Author: Barbara

Avid reader/reviewer of historical romance and historical mysteries.

How to Catch A Duke by Grace Burrowes

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Georgian Era (1714-1837)1 Comment

How to Catch a Duke (Rogues to Riches, #6)Barbara’s rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Series: Rogues to Riches #6
Publication Date: 4//13/21
Number of Pages: 368

Grace Burrowes writing is always excellent and I always enjoy her stories. I have read almost everything she’s written, and I think this may be my least favorite. That may be because I have been waiting for Stephen’s story since the beginning of the series and it just wasn’t what I’d imagined for him. Then, add to that the cavalier way the story treated bisexuality during a time when it could get you HANGED, it just didn’t sit well. It wasn’t that I minded the bisexuality – it was that nobody thought anything about it – nobody was careful about mentioning it – and everybody seemed to be bisexual. I’m pretty sure that if I lived during that time and I was bisexual, I would most definitely NOT be discussing it with anyone – much less everyone. Because I wouldn’t care to be hanged. Also, I think bisexuality was just gratuitous to be politically correct. It added nothing to the story and didn’t move the plot along in any way.

As I mentioned above, we’ve met Stephen before, but we have also met Abigail Abbott before as well. Abigail Abbott is the plain-speaking, Quakerish, no-nonsense inquiry agent who helped the family earlier in another book. Stephen and Abigail met then, so he was pleased to see her when she showed up at his residence until she asked him to murder her. Oh! My Goodness! But, she didn’t actually want him to murder her – she just wanted him to help her disappear and for it to appear she had died. Someone is pursuing her – and she doesn’t know what lengths they’ll go to to get what they want from her. She knows WHO is after her and he’s a rich and powerful peer. She just doesn’t understand WHY exactly. She knows a lot more than she’ll tell Stephen, he doesn’t need to know all of that – he just needs to help her die.

Stephen, of course, has no intention of helping her die – pretend or otherwise. Since his family is powerful and they all outrank the peer who is causing the problem, he offers an alternative. He will court her – and she will stay in his brother’s home where she’ll be well protected.

Unlike some other reviewers, I actually liked Abigail for Stephen. She was no-nonsense, she was plain-spoken and direct, his disability didn’t bother her at all and she was able to physically offset his disability when needed. I wasn’t a big fan of her big ‘sacrifice’ at the end because it didn’t seem, to me, to go along with her no-nonsense, plain-spoken personality.

Overall, I enjoyed the story, but I don’t think I’d read it a second time.

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

What The Devil Knows by C.S. Harris – Blog Tour

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Blog Tour, Historical Mystery, Regency Era (1811-1820), Top Pick - Highly RecommendedLeave a comment
Releases April 6, 2021

About The Book

Sebastian St. Cyr thought a notorious killer had been brought to justice until a shocking series of gruesome new murders stuns the city in this thrilling historical mystery from the USA Today bestselling author of Who Speaks for the Damned.

It’s October 1814. The war with France is finally over and Europe’s diplomats are convening in Vienna for a conference that will put their world back together. With peace finally at hand, London suddenly finds itself in the grip of a series of heinous murders eerily similar to the Ratcliffe Highway murders of three years before. 

In 1811, two entire families were viciously murdered in their homes. A suspect–a young seaman named John Williams–was arrested. But before he could be brought to trial, Williams hanged himself in his cell. The murders ceased, and London slowly began to breathe easier. But when the lead investigator, Sir Edwin Pym, is killed in the same brutal way three years later and others possibly connected to the original case meet violent ends, the city is paralyzed with terror once more. 

Was the wrong man arrested for the murders? Bow Street magistrate Sir Henry Lovejoy turns to his friend Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, for assistance. Pym’s colleagues are convinced his manner of death is a coincidence, but Sebastian has his doubts. The more he looks into the three-year-old murders, the more certain he becomes that the hapless John Williams was not the real killer. Which begs the question–who was and why are they dead set on killing again?

Barbara’s Review – 5 STARS

Long before Victorian London had Jack the Ripper, Regency London had the Ratcliffe Highway murders.  Two families, seven people including a 3-month-old baby were brutally murdered.  The culprit was caught and he hung himself in his jail cell.  Three years later there is another murder that is the same as those from Ratcliffe Highway – and then another, and then another.  Did they get the wrong murderer three years ago?  Did that murderer have a partner who is now killing again?  Is it a copyist who is doing the murders?  Sebastian has a very dangerous task ahead of him, but he must sort out all of the players and their various roles from three-years ago and now. 

When the body of Sir Edward Pym is found in a filthy alley where his throat had been cut and his head bashed in, Sir Henry Lovejoy, a Bow Street Magistrate, immediately seeks the aid of his friend Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin.  Edward Pym was one of the magistrates responsible for the solution to the Ratcliffe Highway murders.  As Devlin investigates, he discovers that there was another recent murder that was committed in the same manner.  Devlin is pretty sure that the current murders are related to those of three-years ago – and after Mr. Nathan Cockerwell, another magistrate, is found murdered in the same manner, Devlin is positive they have to be connected.

There are many factions at work and some very powerful people want things their own way.  Are they involved in both sets of crime?  With so many undercurrents and factions involved, it is like a bowl of spaghetti for Devlin to unravel.  So many innocent victims – so many guilty victims – what a tangled web. 

Many other things are going on in Devlin’s life as well – some are tangentially related to the case and some are not.  Devlin gets some new information on his missing mother’s whereabouts; Hero and Simon are in danger when someone breaks into their home; Jarvis makes a huge announcement; There is a new addition (or two) to the St. Cyr family.  I’m very curious to see what is going to happen with Mrs. Victoria Hart-Davis and I wonder if Jarvis will survive it. 

This is a really exciting read and I couldn’t put it down.  The writing, as always was excellently done, the pacing was perfect and the mystery was riveting.  Just when you think you are sure you know what happened – a new fact drops in your lap or the investigation heads off in a different direction.

I definitely recommend this book – and this series – and I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did.

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

About The Author

C.S. Harris is the USA Today bestselling author of more than twenty-five novels, including the Sebastian St. Cyr mystery series; as C. S. Graham, a thriller series coauthored by former intelligence officer Steven Harris; and seven award-winning historical romances written under the name Candice Proctor.

Photo By: Samantha Brown