Vicki Kondelik

Andrea Penrose: Murder at King’s Crossing

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Wrexford & Sloane #8

Murder at King’s Crossing is the eighth installment in Andrea Penrose’s Wrexford and Sloane series set in Regency England.  The two protagonists are the Earl of Wrexford, a chemist and amateur sleuth, and his wife Charlotte Sloane, who, under the name of A.J. Quill, is England’s leading satirical cartoonist.  Wrexford has a logical mind and relies on deductive reasoning and the scientific method to solve crimes, while Charlotte uses her intuition and her artist’s eye for detail.  Usually they arrive at the same conclusion using very different methods. read more

Alyssa Maxwell: Murder at Vinland

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Gilded Newport #12

Murder at Vinland is the twelfth book in Alyssa Maxwell’s Gilded Newport series set among the social elite in Newport in the late 1890s-early 1900s.  The first book, Murder at the Breakers, was recently made into a TV movie by Hallmark.  I enjoyed the movie, which was better than some of the reviews would indicate, but the books are even better.  Maxwell’s heroine is Emma Cross Andrews, a journalist and poor relation of the Vanderbilts.  Emma grew up in reduced circumstances, which gave her a great sympathy with the poor, but, because of her illustrious relatives, she also is familiar with the world of the Four Hundred, the elite who lived in New York and spent their summers in Newport.  Supposedly, they were called the Four Hundred because that was the number of people who could fit inside Mrs. Astor’s ballroom. read more

Dianne Freeman: An Art Lover’s Guide to Paris and Murder

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Countess of Harleigh #7

An Art Lover’s Guide to Paris and Murder is the seventh entry in Dianne Freeman’s delightful Countess of Harleigh series.  Set at the turn of the twentieth century, the series features Frances, the American-born former Countess of Harleigh, and her second husband, George Hazelton, who carries out secret investigations for the British government.  This book is somewhat of a departure for the series, since it takes place in Paris instead of the usual setting of London, but you can hardly complain about that. 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

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

Erica Ruth Neubauer: Secrets of a Scottish Isle

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Jane Wunderly #5

Secrets of a Scottish Isle is the fifth full-length book in Erica Ruth Neubauer’s Jane Wunderly series, which also includes a delightful e-novella, Murder Under the Mistletoe.  Set in the 1920s, the series features the American war widow Jane, who travels the world after the death of her abusive husband has left her a free woman.  Each book has a different setting.  So far, Jane’s adventures have taken her to Egypt, an English country house, an Atlantic crossing on the sister ship of the Titanic, Istanbul, the north of England (in the e-novella), and, in this novel, Iona, a remote island off the west coast of Scotland. read more

Amanda Flower: To Slip the Bonds of Earth

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Series debut

To Slip the Bonds of Earth is the first book in what looks to be a wonderful series by Amanda Flower, author of the Emily Dickinson mysteries and many other series, featuring an amazing, real-life heroine, Katharine Wright, sister of the Wright Brothers.  Katharine was a remarkable woman, an intellectual, a suffragette, and the only college graduate among the Wright siblings.  Katharine was very close to her famous brothers, Wilbur and Orville, but while they were brilliant engineers, they never went to college.  Their father, a bishop, believed in educating daughters as well as sons, but Wilbur and Orville were largely self-taught, while Katharine graduated from Oberlin College, one of the few co-educational colleges at the time. 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

Best of 2023: Reviewer’s favorites

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Our reviewers, Margaret Agnew, Vicki Kondelik, and Carla Schantz, have all shared their top 10 lists with me.  If you’d like to know more about them, you can read about them here.  All of them are accomplished women and passionate readers.  I appreciate Margaret’s way with words, Vicki’s love of historical mysteries, and Carla’s passion for cozies.  There’s lots here to add to your TBR piles!  Full reviews can be found in most cases by searching the site, though Vicki has some classics on her list she didn’t review here.  Carla’s list can be found in the forthcoming Best of Cozies post. read more

Rosemary Simpson: Murder Wears a Hidden Face

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Gilded Age #8

Murder Wears a Hidden Face is the eighth book in Rosemary Simpson’s series set in Gilded Age New York City.  The two protagonists are Prudence MacKenzie and Geoffrey Hunter, partners in an investigative law and detective firm.  Prudence, the daughter of a prominent judge, was raised in New York’s high society, but rebelled against her upbringing and became only the second woman in New York State to pass the bar exam, even though she still cannot argue cases in court.  Geoffrey, who is somewhat older than Prudence, is a former Pinkerton agent and a Southerner who came north around the time of the Civil War because of his antislavery beliefs.  He and Prudence have a slow-burning romance that develops throughout the series.  Geoffrey was quicker to acknowledge his feelings than Prudence was, but now she is beginning to recognize her attraction to Geoffrey as what it is, even though she still doesn’t want to get married and lose her independence. read more