Category: Historical Mystery

Review: The Mudlark Murders by Lana Williams

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Historical Mystery, Part of a Series, Victorian Era (1837-1901)Leave a comment

The Mudlark Murders: A Victorian Historical Murder Mystery (The Field & Greystone Series Book 2)

Barbara’s rating: 4 out of 5 Stars
Series: The Field & Greystone Series
Publication Date: 11/26/24
Period: Victorian London – 1883

This author may be new to writing mysteries, but she has brought over every ounce of her enviable writing abilities. The Mudlark Murders is the second captivating and intriguing mystery in her new Field & Greystone series featuring Scotland Yard Inspector Henry Field and widowed Amelia Greystone. Field and Greystone are interesting and relatable characters with a dynamic interpersonal relationship – dare we hope there is a budding romance there?

Amelia is interviewing barge captain Booth for an article she is writing for London Life when two young children discover a body along the shore. The two children are mudlarks – and the body belongs to their young friend and fellow mudlark, Nora. Nora was fine the day before, how could she suddenly be dead? There are no wounds, but she appears to have flecks of throw-up on her lip and shoe. Poison? Who would poison a defenseless child?

When Scotland Yard declines to open a case – because – well – poor, powerless, child – Henry knows he has to investigate on his own time. Amelia also wants to do her share and they stir the hornet’s nest between them. With another death, the solution becomes more urgent. Who might be next?

This is an intriguing read with nefarious government organizations, disappearing children, and murder. With other children and even Amelia in the murderer’s cross-hairs, they know they have to move quickly.

I enjoyed the excellently done mystery, the hints of romance to come, and the cast of characters. I also enjoyed Sergeant Adam Fletcher’s return and assume he will continue to be a supporting character.

If you want an interesting, well-written mystery with a tad of romance, this might be the book for you. I’m looking forward to seeing Amelia and Henry’s romance blossom, and to seeing them solve many more excellent mysteries.

I voluntarily read an early copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Review: All’s Fair In Love and Treachery by Celeste Connally

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Historical Mystery, Part of a Series, Regency Era (1811-1820)Leave a comment

All's Fair in Love and Treachery (Lady Petra Inquires, #2)

Barbara’s rating: 3.5
Series: Lady Petra Inquiries #2
Publication Date: 11/12/24
Period: Regency London
Number of Pages: 320

At the conclusion of the first book in the series, I was very iffy about whether I wanted to read any more books in this series. I couldn’t come to love Petra and the story was much too modern for my taste. Not to mention that Petra was presented as very astute – but she did so very many TSTL things that I just couldn’t really get into it. Fast forward to this book and the author has made Petra more likable and she only did a couple of TSTL things. The story is still very ‘contemporary’ in feel, but it was a bit more tolerable this time. So, what am I saying? I’m saying I liked this book better than the first one and will probably try the third to see if the trend continues.

In this story, we have three mysteries to solve. The first is the death of Petra’s fiancé, Emerson, three years ago. She thought it was an accident, but it turns out it was murder and she is convinced that Duncan Shawcross is the murderer. Sadly, she has come to love Duncan and that breaks her heart. The second mystery is the murder of the Matron of the Asylum for Female Orphans. Who could have done that – and what happened to the inheritances of some of the young women at the school? The third mystery is one Duncan is tasked with solving. He is to infiltrate, identify, and bring to justice the members of the group known as the Bellowers who are agitating for the violent overthrow of the monarchy. OMGoodness – What a busy few days for our cast of characters.

Obviously, all of these cases are related and Duncan and Petra will have to work together to get the maximum results. Although Duncan continually withholds information from Petra, she ends up getting the same information from different sources until he finally realizes he should just give it up and share. The mysteries are good, and the solutions are logical, but you have to work through the characters to get there.

I enjoyed seeing Petra again and I was pleased to find that I liked her better. It was nice to see that Duncan and his brother had grown closer and it was nice to see the high level of involvement Petra’s friends Caroline, Annie, Frances, Lottie, and the street urchin Teddy. I also liked Nell and it will be interesting to see if she makes other appearances.

Overall, it was a fast-paced mystery with a wide cast of heroes and villains and you have to figure out which is which before you can solve all three mysteries. I was afraid we’d be left with a bit of a cliffhanger, but the author closed it all up and tied a nice neat bow around it.

I voluntarily read an early copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.