Category: Historical Mystery

A Deadly Affair by Carla Simpson

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

A Deadly Affair (Angus Brodie & Mikaela Forsythe #1)

Barbara’s rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Series: Angus Brodie & Mikaela Forsythe #1
Publication Date: 7/19/22
Period: Victorian London (1889)
Number of Pages: 326

This is the first book I’ve read by this author, but I can assure you it won’t be the last. I love historical mysteries, and this one was first-rate. How could you go wrong when you have a willful, intelligent, self-reliant, female author and a strong, masculine, stubborn, protective Scot squaring off against each other while also accompanied by a former soldier who has no legs, a strong-minded dog, and an actress who is very eccentric (she has a pet Iguana)? My only complaint about the book is that it has such a very long series title – so, you can tell I really didn’t find anything wrong at all.

Mikaela Forsythe is a strong, intelligent, and very independent woman – who just happens to also write adventure novels loosely based upon her own travels and adventures. As part of those adventures, she’s learned many ways to defend herself with weapons and without. Therefore, when she learns her sister has gone missing, she knows she’s just the one to find her. Being an intelligent woman, she knows she also needs someone who is knowledgeable in the process of investigation. The aunt who raised her highly recommends Angus Brodie, Private Investigator – so – off she goes to obtain his services.

Angus Brodie came up from the streets to become an Inspector with the Metropolitan Police but then parted ways with them under a cloud. He now has offices and living accommodations in an area that isn’t quite the best part of London and seems to spend a lot of his time with wine, women, and song. He’s not inclined to help Mikaela until she tells him her aunt sent her. It would seem Angus Brodie and her aunt have had dealings before and he’s kindly disposed to help her when he can. So, a partnership of sorts is formed – although it might be a bit fraught with disagreements – loud disagreements.

Brodie and Mikaela are often at loggerheads with each other, but they each quickly learn to respect the other’s talents and they’ll quickly need all of the talents each of them possesses. As we move from kidnapping, to murder, to more murders, to civil unrest, and anarchy, our protagonists have to call on every resource they can find. Can they solve the murders? Will they find Mikaela’s missing sister? Who are those shadowy, shady characters who seem to be showing up wherever Mikaela is? Are the Royals involved? OMGoodness! So many questions, so much intrigue, so much action and you’ll just have to read the book to find all of those answers!

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. It was lively, entertaining, and contained just the right amount of wit and humor to lighten those much more serious scenes. I am thoroughly looking forward to the next book in the series – which, by the way, is nicely set up at the end of this one. You’ll come to really like all of the characters as well as the excellent writing style of the author, and the pacing of the story.

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Covert In Cairo by Kelly Oliver – #BlogTour

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Blog Tour, Historical Mystery, Part of a Series, World War I Era (1914-1920)Leave a comment

Book Blurb

Cairo. December 1917.

Following a tip-off from notorious spy Fredrick Fredricks, Fiona Figg and Kitty Lane of British Intelligence find themselves in the hustle and bustle of Egypt. But ancient mummies aren’t the only bodies buried in the tombs of Cairo.

When a young French archeologist is found dead in a tomb in the desert with his head bashed in, and an undercover British agent goes missing, the threat moves closer to home.

As they dig deeper, soon Fiona and Kitty uncover a treasure trove of suspects, including competing excavators, jealous husbands, secret lovers, and belligerent spies! Fiona wonders if the notorious Fredrick Fredricks could be behind the murders? Or is the plot even more sinister?

One thing is clear – If Fiona and Kitty can’t catch the killer, they might end up sharing a sarcophagus with Nefertiti.

With humor as dry as the Arabian desert, and pacing as fast as a spitting camel, Fiona and Kitty are back in another sparkling adventure, this time in WW1 Egypt.

Purchase Link – https://amzn.to/3iB6WGd

Author Bio

Kelly Oliver is the award-winning, bestselling author of three mysteries series: The Jessica James Mysteries, The Pet Detective Mysteries, and the historical cozies The Fiona Figg Mysteries, set in WW1. She is also the Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at Vanderbilt University and lives in Nashville, Tennessee. She is bringing new titles in the Fiona Figg series to Boldwood, the first of which, Chaos in Carnegie Hall, will be published in November 2022.

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Barbara’s Review

Covert in Cairo

My Rating – 3.5 of 5 Stars – Rounded up to 4 on review websites

I have not read the first book in the series, so I don’t know how the elusive master spy, Frederick Fredericks became aware of and fixated upon Fiona Figg who is the head file clerk for the codebreakers at British Intelligence headquarters in London. However, he is definitely fixated and ‘invites’ her to various places to ‘find’ him, and British Intelligence recruits her into their ‘spy’ ranks – temporarily – to finally capture the elusive German spy. However, being a female, they cannot allow her to travel alone, so they provide her with a chaperone of sorts – Captain Clifford Douglas. To add insult to injury, they also saddle her with the Head of British Intelligence’s ward, eighteen-year-old Kitty Lane. Kitty, however, isn’t at all what she appears to be and small bits and pieces of her skills and talents come out during the story. I’m sure we’ll learn lots more about those skills she learned in her ‘boarding school’ in France as the series moves forward.

In this book, Frederick Fredericks lured Fiona and her team to Cairo with hints that the Suez Canal will be blown up. Cairo is a hotbed of all kinds of intrigue – spies from every nation as well as those individuals involved in the illegal trading and selling of Egypt’s antiquities. Whatever happened, there were plenty of suspects around to put the blame on – especially Frederick Fredericks. As bodies begin to fall and Fiona and her team are attacked at various times, the clues just aren’t adding up. Are they looking for a plot by German spies to blow up the Suez or is it the antiquities thieves? Both? Whatever it is, they need to find out quickly before they are killed or Fiona is jailed for murder.

I saw some of the humorous moments in the book where Fiona had to ride a spitting camel, or a recalcitrant donkey, as well as foiling the fox hunt with an old fox stole. So, yes, there are humorous moments, but I didn’t find it laugh-out-loud funny. Perhaps that is just my sense of humor kicking in (or not), so take it for what it is worth. However, what caused my rating was the fact that I just didn’t like Fiona. She always came off sounding very superior and I really disliked the way she always referred to Kitty as ‘the girl’. Then, there was the utter disrespect she showed to Clifford Douglas.

I thoroughly enjoyed the mystery, which is why I rounded the star rating up rather than down. I really liked Kitty and would love to know more about her and her ‘skills’. She could turn out to be the most delightful character of the series – along with her delightful and smart dog, Poppy.

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

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