The Gold Pawn in L. A. Chandler’s second Art Deco mystery, after The Silver Gun, and continues the story of Lane Sanders.
Lane continues investigating the mystery of her parents, as well as of their deaths. To do that, she travels to Rochester to visit her childhood home. But, once there, she experiences such a powerful and negative emotion that she rushes back to New York City. A banker, Mr. Hambro, has disappeared. Fio wants Lane to look into it.
Meanwhile Finn, on assignment in Great Britain, is learning more about Rex Ruby and the Red Scroll gang.
The action bounces back and forth as both Lane and Finn piece together the dangerous mobster and the possibility of an heir to him.
Lots of fun. I admire Chandler’s ability to keep the story light and amusing while underpinning the mystery with a serious nod to Jeyll and Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson.
Circles of Death by Marcia Talley is the twentieth book in her Hannah Ives series.
Noel, a young friend of Hannah’s, appeals to her for help. Noel and her sister both took a DNA test and discovered that, not only are they not sisters, but they are not related at all.
Hannah uses her genealogical skills to begin tracking down relatives of Noel’s. With those relatives, they can begin finding someone who might be able to shed some light on the mystery.
At the same time, Noel and Hannah look into the poisoning of several eagles nearby and discover a farm that is using a banned pesticide. The man Hannah suspects of using that pesticide is murdered, his body floating to her dock.
The twin investigations lead to a long ago murder. Although the identity of one of the murderers is not difficult to figure out, the identity of the other was a total surprise.
I’ve read that this might be the last of the Hannah Ives mysteries. I am sorry to hear it. I so enjoy spending time with her and her family and friends.
As I begin preparing for Malice Domestic, (I am moderating a panel on setting ), I read a book by a featured author. Peril in the Pool House by Judy L. Murray, is the third in the Chesapeake Bay series.
At an open house party, thrown for the announcement of Eliot Davies’ candidacy as well as a welcome to their old, thoroughly renovated house, the body of Eliot’s campaign manager is found stabbed to death in the pool house. Who could have wanted this woman dead?
Helen Morrisey, the realtor who sold Eliot and his wife the house, and sometime detective, begins to poke around. Although warned off by her off and on love interest Joe McAlister, Helen knows Eliot and Alison have sunk every penny into the house – turned into a B & B – and they’ll lose everything unless the murderer is found.
Helen is an engaging detective with an unusual Detective Club. It is an imaginary one including such luminaries as Jane Marple and Nancy Drew.
I enjoyed this so much that I will go back to the first one and read all three. Lots of fun.
I also read The Paris Mistress by Mally Becker.
This is the third of the Revolutionary War series. I have enjoyed all of them but this one is my favorite so far.
Becca, along with her mother Hannah and mother-in-law Augusta, travel to France to meet Daniel Alloway. Becca and Daniel plan to marry in France. Almost immediately, Benjamin Franklin asks Becca and Daniel to listen and report back. Franklin knows there is a spy in his household reporting to England. Reluctantly, the couple agrees.
The visit goes from bad to worse. The body of the young man, Jude Fenimore, who’d traveled to France on the same ship with Becca, is found dead on the roof of Franklin’s house. The magistrates in France refuse to allow Becca and Daniel to marry (all for frustrating bureaucratic reasons) and Daniel is attacked.
Now Daniel insists Becca, her mother and mother-in-law return home before something else happens.
With tax season, and since I am redoing my kitchen, I only managed to read one book this week: The Twilight Queen by Jeri Westerson.
Jeri is the author of the medieval noir series featuring Crispin Guest. I loved that series and was sad when she called a halt to it. (Although, as a series author myself, I understand how difficult it is to write something fresh.)
The Kings Fool series takes place during the Tudor era. In this second mystery, Henry VIII is disappointed that Anne Boleyn has not produced a son and is eyeing Jane Seymour. So, it is easy to understand how dismayed Anne is when she finds a murdered man in her bed. Someone is trying to discredit her. And cuckolding the King is treason, punishably by death. The situation worsens when a ring, given her by the King, is found in the murdered man’s belongings. She asks Will Somers, the Fool, for help.
Will, and his much put upon wife Marion, investigate. Weirdly, Nicholas Padgett, one of the fool’s male lovers, also becomes involved.
I love the style these books are written in with all the appropriate slang of the era. The mystery is great and the different characters are well-drawn. My only problem is Will Somers himself. I don’t care for him and I think he treats poor Marion very poorly.Twilight Queen
Drowning with others is one of the four novels (so far) produced by the combined talents of Keir Graff and Linda Joffe Hull.
I met Keir at the San Diego Bouchercon when we were on a panel together. I frequently read the books produced by my fellow panelists. (One way to find new authors, right?)
Andi and Ian Copeland are the perfect couple. Except for one short breakup, they’ve been together since they were teenagers. Now their daughter Cassidy is attending the elite prep school, Glenlake, the sameone attended by her parents.
Then a car with human remains is pulled from the lake and the mysterious disappearance of a writer in residence, Dallas Walker went years ago, suddenly blows up into a homicide investigation. Both Andi and Ian knew Dallas and both had reasons to want him dead.
Cassidy, now taking a journalism class, begins to find evidence her parents knew Walker better than they claim. Were one, or both, of her parents involved in his murder?
In Ian’s and Andy’s journal entries, all secrets are laid bare. Gradually the facts of Walker’s disappearance become clear.
But there are still more secrets. The ending is a shocker with a twist I did not see coming. Recommended.
This week I read a very interesting nonfiction discussion of pretty much everything relating to textiles and a woman’s fashion in a particular place and time.
Kate Strasdin came into possession of a dress diary, a book filled with swatches of the fabrics that made up Anne Sykes, and some of her friends, during the middle of the nineteenth century.
Since her family, and the family of her husband Adam Sykes, were involved in Britain’s textile industry, Anne had access to all the newest cottons, silk from the East, and, later in the century, the newest in the aniline dyes.
Using the fabrics a a springboard, Strasdin references cultural consequences such the enslaved peoples in the United States who picked the cotton that kept the British factories humming.
When Adam Sykes relocates to China, Strasdin discusses silk and, at the same time, the differences in culture, the Opium War, and more.
Colored photographs of the fabric swatches illuminate the text and there is a QR code at the back that brings the reader to more examples.
After enjoying the Michael Curravan series so much, I chose an earlier Karen Odden book to read.
Lady Elizabeth Frasier is returning home from a humiliating third season in London when the train derails. She pulls her unconscious mother from the wreck. They are treated by a railway surgeon, Paul Wilcox. Elizabeth feels an immediate connection although Society would never accept a marriage between an Earl’s daughter and a doctor.
While waiting in the hotel for her mother to recover, Elizabeth assists Wilcox and they become friends. She is shocked to learn the train accident was probably not an accident. Further investigation reveals Elizabeth’s family owns shares in the railroad and the profits directly affect her dowry.
Odden is a good writer and her mysteries are layered. My only criticism is that the ending (no spoilers here) was too rapid and seemed artificial.
Under the Veiled Moon is the second in Karen Odden’s Michael Corravan series.
Corravan is called to the banks of the Thames because of a serious accident involving the Princess Alice and a barge. Although this at first appears to be an accident, it becomes apparent that this was probably sabotage. The investigation leads Corravan into the Irish gangs in Whitechapel and the anti-Irish sentiment in Britain.
At the same time, his adopted family, the Doyles, is experiencing some problems of their own. Colin, the remaining son, has gotten involved with a criminal gang and is out all hours. Corravan tries to convince Colin to leave the gang but he won’t.
The mystery is multi-layered and the issues with the Doyles add emotional depth. Highly recommended.
I read a lot of nonfiction but do not include those titles here since they are usually for research. However, I read Oath and Honor by Liz Cheney.
Whatever you think of her politics, and I disagree with most of her policies, this was a fascinating book. The record of the January 6 commission was especially riveting. It did leave me with some questions – she did support Trump during his first term – but on the whole, a window into an important historical event.
Barbara Hambly has been one of my favorite writers for years. She is such a good writer. I read her Science Fiction/Fantasy novels, following her through the Dog Wizard fantasy and James Asher vampire novels to the Benjamin January mystery series.
The Nubian’s Curse is number 20.
The arrival of a woman January knew in Paris to New Orleans raises memories of a suspicious death in a haunted house. Was it really haunted and was the death from a malevolent ghost – or was it murder?
Now the murder of the man on scene in Paris, who arranged to marry the wealthy heiress left orphaned, raises more questions. Ben is asked to investigate.
As usual, the society in New Orleans – the Quadroon Balls, the custom of keeping a placee, a free woman of color who is mistress to a wealthy white man, the casual racism and the slavery, are front and center in these amazing mysteries. Highly recommended.
It is not necessary to read these in order but I would.
The Final Heir by Faith Hunter is number fifteen, the final entry in this series.
Mainet Pellisier, grandfather of Leo, is in New Orleans. His mission is to capture the magical objects Jane has, killing her in the process. Leo, three times dead and reborn, tries to help but he is bound to Mainet and struggles to tell Jane what she needs to know.can’t help Jane.
The null prison has been destroyed by witches using death magic and Lacklash, head witch, has been captured. Although Molly, Evan, and her sisters are in New Orleans, they have so far been stalemated by Mainet’s witches. Jane’s brother and fellow shape changer and her friend Rick La Fleur are far away and out of communication so she can’t rely on them for herp.
Worse news, it appears that Mainet has bound a demon and partially bound an angel. Leo manages to tell Jane that if Mainet manages to finish the binding, and collect the magical items, he will be too powerful to beat.
When Jane uses several of the magical items to see the future – or rather – the multiple futures, it looks as though she dies and her allies lose in every one.
Besides the action and the fantasy elements, the characters are captivating. I really cared about them and wanted them to be happy.
Highly recommended. BUT it is crucial to read these in order. Besides the evolution of Jane’s character – she evolves from a loner and a hired killer to a wise and compassionate woman – the change in Leo is striking. A scarily powerful vampire in the beginning, he becomes something totally different. (No spoilers here.)
