England

The Queen Who Came in from the Cold

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The Queen Who Came in from the Cold: Her Majesty the Queen Investigates by S. J. Bennett

This book is the fifth mystery in one of my favorite series, featuring Queen Elizabeth II and her assistant private secretaries. This one is set in 1961, as Buckingham Palace is preparing for a state visit from the Kennedys. Before that, Queen Elizabeth, Prince Philip and their staff are going to Italy. I especially enjoyed the scenes set on the royal train and the royal yacht, HMY Britannia. A number of years ago I got to tour Britannia, now a floating museum in Edinburgh, and it was lovely to picture the family quarters while reading this mystery.

On the train, Sandra Pole, a temporary lady-in-waiting to Princess Margaret, says that she saw a body flung into a pond from the train, but no one else saw anything, and is she a reliable witness? It may have been too dark for her to see much, at any rate. The Queen, along with her assistant private secretary, Joan McGraw, has some experience in solving crimes without taking any of the credit. Joan, a former codebreaker at Bletchley Park, does some investigating. A missing photographer, possibly connected to Princess Margaret’s new husband, could be the victim. But where to search? The Queen interviews a clergyman with a passion for trains and railways who has some useful information.

The Space Race and the Cold War come into play, as a possible defector was in contact with the missing photographer, and the Britannia may be involved. Scenes in Rome and Venice add to the story, and the pace and danger intensifies. While Joan is a fine sleuth, Queen Elizabeth is the star here, and it’s great fun to see her in the 1961 setting, and also while trying to keep secrets from Prince Philip, who is very supportive. We don’t see much of the Queen’s corgis here, but there is a very naughty chihuahua on board the train, and the Queen Mother makes an appearance. The previous book, A Death in Diamonds, is set in 1957, while the first three, beginning with The Windsor Knot, are set in 2016 and 2017.

Brenda

Mrs. Endicott’s Splendid Adventure

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Mrs. Endicott’s Splendid Adventure by Rhys Bowen

Ellie Endicott is surprised at breakfast one morning in 1938 when her husband Lionel tells her of his plans to get a divorce and marry a younger woman named Michelle. Also, he wants the house that Ellie has furnished and decorated over many years. Ellie can, perhaps, have a small cottage by the train station instead. After decades in Surrey, southwest of London, Ellie has had enough. Her household help, Mavis, and older, outspoken Dora encourage her to make a fresh start.

They all end up in Lionel’s Bentley, heading for the south of France. They wind up in St. Benet, a small fishing village, along with scared and pregnant Yvette. Ellie speaks excellent French, and Dora speaks enough, while Mavis is willing to learn. They find rooms in a guesthouse just getting ready to close for the season, and get to know the villagers. Then the war begins, and Lionel and their grown sons encourage Ellie to come home again.

The village and the scenery are beautifully described, along with the larger hillside house Ellie decides to rent and restore, with help from the villagers. As the war progresses, they acquire a pair of goats, chickens, and a beehive. Ellie learns to drive a speed boat and occasionally visits a monastery on a nearby island. Dora’s failing health improves and Yvette’s baby arrives. There are no battles in St. Benet, so the plot is mostly about life and food in southern France during the occupation, making do, trading food, and helping the resistance. Also, unexpectedly, finding love. Ellie is resilient and very good company for the reader. Not every villager makes it through the war years, and there is certainly danger and hardship, but Ellie is still happy with her choice to stay in St. Benet. Splendid storytelling with a strong sense of place makes this a good choice for readers of World War II fiction on the homefront.

Brenda

Royal Gambit

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Royal Gambit by Daniel O’Malley

I found it very hard to put down this supernatural thriller. Set in and around London, it features Alix, Lady Mondegreen, a Pawn in the Checquy Group. When Alix was six, she was found to have a unique supernatural power, and began instruction and training with the Checquy, a secret organization that investigates supernatural crimes and disturbances. Unusually, Alix still got to attend a private school with normal children, and became friends with Princess Louise. The British Royal Family in this novel are not the same as in our London.

Alix is stunned when she is named one of four ladies-in-waiting to Princess Louise. This unpaid position, while part-time, is usually permanent, and will make her work with the Checquy more difficult. I enjoyed the unusual combination here of descriptions of royal life, detecting crime, and the incredible stories made up to explain supernatural events, along with some humor, as well as several scenes with an adorable Australian quokka. There is some violence as well. While occasionally getting to wear glamorous gowns and, twice, a tiara, Alix frequently gets summoned from one of her jobs to the other just as she’s about to eat. Often, her very curly hair and clothes are a mess. There are some perks to the lady-in-waiting position, including a gorgeous pair of boots that attracts attention on social media.

If you like an occasionally humorous thriller with supernatural elements, or if you read or saw The Rook, the first Checquy novel, I think you’ll enjoy Royal Gambit.

Brenda

Six Weeks by the Sea

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Six Weeks by the Sea by Paula Byrne

In 1801, Jane Austen, her parents, and sister Cassandra moved from the vicarage at Steventon to the city of Bath. Jane was upset at the news, and later at the loss of her piano. At 25, Jane is not yet a published author. She agrees to the move only after her parents promise a seaside holiday every summer.

This novel tells the story of that first summer by the sea, at Sidmouth. Author Paula Byrne, a biographer, wondered if Jane had ever been in love, as she wrote of it so wittily. In Sidmouth, Byrne introduces two suitors and a young biracial girl to the Austen family. Jane uses her connections to help find a foster home for the little girl, and has hopes of a possible romance between her favorite brother, Captain Frank Austen, and Martha Lloyd, the best friend of Jane and sister Cassie.

The holiday is full of seaside walks, dips in the sea, assemblies, a play, and plenty of tea and cocoa. Jane writes whenever she has time, but doesn’t share her work with anyone outside the family except Martha. The reader knows that Jane Austen never marries, so will not expect a traditional happy ever after. Jane Austen is also featured in a mystery series by Stephanie Barron, is which Jane is an amateur sleuth, and has another potential suitor, but it’s set a few years after this novel. The first book in that series is Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor. This was quite an enjoyable read, and is suggested for Anglophiles as well as Janeites.

Brenda

Dear Miss Lake

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Dear Miss Lake by AJ Pearce

Another Emmy and Bunty book! This is the fourth novel set in wartime London, where journalist Emmy Lake is trying her hardest to help the readers of Woman’s Friend magazine cope until peace arrives. Starting in July 1944, the war in Europe is being won by the Allies, but times are still tough for the soldiers, nurses, and everyone on the homefront.

Emmy and her brother-in-law move the staff of the magazine, along with their spouses and three children to a country estate owned by Bunty’s grandmother. Emmy gets her dream work assignment, as an official war correspondent, and travels to Belgium. Bunty’s sweetheart proposes, a wedding is planned, but Emmy’s husband has to leave England on a secret assignment. Emmy connects with other women who are waiting and waiting for their husbands, sweethearts, or sons to come home. Will the war ever end? And when one of the magazine’s younger staff is overwhelmed by events and leaves without giving a forwarding address, there is plenty to worry about.

This doesn’t sound like a very cheerful read. And yet, this is heartwarming, sad, joyous, and funny in turns. The characters are the stars of this series, from best friends Emmy and Bunty, to their partners, coworkers, and the children in their lives. If you’re up to a few tears, this is an absolutely lovely and charming read for fans of historical fiction set in England. The first book is Dear Mrs. Bird, and the others are Yours Cheerfully and Mrs. Porter Calling.

I look forward to seeing what the author writes next.

Brenda

A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping

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A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna

Mandanna’s first book for adults, The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches, has been very popular with cozy fantasy readers since it was published in 2022. Fans will rejoice with this new book, not a sequel, but set in the same version of England. The British Guild of Sorcery in Northumberland has a council packed with conservative white witches from the top ten British witch families. They run a school for young witches, but fortunately also offers a homeschooling option.

We learn more about magic and witches, including some from Iceland. Witches have varying amounts of power, curses may backfire, and magic can be lost. Some old books of spells are in a restricted section of the Guild’s library, and Sera Swan has lost access to it.

Sera and her formerly late great-aunt Jasmine run the Batty Hole Inn, and the inn is largely held together with Sera’s magic. A recent spell lets only those who need the inn find it. Currently lodging with Sera and Jasmine are two non-magical guests: Matilda, who is obsessed with mushrooms and Nicholas, who works as a Knight at the nearby Medieval Faire. Theo, a young relative, is living there while homeschooling. Luke, a witch scholar, unexpectedly arrives with his young sister Posey, who has magic and autism. Roo-Roo, a zombie rooster, and Clemmy, a fox, also live at the inn. Found family is a major theme, and Sera tries to make the inn as welcoming as possible when apple tea may rain down on any given Sunday.

There are two possible romances developing, an ex-friend seeking forgiveness, a power-hungry wizard who will do anything to thwart Sera’s plans, and some adventure and danger in store. A delightfully creaky old house and a charming cast of characters greatly add to the story’s appeal.

Brenda

Knave of Diamonds

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Knave of Diamonds by Laurie R. King

In 1925, Mary Russell encounters her uncle, Jacob Russell, for the first time in many years, after a Holmes family celebration near Paris. Jake is the family black sheep, and is looking for the Irish Crown Jewels that were stolen from Dublin Castle in 1907. The Jewels are known as the Order of St. Patrick. Jake may or may not have been involved in the theft.

The first mystery novel featuring Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes, The Beekeeper’s Apprentice, was published 30 years ago, and there are now 19 novels and a collection of short stories. I’ve read and enjoyed most of them, and thoroughly enjoyed this adventure of Mary and Jake Russell and Sherlock Holmes, bouncing between England and Ireland, somewhat to Mary’s distress, as she does not care for sea crossings. They travel by train, car, donkey cart, and afoot as they trace the people and places connected with the Jewels, including The O’Mahony, and find that they are not alone in their search. Along the way, Mary and Sherlock acquire a housekeeper to replace Mrs. Hudson at their Sussex house. Mary, Sherlock, and Jake take turns narrating the chapters, which makes for entertaining reading. Uncle Jake, the possible jewel thief, is rather nervous to be under the close scrutiny of Sherlock Holmes. Mycroft Holmes also has a brief appearance, but the brothers are not seeing eye to eye here, and Sherlock mysteriously gives Mycroft an address in France to check out. Great fun, and a fairly low stakes mystery. What the reader doesn’t know until very late in the story is what plans Jake has for the Jewels if and when they’re found.

Brenda

Two Novels by Nevil Shute

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Ruined City and In the Wet by Nevil Shute

Little Bear kitty wanted to help with this post. I have access to the collected works of mid-20th century novelist Nevil Shute. I’ve read many of them, and was surprised to find that both Ruined City and In the West were new to me. An engineer and aviator, Nevil Shute Norway loved writing books set in England, Australia, and occasionally, the future. He is most famous for two of his most dramatic books, On the Beach and A Town Like Alice. My favorite of his novels is Trustee from the Toolroom. The books, in some respects, feel a bit dated, but still make for good reads, and it can be fun to read older books.

Ruined City, also called Kindling, was published in 1938, and is set during 1933-1937. The United Kingdom was just coming out of the Great Depression and unemployment was very high. Henry Warren, a London financier, is unwilling to make even slightly risky loans. His advice on investments is highly respected. Working long hours and traveling throughout Europe for his work, Warren often dines alone at home, served by his butler, as his wife is very social and rarely home in the evening. She meets someone else and they plan to divorce. For his health, Warren goes on a long walking tour and ends up in the north of England after he’s taken ill on the road. Recovering from surgery in the hospital in Sharples, he meets a kind almoner (sort of a social worker) and takes walks through the town, discovering a closed shipyard. Deciding that sometimes the ends do justify the means, he makes a slightly shady deal in a fictional Balkan country to help reopen the shipyard, which just might revitalize the town. Warren makes the deal knowing it may come at a high personal cost. A very satisfying read.

In the Wet was published in 1953. This is one of Nevil Shute’s speculative novels, in which he wonders about possible futures. The beginning of the book is set in Queensland, Australia in the early 1950s, but most of the book is set in the early 1980s. It’s fascinating to look back at the 1980s to see how the author’s ideas of the future did or did not resemble our timeline. Wing Commander David Anderson, one-quarter Aborigine, is stunned to be assigned to the Queen’s Flight. In this version of the 1980s, Canada and Australia are more prosperous than Great Britain and have commissioned two very modern airplanes for the Queen that travel at very high altitudes and have a long range. This will enable Queen Elizabeth or her two children, Charles and Anne, to reach anywhere in the Commonwealth in only a couple of days.

David falls for one of the Queen’s secretaries, Rosemary, and they share a love of sailing. He wants to make his home near Canberra, Australia while life in London and Oxford is all Rosemary has known. There is a government crisis that result in several long flights for David. David’s unfortunate nickname and a very cliched Asian character in the 1950s Australian portion of the book make parts of this book feel dated, but it’s a remarkable, thought-provoking story.

Brenda

The Eights

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The Eights by Joanna Miller

I thoroughly enjoyed this historical novel set at Oxford University in 1920 and 1921. The Eights are four women entering St. Hugh’s College at Oxford. They are in the first group of women to matriculate at Oxford. Before 1920, women could study at Oxford but weren’t awarded degrees. World War I has been over for almost two years and women over 30 now get to vote in Great Britain.

Eight is the group’s corridor number. Beatrice is very tall, and her mother is a famous suffragist. Beautiful Dora is still mourning her brother and fiancé and struggles a bit with math. Otto (Ottoline) is brilliant at math, wealthy, the youngest of four sisters and doesn’t get on with her mother at all. Otto smokes, drinks, and likes to bend the rules. Marianne is devoted to her father, a rector, and goes home every other weekend to help out with his church work. She needs to do well on her exams to get a scholarship in English, and hopes to become a teacher.

The male Oxford students are not a very welcoming bunch. They tease and play pranks, though some are charmed by Dora and Otto. The reader is immersed into college life along with the Eights, and Oxford is lovingly described along with the many rules the women must follow and the mediocre food. There are a few flashbacks to their lives during the war. This memorable first novel makes me want to reread Gaudy Night by Dorothy Sayers, set at Oxford a decade later, or Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear. More, please!

Brenda

Eddie Winston is Looking for Love

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Eddie Winston is Looking for Love by Marianne Cronin

A truly sweet novel, this was a pleasure to read. In flashbacks to the past, Eddie meets Bridie when he is a Ph.D. student at the University of Birmingham and she works as an administrative assistant. Her husband, Alistair, not a nice man, is a professor there. Eddie and Birdie, as he calls her, become friends and are attracted to each other.

In the present, Eddie is 90 and works in a charity shop in Birmingham with Marjie. He takes extra care with the belongings of people who have recently passed away, donated by friends or family. He also adopts a guinea pig that is brought to the shop. Young Bella brings in Jake’s concert t-shirts, notebook, and painted Converse shoes. Eddie saves them, certain she’ll want them back someday. They become friends, often eating lunch on a park bench. She writes her way through grief by writing letters to Jake. When Bella learns that Eddie has never been kissed, she sets up an account for him on a dating app.

Bella works at Sainsbury’s grocery store, where she meets a man she calls Ham & Cheese, for the sandwich he buys every day. Bella and Ham & Cheese, aka Chris, go on a date. In an exciting turn of events, Eddie and Bella are invited to visit a Greek island to return a packet of letters to a woman’s sister. At long last, Bridie comes back into the picture. I really enjoyed Bella and Eddie’s unlikely friendship, the main theme of the book for me. I won’t say anything more about the plot, except that I finished the novel with a big smile on my face.

Brenda