
Historical thriller brings jazz age Britain to life
London Calling by Sara Sheridan Kensington Books Mystery & Thrillers Pub Date 28 March 2017 Review It’s 1952 and Mirabelle Bevan has made a career as a collection’s agent along with her best friend Vesta. It is a turbulent era, and although Britain is better than the US, life still isn’t easy for a person of color. When an 18 year old debutante disappears after visiting a jazz club, suspicion falls on one of Vesta’s cousins, a saxophone player. His color and his profession

Intriguing historical blends mystery and espionage
The Unquiet Grave by David J Oldman Endeavour Press Historical Fiction, Mystery & Thrillers Pub Date 21 Oct 2016 Review The Unquiet Grave is not quite a mystery nor a spy novel, but it incorporates elements of both. Captain Harry Tennant's job is to investigate war crimes, not the big cases, but the smaller ones. Most are a matter of form, putting together information from the records of both sides. Oldman is a bit overzealous enumerating the complex movements of troops an

Clever period procedural with touch of theater magic
Smoke and Mirrors by Elly Griffiths Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Mystery & Thrillers Pub Date 20 September 2016 Review Smoke and Mirrors is an impressive mystery set in post WWII Britain. Elly Griffiths has done a wonderful job bringing the era to life complete with the uneasiness that accompanies major social and technological changes. Where Smoke and Mirrors departs from the standard police procedural is with the inclusion of Max Mephisto with his knowledge of theater and i

Spies and Murder collide in A Question of Inheritance
A Question of Inheritance by Elizabeth Edmondson
Pub Date: October 27, 2015
Description
December 1953
Hugo Hawksworth is on the tail of rogue Cold War agents at a top-secret government facility, while back home at Selchester Castle they’re awaiting the arrival of the new Earl—an American, the long-lost son of the murdered Lord Selchester.
The town of Selchester, rich in scandal and gossip, is unsure what to make of the Earl or his teenage daughters, but they know th


Murder Amidst the Flood
Death in Florence: An Inspector Bordelli Mystery
By Marco Vichi
Pub Date: October 15, 2015 Description Florence, 1966. The rain is never-ending. When a young boy vanishes on his way home from school the police fear the worst, and Inspector Bordelli begins an increasingly desperate investigation. Then the flood hits. During the night of November 4th the swollen River Arno, already lapping the arches of the Ponte Vecchio, breaks its banks and overwhelms the city. Streets In t