Tag: Mystery

Books, Reading

Special Feature and Excerpt: Mrs. England by Stacey Halls

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Special Feature and Excerpt: Mrs. England by Stacey Halls

You all know how much I love a great Edwardian era historical fiction book right?! There aren’t many out there that purely focus on the Edwardian era, most start with late Victorian or Great War and just skip right on over the Edwardian era all together. That was one of the reasons this book stood out to me since it is actually set in my favorite era plus it has some Gothic elements—absolutely sold. This book focuses on specifically the Edwardian era marriage and I am so looking forward to reading this one! It’s been getting lots of rave review and I have it added to my TBR for later this spring.

This book has mystery, romance, gothic goodness and history all promised in its description and I am absolutely here for it. I have a lovely excerpt to share with you guys today and I loved reading it so I hope you all do as well. Author Stacey Halls has written The Familiars and The Lost Orphan which I read a couple of years ago and really enjoyed!

I think Halls has a wonderful gift for telling atmospheric historical fiction with lots of attention to detail! I am really looking forward to this latest book and after reading some of the early reviews I am even more excited to check it out. If like me, you are a fan of the Gothic with history mixed in then you will want to grab this one for you spring reading. Set in the Yorkshire moors, this is going to be an eerie read with lots to devour no doubt! Be sure to keep reading for an excerpt of this sunning new historical fiction read! I love how it’s described as a slow burn menace—I am already hooked and I haven’t even started reading it yet!

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Books, Reading

Special Feature: Three Debts Paid (Daniel Pitt #5) by Anne Perry

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Special Feature: Three Debts Paid (Daniel Pitt #5) by Anne Perry

Historical mystery serial killer themed by Anne Perry? Need I say more?! Anne Perry is a rather prolific writer with a large fan following and multiple series under her belt. I have read some of her mysteries and found them smart, well written, and interesting. I wish I had found her books early on in my reading career since there are just so many great ones to choose from!

This latest book is from the Daniel Pitt series which isn’t too many books into the series (only five at this point!). I have skipped around with Perry’s books and series and I always feel like she does a good job catching readers up to speed with the main characters and their relationships as well as other larger plot points in the larger series not just for the immediate book. So I would feel comfortable saying new readers of Perry’s books could likely pick up any book in the series and feel fairly caught up and able to dive in to enjoy a great mystery.

The thing that appealed about this one to me was the serial killer plot. I think serial killer stories are always so fascinating and I am so excited to see how this one plays out in a historical mystery setting. It also sound like there is going to be an interesting character study and room for character growth in this one with the lead protagonist Daniel Pitt having to deal with a potential killer who is also a respected friend. I love when there are stories like this where the main character has to try and remain objective—it always makes for great character building in novels! This one is out now so if you love historical mysteries this might be the book you are looking for!

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Book Critic, Book Review, Books, Literary Criticism, Reading

Review: When Blood Lies (Sebastian St Cyr #17) by C. S. Harris

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Review: When Blood Lies (Sebastian St Cyr #17) by C. S. Harris

The Sebastian St Cyr mystery series has been a favorite of mine for quite some time. I started off reading the series randomly and our of order and then I went back and started from the beginning and read them all again in order. I absolutely love this series even if at times it feels a little scripted meaning it follows a formula. I still have loved the mysteries and characters so much and every time I see a new book is coming out I absolutely rearrange my calendar for it!

If you like smart historical mysteries with some grit that doesn’t transition over into ‘disturbing’ then this is a great series for you. As I said, I have read the books out of order and was ok, however I did feel like I connected with the characters and the larger narrative much better after reading the series beginning to end. If you haven’t read the series beginning to end but maybe most of the book then you should be ok with this one, however if you haven’t read the other books at all, I would say this probably isn’t the one you want to start with.

This book focuses on Sebastian’s own family history that has been teased through a number of other books in the series. It’s basically what I would call the ‘ultimate’ mystery for Sebastian and the larger narrative. So if you haven’t read all of the books you can probably get by with having only read a few but if you haven’t read any then I think new readers will be lost in this book or at the very least miss all the nuances and significances of the story.

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Books, Reading

Special Feature: The Shop on Royal Street (Royal Street #1) by Karen White

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Special Feature: The Shop on Royal Street (Royal Street #1) by Karen White

I absolutely loved Karen White’s Tradd Street series, while I haven’t read every single one of them, the one’s that I have read were so cute. I do think that the series would be more enjoyable in order but overall it was fine to read out of order. Through the books though we meet a host of fun secondary characters which become the inspiration for this new series.

The Tradd Street series came to an end earlier this year so when I saw that White was coming out with a new series based on some of the Tradd Street characters I was so excited. Since I have jumped around in the principal series, I was so excited to begin a new series at its inception. I have this one on my TBR for a little later this spring and I cannot wait!

If you love cozy, well written mysteries with a little paranormal written in then this will be a good choice for you! White is such a talented writer. Not only does she has a wonderful mystery series in the Tradd Stree novels but she also writes collaborative historical fiction (some of my favs!) and a few stand alone novels. She is a prolific writer with what I call ‘range’. She always crafts well written stories and mysteries so you can’t go wrong picking up one of her books. I have enjoyed each and every book I have read by White! Be sure to get this new cozy mystery series on your radar for the spring!

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Book Critic, Book Review, Books, Literary Criticism, Reading

Review: As Good As Dead (A Good Girls’ Guide to Murder #3) by Holly Jackson

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Review: As Good As Dead (A Good Girls’ Guide to Murder #3) by Holly Jackson

Say hello to the worst book I have read this year—-and frankly, the last decade. I have had books that I did not finish and books that just left me feeling lukewarm or even disappointed but none have left me feeling absolute shock and frustration. The second book in the series had me feeling a little bland about Pip as a main character so when this one came out, I wasn’t really chomping at the bit to read it but a friend of mine read it and basically said it was awful but she wanted to discuss with someone—-so here we are, thank you peer pressure.

As you move into reading my review of this one, know that I normally don’t post spoilers but frankly there is no way around that for this review. If you haven’t read the other books or you are planning on reading this one you might want to skip my review all together as there WILL be spoilers. So consider yourself warned.

Normally, if I am not feeling a book, I usually set it down and shelf it as DNF, but in this case there was just so much wrong with this book that I felt obligated to read until the end with the hope that it would improve but sadly it did not. I also try to refrain from fully ripping a book as I try to be respectful of authors and their creative license, and that still remains true in this case, there are good points but they did not balance out enough for me to even remotely enjoy this final installment.

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