Author: Barbara

Avid reader/reviewer of historical romance and historical mysteries.

#Blog Tour – Flora Flowerdew and the Mystery of the Duke’s Diamonds by Amanda McCabe

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Blog Tour, Historical Mystery, Paranormal / Fantasy, Part of a Series, Victorian Era (1837-1901)Leave a comment
Release Date: 8/16/22

About the Book:

Flora Flowerdew has a secret. The former Florrie Gubbins, music hall dancer, is now Madame Flowerdew, one of London’s most renowned spirit mediums. But it’s actually her beloved Pomeranian dog, Chou-Chou, who can see the ghosts.

One of her most lucrative seances, for the wealthy Petrie family whose daughter is about to marry a handsome young duke, goes chaotically awry. The duke’s late, and very irate, grandfather demands Flora and his grandson Benedict find the long-missing family diamonds—even the search becomes littered with mayhem and murder! Can Flora discover the jewels before she loses her career, her sanity—and her heart?

Sparks fly as Flora, Benedict, and Chou-Chou pursue the truth of the diamonds’ disappearance in this lighthearted, cozy historical mystery set in foggy, gas-lit London

Purchase Links

Giveaway

Giveaway to Win an e-copy of Flora Flowerdew and the Mystery of the Duke’s Diamonds & a Victorian necklace (Open to US Only)

*Terms and Conditions –US entries welcome.  Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below.  The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over.  Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will be passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfillment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data.  I am not responsible for the despatch or delivery of the prize.

Click the Link Below To Enter

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/33c69494520/?

Barbara’s Review

I wanted to read this book because, with a name like Flora Flowerdew, I just knew it was going to be humorous. While it didn’t turn out to be really laugh-out-loud humorous, it was still entertaining and I enjoyed the read. How could you not find a former showgirl who decides to be a ‘medium’, a Pomeranian who really does sense ghosts, a girl who wants to get out of a betrothal to a duke, and a duke whose family diamonds are missing – to be totally entertaining?

Flora Flowerdew, formerly chorus girl Florrie Gubbins, has made a good life for herself as a medium. She makes enough money to afford a nice flat in a good neighborhood and she genuinely helps her clients. Her Pomeranian, Chou Chou sometimes gets a hair-raising when a real ghost might be present, but Flora hasn’t seen one – yet. That all changes when she agrees to do a séance for the Petrie family – A baron, his wife, his pretty daughter, and his spinster sister. The baron wants some assurance that his daughter will have a happy life if she marries the duke who has been courting her.

The séance goes well – until – a REAL ghost makes an appearance. It is the very angry ghost of the duke’s grandfather. He is whirling around the room upsetting tables, candles, glassware, etc., and shouting that his family is cursed and the diamonds must be found. Then – whoosh – he’s gone and the room is quiet again.

Flora realizes she is going to have to solve the mystery if she wants to save her reputation and continue to make a good living as a medium. After all, what client would want to do a séance with a medium who can’t control her ghosts?

The duke and Flora begin visiting anyone who knows any of the duke’s family history. The more they learn, the more confused they become. Is the duke’s father really dead? Then, there is a murder and they know things have to speed up. There are hints dropped throughout the book that will tell you who the villain is – if you follow them and put them together.

There is a nice supporting cast of characters in the book, and I would hope they will continue throughout the series. There is the duke, of course, and I really liked him; Mary, Flora’s maid started on the East End streets just as Flora did; and Evie a reporter who is a whiz at digging up information from old newspaper files. It will be interesting to see if a romance develops between Flora and the duke because they seem attracted to each other despite the differences in their stations in life.

I certainly enjoyed this nicely written story and will be looking forward to the next one in the series.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced e-Reader Copy (eARC) of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

About the Author:

Amanda McCabe wrote her first romance at the age of sixteen–a vast historical epic starring all her friends as the characters, written secretly during algebra class (and her parents wondered why math was not her strongest subject…)

She’s never since used algebra, but her books (set in a variety of time periods–Regency, Victorian, Tudor, Renaissance, and 1920s) have been nominated for many awards, including the RITA Award, the Romantic Times BOOKReviews Reviewers’ Choice Award, the Booksellers Best, the National Readers Choice Award, and the Holt Medallion. She lives in New Mexico with her lovely husband, along with far too many books and a spoiled rescue dog.

When not writing or reading, she loves yoga, collecting cheesy travel souvenirs, and watching the Food Network–even though she doesn’t cook. She also writes as Amanda Allen…

Please visit her at http://ammandamccabe.com

Social Media Links –

Desperation In Death by J.D. Robb

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Futuristic, Mystery, Part of a SeriesLeave a comment

Desperation in Death (In Death, #55)Barbara’s rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Series: In Death #55
Publication Date: 9/6/22
Period: Future New York – 2061
Number of Pages: 368

OMGoodness! This 55th addition to the series is just as fresh, thrilling, engrossing, and suspenseful as the first one. The characters are some of the most intriguing and interesting I’ve ever read and they grow personally and professionally with each new book. You also couldn’t ask for a better cast of supporting characters – from the hard-hitting reporter, Nadine Frist, to the ebullient singer, Mavis Freestone, to the cops in Eve’s squad at Cop Central, they are all outstanding. I really enjoyed this story because all of those supporting characters – and more – played key parts in solving the mystery and taking the bad guys down. I have read every book in the series – some of them several times – and there isn’t a clinker in the bunch!

The Pleasure Academy has been in the business of kidnapping young girls for many years. Once the girls are imprisoned within the academy, they are ‘trained’ to service the gentlemen who will eventually purchase them. There is no escape for the girls – no windows to climb out, no doors they can leave through. They either comply with the training or suffer very severe consequences. The Academy has survived all of these years because they are smart – very smart – with how they acquire the girls. They have tentacles all over the world and they never take from the same place – at least not close together. There is no single police force that has ever recognized the larger picture. Each force investigates its own kidnappings – with many thinking the girls have just run away. Then, the Academy makes a huge error. Two of the girls manage to figure a way to escape – one of them dies for it – and Lt. Eve Dallas catches her case.

From the beginning, things just don’t add up for Eve. This child had to have been well cared for, but she’s been missing for several months. Her hair is perfectly styled with expensive products – even her nails are perfectly manicured. But then, there is the sexy undergarments. Why would this young girl be wearing expensive silk underthings? When Eve identifies the girl as Mina Rose Cabot, a child missing from Devon, Pennsylvania – a child who was much loved – Eve knows she isn’t just looking for a murderer – she’s looking for a child abductor. There is a second set of bloodstains on Mina, and they belong to Dorian Gregg, a runaway from Freehold, New Jersey. Is Dorian lying dead somewhere and just hasn’t been found yet? Is she injured? Was she recaptured? Or, is she the one who took Mina’s life?

Eve, Roarke, Peabody, and the rest of the team put their laser focus on finding these child abductors and murderers only to learn that the operation is so much larger than they could ever have imagined. Eve and Roarke struggle with emotional issues as they work through the case – after all – what these children are going through is very similar to both of their backgrounds as children. That, of course, only makes them that much more determined to solve the case.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough. I believe it is one of my favorites of the series and I am quite sure it is one I’ll read again and again.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

View all my reviews