Dear Readers,
More new books for the TBR pile. I need to take all of 2019 off from my job just to read everyday. Then maybe I will be half way through my stack.
Happy Reading,
The Making of Mrs. Hale – Carolyn Miller – Regency Brides/A Promise of Hope – Julia Hale ran off to be married in Gretna Green, following romance instead of common sense. But her tale isn’t turning into a happily ever after. Her new husband is gone and she doesn’t know where–or if he’s ever coming back. Julia has no option but to head home to the family she betrayed by eloping and to hope they’ll forgive her. Especially now that she might be carrying a baby from her brief marriage.
The Cairo Brief – Fiona Veitch Smith – #4 Poppy Denby Investigates – Intrepid reporter sleuth Poppy Denby is invited to attend the auction of the Death Mask of Nefertiti. The auction is to be held on the country estate of Sir James Maddox, a famous explorer and Egyptologist. Representatives of the world’s leading museums will be bidding on the mask which was found, in Egypt, under murderous circumstances. Poppy and her colleagues from The Daily Globe, who are trying to stay one step ahead of their rivals from The London Courier, dismiss rumors of an ancient curse. But when one of the auction party is murdered, and someone starts stalking Poppy, the race is on to find the killer before “the curse” can strike again.
Prince Edward’s Warrant – Mel Starr – #11 The Chronicles of Hugh de Singleton, Surgeon – Master Hugh won the Black Prince’s favour when he helped ease the prince’s illness. Now, in the autumn of 1372, the prince is suffering a relapse and sends to Bampton for Master Hugh to attend him. While at dinner in Kennington Palace, Sir Giles, the knight who escorted Hugh to London, is stricken and dies. Poison! Sir Giles is not popular, and there are many who would gladly see the fellow done away with… except for Prince Edward. The Black Prince feels a debt to the slain man because of his heroic behaviour at the Battle of Crecy, where the knight stood firm with the prince when the fight seemed of uncertain outcome. Despite caring little for Sir Giles, Master Hugh must once again place himself in jeopardy and seek to uncover the perpetrator of the crime…
Firing Line – Mike Hollow – #4 The Blitz Detective – Flames leap skyward from a blitzed factory in West Ham as an air raid destroys all in its path. When the blaze threatens neighbouring houses a volunteer fireman breaks in to rescue a trapped resident – but instead finds only the body of a young woman, strangled in her bedroom. For Detective Inspector John Jago the scene brings back memories of the Soho Strangler. He suspects this woman had a secret – that she is not what she seems – and that this may be the root of her untimely end. Investigation reveals a drunken sailor may hold the key to what happened in Joan Watson’s flat. But his information points Jago towards family jealousies, violence, robbery, and the underworld of political terrorism. Was Joan as innocent as her friends claim, or was she mixed up in crime? Jago must unpick multifarious motives if he hopes to reach the truth.
All That Glitters – Les Cowan – Tati thought she was escaping Belarus; she had scraped and saved the $15,000 that she was told she needed to start again. Instead, she walks into a trap. She tries to resist, but her captors made it clear that until she gives the men they send her what they want she will be beaten daily, or left to die. In Edinburgh, Pastor David Hidalgo is attempting to get his life back together after facing the gang who killed his wife. He is determined to stay away from danger until a desperate woman approaches him. Her husband has been discovered dead and the police have found child pornography on his computer. The woman is inconsolable but certain her husband – who was investigating the finances of a new charismatic church in Edinburgh – has been framed. David is determined to ensure the new church is sound but on visiting doubts the authenticity of its charismatic leader. Could something more sinister be lurking behind the church’s polished veneer? The only hope that Tati has is a name she has been given “David Hidalgo” – perhaps this man will be her rescuer? But David has no knowledge of Tati’s existence. However, as he starts to investigate the new church their two worlds seem set to collide. Will both come out unscathed?
Death of a Jester – Deb Richardson-Moore – #4 A Branigan Powers Mystery -The police cannot decide if the clown sightings reported around Grambling pose a threat or are just a hoax—that is, until a young homeless boy is lured away from his parents in the dead of night. Malachi has been dreaming of the little boy he could not save in Afghanistan. He is pulled between the deep need to drink and drown his past and his desire to try and help save the little boy who was snatched from Tent City, under his nose. Then a man dressed in a clown’s outfit is found bludgeoned to death. Branigan reports and watches in horror as the crime is connected to her property and members of her own family are once again suspects. Can Branigan and Malachi help to bring the truth to light before the little boy is harmed, and before the wrong person is convicted of murder?
by Madeleine L’Engle. It was a wonderful journey of imagination and great Biblical truths.
