the rights of the men in the regular army.  This was pretty quickly corrected and the WAACs became simply the WACs, without “auxiliary” in the moniker.  For the purposes of this novel, however, Auxiliary Dottie Lincoln has signed up as a WAAC and is serving alongside other women in Algiers, at a time when the war wasn’t going so well for the Allies. read more

Celeste Connally: All’s Fair in Love and Treachery

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Lady Petra Inquires #2

Celeste Connally introduced the intrepid, fearless, convention defying Lady Petra in last year’s Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Lord.  Lady Petra is defying convention purposefully, declaring she will never marry, and since she’s given a house and allowance by her father, she is wealthy enough to do as she pleases.  She also has the ear of the Queen.  It’s 1815, and London is on the verge of Wellington’s triumph at Waterloo.  Queen Charlotte was a force at court thanks to the mental health challenges of King George III.  This affects Lady Petra, as the Queen invites her to investigate the mysterious death of the matron at an orphan’s home. read more

Mia P. Manansala: Guilt and Ginataan

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Tita Rosie’s Kitchen #5

When this series opened, Lila Macapagal, our heroine, was a young woman with a broken heart who had left the big city of Chicago for her little hometown of Shady Palms.  She began the series working in her Aunt Rosie’s restaurant; by book five, she and her besties, Adeena and Elena, have opened their own place: the Brew Ha Cafe. As this book opens, they are manning their booth at the local corn festival (hey, it’s Illinois), offering up an unbelievable array of delicious sounding treats featuring corn.  Warning: don’t read these books hungry. read more