London 1868. Noelle Reviews Victorian #mystery Desire and Deceit by @carolJhedges for Rosie’s #Bookreview Team #RBRT

Today’s team review is from Noelle. She blogs here https://saylingaway.wordpress.com

Noelle has been reading Desire And Deceit by Carol J Hedges

It is 1868, and London is in the midst of a terrible heat wave.  A body of a young man has disappeared from the police mortuary at Scotland Yard, an unheard of event, before there was even an autopsy. Detective Inspector Leo Stride and Detective Sergeant Jack Cully are baffled, having only the report of young Constable Williams, who discovered the body, to go on. Williams has a very observant eye, however, and will help them with their investigation.

At the same time, the two greedy Harbinger brothers, Arthur and Sherborne, are vying for the favor of their very rich, dying aunt, Euphemia Harbinger. Both are thoroughly distasteful characters. Sherborne with his wife, baby Timothy, and ten year old twins, Hanover and Harriet, descends on London to stay in a hotel, priming Hanover to earn the aunt’s approbation with the gift of a talking parrot. The parrot is funny and pivotal to the story! At the same time, Sherborne psychologically bullies Harriet, considering her, as a girl, unworthy of any attention.

Arthur Harbinger, MP and senior manager of a large insurance company, tries to thwart his brother. He spends his time ignoring his duties as an MP, preferring to bilk the insurance company out of money with claims on life insurance created in the names of people who don’t exist. He intends to use the money he gets from Aunt Euphemia to replay a large loan he took out to purchase a very expensive race horse.

Miss Lucy Landseer has recently installed herself as a private detective at 122A Baker Street and greets her very first client, Rosalind Whitely, whose mother passed away six months before and who had married a man a short time before she died. As a widower, Mr. Brooke now claims all of her mother’s estate, and Miss Whitely asks Miss Landseer to investigate his background. She cannot anticipate what a twisted path she will follow.

The author ties all of these threads together in a skillful fashion, with a satisfying ending

Carol Hedges is a master of creating the London scene, the city becoming as much a character as the people. She brings Victorian London to life in all its sights, its sounds, its filth, and all of its sordid and gas-lit splendor, baking in the heat of an endless summer. Her characters are well-rounded, humorous, matter-of-fact, or deliciously evil. In previous books, she has focused on the plight of women in this time. She doesn’t miss a beat with this tale, but brings in family dynamics as well, especially that of DI Stride.

The book is written in the present tense, and the author speaks directly to the reader at various times in the developing plot. At first I found this a bit disconcerting, but I realized that coupled with the tense, the author had created something very similar to a screen play, setting the scene and introducing characters.

I’m definitely going to read more of this author and recommend this book to anyone interested in Victorian London and a good mystery/detective story.

It is 1868, and the body of a young man has gone missing from the police mortuary at Scotland Yard, an event that has never happened before. Who was the mysterious corpse, and why was he spirited away in the night? These are the questions baffling Detective Inspector Stride and Detective Sergeant Cully as they set out to uncover the truth.

Meanwhile, two greedy, unscrupulous, inheritance-seeking brothers, Arthur and Sherborne Harbinger, descend upon London and their very rich dying aunt, each determined to get whatever they can out of her, and prepared to use whatever methods they can to win her favour. And over in her newly rented rooms in Baker Street, Miss Lucy Landseer, consulting private detective, has been presented with her first ever proper case to investigate ~ and finds it is one that will defy even her imaginative and inventive mind.

Set against the hottest summer on record, Desire & Deceit, the ninth outing for this popular Victorian Detectives series, explores how the love of money really is the root of all evil. Once again, Victorian London is brought to life in all its sights, its sounds, its sordid and gas-lit splendour. Another must-read book, teeming with memorable Dickensian-style characters.

AmazonUK | AmazonUS

Rosie’s #Bookreview Team #RBRT Victorian #Mystery FAME & FORTUNE by @carolJhedges

Today’s team review is from Terry, she blogs here, https://terrytylerbookreviews.blogspot.co.uk/

Terry has been reading Fame & Fortune by Carol J Hedges

5 stars

This is the eighth book in Carol Hedges’ Victorian murder mystery, featuring officers of the law Stride and Cully.  The story starts with a mysterious hanging and the theft of rare Japanese artefacts, and takes the crime-fighting duo to the seediest areas of London and then off to more upmarket districts to see out the Black brothers, Herbert and Munro; Munro runs gambling clubs, while Herbert is often abroad, taking care of his trading empire – but what is he selling?

Running through the main story are a couple of juicy sub-plots – that of a romantic novelist accused by an aristocrat of using his marital dramas as a plot for her novels, and the tale of Izzy, a ten-year-old who works painting furniture for dolls’ houses by day, and washing dishes by night, then goes home to share a mattress with her uncaring mother in an unsavoury boarding house.

Fame & Fortune is up there with the rest of this series, a delight to read, as Ms Hedges spins her story around artfully-drawn characters, at the same time as highlighting the social injustices of the day.  Izzy’s story, in particular, is heartrending.  Another winner; if you haven’t read any of this series, they’re all completely stand-alone, even though certain threads are carried on throughout.  Highly recommended. 

When the body of a man is discovered hanging from some scaffolding under one of London’s bridges, Scotland Yard’s detective division is called in to solve the mystery of his identity & how he died. What they discover is a web of crime and extortion, and at the heart of it, two evil brothers, Munro and Herbert Black. Their inquiries will bring them into contact with the strange world of Gerald Daubney, collector of Japanese curios, whose priceless collection of netsuke has disappeared.

Facing a similar loss is Mrs Riva Hemmyng-Stratton, writer of ‘silver-fork’ novels, who suddenly finds herself embroiled in a court case when she is sued for defamation and libel by Lord Edwin Lackington. Her priceless reputation as a writer is on the line. How on earth can she prove her innocence when the only person who could vouch for it is incarcerated in a private asylum?

Many old friends make appearances in the novel … and a certain meaningful relationship finally reaches its conclusion.

AmazonUk |

Rosie’s #Bookreview Team #RBRT Victorian #Mystery FAME & FORTUNE by @carolJhedges

Today’s team review is from Liz, she blogs here https://lizannelloyd.wordpress.com/

Liz has been reading Fame & Fortune by Carol J Hedges

Once more I have explored the sordid streets of mid-Victorian London to follow the investigations of the determined team of police detectives, Stride, Cully and Greig. Carol Hedges has taken me into grand homes, crowded slums and insalubrious pubs, down by the docks. I have seen poor Izzy Harding spend all day painting tiny dolls’ furniture with little or no food, sat near to Riva Hemming-Stratton over tea while she turns her observation of other people into imaginative stories and I have suffered with the lonely Gerald Daubney as he mourns the loss of his netsuke Edo cat.  And the struggle of intelligent women to gain an education is shown by Maria Barklem, a vicar’s daughter soon to be made homeless because of the death of her parents.

Meanwhile in Russell Square two evil brothers, Herbert and Munro Black, exploit young girls dreams to lead them into prostitution across the sea.  Their tentacles of crime reach out across the city but somehow the police force must find evidence and witnesses to bring them to justice.

This is a much darker tale than Ms Hedges earlier novels, with more sad lives unfulfilled but characters from past books such as Lucy Landseer appear, providing solutions, and help at least some of the victims.  And through it all is a tiny grain of goodness in enough characters, such as Inspector Lachlan Greig, to give us hope.

When the body of a man is discovered hanging from some scaffolding under one of London’s bridges, Scotland Yard’s detective division is called in to solve the mystery of his identity & how he died. What they discover is a web of crime and extortion, and at the heart of it, two evil brothers, Munro and Herbert Black. Their inquiries will bring them into contact with the strange world of Gerald Daubney, collector of Japanese curios, whose priceless collection of netsuke has disappeared.

Facing a similar loss is Mrs Riva Hemmyng-Stratton, writer of ‘silver-fork’ novels, who suddenly finds herself embroiled in a court case when she is sued for defamation and libel by Lord Edwin Lackington. Her priceless reputation as a writer is on the line. How on earth can she prove her innocence when the only person who could vouch for it is incarcerated in a private asylum?

Many old friends make appearances in the novel … and a certain meaningful relationship finally reaches its conclusion.

AmazonUk |

14 Extra-Special Books Celebrating 6 Years of Rosie’s #Bookreview Team #RBRT: Part 2 #TuesdayBookBlog

Welcome to Part Two of #RBRT Gold  – if you missed Part One, it’s HERE

How time flies – Rosie Amber’s Book Review Team has now been up and running for six years!  During that time we have done our best to spread the word about novels, novellas, short stories and non-fiction from self-published authors and independent publishers – to showcase talent found outside the mainstream publishing world.

Each month we are inundated with review requests from authors and publishers alike.  Every book that I accept is passed on to my team of twenty readers, which is made up of book bloggers, writers, editors, creative writing tutors and people who just love reading.  Most gain just one or two reviews, but once in a while a gem comes along that piques the interest of several team members, and receives highly favourable reviews across the board.

I hope you’ll enjoy #RBRT Gold Part Two: seven extra-special books that were greatly enjoyed by three or more team members.

Under the title of each book, you can read its team reviews, which include Amazon links.  Enjoy!

 

Jonah by Carl Rackman

Nautical Thriller

Click the picture to see the book on Goodreads

Excerpt from blurb:

The North Atlantic, 1940. A British destroyer pounces on a seemingly abandoned U-boat, leading to a spine-chilling encounter.

Five years later, the US Navy destroyer Brownlee grimly prepares to battle a swarm of Japanese kamikazes at Okinawa.

Mitch “Lucky” Kirkham, a young gunner on the Brownlee, wakes up miraculously unscathed after his crewmates are killed in a fearsome kamikaze strike.

Far out in the boundless emptiness of the Pacific, a strange madness begins to seize the sailors on the Brownlee. Terror, hysteria and suicide torment the men amid sightings of ghosts and a terrifying monster that stalks the ship by night.

Jonah is a searing, psychological suspense thriller, the latest from Carl Rackman, author of Irex and Voyager.

Reviewed by

Cathy Ryan

Georgia Rose

Liz Lloyd

Olga Miret

 

The Code For Killing by William Savage

Historical mystery

Click the picture to see the book on Goodreads

Excerpt from blurb:

Dr. Adam Bascom, 18th-century physician and gentleman, is called to Norwich to treat a young man who’s been brutally assaulted and left with total memory loss. Why was the man attacked? What was he doing wandering on his own along the river bank late at night? Is his lack of memory real — or assumed to hide what is really happening?

Welcome to the surprisingly sophisticated world of 18th-century British intelligence — a story rich in excitement, deceit and subterfuge, involving the rarely revealed forerunners of MI5 and Bletchley Park.

Reviewed by

Noelle Granger

Liz Lloyd

Terry Tyler

Jenny Worstall

 

Night Porter by Mark Barry

Contemporary Drama

Click the picture to see the book on Goodreads

Excerpt from blurb:

Four writers are invited to stay at a sixteenth century hotel in the fictional town of Wheatley Fields, as they have been nominated for a prestigious award ceremony.

Seen through the cynical, ever-open eyes of the hotel’s night porter, the lives of the four meet and intertwine – and as the ceremony approaches, one of them takes a hit…

Based on the famous Saracen’s Head hotel in Southwell, England, The Night Porter combines the author’s experience of the hotel business with his work as a writer and adds humour, pathos, thrills and a wry look at the world of publishing and writing in the Kindle era.

Reviewed by

Barb Taub

E.L. Lindley

Vanessa Wester

Emily

 

October Rain by Dylan Morgan

Dystopian scifi novella

Click the picture to see the book on Goodreads

Book blurb:

The human race teeters on the brink of extinction in a solar system choking under the glare of a dying sun. An assassin for the Martian Interstellar Correction Agency, Steele has one more assignment to complete before a big payoff and the chance of a new life: a job that will reveal the true horrors of man’s futile existence and threaten the very people who make his life worth living.

As mankind draws its final breath, what would you do to save your family?

Reviewed by

Shelley Wilson

Teri Polen

Cathy Ryan

Terry Tyler

Steve Forster

Suraya Dewing

 

The Mermaid And The Bear by Ailish Sinclair

Historical romance

Click the picture to see the book on Goodreads

Excerpt from blurb:

Isobell needs to escape. She has to. Her life depends on it.

She has a well thought-out plan to flee her privileged life in London and the cruel man who would marry her, and make a fresh start in Scotland.

She dreams of faery castles, surrounded by ancient woodlands and misty lochs… and maybe even romance, in the dark and haunted eyes of a mysterious Laird.  Her dreams seem to be coming true, as she finds friendship and warmth, love and safety, and the chance for a new beginning.

Until the past catches up with her.

Set in the late sixteenth century, at the height of the Scottish witchcraft accusations, The Mermaid and The Bear is a story of triumph over evil, hope through adversity, faith in humankind and – above all – love.

Reviewed by

Noelle Granger

Shelley Wilson

Terry Tyler

Liz Lloyd

 

Rack & Ruin by Carol Hedges

Historical mystery

Click the picture to see the book on Goodreads

Excerpt from blurb:

The city is in the grip of railway mania when the gruesome discovery of several infant corpses in an abandoned house forces Inspector Lachlan Greig of A Division, Bow Street Police Office and his men to enter the dark and horrific world of baby farming. It will take all Greig’s skill and ingenuity to track down the evil perpetrators and get justice for the murdered innocents.

Meanwhile, school friends Letitia and Daisy stand side by side on the threshold of womanhood. One longs for marriage to a handsome man; the other craves an education. Will their dreams come true, or will their lives be shattered into little pieces by the tragic and unexpected events that are about to overtake them?

Hope meets horror, and Parliament is threatened by anarchists in this rumbustious fourth Victorian crime novel, set once again amongst the dangerous twisting alleyways and gaslit thoroughfares of 1860s London.

Reviewed by

Barb Taub

Noelle Granger

Cathy Ryan

Terry Tyler

Liz Lloyd

 

An Empty Vessel by J.J. Marsh

Historical crime novella

Click the picture to see the book on Goodreads

Excerpt from blurb:

Today’s the day Nancy Maidstone is going to hang.

In her time, she’s been a wartime evacuee, land-girl, slaughterhouse worker, supermarket assistant, Master Butcher and defendant accused of first degree murder. Now she’s a prisoner condemned to death.

The case has made all the front pages. Speculation dominates every conversation from bar to barbershop to bakery. Why did she do it? How did she do it? Did she actually do it at all? Everyone has an opinion on Nancy Maidstone.

The story of a life and a death, of a post-war world which never had it so good, of a society intent on a bright, shiny future, and of a woman with blood on her hands.

This is the story of Nancy Maidstone.

Reviewed by

Alison Williams

Jessie Stevens

Terry Tyler

 

Thank you for taking a look at the favourite books of Rosie Amber’s Review Team, a fine selection that can’t be recommended too highly.  Happy reading!