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Special Feature and Giveaway: A Murder By Any Name by Suzanne M. Wolfe
A Murder By Any Name by Suzanne M. Wolfe Publication Date: October 9, 2018 Crooked Lane Books Hardcover & eBook; 326 Pages Genre: Historical Mystery When a brutal murder threatens the sanctity of the Elizabethan court, it’s up to a hot-tempered spy to save the day. The court of Elizabeth I is no stranger to plotting and intrigue, but the royal retinue is thrown into chaos when the Queen’s youngest and sweetest lady-in-waiting is murdered, her body left on the high altar of the Chapel Royal in Whitehall Palace. Solving the murder will require the cunning and savvy possessed by only one man. Enter Nicholas Holt, younger brother…
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Excerpt: The Long Way Home by Kevin Bannister
This book has been getting rave reviews on Goodreads and I am thrilled to be able to offer you a sneak peak of this interesting book! If you love early American history then this might be the book you are looking for this holiday season…..and an excellent gift option as well! This is Kevin Bannister’s debut novel and it demonstrates not only unique storytelling but a promising future for this new writer. Keep reading to read an exciting excerpt from this novel! Set in the turbulent times of the War of Independence, ‘The Long Way Home’ follows the lives of Thomas Peters and Murphy Steele who are friends, former slaves,…
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Special Feature: A Murdered Peace by Candace Robb
A Murdered Peace by Candace Robb Publication Date: December 11, 2018 Pegasus Books Paperback & eBook; 304 Pages Series: Kate Clifford, Book 3 Genre: Historical Mystery It is deep winter in York, 1400, the ground frozen, the short days dimmed with the smoke from countless fires, the sun, when it shines, low in the sky. It is rumored that the Epiphany Uprising, meant to relieve the realm of the Henry the usurper and return King Richard to the throne has, instead, spelled his doom. As long as Richard lives, he is a threat to Henry. So, too, the nobles behind the plot. The ringleaders have been caught, some slaughtered as…
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Special Feature and Giveaway: A Fisher of Women by Catherine Magia
A Fisher of Women by Catherine Magia Publication Date: October 3, 2018 Paperback & eBook; 184 Pages Genre: Historical Fiction/Romance/Biblical When the wife of Simon Peter returns to Galilee, she brings nothing but her faith in an enigmatic carpenter named Jesus, who has an extraordinary gift of healing the sick. But as she spends time in the presence of this divine leader, she discovers the gift of healing comes at a devastating cost. A terrible burden Jesus bears for the sake of his love for humanity. In her quest to alleviate Jesus’s eternal suffering, the wife of Simon Peter befriends a pagan magician named Helen. Helen possesses a…
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Review: Judah’s Wife: A Novel of the Maccabees (The Silent Years #2) by Angela Elwell Hunt
I happened to see one of this author’s books up for giveaway on Goodreads and I was intrigued by the sound of her ‘signature style’ which seems to be women in the Bible. I didn’t win the giveaway but I did pick up one of her books the next time I was at my library. This book stood out because of the beautiful cover and I know next to nothing about the Maccabee rebellion so I thought—-why not? Seeking peace and safety after a hard childhood, Leah marries Judah, a strong and gentle man, and for the first time in her life Leah believes she can rest easily. But the…
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Special Feature: The Monastery Murders by E.M. Powell
The Monastery Murders by E.M. Powell Publication Date: September 27, 2018 Thomas & Mercer Paperback & eBook; 288 Pages ISBN-13: 978-1503903241 Series: Stanton and Barling #2 Genre: Historical Mystery Their lives are ones of quiet contemplation—and brutal murder. Christmas Eve, 1176. Brother Maurice, monk of Fairmore Abbey, awaits the night prayer bell. But there is only silence. Cursing his fellow brother Cuthbert’s idleness, he seeks him out—and in the darkness, finds him brutally murdered. Summoned from London to the isolated monastery on the Yorkshire Moors, Aelred Barling, clerk to the King’s justices, and his messenger Hugo Stanton, set about investigating the horrific crime. They quickly discover that this…
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Review: The Blue by Nancy Bilyeau
I’ve only read a couple of Nancy Bilyeau’s novels, which was a good read but for some reason I didn’t get back to any of her other novels. I saw this one floating around various book sites and was intrigued. I was interesting in this book because I thought it was going to be about china and porcelain and somehow circle back and become a historical thriller. In sort, that’s exactly what I got with this one—-porcelain and a little bit of suspense. In eighteenth century London, porcelain is the most seductive of commodities; fortunes are made and lost upon it. Kings do battle with knights and knaves for possession…
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Review: Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield
I had one experience with Diane Setterfield’s novels and that was Bellman & Black way back in 2013. I wasn’t terribly impressed with the book and I was so sad because I wanted to love it so very badly. I mean it sounded right up my alley and I was reading it as my ‘scary read’ for October so I was even more disappointed in it. At the time I wanted to read her other novel, The Thirteenth Tale, but I was just so let down that I didn’t want to risk being disappointed again. So flash forward five years…..since reading this Bellman & Black, I have thought of her…
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Review: The Little Shop of Found Things (The Little Shop of Found Things #1) by Paula Brackston
Paula Brackston has been a favorite writer of mine for a while now. I have read almost all of her ‘witch’ novels and I love them! She has such a nice voice in her stories and I love the mixture of magic and realism. When this book came up for review, I was so excited to read it. I loved the cover and the title so much. It looked like something that I was going to be an instant favorite in my magical realism category. Xanthe and her mother Flora leave London behind for a fresh start, taking over an antique shop in the historic town of Marlborough. Xanthe has…
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Review: The Gold Pawn (Art Deco Mystery #2) by L.A. Chandlar
This was a series that I hadn’t heard anything about. The author and the series were completely new to me but I fell in love with the cover and was eager to see what it was about. I am always on the look out for new historical mysteries and Kensington Books have a slew of authors that I have come to enjoy over the years. November 1936. Mayor La Guardia’s political future buckles under a missing persons case in New York City. Simultaneously, Lane unravels devastating secrets in the outskirts of Detroit. As two crimes converge, judging friends from enemies can be a dangerous game . . . Finally summoning…