Tag: Detective Novel

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Review: A Stranger in Mayfair (Charles Lenox Mysteries #4) by Charles Finch

by The Lit Bitch4 Comments on Review: A Stranger in Mayfair (Charles Lenox Mysteries #4) by Charles Finch

Charles Lenox’s is the quintessential armchair detective. Being a highborn well funded gentleman has it’s perks and one of them is being allowed eccentricities. For Lenox, his ‘eccentricity’ is….wait for it….a J-O-B!

Being a detective is something most of Lenox’s friends frown upon, he frequently finds himself on the source of a good many jokes and though he is well liked, his profession isn’t deemed proper by his social circle. This fact is beginning to wear on Lenox though, after all he is an Oxford chappie and well liked in London society and with his older brother holding a seat in Parliament….Lenox longs to be truly respected.

In the last Lenox novel, The Fleet Street Murders, Lenox was elected to Parliament– politics being a long admired profession and a role Lenox hoped to fill for many years.

Though many of his dreams are coming true, so much in his life has changed since the first novel in this charming series! In the latest book by Charles Finch, A Stranger in Mayfair, finds our beloved detective retuning to London after his marriage to his life long friend Lady Jane. Parliament will be in session in a few weeks, he has taken on an equally eccentric apprentice (Lord Dallington), and now a footman of a fellow MP has put Lenox square between two jobs he loves most…..politics and crime solving. Continue reading “Review: A Stranger in Mayfair (Charles Lenox Mysteries #4) by Charles Finch” →

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Review: Devoured (Hatton and Roumonde Mystery #1) by D. E. Meredith

by The Lit Bitch6 Comments on Review: Devoured (Hatton and Roumonde Mystery #1) by D. E. Meredith

To have one’s ideas be heard, isn’t that what all scientists want? That is certainly what forensic scientist, Professor Aldolphus Hatton, wants in D.E.  Meredith’s thriller, Devoured. In the budding world of Darwinism, botanical study, forensics, and science in general– Hatton is using early forensic science to solve crimes all around Victorian London hoping that this new manner of solving crime will catch fire and blaze a new path of crime fighting.

I recently read the second book in the Hatton series, The Devil’s Ribbon which I thoroughly enjoyed. Meredith and I are friends and she offered to send me a copy of Hatton’s first mystery since she knows I hate reading books out of series order. To my smashing delight, she personally signed my copy, I LOVE IT! 🙂

The series in general intrigued me as I love the Victorian era and all the ‘murder by gaslight’ kind of mysteries, and I am also a huge fan of really science-y novels….I love forensic mysteries! One of the things that I especially praised in The Devil’s Ribbon was Meredith’s knowledge of Victorian history, Devoured was equal to the same praise—Meredith really knows her stuff! Continue reading “Review: Devoured (Hatton and Roumonde Mystery #1) by D. E. Meredith” →

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Review: The Devil’s Ribbon (Hatton and Roumonde Mystery #2) by D. E. Meredith

by The Lit Bitch2 Comments on Review: The Devil’s Ribbon (Hatton and Roumonde Mystery #2) by D. E. Meredith

Green, the symbol of Irish pride and a symbol of Irish rebellion–this is what forensic scientist and doctor Adolphus Hatton is thinking when he pulls a green ribbon from the mouth of cadaver.

In D.E. Meredith’s latest thriller, The Devil’s Ribbon, London is a pressure cooker….the searing July heat of 1858, the wretched stink of the Themes, deadly diseases lurking in every inch of filth from Highgate to the Rookeries of  the East End, and….feuding Irish and British tensions are at their breaking point. Hatton and his assistant Albert Roumande, are knee deep in a spike of cholera deaths when Inspector Grey of Scotland Yard approaches them with a curious case….a predominant leader in Irish/British relations is found dead and murder is suspected.

When Hatton and Roumande examine the body they find that is jaw just isn’t ‘quite right’ and once opened they pull out a silky green ribbon. Grey knows exactly what this means….its a message from the Fenian groups–a band of Irish revolutionary thugs and terrorists. If word of this kind of execution reaches the public, the London press will have a field day and it will only increase the mounting tensions between the Irish and Brits….these three unlikely companions join forces to try and catch the killer before it is too late.

Though Hatton and Roumande have the new forensic science on their side, the killer or killers are always one step a head of them. The body counts rise and with each victim comes a calling card–the green ribbon. Riots being raging in the slums as word of the murder spread and the pressure is on Grey and the two scientists to solve the crimes….after a strategic bomb rips through a popular London shopping district the Irish communities in London’s slum claim responsibility….Hatton must solve this one and quickly. Continue reading “Review: The Devil’s Ribbon (Hatton and Roumonde Mystery #2) by D. E. Meredith” →

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Review: Feast Day of Fools (Hackberry Holland #3) by James Lee Burke

by The Lit Bitch2 Comments on Review: Feast Day of Fools (Hackberry Holland #3) by James Lee Burke

Sheriff Hackberry Holland is at it again! James Lee Burke’s third Hackberry Holland novel, Feast Day of Fools, is a tremendously complex and gritty mystery novel sure to make you stand up and pay attention. The fabulous ladies over at The Book Lady’s Blog were giving away this novel as part of their weekly Friday Reads give-a-way and I was the lucky winner.

I have never read anything by this author and was very excited to receive it after I read the description(not to mention I love the cover!). It sounded like a novel that I would not normally read which intrigued me. I am always enthusiastic about reading books that are out of my comfort zone and controversial. For me personally I would say this book was both of those things.

Set in a modern day Texas border town, a local indian by the name of Danny Boy witnesses a grizzly murder in the desert that sparks a richly thrilling story of murder, espionage, cartel activity, and terrorism with all the characters swimming in the ghosts of their past (some of them quite literally!). Sheriff Holland and his deputy, Pam, are in a race to catch the killers of the initial homicide, notorious mass murderer Jack Collins, and trying to locate the hottest thing on two feet….a national security threat…Noie Barnum. Continue reading “Review: Feast Day of Fools (Hackberry Holland #3) by James Lee Burke” →

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Review: The Fleet Street Murders (Charles Lenox Mysteries #3) by Charles Finch

by The Lit Bitch6 Comments on Review: The Fleet Street Murders (Charles Lenox Mysteries #3) by Charles Finch

I can feel fall in the air which means it’s time for another mystery book! This time I read the next book in the Charles Lenox mystery series, The Fleet Street Murders by Charles Finch.

I started reading the Lenox series as part of the Historic Fiction Reading Challenge.

When I started the series, I didn’t really know what to expect…I had heard mixed reviews about it. But after finishing the first book, A Beautiful Blue Death, I was pretty much hooked. I guess we can still consider this book part of the Historic Fiction Reading Challenge though it’s technically ‘over’ for me, my goal was to read just two Historic Fiction Books which I have gone WELL ABOVE so I guess technically this counts 🙂

What I like about the series is that it is consistently good….you know how some book series start good but then can’t keep up the momentum or some of the installments are good while others just aren’t…this book series IS NOT like that.

As I have said before, the series is simple and at time predictable but that is also what makes it a quick, easy read. It’s not overly complicated and not overly involved with tons of plot twists…it’s easy to follow and a good ‘mental’ break from other complicated mystery plots. I have read other reviews about this book and the series…overall most say the same things, it’s good but not complicated. I’m sorry but sometimes one just needs to read something fun and uncomplicated. As I have also said before though, the same things that I love about this series are the same things that I don’t like about the series….double edged sword to be uncomplicated I guess. Continue reading “Review: The Fleet Street Murders (Charles Lenox Mysteries #3) by Charles Finch” →