England

A Death in Diamonds

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A Death in Diamonds by S. J. Bennett

This is the fourth Her Majesty The Queen Investigates mystery, but is set much earlier than the others, in 1957. The premise of this delightful British mystery series is that Queen Elizabeth II, with the assistance of her assistant private secretary, solves mysteries. She never takes any credit for her detective work, and doesn’t even share her secret with Prince Philip.

Joan McGraw is a typist at Buckingham Palace and is thrilled to fill in for the Queen’s assistant private secretary Fiona, who is out on sick leave. Joan had worked at Bletchley Park during the war, and speaks French and German. While the mystery she helps the Queen solve is completely fictional, the official events, travel, and gowns are based on fact, including an unexpected encounter with Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. The Queen’s friendship with a famous author is also real. A sabotage plot is, however, made up.

The Queen has noticed several minor problems connected with her official travel, including a speech that goes missing. Is one of her staff making mistakes, perhaps deliberately? How will this affect her upcoming visit with Prince Philip to Canada and the United States? There will be televised speeches, including one in French and English, a first for the Queen. Her children Charles and Anne are still quite young, though Charles is soon to enroll at a boarding school.

While I enjoyed the palace scenes and the travels, this wasn’t my favorite of the four mysteries in the series. 1957 wasn’t a terribly happy year in Great Britain, and the crime, which involved a secret room, a stolen tiara, and a man of uncertain nationality, takes a long time to solve and casts suspicion on quite a few people. Joan is very clever, enjoys her time with the Queen, and figures out which member of the staff is betraying the Queen’s trust. I look forward to Queen Elizabeth’s next case.

Brenda

We Solve Murders

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We Solve Murders by Richard Osman

Sometimes I need a fun crime thriller or caper for escapist reading. This first book in a new series by Osman is just the ticket. While different from his Thursday Murder Club mysteries, fans of one series may enjoy the other. To begin with, Amy Wheeler and her father-in-law Steve are the good guys. Steve is a widowed ex-cop with a cat named Trouble. He lives in the English town of Axley where he walks to a favorite park bench every day to talk with Debbie, his late wife. Then there is lunch at the pub, where Tony can diagnose the problems with his car’s clutch, and quiz night once a week. He has just located a missing dog. There are frequent texts and regular chats with Amy, a bodyguard, and less frequent texts with his son Adam, currently en route to Dubai.

Amy is guarding longtime bestselling writer Rosie D’Antonio on her private island off the coast of South Carolina. Recently, three couriers have died, all with ties to Maximum Impact, the security company owned by Jeff, Amy’s boss, and to a small public relations firm in England. One of the deaths happened off the coast of South Carolina, and Amy learns that she’s a suspect. When she’s not sure who to trust, she asks Steve for help. At first reluctant to travel, Steve finds that he enjoys private plane rides, and the action moves to St. Lucia, Dublin, Dubai, and the New Forest in England. Pubs, posh restaurants, airports, golf courses and spas are all featured here. Steve and Amy make connections, ask questions, are occasionally in danger, and along with Rosie, are vastly entertaining. A movie actor, another security guard, and a caddy all help them figure out who’s responsible for the crime wave. Adam also gets to help, but is a minor character here. In the end, loose ends are tied up and the reader finally emerges back into the real world, refreshed.

Steve and Amy decide they will work together to solve mysteries, and Rosie may have located a missing cat. The Marseille Caper and The Corsican Caper by Peter Mayle are readalikes.

Brenda

What Time the Sexton’s Spade doth Rust

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What Time the Sexton’s Spade doth Rust by Alan Bradley

After a five-year wait, another Flavia de Luce mystery is most welcome. Flavia is a young teen in early 1950s England, a skilled chemist, and an amateur sleuth. Her clever younger cousin Undine has come to live in the large family house in Bishop’s Lacey, and constantly shadows Flavia. Flavia’s sister Daffy is still there, but oldest sister Ophelia is now married. Dogger and Mrs. Mullett look after the three girls and the house since their father’s death. Flavia and Dogger have long chats in the greenhouse.

Mrs. Mullett has also started cooking meals for Major Greyleigh, her long ago sweetheart. When he is found dead, she is suspected of cooking him poisonous mushrooms for breakfast. While sleuthing, Flavia uncovers a huge family secret and learns that Mrs. M also knows. Does Dogger? British intelligence is operating nearby and it looks like Flavia, Dogger, and also cousin Undine will have more fiendishly clever cases to solve in the future, to the delight of Flavia’s many fans.

Brenda

The Comfort of Ghosts

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The Comfort of Ghosts by Jacqueline Winspear

The final, nostalgic, Maisie Dobbs mystery is set in England after World War II. The first book was set over 30 years earlier when Maisie was a young teen, beginning work as a maid, then going on to be a nurse in World War I. Now Maisie is married to an American, has a daughter and an Alsatian dog, and works as a psychologist and investigator. Her current case has ties to her youth, and is connected to four teens she finds squatting in a vacant mansion along with a very ill soldier who’s just returned to England from east Asia.

Priscilla, while facing some challenges, is still Maisie’s best friend, and Maisie’s father, stepmother, and former mother-in-law all live nearby. Many connected strands of plot and Maisie’s past need to be untangled, and both Maisie and her long-time coworker Billy have need of advice. I found this to be a very satisfying read. A friend commented that there are too many coincidences in this mystery, and I agree. It feels like the author wanted to connect as many of her characters as she could within the covers of this final book. The first book is titled Maisie Dobbs.

Brenda

How to Age Disgracefully

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How to Age Disgracefully by Clare Pooley

I liked Pooley’s book The Authenticity Project and enjoyed a recent book discussion of Iona Iverson’s Rules for Commuting, so I was eager to read this British novel with an ensemble cast.

Daphne is turning 70 and rarely leaves her apartment. A dog named Maggie Thatcher needs a new home, or homes. Ziggy is a teen dad to toddler Kylie. Lydia, struggling with hot flashes at 54, starts a part-time job at a London community center, leading a new social club for seniors. Art, a bit actor is bored, and brings his photographer friend William along. Ruby knits and knits. When the community center needs expensive repairs, the local council considers selling the building to developers. The senior club and the daycare, along with a group of pregnant women and people in recovery all band together to try and save the building. There is an unusual joint nativity play, some clever yarn bombing, and Maggie Thatcher is entered into a competition on a TV show. The seniors also trail Lydia’s husband, deal with Ziggy’s local bully, and find lost family members, as well as uncover Daphne’s very big secret. This is a funny, moving, and entertaining read with bighearted and realistic middle-aged and older characters.

Brenda

The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club

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The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club by Helen Simonson

In 1919, Constance Haverhill has lost her mother to influenza and then her nephew. She helped run the local estate during the war, but now is sent to a seaside hotel in Hazelbourne as companion to Mrs. Fog, convalescing from the flu. Constance has no home or permanent job since her mother’s death. This historical novel seems to be meant to occasionally move the reader to anger or indignation on how some of the characters are treated, by other characters or society at large.

Captain Harris Wirrall, a pilot in the war, lost a leg and can’t get work as a pilot. His sweetheart doesn’t want him, and his mother is remodeling Penneston Hall with funds he doesn’t have. His sister Poppy runs a women’s tax business: motorcycles with side cars. Hotel waiter Klaus, with German ancestry, has daily indignities to face, and more. Mr. Pendra gets discriminated against simply for being Indian, though he served valiantly in the war. A German U-boat is stranded on the beach, and the leaders of Hazelbourne try a variety of ways to have it removed or destroyed.

I attended Jane Healey’s Historical Happy Hour recently where she interviewed author Helen Simonson. Helen, who lives in Sussex and is best known for her book Major Pettigrew Takes a Stand, researched this novel from home in 2020. Among other digital resources, Helen read digitized issues of early motorcycling magazines, and learned about another town with a stranded U-boat. Her grandparents had a motorcycle with a sidecar.

Constance’s childhood friend, Mrs. Fog’s granddaughter, is coming back to Hazelbourne for a wedding to a rather unpleasant American. Mrs. Fog reconnects with her old sweetheart from Barbados, but her family doesn’t approve. Constance finds herself taking a few flying lessons, and stands in as a copilot when someone else gets cold feet about flying in a Sopwith Camel.

Other than mysteries, I haven’t read many books set immediately after World War I.  The author’s research helped Constance’s daily life and the seaside setting come to life. This is a memorable though bittersweet read, as women find it hard to keep jobs after the war and everyone is grieving the loss of someone from either the war or influenza. Constance, Harris, Poppy, and Mrs. Fog are all vividly drawn characters, and I wanted to read more about them.

Brenda

Drunk On All Your Strange New Words

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Drunk On All Your Strange New Words by Eddie Robson

Lydia has a rare aptitude: she can hear the alien Logi speak, in her head, and translate for them. She recently graduated from a special college where she studied their language, which appears to the reader as English. The Logi can hear her internal speech as well, but they can’t read each other’s thoughts. This science fiction novel is set in the future, in Manhattan and in Halifax, near Manchester, England. The problem with translating for the Logi, or just talking soundlessly with them, is that it makes the human translator feel intoxicated after a while.

Lydia’s assignment is with Fitzwilliam, the Logi’s cultural attaché in New York City, and they attend operas, plays, concerts, and after parties. Once Lydia was so incapacitated after translating that she took a bad fall, but Fitz caught her. There is a crime in which Lydia is a suspect. With secret help from Fitz, Lydia investigates. Another Logi, Madison, demands so much additional help from Lydia that she has trouble focusing. Sea levels have risen since our time, and the tip of Manhattan is now surrounded by a tall sea wall. Back in Halifax, Lydia is seen as rather posh, especially by people who live in 3-D printed shacks that aren’t durable. Lydia’s mother plays and reviews virtual reality games, and helps Lydia with her investigations. Her brother Gil used to modify old cars and drive them on back roads with Lydia. Modern cars all use Smart Steer, but Lydia can override the software and takes a diplomatic car for a very wild ride in Manhattan.

The Logi are intriguing characters. Their world is warmer than our, and they all wear hats, mostly concealing head spikes. Often, they wear a face wrap, possibly like the atmoscarves worn on Jupiter in Malka Older’s The Mimicking of Known Successes. Lydia has smart glasses where she reads her news feeds. She has the truthiness level set high, at 80, but occasionally looks at popular Chime feeds with low truthiness levels to keep up with trending topics. This is a compelling read, thought-provoking and with a very convincing near future setting. Readalikes include New York 2140 by Kim Stanley Robinson and The Road to Roswell by Connie Willis.

Brenda

How to Solve Your Own Murder

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How to Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin

Annie Adams has been summoned to a meeting with her Great Aunt Frances in the English village of Castle Knoll. Frances is found dead when Annie arrives for the meeting in her home, Gravesdown Hall. Annie suspects murder. Because of a fortuneteller’s prediction when she was a teen, Frances has always feared being a murder victim, and has prepared files on many of the villagers of Castle Knoll. The will gives her stepson and Annie one week to solve her murder before the police in order to inherit her fortune, Gravesdown Hall, a nearby farm, and the house in Chelsea where Annie lives with her mother Laura, an artist. Otherwise, everything goes to the Crown and a developer gets to build on the land.

Alternate chapters feature Frances’ diary from 1965, when Frances, Emily, and Rose are best friends with secrets, especially mean girl Emily. Frances’ diary and journals help Annie, a mystery writer, to try solving the case, which may be very dangerous. I liked the contemporary mystery better than the timeline set in 1965.

Annie is clever and appealing, as is Detective Crane. Frances isn’t as likable a character as Annie. I didn’t love this book, especially as some of the secrets are rather dark for a cozy, but I did find this mystery to be hard to put down. A sequel is expected next March, How to Seal Your Own Fate.

Brenda

Earls Trip

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Earls Trip by Jenny Holiday

In this Regency era rom-com, two earls and a viscount who have been friends since their days at school take a fortnight’s holiday together every summer. Archie, Simon, and Effie are on their way to a ruined castle in Cumbria in North West England, although it’s been a challenge to get them all together this year. A messenger on horseback finds their carriage and tells them that Sir Albert Morgan needs their help. The Morgans are neighbors of Archie, and Clementine and Olive were his childhood friends. Apparently, Olive is eloping to Scotland with Mr. Bull and Clementine, dressed in men’s clothing, has gone after them. Clementine had recently called off her engagement to Mr. Bull.

The humorous adventure is on, as Archie, Simon, and Effie track down Clementine, Olive, and Mr. Bull at an inn. The rescue does not go smoothly, and Clementine and Olive end up travelling with the three friends to their rented castle. Once there, the sisters keep different hours and take their meals separately from the men, especially as Clementine has become a vegetarian. Of course, Archie finds that he wants to spend more time with Clementine, and there are definite sparks, though Clementine doesn’t want to ever marry. This is a funny and charming romance with an unlikely plot and quirky characters. There is also a racing turtle named Hermes. A sequel is planned for next year: Manic Pixie Dream Earl.

Brenda

The Air Raid Book Club

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The Air Raid Book Club by Annie Lyons

This is a heartwarming historical novel, set during World War II, on the Home Front in England. My sister suggested the book to me, and her book club is planning to discuss it later this year. I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Jilly Bond. I took three weeks to savor the audiobook, and found myself thinking about the characters and the story at other times. It is very British, and often funny, even though it’s set during the war.

Gertie Bingham misses her late husband Harry so much that she is thinking of retiring and moving to a beach side town with her dog, Hemingway. She wants to sell Bingham Books, on the outskirts of London, to another bookseller, but her realtor hasn’t found the right buyer. Gertie’s assistant Betty is continuing to run their longtime book club, but Gertie’s stopped participating. Gertie’s Uncle Thomas, who owns a bookstore in London, is dismayed at her plans, as is her longtime friend Charles. Instead, Charles wants Gertie to consider fostering one of the Jewish children he is helping rescue from Germany. Reluctantly, she agrees, but only if the child is a girl who can already read. Enter Hedy Fisher, a serious young teen. First there’s the language barrier, and Hedy’s homesickness for her parents and brother Arno. Hemingway the dog and Betty become Hedy’s friends. Gertie and Elsa, Hedy’s mother, correspond, and gradually Hedy and Gertie learn to understand each other. When war is declared between Germany and Great Britain, all Hedy’s family can send are 25-word telegrams. Then the air raids begin in England.

The community comes together in the war effort, and they discuss books in the bookstore’s air raid shelter. A few women in the neighborhood are prickly types, but have soft hearts underneath. There are some romances and a few wartime marriages, and the book club extends its reach by mail all over Europe. While there are dark days in plenty here, the war violence is off screen. I won’t share more of the plot as it might take away from the experience of reading this deeply satisfying and engaging story. Gertie and Hedy, along with Hemingway, should win the hearts of many readers.

Brenda