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[[Category:New Reviews|Crime (Historical)]] __NOTOC__ <!-- Remove -->{{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=CC Humphreys0571370977|title=FireThe Lock-Up|author=John Banville|rating=4.5

|summary=Puritan/former Roundhead Pitman It's six months since the dramatic events which we read about in [[April in Spain by John Banville|April in Spain]] and former highwayman/Cavalier Captain William Coke have formed a deep respect for each other. Their first mission was to track down the Fifth Monarchists, an organisation out to avenge those who were found guilty Dr Quirke is now back in Dublin and hanged for signing Charles I's death warrant. That was thenliving (if somewhat uneasily) with his daughter, during the Great PlaguePhoebe. A mere year later, the Plague The worst of his grief is over but he irrationally blames DI St John Strafford for what happened and this has lessened but made the Fifth Monarchists are back, taking Pitman's and Coke's interventions personallyalready strained relationship between them more difficult. We therefore find our heroes defending themselves, their families, They're brought together by Chief Inspector Hackett when the monarchbody of a young, andJewish scholar, on top of thatRosa Jacobs, is found in a new disaster lock-up. At first, it looked as though she'd gassed herself but Quirke is about to hit the capitalconvinced that it was murder rather than suicide. |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1780891458</amazonuk>

{{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn= Indrek Hargla and Christopher Moseley (translator)1529337968|title= Apothecary Melchior and the Ghost of Rataskaevu Street|rating= 5|genre= Crime (Historical)|summary=In fifteenth century Tallinn religion and superstition sit side by side. In the midst of this is scientifically-minded apothecary Melchior Wakenstede, known for his curiosity, logical thinking, and ability to solve murders. There are rumours of a ghost a few doors down from Melchior on Rataskaevu Street, though he's not as ready to believe in it as some Place of his neighbours. When several people die after saying they'd seen the ghost, Melchior can't resist looking for the connection between them and trying to discover the truth behind the tales.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0720618452</amazonuk>}}{{newreviewFear|author=Jennifer Donnelly|title=These Shallow GravesCatriona McPherson|rating=3.5

|summary=Jennifer Donnelly wrote one of my all-time favourite books, It''A Gathering Light'', so I was very excited s July 1948 and Helen Crowther is due to read her latest novel and see how it comparedstart work as a qualified medical almoner the following morning - on the day that the NHS is born. Like She''A Gathering Light'', ''These Shallow Graves'' is a historical novel ll be working for Dr Deuchar and Dr Strasser in their GP surgery and her job will be to help patients with a murder mystery at its heart those non-medical problems which affect their health. The hardest part of the job will be to persuade people that the services she offers really are free and that they don't have to do anything to qualify for them. Some of the problems will require delicate handling but Helen has a feisty heroine who challenges the standards problem of the dayher own which might give her some insight. Her marriage has never been consummated. |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1471405176</amazonuk>

{{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Lloyd Shepherd057136358X|title=The Detective and the Devil (Charles Horton 4)April in Spain|author=John Banville

|summary=1855: Only Terry Tice was a few years after hitman, although he didn't think of himself in those terms. He saw what he did as ''a matter of making things tidy''. I couldn't resist the notorious Highways Murderer left thought that he was an extreme version of Marie Kondo. He enjoyed his mark on London's docksjob, Constable Charles Horton is called back something which occurred to him when he was in Burma with the area. The disturbing murder of army ''where he got the chance to kill a clerk and his family bears the trademark lot of the serial killer but Hortonlittle yellow fellows and had a fine old time's sure he's already dead; Horton saw him die. At this point the hunt for He was spending a devil incarnate begins, taking Horton and his wife Abigail to lot of time with Percy Antrobus - who couldn't understand why Terry didn't know the other side purpose of a swizzle stick - surely he wouldn't drink champagne with bubbles in the world and ''morning''? It was after Percy's death that he saw the darker side benefits of an untouchable Victorian institution: The East India Companytaking up a job in Spain.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1471136124</amazonuk>|amazonus=<amazonus>1471136124</amazonus>

{{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Martin Edwards (editor)B08Z8BMZ7H|title=Murder at the Manor: Country House Mysteries (British Library Crime Classics)|rating=4.5|genre=Crime (Historical)|summary=I'm not big on short stories, but two factors nudged me towards this book. Firstly, it's broadly golden age crime, one The Mystery of my weaknesses and secondly, the editor is [[:Category:Martin Edwards|Martin Edwards]], a man whose knowledge of golden age crime is probably unsurpassed and he's done us proud, not only with his selection, but with the half-page biographies of the writers, which precede each story. There's just enough there to allow you to place the author and to direct you to other works if you're tempted. It's an elegant selection, from the well known and the less well known, all set in and around the country house.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0712309934</amazonuk>}}{{newreviewHealing|author= A J MacKenzie|title= The Body on the Doorstep|rating= 4.5|genre= Crime (Historical)|summary=On the marshes of Kent in the late eighteenth century, Reverend Hardcastle discovers a dying man on his doorstep. Narrowly escaping a bullet himself, he is entrusted with the dying man's last words which leave him questioning the mystery behind this anonymous man's death. With smugglers rife along the Kent coast, it seems as though it was a simple falling out amongst thieves, but the Reverend believes the answer to this crime lies deeper. Assisted by the brilliant Mrs Chaytor they set off to solve the mystery – but with smugglers lurking all through the county and the French threatening to invade, there are unsuspected dangers around every corner.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1785761137</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Gavin Scott|title=The Age of TreacheryP McGrath

|summary=In We meet Solon in Pergamon in the winter second century of 1946 Duncan Forrester, formerly the common era and he's the physician on duty at the munus - the games put on for the amusement of the Special Operations Executive, was back at populace. The remuneration isn't high but the work gives the doctor a feeling of virtue and hones his Oxford college as a junior fellow in Ancient Historyskills: Solon ''wants'' the warriors to live. HeIt's quite a spectacle: the magistri are the charge hands and when we first see them, they'd lost re sprinkling gold dust onto the woman he loved lions' manes to make them look more impressive. The sagitarii are the Gestapo archers and was now feeling guilty about the fact that he was besotted beastiarii are the condemned criminals who are going to fight for their lives with the wife of his best friend, a fellow academicwild animals. To confuse matters further the woman in questionToday, Margaret Clark, had been having an affair with another lecturer, David Lyall and it seemed likely that she would leave her husband for him's the crocodiles.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1783297808</amazonuk>

{{newreviewFrontpage|author= E S Thomson|title= Beloved Poison|rating= 4.5|genre= Crime (Historical)|summary=St Savior's is a crumbling infirmary – its walls stuffed with ambition, jealousy and hatred. Six tiny coffins, each containing dried flowers and mouldering rags, are uncovered inside the decaying chapel. A silent outsider, with secrets of her own to hide, is determined to discover the truth. And in a trail that leads from the bloody worlds of dissecting table and operating theatre, through to the squalor of Newgate Prison and its gallows, Jem Flockhart faces a ruthless adversary. As the destruction of St Savior's looms, the dead are unearthed, the living are forced into impossible decisions – and murder is the price for secrets to be kept…|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1472122275</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|authorisbn= George Mann1529337925|title= The Osiris Ritual: A Newbury and Hobbes Investigation|rating= 3|genre= Crime Mirror Dance (HistoricalDandy Gilver)|summary=Sir Maurice Newbury, his majesty's special agent, and his assistant Miss Veronica Hobbes are on the case once more. When a group of well-to-do explorers return from an Egyptian expedition, they unveil a mummy and unleash an ancient mystery. Soon the explorers are being picked off one by one and Newbury must solve the mystery if he is to catch the culprit. But there's more than one brute on the loose, while Newbury attempts to track down a rogue agent, Veronica takes the case of disappearing women into her own hands with dangerous consequences … |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1783298251</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Sir Arthur Conan Doyle|title=Sherlock: The Essential Arthur Conan Doyle AdventuresCatriona McPherson

|summary=There can be few people who havenIt was the August Bank Holiday weekend and, as so often happened, it was cold enough to have the fire lit and Bunty the Dalmation wasn't heard inclined to leave it to keep Dandy Gilver warm on the sofa. The thought of Sherlock Holmes, whether work was almost cheering when Dandy took the call from Sandy Bissett in Dundee. She was the guise publisher of a magazine and had been told that the original stories or subsequent film and television adaptations including man running the most recent series starring Benedict Cumberbatch Punch and Martin Freeman, who are pictured on Judy show in the dust cover local park had used copies of two of ''Sherlock: The Essential Arthur Conan Doyle Adventures''her cartoon characters - Rosie Cheek and her sister Freckle - to drum up some local interest in his show. It Sandy Bissett's this most recent series which has widened request was simple: she wanted Gilver and Osborne to warn the fan base man about infringement of the stories copyright - and Dandy and many of them won't have copies of the original stories Alex would be cheaper than employing a solicitor to hand. My own copy is a 1959 reprint of the 1929 edition which had four stories in one volume, but this current volume has nineteen stories in do the one booksame job.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1785940163</amazonuk>

{{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Margery AllinghamB08LKT7HSR|title=Sweet DangerMurder in the Belltower (A Miss Underhay Mystery)|author=Helena Dixon

|summary=''Sweet Danger'' is In December 1933 the fifth book remains of Elowed Underhay were discovered in Margery Allingham's ''Campion'' series, which has our eponymous gentleman-adventurer on a quest to find the rightful heir cellar of a suddenly-valuable principality on the Adriatic Sea known as AvernaGlass Bottle Public House. The British Government want proof Ezekiel Hamett was sought in connection with the murder of ownership Elowed and thishis half-brother, of courseDenzil Hammett, involves overcoming several obstacleswhose body was also discovered. Kitty Underhay's long search for her mother, including a curious riddle, collecting various items and keeping one step ahead of the enemywho disappeared in June 1916 was over. The quest soon becomes a race against time, when Now she's determined that the villains, led by Machiavellian schemer Brett Savanake, start man responsible for her murder will be brought to close in on our heroesjustice.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099474689</amazonuk>

{{newreviewFrontpage|author= Margery AllinghamStephen Clarke|title= Mystery MileThe Spy Who Inspired Me|rating= 54|genre=Crime (Historical)General Fiction|summary= On This is a transatlantic linerspoof spy story, an American points out Crowdy Lobbett and predicts that he will have been murdered within a fortnightisn't about James Bond. Or Ian Fleming. Indeed he places a bet on But it. It seems like features a safe bet: retired Judge Lobbett has been man called Ian Lemming, who dresses well and 'likes the subject ladies' and who works for the secret service, but in the planning side of four near misses so far: four attempts things more than the active service. Lemming finds himself put on his life that have misfired a mission with a female spy called Margaux, and killed someone close to him. His children have persuaded him to take the pair end up stranded in Normandy, with Margaux on a trip desperate mission to England unearth traitors in an attempt the resistance network, and Lemming desperately trying to keep him somewhat safer, for a while at least.up with her!|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>0099474697</amazonuk>2952163855

{{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Gregory Dowling0349423083|title=AscensionDeath and the Brewery Queen (Kate Shackleton Mysteries)|author=Frances Brody

|summary=Kate Shackleton's nieceruns her investigation agency from Batswing Cottage, Harrietably assisted by Jim Sykes, was recovering from diphtheria who lives in Woodhouse and Kate decided to take her away to the country for a fortnight to help her recuperatehousekeeper, Mrs Sugden. HerShe's friend - and would-be suitor - Dr Lucian Simonson had inherited a house in Langcliffe from his aunt Freda and Kate was pleased to accept the offer been approached by William Lofthouse of the property for a couple of weeksBarleycorn Brewery in Masham. There was a hidden message that she might also see if sheSomething is going wrong with his business and he'd like to make her residence there more permanent, but Kate was in no hurry to make her mind up about remarriage. Her private investigations suited her well and it wasn't long before she was approached to look into a crime which had troubled Lucianit discreetly: he's Aunt Freda. The old lady had witnessed a murder, but her evidence was dismissed hoping that his nephew and she went to her grave believing that the wrong right-hand man had gone to the gallows.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0349406561</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Shirley McKay|title=Queen & Country: A Hew Cullan Mystery (Hew Cullan Mystery 5)|rating=5|genre=Historical Fiction|summary=It has been three years since Hew was banished , James Lofthouse, will be back from Scotland and manoeuvred into working for Elizabeth I's spymaster, Walsingham. His loyalties remain with the Scottish Queen Mary but he must hide them as well as he can lest he becomes a victim of the conspiracy fever cutting through England and keeping the hangman busytrip to Germany before long. There's also another fever cutting through Scotland – the plague, providing even more reason for Hew James went to worry about see what the wellbeing of his sister, brother in law continental brewers were doing and nephewwhat changes Barleycorn might need to make. If he could but go home heWilliam is worried that James is perhaps enjoying himself a little bit ''d have a surprise for them. When he gets there, theretoo's a surprise for him in the form of a death prophesy picture, followed by a murder.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846973120</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Ian Ross|title=Swords Around The Throne (Twilight of Empire)|rating=5|genre=Historical Fiction|summary=Centurion Aurelius Castus' time in Britain much or is over going to bring back a German bride but not his propensity for being on the wrong side of danger. Due to an adventure on the journey he comes to 'd like the notice of Emperor Constantine, and is promoted business to be ship-shape before his elite bodyguard – the swords around the throne. The multiple emperor model that has evolved to govern the Empire is shaky to say the least, riven by plots, conspiracies and worsenephew returns. Therefore Castus' new job is neither safe nor easy but it's not something he can refuse… unfortunately!|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1784081167</amazonuk>

{{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=David Chadwick0241433568|title=Liberty BazaarEight Detectives|author=Alex Pavesi

|summary=London, 1842: Magistrate Aaron Graham is missing his wife. SheIt's left him, taking their daughter to live 1930 and Megan and Henry are staying with her cousin Bunny at his house in a very uncousinly waySpain. Yet her distance doesnIt't prevent her discussing the goings on s unbearably hot and Bunny drank too much at her new home with Graham; as these goings on resemble witchcraft and seem lunch: he's going to be taking have a toll on his daughter's health Aaron is rightly worried. He calls upon Constable Horton rest and then he wants to investigate… this is the Horton whose wife Graham encouraged talk to enter one of the more exclusive madhousesMegan and Henry about something serious. Under the circumstances Only it seemed the right thing to do but Horton still hasnnever gets that far: when Bunny doesn't forgiven emerge after his siesta his superior for itguests find that he's been murdered. However, as How can that have happened? There's no one else in the investigation goes on and Graham is distracted by a murder case with a rising body counthouse, these bubbling undercurrents of enmity reduce in importance. The important thing for each so one of them has become survivalmust be the killer.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1471136086</amazonuk>

{{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn= Vaughn Entwhistle1473682401|title= The Dead Assassin|rating= 4|genre= Crime Turning Tide (HistoricalDandy Gilver)|summary=London, 1895. Arthur Conan Doyle is summoned to the scene of a mysterious crime – a senior member of the Government lies murdered. Close by, the body of the attacker is found, riddled with bullets. The dead assassin is identified, however, as a man who was hanged several weeks previously. Mystified by the strange incident, Arthur Conan Doyle calls on a friend for advice – Oscar Wilde. Together, the two of them are swept up into a bizarre investigation – one that threatens their lives, their families, and the very establishment itself. It seems that someone is reanimating corpses, and programming them for murder…|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1783292687</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author= Anita Davison|title= Murder on the MinneapolisCatriona McPherson|rating= 54

|summary=Governess Flora Maguire is sailing from New York to England on the SS Minneapolis, entrusted Those who were with us at the task end of returning her teenage charge, Eddie back home [[A Step So Grave (Dandy Gilver) by Catriona McPherson|A Step So Grave]] will remember that Donald was engaged to boarding schoolMallory Dunnoch. Unfortunately for Flora, the ship They're now married and Mallory is first-class only, so she spends having twins. When they arrive no one can doubt the first night aboard stowed away in charms of Lavinia Dahlia Cherry and her cabinbrother, acutely aware of Edward Hugh Lachlan Gilver. There are two drawbacks: they're noisy and they're staying with Dandy and Hugh. Dandy and her lower social status. Her intention detective partner, Alec Osborne, had not taken up the chance to stay out of look into a problem at the limelight is thwarted Cramond ferry whenit was offered to them twice before, during a solitary stroll along but suddenly the deck, she discovers a dead body at the bottom possibility of being out of the companionway. The ship staff hastily conclude that this is a tragic accident, but Flora has other ideas and decides to conduct her own investigationhouse at Gilverton seems irresistible. Is there a murderer aboard ship? And if so, is Flora making herself a prime target by poking her nose into other people's affairs?|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1910208264</amazonuk>

{{newreviewFrontpage|author= Anthony QuinnSeishi Yokomizo and Louise Heal Kawai (translator)|title= Curtain CallThe Honjin Murders|rating= 4.5|genre= Crime (Historical)|summary= LondonTo many readers, 1936the phrase 'locked room murder mystery' is enough to make the book one to read; preferably quantified by the words 'clever' or 'good'. Nina Land is a West End actress For those who need more, and she here is spending her afternoon the extra background – we're in rural Japan in a hotel room with a married manthe 1930s. When she spots the face The oldest son of an esteemed family is belatedly getting married, although the man whole affair is really not as ostentatious as it might be – hardly anybody has turned up, what with it being arranged at great haste. She only has an uncle representing her family, for one thing. Either way, the newspapers celebrations have named “The Tie-Pin Killer”gone ahead as planned, she faces only for the wedded couple to be slashed to death in their private annexe before the sun rises on their marriage. What with a huge dilemma – will she report the man to missing parts of his fingers being in the policeneighbourhood, and risk her career and some mysterious use of a traditional musical instrument at the reputation time of her lover? Or will she stay quietthe crime, and risk this case has a lot of the lives of innocent girls?peculiar about it.|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>0099593238</amazonuk>1782275002

{{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=MRC KasasianB07XLM3SM6|title=Death Descends On Saturn Villa (The Gower Street Detective Series)Murder at the Dolphin Hotel|author=Helena Dixon

|summary=While Elowed Underhay was just twenty-seven when she disappeared from Dartmouth in June 1916, leaving her daughter, Kitty, in the care of her grandmother. A great deal of money had been spent to find out what happened to her and the best personal detective conclusion was that she was dead, mainly because there was no evidence to suggest otherwise. Kitty has come to terms with this and in 1933 she was running the known Victorian world (Dolphin Hotel in his opinion anyway) Sidney Grice is away on a case, his ward March is left Dartmouth with her grandmother when her grandmother had to leave to look after her own devicessister who was ill. As luck would have it, one of those devices is an invitation She was reluctant to meet a previously unknown relativeleave Kitty in charge - and Kitty could not understand why. March visits Saturn Villa She's always coped with a sense the mix of curiosity holidaymakers, boating people and the naval college on the edge of town before - and encounters Uncle Tolly whose afternoon tea is one she will never forget's done every job in the hotel. LetAnd she particularly cannot understand why her grandmother's hope she knows a good detective!|amazonuk=<amazonuk>178185971X</amazonuk>friends have been roped in to keep an eye on things ''and'' why Captain Matthew Bryant has been hired to take charge of security at the hotel.

{{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Alexander Wilson0349423067|title=Wallace of The Body on the Secret ServiceTrain (Kate Shackleton Mysteries)|author=Frances Brody|rating=34.5

|summary=This is From Christmas to Easter a train ran from Leeds City Station to King's Cross, arriving before dawn so that the third in forced rhubarb it carried could be taken to Covent Garden. In early March 1929, one of the porters who was unloading the re-issued series authored by boxes discovered the former soldierbody of a man, spy stripped naked and Professor with no means of English Literature, without whom it is said, there'd have been no Bond, no Smiley, no Bourneidentification. Scotland Yard hit a dead end and called on the services of Kate Shackleton in the hope that her knowledge and connections in Yorkshire would give them the lead they needed. Kate immediately found herself hamstrung: Commander Woodhead remembered her as a child and could not come to terms with the fact that she was now a woman experienced in dealing with murder. He was reluctant to give her all the information which the police held.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0749018151</amazonuk>

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn= Sara Sheridan1472127110|title= British Bulldog Indian Summer: a Mirabelle Bevan Mystery|author=Sara Sheridan|rating= 4.5|genre= Crime (Historical)|summary= As a decadeLife has changed dramatically for Mirabelle, the our favourite fifties doesn't attract much attention from authors and scriptwriters - it's dull and grey in comparison with sleuth, since the vivid horrors of war , and not always for the colourful extravagance of the sixtiesbetter. But World War II left a long shadowWhen she first settled in Brighton she was alone, rudderless and thissecretly grieving for Jack, the fourth instalment lover who died before he could leave his wife. As time went by she found in this excellent seriesherself an ability to solve crimes, takes us deep into past life of ex-intelligence agent Mirabelle Bevanmade friends including an ebullient and determined young woman called Vesta who refused to let a little thing like racial prejudice stop her doing what she wanted, and even found consolation in the sorrow and the blighted love she has so desperately fought to hide from public gaze soon becomes hopelessly entangled with present deaths and dangerarms of a rather charming policeman. |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846973252</amazonuk>

{{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Antonia Hodgson1912374439|title=The Last Confession of Thomas HawkinsCourier|ratingauthor=5|genre=Historical Fiction|summary=A few months after we left Tom in the 1720s we return to find him living in sin and love with Kitty. Or it would be sin if they ever get round to the bed bit. Just as he promised underworld gang leader James Fleet, Tom has taken in James' son Sam to train him in the ways of being a gentleman. All seems to be going well in that department until Tom receives a visit from an old enemy and a brush with the country's ultimate power. Then both collide to create fear Kjell Ola Dahl and an offer that Tom isn't able to refuse, no matter how hard he tries.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1444775456</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=M J Carter|title=The Infidel StainDon Bartlett (translator)|rating=43.5

|summary= LondonNazi-occupied Oslo, 18411942. Newly returned from IndiaThere, Jeremiah Blake and William Avery find life back I've given the game away. For in Victorian England difficult a book that centres around a murder, I've told you who did it – the Nazis, surely? Well, that certainly has to settle intoremain to be seen in this volume, having left which splits its time between one of war, when a disconnected country travelled by pony young woman sees her father arrested, and their store condemned as Jewish and traprushes to her best friend to help – not knowing she will never see her alive again, and returned to one in the grip of railway manialate 1960s, when great consternation is being felt. When In this timeline, a series of murders occurmaverick agent is back in town, all connected to the pressone who might have been fingered for murdering that female victim, Avery even though she and Blake find themselves back in action. But he lived together with connections between the murdered and those seeking revolutiontheir baby as a young family, it is a race against time except he was thought by all to find have died in the killer before he strikes again. |amazonuk=<amazonuk>0241146259</amazonuk>War…

{{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Matthew Pearl1786075431|title=The Last BookaneerMrs Mohr Goes Missing|author=Maryla Szymiczkova and Antonia Lloyd-Jones (translator)

|summary=Bookaneer Fergins makes a decent living in 19th century LondonMeet Zofia. However his business acquaintance Davenport has A socially climbing wife of a medical professor, she's intent on making herself known as a plan to aid charitable lady, and keen on her husband progressing yet through his prosperityesteemed career. Hot literary property Robert Louis Stevenson In 1890s Cracow, life is dying on Upolopretty good, a Samoan island, having just written his final potential masterpiecebut she knows it could always be better. Therefore all Davenport has to do Meanwhile, other people's life could certainly be better – cholera is nearing the city due to steal itlack of hygiene, bringing it back and many people have to publishing glory fall on charity and self-aggrandisementalmshouses to keep a roof over their heads. The only problems are that the enabling legal loophole is about One such was Mrs Mohr, although she was rich enough to close keep private lodgings and hestaff in her charitable home. I say ''was'', for she has vanished. Only due to Zofia's not help does she get found, dead and in a place the only one with his eye on that particular prizenear-lame woman could never reach by herself. And FerginsJust who could be killing people in a charity home, and to what end? He's going too, whether he wants And why does Zofia feel the need to or not.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846556198</amazonuk>make a name for herself by answering those questions?

{{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Jane Thynne 1786893762|title=A War of FlowersThings in Jars|author=Jess Kidd|rating=4.5

|summary=A War of Flowers child has gone missing. The detective asked to take on the case is still struggling with the third of Jane Thynne's thoroughly researched shame and beautifully written novels of Nazi Berlin from frustration left by a previous case, where the female point of viewchild was not found in time. Hardly original themes for a private eye thriller. And yet . . . take another look. Reading them This detective is a woman, and the setting is an immersive experience; Victorian London, with all the joy rich and colourful paradoxes of that era: technical and scientific progress jostling for space beside superstition and a fascination with the bizarre and the book downright hideous. And before you're more than a couple of pages in, you realise just how much more unusual our heroine is than you expected. Bridie Devine may dress in locationhalf-mourning, with a widow's cap and stout, descriptionshiny boots, commentbut the tobacco she smokes in her pipe (my dear, what an utterly ''fast'' thing for a lady to do!) is mixed with a nugget of something, well, let's say recreational, created by her chemist friend Prudhoe. The action does not rush but fact that it's actually meant to cure bronchial problems is by the by. Her housemaid, being seven-foot-tall, is also somewhat remarkable. And then, of course, there's the ending expertly pulls plot strings together ghost. Ruby Doyle, world-famous tattooed boxer (deceased) accompanies Bridie all through her investigation, and it's clear he has a wow factor soft spot for the determined young woman. If he really exists, that will leave the reader eager for moreis. |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1471131904</amazonuk>

{{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Dan Simmons0349414327|title=The Fifth Heart|rating=4|genre=Historical Fiction|summary=On a rainy night in March 1893 Henry James stands on a Paris bridge, about to end it all. Next to him sidles Sherlock Holmes, about to do the same. Instead A Snapshot of jumping, Holmes drags James off for a drink and decides that they will go to America to solve a 17-year-old murder case. The supposed victim, socialite Clover Adams, is believed to have committed suicide but that doesn't deter Sherlock. He's off, Henry James is going with him and that's that!|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0751560952</amazonuk>}}{{newreviewMurder (Kate Shackleton Mysteries)|author=Jayne Anne Phillips|title=Quiet DellFrances Brody|rating=4.5

|summary= Chicago – 1931. Asta Eicher is Even detectives need a widowbreak and for Kate Shackleton, with three children and a crippling sense of lonelinessphotography gives her the mental relaxation which she needs. When Harry Powers asks her the local Photographic Society proposed an outing, Kate was keen to marry him, she is delighted – and take the new family soon leave in order opportunity to travel to West Virginia. They are never seen again. Back in Chicagovisit Haworth and Stanbury, Emily Thornhill is one not least because the deeds of the few women journalists in Chicago, Brontë Parsonage are being handed over so that it can become a museum and is sent to investigate her parents will be there for the disappearanceevent. What could be better than seeing her family, trying to establish what happened to witnessing a momentous event and having the family. As she becomes ever deeper involved with the investigation, Emily begins opportunity to discover things she never expected – both about take photographs of the case, and herselfsetting for ''Wuthering Heights''? Nothing could go wrong. |amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099590255</amazonuk> Or could it?