A Botanist's Guide to Parties and Poisons

Finished April 28

A Botanist's Guide to Parties and Poisons by Kate Khavari

This debut novel is the first in an historical mystery series, Saffron Everleigh Mysteries, and I love the environment she's built here. The time is 1923 and the place is London. Saffron Everleigh works as a research assistant at University College London. Her late father came from a wealthy family but made a career in botany and she is following in his footsteps. Her grandparents aren't supportive, and her mother is barely scraping by, but Saffron shares a flat with a good friend, and works for a professor, Dr. Maxwell, who is very supportive. She's faced some pushback and some harassment from others in the department, including the chair, but she is good at her science and determined to make her way. 

As the book opens she is about to attend a gala for an upcoming expedition to South America and the Amazon in particular, which her department is participating in. While there she runs into a new professor at the university, Alexander Ashton, overhears some gossipy news about other professors personal and professional activities, and witnesses a possible poisoning. With the victim unconscious in hospital and the police are looking at motives and means, Saffron is aghast when Dr. Maxwell is arrested. She knows he would not have done this, and she is determined to clear his name. She takes risks, from scientific experiments on herself to breaking into gardens and offices. Her knowledge of botany shows here, and Alexander finds himself drawn into helping her as well as drawn into feelings for her. 

This was a great start to this series, which I found both entertaining and interesting. The author brings the time and setting to life, and we get a real sense for Saffron's situation. Her personality really comes through here as well, and we see both strengths and vulnerabilities. I was on her side in every way.

Miss Aldridge Regrets

Finished April 23

Miss Aldridge Regrets by Louise Hare

This is the first book in an historical mystery series called A Canary Club Mystery. The time is 1936 and Lena Aldridge is singing at a basement club in Soho, London. Lena's father, Alfie, brought her up in the world of music. Alfie was a black piano player from the U.S. who had migrated to England and made a life there. He has died recently and Lena is still grieving.  He never talked about her mother, but because Lena is white passing, she believes that her mother was white. Lena's best friend from childhood, Maggie, is married to Tommy, the owner of the club, but things haven't been going well in their relationship and Tommy has told Maggie he plans to leave her with nothing and marry his current young mistress. 

Recently someone came to blackmail Maggie and gave Tommy incriminating photographs that he can use against Maggie, something she has confessed to Lena about, while also telling her that the photos were a setup. So when Maggie turns up at the club that night, Lena is worried that something bad is going to happen. 

When the evening ends with Tommy dead, she knows she was right and she is placed right in the middle of it all. Earlier that day, a man named Charlie Bacon had appeared at Lena's rooming house, claiming to represent a man named Bennie Walker who had been a friend of her dad's back in the U.S. Lena has never heard her father mention the name, but Bennie apparently feels bad for the falling out between them and has done well, and wants to give Lena a leading role in his new Broadway musical to make amends. Lena isn't sure, but her new circumstances with Tommy's death convince her to take advantage of the opportunity to make a fresh start. 

Much of the book takes place on the Queen Mary, as Lena and Charlie make passage to New York. They are in first class courtesy of Charlie's employer and their seating places them at a table otherwise composed of a wealthy American family and the people that work for them, the Parkers. The patriarch, Francis, is in a wheelchair and obviously unwell. Other family members include his daughter Eliza, her husband Jack, their children Frankie, a young man, and Carrie, a teenager, Francis's nurse Daisy and his attending doctor, Dr. Wilding. 

Out on the deck taking air one evening, Lena encounters black bandleader Will Goodman, and is at first taken aback when he clearly identifies her as mixed race. But she feels a connection and wants someone she can be more herself with, and begins to make friends with him, and join him in below deck socializing. 

When Francis suddenly dies at dinner one night, Lena knows he has died the same way Tommy did, and she worries that someone will connect her to both deaths. As things escalate and she becomes more involved with the family, she begins to think that someone is framing her for the crimes. But why?

I enjoyed this novel, the plot and the main character. Lena hasn't lived an easy life, but she also hasn't taken her life firmly into her own hands even now. The social environment of the time and the place is brought alive, with the elements of class and race. I'd definitely be interested in reading more in the series. 

A Detective at Death's Door

Finished February 6

A Detective at Death's Door by H.R.F. Keating

This is the fifth book in the Harriet Martens mystery series, but the first in the series that I've read. Harriet is a Detective Superintendent for the Greater Birchester Police, and as the book begins, she awakens in a hospital with some memory loss, wondering how she got there. As she fades in and out of consciousness she overhears her husband John and a doctor discussing her close call with death. 

She learns that she has been poisoned with aconitine, a derivative of the wolfsbane plant, and part of her survival is due to the face that John Piddock had been reading an Agatha Christie novel with the same poisoning and forced her to vomit as soon as he returned to her side. The two were enjoying a hot day by the pool at the Majestic Insurance Company Sports and Social Club, with the insurance company being John's employer. She'd been drinking Campari and soda and fallen asleep as John went to the bathroom. When he returned she awoke and saw him coming toward her and picked up her drink and took a swallow, to find that it didn't taste right. 

One of her colleagues, DS Pat Murphy is in charge of her case and eager to speak to her as soon as she's well enough, which is days later. She becomes eager to get home and despite her still weak condition, John agrees as long as she follows the conditions he sets. She agrees, and she does try, but her instinct to solve the case gets her out of bed long before she should and sets back her recovery. When she hears that there have been more poisoning victims after her, and they didn't survive, she becomes determined to try to stop the killer. She reaches out to people who might help, grasping at straws as she trusts her instincts and as she goes against the new London-based police officer who has taken over the case. 

Harriet is a strong-willed woman, with a good marriage and a strong reputation at her workplace. She is not about to let her health set her back, but she isn't in control of that and finds that, if she doesn't want to suffer a fatal setback, she must take better care of herself. 

I enjoyed this mystery, both the skills that Harriet displayed as she followed the case and the plot overall. A very interesting read.

False Impressions

Finished December 16

False Impressions by Sandra Nikolai

This is the first book in a series featuring a ghostwriter and investigative crime journalist. Megan Scott and her husband Tom's marriage has been more stressful lately as their efforts to have children have been unsuccessful. Tom travels a lot for work, and is off on another trip as the novel begins.

Megan is starting a new project as a ghostwriter for investigative journalist Michael Elliott, and when they realize they knew each other years before, they begin to develop a friendship as well.

When Tom goes off for a retreat, Megan doesn't have any concerns until police arrive at her door telling her that he and his female companion are dead. The discovery of his infidelity at the same time as his death is confusing for Megan emotionally, and she relies heavily on Michael for support. 

It also puts her under suspicion for his murder, and the ties between her and the crime continue to grow. The police seem to have their minds already made up, and Michael and Megan begin their own investigation to find the truth. 

I enjoyed the premise of the novel and the plot. As the book began, some of the dialogue seemed stilted and awkward, but that improved as the book went on. While it took me a while to get truly interested, I was glad I stuck with it. A good read.

Lady with Chains

Finished December 1

Lady with Chains by Roch Carrier, translated by Sheila Fischman

This is a novel that is a combination of two stories. One is the story of the unnamed lady of the title. It is not said in so many words, but my impression was that the lady was one of the nobility imprisoned during the French Revolution, that then found herself on the docks and brought onto a ship to the new world. She does seem to be a lady that was imprisoned and mistreated, and then unexpectedly freed and placed on a ship to Quebec. 

The second story is of Virginie, a young woman of Quebec who meets Victor, a soldier, at a dance. He plans to claim a piece of land and build a house on it, to marry and have children, and to live a good life. Virginie agrees to marry him, and finds herself making her way through a blizzard to the cabin he's built, and things go horribly wrong on the journey. Virginie finds herself plotting revenge against Victor, intending to poison him. She waits through the winter and intentionally doesn't speak to her husband at all, but keeps her plan in her mind. She finds herself strengthened by the idea of the Lady with Chains, who persevered despite the terrible things that happened to her. 

It is a strange novel, with a flavour of the wilderness of Canada, as well as some of the bureaucracy, and there are surprises along the way. 

Mango Muffin Murder

Finished October 29

Mango Muffin Murder by Emma Johns

This novella is the start of a series set in Jamaica, where Petrona McGibben has been coming for years to visit family and has recently decided to move to and open her own bakery. Petrona bought a small bed and breakfast, which a family member runs, and the abandoned bakery next to it, which she fixed up. She lives in a small apartment over the bakery. At first, her usual baked goods were so different from what islanders were used to, she thought she was going to fail. Now she has started acting on suggestions (or dares) from her customers and family. Her newest product is the Mango Muffin, and it appears to be a hit. She's had to make more during the morning as it sells out. But when one of her customers dies shortly after eating one, she becomes a suspect in a murder case.

Luckily her family has a plan to clear her name, even if they don't keep her in the loop at times. She also has goodwill in the community, from her family ties, to her friendly open demeanour. She's a good person, feeding a young man recently kicked out of school for fighting despite his academic success, who now worries about his future.

I liked Petrona, as well as the policeman in charge of her case. I see potential romance in future books. A fun, quick read. Also included is a glossary of Jamaican terms which came up in the novel. 

A Crafty Christmas

Finished September 19

A Crafty Christmas by Mollie Cox Bryan

This is the fourth novel in a series set around a group of scrapbooking friends in small-town Cumberland Creek, Virginia. In this novel, one of them, Sheila, has won a scrapbooking themed trip for herself and two friends on a cruise of the Caribbean. The trip takes place in mid-December and the novel begins with Sheila tripping over a body as she does her customer morning run on deck. She soon discovers it was a woman she'd been friendly with and who had been talking about hiring Sheila as a designer for her scrapbooking company. 

Sheila's friends Vera and Paige are on the cruise with her, and Vera had brought along her new boyfriend Eric, while Paige brought her pastry-chef son Randy. Randy has had some experience crafting before and is intrigued by a variety of elements of cruise ship life. Eric is a lawyer and relative newcomer to the group that they haven't entirely warmed up to yet. 

When the authorities discover that the victim was poisoned and become aware that Sheila had met with her recently, Sheila becomes a potential suspect in the case. When Sheila is on the scene of a second dead body as it is discovered, this becomes more of a threat. Thus the group begins to gather information to find the real killer before more deaths happen. Part of this is working with the friends and family back home, such as Vera's mother Beatrice and the crafting group member Annie. 

When odd occurrences begin happening back home in Virginia, the group begins to wonder if they are connected. 

This is a cozy mystery with lots of references to crafting and the specifics of the Christmas season. It also includes lots of references to delicious food from the gourmet offerings on the ship to the Christmas backing in both locations. 

The is a short section at the end with crafting terminology and Christmas scrapbooking ideas. 

I enjoyed the group problem-solving and the side stories around various of the characters. 

The Plague Maiden

Finished March 29

The Plague Maiden by Kate Ellis

This is the eighth novel is the Wesley Peterson mystery series set in Devon, England. As is typical, there are two storylines, a historical event brought to light through archeology and a modern-day crime that parallels the historical story. 

When a letter arrives addressed to a past police leader about a crime committed more than a decade earlier, one that someone is already in prison for, clearing him, the police have to face questions about their work in the past, and need to look at the crime again to see who else could have done it. The crime in question is the murder of a local pastor, one that seems to be a burglary gone wrong. The man in prison references a statement he made at the time about a youth he saw hanging about the area, that seems to have never been followed up on. 

An archeology dig in a nearby field, known as Pest Field, is happening, looking for a leper church that is rumoured to be located there. The field is the site for a new branch of a supermarket chain, and there is pressure to do the work within a certain time frame. When the archeologists, led by Wesley's old friend Neil, begin to dig up human remains, the police and coroner become involved. While most of the remains seem centuries old, perhaps those of plague victims buried in a common pit, one found closer to the surface is more recent and may relate to the newly opened case. 

I enjoy the puzzle of the two parallel events, with the historical ones loosely based in real history, and the more recent ones in which Wesley, with a background in archeology uses that and his police skills to connect them. 

I also like that the series includes both the police officers relationships with each other and attitudes, as well as some family life that varies in focus from book to book. Here we see many of the officers in action, and we see Wesley's wife in the later stages of pregnancy and the couple's interactions. I admit that with this and the previous book, I'm starting to rethink my impressions of one of the police officers in their personal life. 

The Fervor

Finished March 10

The Fervor by Alma Katsu

This novel combines historical fiction with horror. 

The story begin in 1944, and Meiko Briggs and her daughter Aiko are in Minidoka, a Japanese internment camp in Idaho. Meiko's husband Jamie is a pilot, currently serving in the Pacific. Through the novel we learn how they came to be where they are now after his deployment. 

We also see Archie, one of Jamie's friends, as he and his wife Elsie take a group of children to a fishing area in the mountains near them. When an explosion happens and people are hurt, Archie begins questioning why. 

We also see Fran, a journalist in Nebraska, as she witnesses an explosion and discovers something interesting in the aftermath when she is in a remote area on a tryst with her lover. 

Along with these three stories, that gradually converge, are excerpts from a Japanese diary from seventeen years earlier, when a scientist studying winds comes across another discovery. 

This historical narrative becomes horror when people at the camp, in Nebraska, and in other places start to die from a strange disease. With a group of men in suits and expensive cars recently arrived at the camp, Meiko catches one of them in the kitchen at night and begins to suspect that they are using the Japanese there to conduct some kind of experiment. 

This novel is gripping and scary as you follow the clues to figure out who is doing what and whether anyone can be trusted. 

Twisted Threads

Finished January 24

Twisted Threads by Lea Wait

This is the first book in a series set in a coastal town in Maine. This is a small town cozy mystery, set around a small needlework business called Mainely Needlepoint. The main character, Angie, left the town of Haven Harbor years ago after high school. Now her grandmother Charlotte has let her know that her mother's body has been found. Angie's mother Jenny disappeared one day, shortly before Angie turned ten. A search was done and an investigation, but the case went cold. Jenny was a woman who dated a lot of men, and not everyone in town thought well of her. Charlotte raised Angie after that, but Angie knew what they said about her mother, and how they wondered as she grew up whether she would be as flirtatious. That's partly why she left. 

Angie has been in Arizona, working for a private detective. She was good at both the office work, and the research. So when Charlotte tells her that she has a problem with the small needlework business she started, Angie offers to help find the man who owes her and her workers money. We get to know the other stitchers that Charlotte hired to do the work, many of them in dire need of the money they are owed.

As the police continue their investigation into how Jenny's body got to the place it was found, Angie continues her search. But when the man she's been looking for dies, Charlotte and Angie are some of the suspects in that death. Angie decides to continue her detective work, this time to find the killer.

I liked the main character, and the other characters are starting to take shape. I expect that will continue as the series moves forward. 

The Bookshop Murder

Finished November 3

The Bookshop Murder by Merryn Allingham

This is the first book in a series of historical mysteries and is set in the mid-1950s. Flora Steele owns a bookshop in the village of Abbeymead in Sussex. She inherited it from her aunt, who raised her after the death of her parents when she was young. Flora had plans for her first few months after getting her library degree, but her aunt's illness and death meant that she is now tied to the store and her life there. When a customer discovers a body in her store, she finds that gossip and rumour are hitting her financial, with a decrease in sales and traffic. With the police not interested in tracking down the reasons this stranger broke into her store, she decides to take matters into her own hands, with the assistance of the crime-writing customer who discovered the body. 

I got a real sense of village life here, and how people were reacting to events of the time, like the end of rationing, and the turnover of traditional manor properties. Flora is a determined young woman, and is unhappy about not being taken seriously. She is full of ideas, but also open to critiques of those ideas with solid facts. One gets a very concrete examples of how women's views and concerns were not treated with the same respect as men's. I definitely got a sense of how the series might continue and how some plotlines might develop further in future books. An enjoyable read. 

Two previous series reads that somehow got missed: Blue Moon by Lee Child and The Golden Tresses of the Dead by Alan Bradley

While following up on some of the series I read, I noticed gaps for two them where I seemed to have missed a book. I've taken them out of the library, but as soon as I started reading them I remembered them. I've searched all my notes and don't seem to have written reviews, which is very odd for me. They both date from the same time period, published in late 2019 read either in late 2019 or early 2020 and I guess that I missed them in the busyness of other things at the time. So here they are, now.

Blue Moon by Lee Child, read by Scott Brick

This is the 24th book in the series and once it again it begins with Reacher on a Greyhound bus in the middle of America. He assists an older man after the man is attacked in the street after exiting the bus, and one thing leads to another as he first helps him to the place where the payment the older man needs to do is to take place, and later to his home. The man and his wife are worried about their daughter whose story unfolds for him. He soon finds himself impersonating the old man, and getting between the Ukrainian and Albanian gangs who run the town and are vying for expansion under the new police commissioner in the small city. 

As each gang makes moves and Reacher makes some to protect himself and the older couple, there is luck that happens, as they say, once in a blue moon. Reacher's investigations lead him into the world of paid healthcare in the U.S., IT startups successes and failures, money trails and extortion rings. 

This is classic Jack Reacher, satisfying for the little guy, with the bad guys in deep trouble. 

The Golden Tresses of the Dead by Alan Bradley

This is the 10th book in the Flavia de Luce series. Her oldest sister Ophelia is getting married as the book opens, but there's a shocking item in the wedding cake when she slices it. Flavia is quick on her feet and manages to take the item while the focus is on Ophelia's hysterics. 

Flavia has also teamed up with her father's valet, Dogger, as a private investigation firm. The wedding discovery turns out to be the start of their first case, leading them to a special railway for the dead, a visit from missionaries, and a client who dies before the case is resolved. 

Dogger serves as a guide for Flavia's enthusiasm, putting her on the right track, and encouraging her good ideas. To their clients and the police they present a team that can put things together faster than the officials can. 

This isn't my favourite of the series, but it does offer some interesting scenes, and cousin Undine plays a larger role than in earlier books. 

The Nodding Canaries

Finished October 28

The Nodding Canaries by Gladys Mitchell

This book is part of a long series that I've not read before. The Nodding Canaries is the 34th book in the series, but it seems like you don't need to read them in order to enjoy them. This book was originally published in 1961, shortly after it was allowed that female teachers could be married. The banter and slang used is dated, and in one or two cases offensive as current terminology. The sleuth here is Dame Beatrice Lestrange Bradley, who is a psychiatrist who works for the Home Office in England. 

Here she is called to Nodding by Alice Boorman, a schoolteacher that is a longtime friend. Laura Gavin, Bradley's secretary, is a childhood friend of Alice's. Alice has recently applied to run for Organizer of the area, a much-sought after position by teachers. She has been shortlisted along with two other teachers, and she offered to host them around the interview time as they lived further away, one from Devonshire, and one from Scotland. 

Before the late afternoon interviews, the women toured the town, seeing the cathedral, the market, and some historical sites. One suggested the historical site of Pigmy's Ladder, a prehistoric flint mine. Alice did not accompany the other women into the mine as she had already been and felt claustrophobic, but when they didn't reemerge at the appointed time the site manager called for help and the women were found and taken to the hospital for their condition. Alice feels that a past past-time of hers makes her a possible suspect to them and has asked Dame Bradley to find out the truth behind the incident. 

This incident leads to a missing male teacher, his questionable past, historical artifacts, and the local archaeological society. 

This is a mystery with much twists and turns. Dame Bradley is a force to be reckoned with, and the men here defer to her with little hesitation. The mystery itself is complex and dates back some time, with a variety of suspects and motives to keep the reader guessing. 

This Poison Will Remain

Finished June 25

This Poison Will Remain by Fred Vargas, translated by Siân Reynolds

This is the 11th book in the Commissaire Adamsberg series. Here Adamsberg is summoned back from Iceland for a case and is soon missing his son who stayed on there. He is at first dealing the case that recalled him, a hit and run death of a woman that has some subtlety to it, but that is dealt with fairly quickly. During that case, he has become aware both through the attention one of his staff, Voisenet, to some deaths due to a spider, one that is not typically deadly. This captures his attention, and he begins to gather information on the deaths himself. 

He also begins to realize that one of his own men is actively working against him, and applies himself to that puzzle. 

The spider case is quite interesting, and one that takes him from Paris to the south of France, where the deaths have occurred. He looks for links between the victims, and finds an interesting name that links the spider to some of the victims. As he looks deeper, he discovers other deaths that seem suspect when the link between the victims is known. He soon realizes that the group of men who are potential victims is narrowing with each death, and he puts some effort into protecting those remaining. 

He encounters and begins to consult with an amateur spider specialist, and finds her to be very helpful as the case progresses. 

As usual with this series, the unusual mental connections that questions that Adamsberg comes up with really make the story and are key to the plot. The side stories here, from the initial case, to the attempted betrayal of one his men, to the crime against another staff member, and to his own buried childhood memories all link through a common theme. 

This is a book that I read in small pieces as Vargas always leads me to go down other rabbit holes from her use of connections, quotations, and analogies. 

I also liked the appearance of one of the characters from a different, although linked series, Mathias from The Three Evangelists and a new connection to a character I love from Adamsberg's team. 

Always an educational read, this was also an interesting set of puzzles. 

The Sibyl in Her Grave

Finished June 17

The Sibyl in Her Grave by Sarah Caudwell (Hilary Tamar, #4)

This mystery is definitely on the odd side. Intellectual and with paranormal elements, it is set around a law professor (Hilary Tamar), lawyers they are friends with in London, and the aunt of one of the lawyers who lives in a small village in England. 

The aunt's story is told mostly through letters to her lawyer niece asking for advice on different legal issues that have arisen in her life, starting with one to do with taxes from investment income. It moves on to what may be murder, a sudden death of an unlikable woman who ran a fortune-telling business, to matters of inheritance, and more. 

There is a side-story of renovation work being done at one of the law firms, and the retirement decisions around an important client at that same firm. 

There is also a mysterious man who appears in the village, that may be a key clue in mysterious death. 

I enjoyed this mystery, with its explanations of legal issues, and the somewhat mysterious professor, who seems to have many contacts with former students. 

It is also interesting that we never know the gender of this professor, with their androgynous name and no other defining information beyond the university they teach at.  

The home of the fortuneteller is a very odd one, with the birds a particularly unsettling element. 

I would definitely be interested in reading more of this series. 

The Girl in the Woods

Finished April 25

The Girl in the Woods by Gregg Olsen

This thriller is the first book in a series that features native American pathologist Dr. Birdy Waterman and Sheriff's detective Kendall Stark, who have been working as a cross departmental team very successfully in Washington state.

The novel opens with a prologue where a young woman, Molly O'Rourke, a nurse's aid, taking her dog out early in the morning before work. As she waits, she thinks about one of her neighbours, Ted Roberts and how he had encouraged her as well as how ill he looked the last time she saw him.

As this novel proper begins, Birdy is surprised to find her teenage nephew, Elan on her front steps, soaking wet and looking to stay with her for a while. She's on her way out because a school trip results in the find of a human foot, and the two women have been called to attend the crime scene. As Birdy examines the foot and the two work to identify the victim, Birdy ends up getting closer to this case than she usually does with the family members of the people she examines. She gets drawn into a variety of possibilities for the perpetrator and motives and finds herself taking on aspects of the case that would normally fall to police. 

Kendall does a lot of research around the case as well, looking into the victim, family members and who might have a grudge against any of them. 

When another suspicious death happens in the community, the two are also involved in that, and soon begin to wonder whether the cases are connected. 

There are lots of interesting themes here, with larger story possibilities arising around the main characters and their personal lives. Birdy's nephew Elan has issues he struggles to deal with, and one of the other characters is a hoarder, with all the mental health issues that brings. 

There is also a prison in the community and both staff and inmates have appearances here too. I enjoyed the two lead characters, and many of the plotlines, but for me the ending seemed to have too much going on, and things happened very quickly with little of the even pace of the rest of the novel. Hopefully this will resolve as the series continues. 

Threadbare

Finished February 8

Threadbare by Monica Ferris

This novel is part of the Needlecraft Mystery series. The stories are set around the character Betsy Devonshire and her needlework shop Crewel World on the shores of Lake Minnetonka. 

This novel begins with the discovery of a body in an alley. The body is that of a homeless woman, and although it appears to be one of exposure following unconsciousness, the local police chief thinks that there is something off about it. One of Betsy's customers is related to the woman and is concerned that she is being looked at as a suspect, so she asks Betsy to investigate. When a second homeless woman is found dead, it looks more suspicious, and that woman also has a connection to one of Betsy's customers. 

As Betsy begins to dig into the women's personal lives and pasts, she uncovers some information that may be uncomfortable for her customers. Her investigation also takes her to Fargo, North Dakota, and she stops in at the stitching store Nordic Needle, a real-life store brought into this story briefly. I liked that touch. 

Betsy is a diligent sleuth, trying to follow every loose end. I appreciated seeing the thread of the homeless develop through this story, and the issues that women of low income have when it comes to housing. The characters that were homeless here were treated with respect by the author. 

As always with this series, a pattern is included at the back of the book. In this case, it is a beginner Hardanger pattern. 

The Lost Apothecary

Finished June 18

The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner

This is a novel of two timelines. One timeline is recent past (pre-Covid) where we have an American woman, Caroline Parcewell, who has discovered her husband's infidelity just before their planned 10th anniversary trip. They were going to London, someplace she always wanted to go, and her parents prepayed the hotel. Caroline, after confronting her husband, decides to go to London alone. 

After dropping her bags at her hotel, she heads out to a nearby pub, and gets propositioned by a man encouraging her to join a group to go mudlarking. After consideration, she joins the group and in her mudlarking finds a small glass vial with what looks like a bear on it. 

She decides to revisit her first love, history, and, on the advice of the tour leader, goes to the British Library for assistance. There she meets a map librarian Gaynor, who she connects with and the two start digging.

The other timeline is in the late eighteenth century, where a middle-aged woman Nella runs a small hidden shop in inner London where she dispenses remedies, many of them fatal, to women where the object of the dose is a man. Her story begins with a young servant Eliza looking for a potion for her master on her mistress's advice. She is a country girl, who has been educated and tutored by her mistress and has an aura of calm about her. While Nella has a bad feeling about helping Eliza, it all seems smooth, but a subsequent client is of a higher class than normal, and her situation draws unwelcome attentions that forces action.

There is an underlying theme here of the advantages that men take over women in both the past and the present, and of what control the women may have over their situation. As Caroline struggles with her feelings about her husband's betrayal, and looks to her own future, she considers her options. Nella doesn't see as many options for herself, and as we learn her backstory we see how she progressed from healer to one dispensing harm. 

I found this book really captured me and I was caught up in both stories within the novel.

Malice Aforethought

Finished March 16

Malice Aforethought by Francis Iles

This book was first published nearly a century ago and the plot and characters are definitely of that time. It is set in a small country town in England where Edmund Bickleigh is a doctor. Edmund was a bit of a player with the ladies before finding himself maneuvered into a marriage. His wife is domineering, and, once married, uninterested in the physical side of the marriage. Edmund continues to philander with the local ladies, yet never harbouring any thoughts of ending his marriage until a young and not-very-social heiress moves to their area. He suddenly begins to consider using his medical knowledge and access to drugs to end his wife's life, freeing him to move on to his new relationship. 

He tries to take his time, and plan things out carefully, but there are things out of his control, and he makes a careless mistake, opening himself up to suspicion and an arrest. 

This novel takes us through his actions, including the court scene, and the ending is one that is extremely ironic. 

None of the characters are particularly sympathetic, so for me, this was more about the plot than the characters. We don't see any point of view except that of Bickleigh, and the other characters lack depth.

A Noel Killing

Finished November 1

A Noël Killing by M.L Longworth

This mystery is the 8th book in the series featuring Verlaque and Bonnett, but the first one I've read. The story is set in the town of Aix-en-Provence in France in December. Antoine Verlaque is the examining magistrate for the town and his wife Marine Bonnet who was a law professor, but is now doing research and writing. Antoine doesn't like Christmas, as it brings back unhappy memories for him. His parents did not have a happy marriage, his mother has passed away, his father remarried, and he isn't close to either his father or his brother. 

Marine's parents live in Aix. Her father is a doctor and her mother Florence seems to have her hand in everything that happens. Marine wants to make this a special Christmas. 

There is a tradition with the local Anglo Protestant Church of having a special service with Christmas carols in the days before Christmas, followed by a buffet meal, with the food supplied by vendors who have booths in the local Christmas Fair market, but are from sister cities of Aix in other countries. This year, there are booths from Philadelphia, United States; Carthage, Tunisia; Perugia, Italy; Bath, England and Tübingen, Germany. France Dubois is the secretary for the church and the main organizer of the event. She lives in an apartment near the town centre by herself and her story is only gradually revealed.

Debra Hainsby and her husband Cole have been living in the area a few years. Debra is working as a secretary at the private English language school nearby. Her boss and the owner of the school Alain Sorba is a self-made man who has lots of things on the go, but he isn't well liked. The school attracts international students as well as some locals wanting to have their children gain another language. Cole has partnered with a local man, Damien Petit, to run a tour company, but he seems to be always looking for new ideas, unable to focus and plan, and the company has been facing financial issues lately. 

There are many side stories in this book, that I'm guessing will be developed further in other books in this series, and we meet many of the shopkeepers and residents of this town as the story develops. 

There are definitely some I liked and would like to see more of. France Dubois, who is intelligent and resilient and kind is one of them. Four young female friends who get together on occasion socially are other. The consist of Fanny Jacquet, owner of a popular bistro in town; Rachida Hammoudi who works in a pharmacy; Jennifer Flanagan whose husband Dave is the pastor at the Anglo Protestant church and who bakes cakes for Fanny's bistro; and Brigitte Plantier who is teaching at the private school and whose husband is Quebecois. 

As is common in European mysteries the food and drink are all enticing, and many scenes take place at dinners and in restaurants, whetting my appetite for the dishes described. 

When a man dies at the carol service dinner, Antoine gets involved. He is joined by his friend, Bruno Paulik, the commissioner of police, when the death looks like is wasn't accidental. 

As people's secrets get exposed, there are many lines of potential inquiry, and some moments of suspense and danger. 

I really enjoyed this book and will look for more in the series.