Cold Country by Russell Rowland may start slow but don’t let that fool you. It will suddenly accelerate and the puzzle pieces will hit you like a sledgehammer. We are in the year 1968 in a very small town called Paradise Valley, Montana. It reminded me of Walnut Grove from the Little House on the […]
Book Reviews
Munich by Robert Harris
It is only fitting that a book review in September should feature World War Two. The book Munich by Robert Harris is an excellent choice. September dates On September 1, 1938 the Munich Agreement was signed by Germany, Great Britain, France, and Italy. It agreed to let Germany annex Sudetenland in western Czechoslovakia under the […]
Justice for Joan by Martin Knight
The murder of Joan Mary Woodhouse (July 17, 1921 – July 31, 1948) is also known as the Arundel Murder as her body was found on the grounds of Arundel Castle, Sussex, UK. There is plenty online about the case however some details are not. That’s where the book by Martin Knight comes in. Joan […]
Dust and Shadow by Lyndsay Faye
Dust and Shadow by Lyndsay Faye takes us back to London and the world of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson. Holmes and Watson We meet our friends Holmes and Watson during the time that Jack the Ripper terrorized London. We can therefore expect to meet these five victims in the book: Mary Ann Nichols, […]
The Conviction of Cora Burns by Carolyn Kirby
Carolyn Kirby has a knack for describing in painful detail how hard life was in Victorian London. The atmosphere, violence, and darkness grip you from page one. She details meticulously how poor people were, the humiliations they suffered, and how few privileged men could really call themselves gentlemen. The story takes place in 1885. It […]
Mary Emsley and Marion Gilchrist
After I finished reading Mrs. Sherlock Holmes, I picked up Caleb Carr’s The Italian Secretary. It is a Holmes & Watson story but told by Carr and he did it very well. All the familiar characters are in there and the story is worth a read. It set off my Sir Arthur Conan Doyle reading […]
Mrs. Sherlock Holmes by Brad Ricca
Mrs. Sherlock Holmes by Brad Ricca is a book about Mary Grace Winterton Quackenbos Humiston (September 17, 1869 – July 16, 1948) and the Ruth Cruger case. Humiston Humiston was the first female Special Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York meaning she was the chief federal law enforcement officer for […]
The education of a coroner
The title The education of a coroner, lessons in investigating death by John Bateson was enough to make me buy the book. Which crime writer cannot use some lessons in death investigations? The first half of the book is filled with those lessons. The author explains that he is interviewing and reviewing the career of […]
The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson
The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson is another book I found while reading the BBC History magazine. I read it was part about the history of the cholera outbreak in London, 1854. But it was also described as a detective story. We obviously have victims but where was the culprit coming from? What were the […]
The Girls are Gone by M. Brodkorb & A. Mann
The Girls are Gone by Michael Brodkorb and Allison Mann tells the story of Samantha and Gianna Rucki, two teenage sisters, who vanished on April 19, 2013 while their parents Sandra Grazzini-Rucki and David Rucki battled each other in court over custody and other elements of their divorce. I announced the release of the book […]