I Spy With My Little Die by Helen Golden – #BlogTour

About The Book

Uncovering a web of conspiracy that intertwines past and present, can Lady Beatrice and DCI Richard Fitzwilliam catch a killer and unveil the truth of her husband’s death at long last?

BREAKING NEWS Second Senior Police Officer Dies Within a Week

A senior officer from the Protection and Investigations (Royal) Services died unexpectedly yesterday. His death comes hot on the heels of Detective Inspector Ethan Preece (43) from City Police, who died of a suspected heart attack last week. Although he’s not yet been named, the dead officer was a greatly respected public figure, who had served in policing for over thirty years. A PaIRS spokesperson has confirmed that ‘neither men’s death is being treated as suspicious at this time’.

 With the senior PaIRS officer dead, so is any hope of reopening the inquiry into Lady Beatrice’s husband’s accident fifteen years ago. Unless, of course, there is something that links the two men to the Earl’s fatal car crash?

 Can she and Fitzwilliam, along with their friends, work together to unravel the mystery and catch a killer before the truth is buried forever?

Purchase Links

Amazon – UK

Amazon – US

Author Bio

Hello. I’m Helen Golden. I write British contemporary cozy whodunnits with a hint of humour. I live in a small village in Lincolnshire in the UK with my husband, my step-daughter, her two cats, our two dogs, sometimes my step-son, and our tortoise.

I used to work in senior management, but after my recent job came to a natural end I had the opportunity to follow my dreams and start writing. It’s very early in my life as an author, but so far I’m loving it.

It’s crazy busy at our house, so when I’m writing I retreat to our caravan (an impulsive lockdown purchase) which is mostly parked on our drive. When I really need total peace and quiet, I take it to a lovely site about 15 minutes away and hide there until my family runs out of food or clean clothes

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Barbara’s Review

This is definitely my favorite book of the series so far. Things are going off in every direction and you’ll need your head on a swivel to keep up. It is interesting, engaging, exciting, and a tad bittersweet for Lady Beatrice. With murders, spies, cartels, and things from the past to swat at you, you’ll be so engrossed you’ll lose all track of time.

One of my favorite things is that it was more of an ensemble cast this time around. It wasn’t Lady Beatrice and Perry Juke stumbling across a dead body and then running roughshod over the police investigation to solve the crime themselves. As a matter of fact, this book probably gave Detective Chief Inspector Richard Fitzwilliam as much page time as Lady Beatrice – and their relationship was actually cordial rather than adversarial. I am delighted to see the burgeoning relationship between the two and will be happy to see where it leads.

City Police Detective Inspector Ethan Preece was shot (wounded) during a protection detail for a member of the royal family – but then – he was murdered in his hospital bed. Not many days later, a senior officer with the PaIRS, Protection and Investigations (Royal) Services, was also murdered. DCI Richard Fitzwilliam doesn’t like coincidences, and two police inspectors being murdered within such a short time is just too much of a coincidence for them not to be related. But how? They didn’t work in the same departments. They weren’t friends, though they’d been in the same department many years ago. Fitzwilliam is pretty sure he isn’t going to like the answers when he finds them. He sure is right about that!

Lady Beatrice is interested in the investigation but sees no reason to be involved in it. Except, both of the men were involved in the investigation of her husband’s death more than fifteen years earlier. She’s never been at ease with that investigation and has sought more and more information as the years have passed – but now, with those two officers gone, her inquiries are also at a dead end.

Lady Beatrice, Perry Juke, and Simon Lattimore make a formidable investigating team in this series – and they continue in this book. They are also joined by Emma and Izzy McKeer-Adler whom we’ve also previously met. We also have a short visit with Brett Goodman of the CIA whom we met in the last book. DCI Fitzwilliam and Detective Sergeant Spicer round out the crew along with a new character, Detective Sergeant Hardwick. Can that illustrious lot of folks put the clues together, identify the bad guys, and then thwart them? You bet they can – and they do. Goodness, what an ending!

I can definitely recommend this exciting, well-written, nicely-paced book. If you love a good mystery, red herrings, and seeing the bad guys get their comeuppance, this book is for you.

Does Beatrice get her answers or is this the end of her chance to do so? After all these years, does it really matter? You’ll just need to read the book to see.

Happy Reading!

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

The Queen and the Knave by Sarah M. Eden

The Queen and the Knave (The Dread Penny Society, #5)The Queen and the Knave by Sarah M. Eden

Tracy’s rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: The Dread Penny Society, #5

Release Date: September 5, 2023

Picking up where the previous book ended, Moirin Donnelly, the Dread Master, is frantic to save her members from the Tempest and to stop the woman’s reign of terror. But unfortunately for Moirin, it seems like the Tempest is always one step of her and when her members begin to disappear, is clear that she is going to need help. She trusts Constable Fitz Parkington, to an extent, but Moirin has secrets that could destroy her and by association Fitz, so despite the attraction she feels for him, the risk to both of them is too great. But before she can even worry about that, she needs to stop the Tempest before she kills any of her “dreads.

Fitzgerald “Fitz” Parkington, has finally been promoted to the Detective Division of Scotland Yard and hopes that the promotion will enable him to finally find out what happened to his grandfather twenty years ago, who disappeared without a trace and left nine-year-old Fitz all alone and homeless. But before he can even start looking into that matter, he finds himself pulled into the troubles of the DPS and the Tempest. For years he has been helping the members, but recently Moirin has been holding his attention, he knows she is keeping secrets, but he isn’t sure he cares. And if they survive the coming storm, he plans to prove it to her.

This installment of The Dread Penny Society is the climax of the story that has been building since the first book. Personally, I wouldn’t classify this book as a Historical Romance, it is more mystery and historical fiction, with just a hint of a romantic connection between Moirin and Fitz, but that hint is potent, and while the book has a happy ending, I wouldn’t call it a “happily ever after” at least not for Moirin and Fitz as a couple. As with the previous books, there are two Penny Dreadful novellas interwoven into the book and as with the previous books, I skipped over them while reading the story and read them after I finished the book. For me, reading them as they are placed is distracting and breaks the flow of the actual story – but they are delightful additions and are not to be missed! This is the fifth book in the series and I strongly suggest reading the books in order, because they are definitely not standalone titles.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher. All opinions in this review are my own.*