This weekly meme is hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date.
I finally got to the end of All for Nothing, the book I'd been reading for a number of weeks. It was an interesting story with a sad ending, which left me feeling the same and in the mood for some lighter reads. Letters for a Spy, a lighthearted, traditional regency romance was just the thing, followed by two books from C.S. Harris' regency mystery series. This series just gets better and better.
Hopefully, now I'll be able to carry on with the book I'm half way through, Island of the Swans, and then start on the two books I'd like to read next.
What I Read Last Week
What Remains of Heaven by C.S. Harris
To Sebastian's consternation, the last person to see the Bishop alive was Miss Hero Jarvis, a woman whose already strained relationship with St. Cyr has been complicated by a brief, unexpectedly passionate encounter. It also soon becomes obvious that her powerful father has reasons of his own for wanting the Bishop out of the way. In an investigation that leads from the back alleys of Smithfield to the power corridors of Whitehall, Sebastian amasses a list of suspects that ranges from some of the Prince Regent's closest cronies to William Franklin, embittered son of famous American patriot Ben Franklin. Each step Sebastian takes toward the killer brings him closer to a devastating truth that could ultimately force him to question who--and what--he really is.
What Remains of Heaven by C.S. Harris
That’s the challenge confronting C.S. Harris’s aristocratic soldier-turned-sleuth Sebastian St. Cyr when his friend, surgeon and “anatomist” Paul Gibson, illegally buys the cadaver of a young man from London’s infamous body snatchers. A rising star at the Foreign Office, Mr. Alexander Ross was reported to have died of a weak heart. But when Gibson discovers a stiletto wound at the base of Ross’s skull, he can turn only to Sebastian for help in catching the killer. Described by all who knew him as an amiable young man, Ross at first seems an unlikely candidate for murder. But as Sebastian’s search takes him from the Queen’s drawing rooms in St. James’s Palace to the embassies of Russia, the United States, and the Turkish Empire, he plunges into a dangerous shadow land of diplomatic maneuvering and international intrigue, where truth is an elusive commodity and nothing is as it seems.
Meanwhile, Sebastian must confront the turmoil of his personal life. Hero Jarvis, daughter of his powerful nemesis Lord Jarvis, finally agrees to become his wife. But as their wedding approaches, Sebastian can’t escape the growing realization that not only Lord Jarvis but Hero herself knows far more about the events surrounding Ross’s death than they would have him believe.
Then a second body is found, badly decomposed but bearing the same fatal stiletto wound. And Sebastian must race to unmask a ruthless killer who is now threatening the life of his reluctant bride and their unborn child.
Letters for a Spy by Alice Chetwynd Ley
But in Lewes, where she put up for the night, she was puzzled by the behaviour of Mrs Wood, a fellow traveller. Why was the woman so intrigued at the mention of Crowle? What was her connection with the sinister pedlar at the inn? And why had a letter addressed to Crowle Manor been mysteriously put into Elizabeth's guide book?
Robert Garnham, a former admirer, was also a guest at the inn and Elizabeth was pleased to see a friendly face. But for some reason he was suddenly very suspicious of Elizabeth. And it was then she began to realise that her plans for a peaceful country summer were unlikely to be fulfilled.
All For Nothing by Walter Kempowski
What I'm Still Reading
Island of the Swans by Ciji Ware
Best friends in childhood, Jane Maxwell and Thomas Fraser wreaked havoc on the cobbled streets of Edinburgh with their juvenile pranks. But years later, when Jane blossoms into a beautiful woman, her feelings for Thomas push beyond the borders of friendship, and he becomes the only man she wants. When Thomas is reportedly killed in the American colonies, the handsome, charismatic Alexander, Duke of Gordon, appeals to a devastated Jane. Believing Thomas is gone forever, Jane hesitantly responds to the Duke, whose passion ignites her blood, even as she rebels at his fierce desire to claim her.
But Thomas Fraser is not dead, and when he returns to find his beloved Jane betrothed to another, he refuses to accept the heartbreaking turn of events. Soon Jane's marriage is swept into a turbulent dance of tender wooing and clashing wills--as Alex seeks truly to make her his, and his alone. . . .
What I Hope to Read Next
No Man's Land by Simon Tolkien
Adam Raine is a boy cursed by misfortune. His impoverished childhood in the slums of Islington is brought to an end by a tragedy that sends him north to Scarsdale, a hard-living coalmining town where his father finds work as a union organizer. But it isn’t long before the escalating tensions between the miners and their employer, Sir John Scarsdale, explode with terrible consequences.
In the aftermath, Adam meets Miriam, the Rector’s beautiful daughter, and moves into Scarsdale Hall, an opulent paradise compared with the life he has been used to before. But he makes an enemy of Sir John’s son, Brice, who subjects him to endless petty cruelties for daring to step above his station.
When love and an Oxford education beckon, Adam feels that his life is finally starting to come together – until the outbreak of war threatens to tear everything apart.
The Spirit Guide by Elizabeth Davies
Terrified of being accused of witchcraft, a very real possibility in twelfth century Britain, she keeps her secret close, not even confiding in her husband.
But when she gives her heart and soul to a man who guides spirits in the world beyond the living, she risks her secret and her life for their love.
