A Distant Voice by Neil Richards and Matthew Costello

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Historical Mystery, Interwar Period (Nov 1918 - Sep 1939)Leave a comment

A Distant Voice (Mydworth Mysteries #9)A Distant Voice by Matthew Costello
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Barbara’s Rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Series: Mydworth Mysteries #9
Publication Date: 7/30/21
Period: Intra-war – Mydworth – ~ 1917-1919

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is a well-written, fast-paced, well-done mystery, and the characters are well-developed and likable. You’ll know who the charlatan is right from the start, but you won’t know the why or the how until the end. When you add in the wonderful descriptions of the small village of Mydworth and its citizens, you’ll feel as if you are right there with Kat and Sir Harry every step of the way.

Alice Wetherby seems to be someone who was just waiting to be exploited in some way. She is easily led and fairly easily deceived. So, when Bellamy Smythe facilitated her ‘speaking’ to her deceased father, she was a bit skeptical, but soon believed it – hook, line, and sinker. She is poor as a church mouse, so Bellamy wouldn’t have any reason to ‘con’ her or deceive her. Would he? Surely not. No, her home, the Grange, is rotting down around her – if she had money, she’d at least rid the house of the cobwebs, spiders, and mice.

Kat Reilly, Lady Mortimer, and Sir Harry Mortimer are former ‘operatives’ for their respective governments — Kat for the United States, and Sir Harry for Great Britain. Since their marriage and ‘retirement’ from the government, they have been living in Sir Harry’s home village of Mydworth. New Yorker Kat wasn’t sure how she’d adjust to small-town life, but she’s loving it so far, and now they’ve been asked by a friend to assure that Bellamy Smythe isn’t out to defraud Alice.

Kat and Harry begin to investigate and quickly learn Bellamy has pulled some shenanigans, but knowing it and proving it are two different things. They don’t just want Bellamy, they want to discover how he is getting his information about his marks. There must be more than just Bellamy involved, but they’ll have a devil of a time discovering who is discovering and passing on such personal information.

Once the mystery is solved – and the culprits identified – will Kat and Harry be able to save Alice? Will they even be able to save themselves? You’ll just have to read this entertaining book to find the answers.

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Highland Thief by Alyson McLayne

On By TracyIn Medieval (1066-1540), Middle Ages / Medieval (476-1454), Scottish/Highlander, Tracy's ReviewsLeave a comment

Highland Thief (The Sons of Gregor MacLeod, #5)Highland Thief by Alyson McLayne

Tracy’s rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Series: Sons of Gregor MacLeod

Release Date: August 24, 2021

If you have been following the series, you know that Kerr MacAlister has planned to marry Isobel MacKinnon, but plots against his foster brothers, war, and even Isobel herself have kept him from claiming her. But now that her brother Gavin has found his son and has married, Kerr feels it is time and sets out to win Isobel.

Years ago Isobel was infatuated with Kerr, but when he spurned her request for a kiss, she tried to quash those feelings and instead turned her attention to making him pay for his callousness. Isobel is known far and wide as the Beauty of the Highlands, but what she should be known for is her pranks, tricks, and traps that she springs on those who have wronged someone and she believes require punishment. To date, she has not been able to catch Kerr in one of her traps and that only fuels her ire towards him. So when he makes it clear that he wants to marry her, she comes up with a plan to catch him in one of her tricks, and this time she is sure he won’t figure out and she will finally have her revenge. She will trick him into thinking that she is eloping with another man and make a fool of him when he comes after her. What could go wrong?

This is a well-written, action-packed story, that picks up shortly after the end of the last book. Kerr has finally decided it is time to claim his bride, but Isobel is not going to make it easy for him. The story doesn’t really take off until after Isobel puts her plan to fool Kerr into play, but once he follows her, the story picks up speed and it is a non-stop adventure until the very end. The book has a little of everything, graphic fight scenes, great secondary characters, cameos from the other “brothers”, a villain who is finally revealed and who is dealt with accordingly, steamy love scenes, surprising revelations, and finally the long awaited HEA of Kerr and Isobel. I liked the book but there were some things that kept me from loving it, for instance, I had a really hard time liking Isobel, she was incredibly immature and I thought her “tricks” were petty, spiteful, and stupid, I don’t understand why Kerr was so crazy for her and seemed to be proud of her ridiculous plots and plans, but to each their own, I suppose. I also felt that while this story did answer the question of who has been attacking the clans, it didn’t feel like it really made sense – why attack all the other clans and fail each time before going after who you ultimately wanted all along – I don’t just don’t get it. I also wonder what happened to Eirik and Siv, they just seemed to disappear. In the end, it was an exciting, action-filled adventure that gives readers some closure and answers long-standing questions and if you have been following the series, I would highly recommend reading this book.

*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.*