A Death in Venice by Verity Bright Book Review (Blog Tour)

Publication Date: 28 March 2024
Publisher: Bookouture
Format: Print, e-book and audio
Series: A Lady Eleanor Swift Mystery #17
Genre: Historical Mystery, Cosy Mystery

Synopsis

Stunning views across the Grand Canal and a hotel suite fit for royalty… Lady Eleanor Swift is having a jolly good time on her Italian vacation, until a gondola ride is cut murderously short!

1924. Lady Eleanor Swift has been on a grand tour around Italy for a month with her butler Clifford. Finally arriving in Venice, she’s thrilled to be attending the famous carnival: all that’s needed is the perfect bejewelled costume for her faithful bulldog, Gladstone. But on her first gondola ride to take in the sights, a passenger

The Shadow Network by Deborah Swift Book Review (Blog Tour)

Publication Date: 13th February 2024
Publisher: HQ Digital
Page Length: 376
Series: Secret Agent Series (but can be read as a stand-alone)
Genre: Historical Fiction / WW2

Synopsis

One woman must sacrifice everything to uncover the truth in this enthralling historical novel, inspired by the true World War Two campaign Radio Aspidistra…

England, 1942: Having fled Germany after her father was captured by the Nazis, Lilli Bergen is desperate to do something pro-active for the Allies. So when she’s approached by the Political Warfare Executive (PWE), Lilli jumps at the chance. She’s recruited as a

The Murder Game by Tom Hindle Book Review

Synopsis

One house. Nine guests. Endless motives for murder...

In the seaside town of Hamlet Wick, nine guests assemble for a New Year's Eve party to remember.

The owner of Hamlet Hall has organised a murder mystery evening with a 1920s twist, and everyone has their own part to play.

But the game has barely begun when one guest is found dead - killed by a fatal injury to the head.

With no phone signal and no way out of the house, the others are trapped with a killer in

The Christmas Cuckoo by Mary Jo Putney A Mini Audiobook Review

This is a lovely, heart-warming story. Just right for a quick, Christmas read!

Synopsis

Major Jack Howard, a weary veteran of the Peninsular Wars, has just returned to England and intends to return to an unwelcoming family home for Christmas. But when a pompous secretary gives him too many orders, Jack hops on the next stagecoach leaving

Murder on the Cornish Cliffs by Verity Bright Book Review - Blog Tour

Publication Date: 1 December 2023
Publisher: Bookouture
Format: Print, e-book and audio
Series: A Lady Eleanor Swift Mystery #16
Genre: Historical Mystery, Cosy Mystery

Synopsis

A festive invitation from an old family friend, the promise of gingerbread at the village inn, snowy walks on the Cornish coast with Gladstone the bulldog… But wait, is that a body on the beach?

Winter, 1923. It’s nearly Christmas and Lady Eleanor Swift has received a rather strange letter from an old friend of her uncle. Mr Godfrey Cunliffe has asked her to stay in Cornwall for the holidays – but only because he believes his gardener is trying to poison

Jane and the Final Mystery by Stephanie Barron Blog Tour - Book Review

Publication Date: October 24, 2023
Publisher: Soho Crime
Series: Being a Jane Austen Mystery (Book 15)
Length: (312) pages
Format: Hardcover, eBook, & audiobook
ISBN: 978-1641295055
Genre: Historical Mystery, Austenesque Fiction

Synopsis

The final volume of the critically acclaimed mystery series featuring Jane Austen as amateur sleuth

March 1817: As winter turns to spring, Jane Austen’s health is in slow decline, and threatens to cease progress on her latest manuscript. But when her nephew Edward

Murder by Invitation by Verity Bright Book Review - Blog Tour

Publication Date: 27 September 2023
Publisher: Bookouture
Format: Print, e-book and audio
Series: A Lady Eleanor Swift Mystery #15
Genre: Historical Mystery, Cosy Mystery

Synopsis

Lady Swift has been cordially invited to a huge royal celebration in Little Buckford to toast the King’s birthday… but wait, is that a body in the village hall?

Lady Eleanor Swift and her loyal butler Clifford are busy lending a hand with preparations for the big day. The grand dining room at Henley Hall is overflowing with home-sewn flags, paint and royal rosettes. Even Gladstone the bulldog and his new friend Tomkins the ginger cat are invited!

Harlem After Midnight by Louise Hare A Blog Tour Book Review

Publication Date: August 29, 2023
Publisher: Berkley Trade Paperback
Series: The Canary Club Mystery #2
Genre: Historical Mystery

Synopsis

As Mixed-race jazz singer Lena Aldridge arrives in New York she thought she left the seedy underworld of jazz clubs behind in London, but secrets and murder seem to have followed her across the Atlantic. After a chaotic journey at sea aboard the Queen Mary, Lena is happy to be back on dry land and eager to spend some time in the city with Will, her new flame, before returning to London.

But the prospect of love isn’t the only reason Lena decides to stay in New York—revelations from her time aboard the Queen Mary imbue

Mystery in the Highlands by Lydia Travers Book Review - Blog Tour

Publication Date: July 26, 2023
Publisher: Bookouture
Series: The Scottish Ladies' Detective Agency #3
Format: Paperback, ebook and audio
Genre: Historical Mystery, Cosy

Synopsis

When members of a choir start dropping dead in the Highlands, Maud McIntyre and her lady’s maid Daisy go undercover to discover the inharmonious culprit. But will they uncover the killer before another murder takes place?

Edinburgh, 1911: When Maud and Daisy receive a letter from Daisy’s cousin, Clara, sharing her fears that two sudden deaths in her local choir weren’t accidental, at first Daisy thinks her cousin is overreacting. But Maud’s

Murder in Manhattan by Verity Bright Book Review - Blog Tour

Publication Date: 29 June 2023
Publisher: Bookouture
Format: Print, e-book and audio
Series: A Lady Eleanor Swift Mystery #14
Genre: Historical Mystery, Cosy Mystery

Synopsis

Glitzy parties, sightseeing at the Statue of Liberty and strolls through Central Park with Gladstone the bulldog… Lady Eleanor Swift is loving her first trip to the city that never sleeps, until she witnesses a murder!

After crossing from England on the SS Celestiana, Lady Eleanor Swift sets up her home-away-from-home in a lavish apartment in New York City. She is soon the toast of the town, with no high-class soirée complete without her presence. Of course, she drags

Murder on Oak Street by I. M. Foster Book Review - Blog Tour

Publication Date: November 4, 2022
Publisher: independent
Page Length: 503
Series: A South Shore Mystery
Genre: Historical Mystery

Synopsis

New York, 1904. After two years as a coroner’s physician for the city of New York, Daniel O'Halleran is more frustrated than ever. What’s the point when the authorities consistently brush aside his findings for the sake of expediency? So when his fiancée leaves him standing at the altar on their wedding day, he takes it as a sign that it's time to move on and eagerly accepts an offer

The Roads of War by John Cameron Book Review

Synopsis

During the Civil War, Lewis McCormack has to return to his regiment’s training camp, leaving his wife Eliza to tend to their homestead. Rearing children, surviving a declining economy, and paying the family debts leads to intolerable hurdles and even more difficult decisions. Amid the chaos of war, Lewis just wants to stay alive—to make it back to his family.

Meanwhile, Private Davey Morris is detailed as courier and travels through war-torn Pennsylvania to complete his mission, while Private Tandy Strider uses his thirty-day wounded furlough to search for the young prostitute that he has deemed his soulmate.

As the war progresses, Lewis realizes that his

Murder in the Scottish Hills by Lydia Travers Book Review - Blog Tour

Publication Date: May 25,2023
Publisher: Bookouture
Series: The Scottish Ladies' Detective Agency #2
Format: Paperback, ebook and audio
Genre: Historical Mystery, Cosy

Synopsis

When Maud McIntyre and her lady’s maid Daisy travel into the Scottish Highlands, the last thing they expect to find is a body on the train… Will these keen amateur sleuths stop a murderer in his tracks?

Edinburgh, 1911: When Maud McIntyre receives a letter from a maid called Rose, sharing her suspicions that something strange is happening in the house where she works, she and her assistant Daisy immediately travel

The Scottish Ladies' Detective Agency by Lydia Travers Book Review - Blog Tour

Publication Date: April 27,2023
Publisher: Bookouture
Series: The Scottish Ladies' Detective Agency #1
Format: Paperback, ebook and audio
Genre: Historical Mystery, Cosy

Synopsis

When Maud McIntyre sets up her own private detective agency, she never imagines her first case will involve murder… A mystery in the Highlands? The Scottish Ladies’ Detective Agency is on the case!

Edinburgh, 1911: When Maud McIntyre and her lady’s maid, Daisy, form a detective agency, they never dream their first case will take place at a glamorous house in the Scottish Highlands. But when the Duchess of

Death on Deck by Verity Bright Book Review - Blog Tour

Publication Date: 13 March, 2023
Publisher: Bookouture
Series: A Lady Eleanor Swift Mystery #13
Format: ebook, print and audio
Genre: Historical Fiction/Cosy Mystery

Synopsis

When Lady Swift embarks upon her first luxury cruise she imagines a gilded ballroom, afternoons on deck taking tea and all the delectable food she can eat. But she can’t seem to escape from murder…

Lady Eleanor Swift is all set to spend her birthday with her beau, dashing Detective Hugh Seldon, until he calls to cancel on her again at the last minute. What’s a girl to do? Pack up her staff and her faithful old bulldog, Gladstone, and head off on a cruise to New

The Burning Bride by Trish MacEnulty Book Review - Blog Tour

Publication Date: 21/10/22
Publisher: Prism Light Press
Page Length: 396
Series: Delafield & Malloy Investigations #2
Genre: Historical Mystery, Women’s Fiction

Synopsis

A bullet barely misses Manhattan society writer Louisa Delafield, and her publisher insists she leave the city for what seems like an easy assignment in Florida until a wedding guest winds up dead with a stolen diamond in his hand.

Louisa investigates the mysterious death, but finds the answers hard to come by when a mesmerizing French man distracts her from her duties.

In New York, Louisa’s assistant, Ellen Malloy, infiltrates an anarchists’ enclave to discover who shot at Louisa and risks losing the woman of her dreams in her pursuit.

The Whispering Women by Trish MacEnulty Book Review - Blog Tour

Publication Date: 09/06/22
Publisher: Prism Light Press
Page Length: 387
Series: Delafield & Malloy Investigations #1
Genre: Historical Mystery, Women’s Fiction

Synopsis

Louisa Delafield and Ellen Malloy didn’t ask to be thrown together to bring the truth to light. But after Ellen witnesses the death of a fellow servant during an illegal abortion, Louisa, a society columnist, vows to help her find the truth and turn her journalistic talent to a greater purpose.

Together, these unlikely allies battle to get the truth out, and to avenge the wrongful death of a friend.

What will our heroes do when their closest allies

The Drums of War by Michael Ward Book Review

Synopsis

London 1642.

The King has fled London with the drums of war ringing in his ears. Across the country, lines are being drawn and armies raised.

Influential royalist Lady Carlisle switches sides and presses spice trader Thomas Tallant and his partner Elizabeth Seymour into Parliament's service.

Soon Thomas faces double-dealing in his hunt for a lethal hoard of gunpowder hidden on the river, while Elizabeth engages in a race against time to locate a hidden sniper picking off Parliamentary officers at will in the city.

The capital also witnesses a vicious gang of

Caledon by Virginia Crow Book Review - Blog Tour

Publication Date: 22nd January 2019
Publisher: Crowvus
Page Length: 180 (A4 size) – the book is approx. 80,000 words
Series: Caledon (Book One)
Genre: Historical Fantasy

Synopsis

"Go out and tell all those you meet, Caledon has risen. Caledon will be protected and defended. And to you who would cause her harm, be prepared. A new fight has come."

After the destruction of the Jacobite forces at Culloden, Scotland is divided, vulnerable and leaderless, with survivors from both sides seeking to make sense of the battles they have fought against their fellow Scots.

Sisters of Castle Leod by Elizabeth Hutchison Bernard Book Review - Blog Tour

Publication Date: January 19, 2023
Publisher: Black Rose Writing
Page Length: 293
Genre: Historical Fiction, Biographical Historical Fiction
Cover Art: oil on glass painting, © Alison Hale, https://alisonhale.co.nz/ 

Synopsis

**Finalist in the 2022 American Writing Awards**

Millions are fans of Diana Gabaldon’s popular Outlander books and television series, but few know that Gabaldon’s fictional Castle Leoch was inspired by a real Scottish castle, Castle Leod. The two sisters who lived there at the turn of the twentieth century were among the most fascinating and talked-about