London

The Stolen Queen

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The Stolen Queen by Fiona Davis

The Stolen Queen

I enjoyed this compelling pageturner, set in 1978 and 1936. In 1978, Charlotte Cross works as an associate curator for the Metropolitan Museum’s Department of Egyptian Art. Her main research focus is the (fictional) female pharaoh Hathorkare. Her time in Egypt in the 1930s ended in tragedy and she hasn’t been back.

When Charlotte recognizes an artifact from her time in Egypt and another Egyptian artifact is stolen, she heads back to Egypt. Annie, 19, loves the Met and lucks into a job assisting Diana Vreeland set up a costume exhibit. Annie and Charlotte keep crossing paths and travel to Egypt together for a very adventurous visit. I found this dual timeline novel to be an enthralling read. It’s a bit dramatic, but the drama fits in here. I especially liked the descriptions of the Met as they’re preparing for the Treasures of Tutankhamen exhibition. I remember being thrilled by visiting the exhibit in Chicago as a girl, and named my Abyssinian kitten Little Tut.

Brenda

A Case of Mice and Murder

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A Case of Mice and Murder: The Trials of Gabriel Ward by Sally Smith

It is a joy to discover a new author and then learn they’ve already published a second book. I started this historical mystery while I was still reading a Victorian mystery by Charles Finch set in 1879 London. This mystery is set in London at the very start of the Edwardian era, in May, 1901.

Gabriel Ward is a London barrister, a King’s Counsel, and argues court cases in the courts of the Inner Temple. He has book-filled rooms near his office chambers and very particular, regular habits. Every morning at two minutes to seven, Sir Gabriel firmly closes the door to his rooms and presses the door three times, just to be sure. One morning, on his way to work, he discovers a body, that of a powerful judge.

Gabriel, who has read quite a bit about modern crime detecting, is assigned to investigate the death, much to his dismay, along with Constable Wright. The pair interview other barristers and judges, cooks, a laundress, porters, a man who sleeps outside a bookstore, and the members of the late judge’s household.

Meanwhile, Gabriel is preparing for a court case representing the publisher of Millie the Mouse, an anonymous bestseller that was left on the publisher’s doorstep. A former governess is claiming authorship and suing the publisher. I’m happy to say that no mice come to harm during the mystery, but some cats help establish someone’s alibi. Gabriel is rather eccentric, and also an appealing and memorable character. I look forward to reading A Case of Life and Limb, which was recently published.

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

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

Murder Takes a Vacation

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Murder Takes a Vacation by Laura Lippman

Widowed Muriel Blossom, 68, has recently won the lottery, bought an apartment in Baltimore, and is on her way to Paris. She has invited her longtime friend Elinor on a cruise to Normandy, and is spending several days in Paris first. Mrs. Blossom (the annoying way Muriel refers to herself) is a large woman who is sensitive to comments about fitness, overeating, or caftans, though she regularly goes for five-mile walks. It’s been ten years since her husband died, but she is planning her trip partly around places and activities he would have liked.

As with many trips, all does not go smoothly. First, she misses her flight from London to Paris, and spends the time talking with attractive and attentive Allan, who even convinces the claustrophobic Mrs. Blossom to take the train through the underground Chunnel instead of rebooking her flight to Paris. Her hotel room in Paris is searched, as is her cabin on the riverboat, but she doesn’t report it to anyone. Allan mysteriously disappears, as does another acquaintance. And then there’s charming Danny, who takes Mrs. Blossom shopping, and even talks her into buying a caftan. Danny seems to turn up rather too often. Could there be a connection with the room searches and a missing statue with sapphire eyes?

I was really looking forward to reading a mystery set in gorgeous Paris and on a wonderful riverboat cruise in France, but I didn’t feel immersed in the setting. There was more about shopping and accessories than there was about the cruise experience. I was also surprised that a woman who had worked for a private investigator and has been single for ten years would let strangers and acquaintances have so much influence on her. Mrs. Blossom spends more time missing her daughter and granddaughters, who recently moved to Tokyo, than about solving the mystery. That said, this was a fun adventure, with good food, a bit of French scenery, and a little suspense and mystery. Mrs. Blossom does stand up for herself and her friend Elinor before the end of the cruise, and an epilogue shows her enjoying her new life in Baltimore.

This is a quick, easy read, perfect for the beach.

Brenda  

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

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

The Husbands

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The Husbands by Holly Gramazio

Londoner Lauren is a little drunk after Elena’s hen party, and is very startled to find a strange man on the stair landing of her duplex. The man turns out to be her husband, Michael. Her flat looks a bit different than she remembers and the fridge is stocked with grapefruit water. Neighbor Toby knows Michael, but Lauren is single. She fakes a cold and Michael sleeps in the spare room. When he goes up to the attic to replace a light bulb, a different husband comes down. Lauren’s attic seems to have a supply of husbands! This is a completely ridiculous plot, but makes for a fun, compelling summer read.

Lauren is sure of a few things. She is friends with Toby and Elena. Her sister Natalie is married with two little kids. But when a new husband comes downstairs to the flat, there are changes, like the paint color, art work, or furniture in their flat. And sometimes other things are different. One husband is very cross; she has trouble getting him back in the attic. Jason is very nice, but her job has completely changed. Lauren learns to look at photos and messages on her phone to see if she likes her life, her job, and her relationships. Sometimes Lauren doesn’t like herself at all, and neither does the reader. Often, she calls off sick from work or buys things not in her budget, because everything will reset the next time. Then a couple of exes come back. Is Lauren the only one with an attic like that? I wondered why she doesn’t move away. Will she ever find what she’s looking for?

After a while, Lauren gets desperate and makes some very bad choices. But finally, she learns from her experiences and the ending is unexpected and dramatic. This book is hard to put down and would make a great movie, with lots of cameo parts for men. Try reading this novel and not talking about it; I certainly couldn’t. The author is from Australia and lives in London. A game designer, this is her first novel. I’m fascinated to see what she writes next.

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 Guncle Abroad

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The Guncle Abroad by Steven Rowley

I loved reading The Guncle, and looked forward to reading more about Gay Uncle Patrick and his niece Maisie and nephew Grant, but sequels aren’t always as satisfying. This one is a winner. The settings are different, and the story is set five years later. It’s a vivid, bittersweet, joyous, funny, and engaging read.

Patrick takes his niece and nephew to Europe for a vacation before their father Greg’s upcoming marriage to Livia, an Italian marchesa. Maisie and Grant are now 14 and 11, and not as adoring of Uncle Patrick. They meet him in London, where Patrick is finishing up filming a movie. The kids get to visit the movie set, which they enjoy. Then they visit Paris, Austria for scenes from The Sound of Music, and then Venice, before traveling to a fancy hotel overlooking Italy’s Lake Como for the wedding festivities. The children want Patrick to talk his brother out of getting married, while Patrick tries to show them different aspects of love. He is jealous of the children’s connection to Palmina, Livia’s sister.

Patrick is 49, acting again, and single after a five-year relationship. He tries to share his wisdom with the kids, and strives to always be witty, funny, and the center of attention. The European setting is amazing, and the kids are great characters. There are a few cringey moments among the bittersweet and funny ones, with a surprise ending. If you liked The Guncle, this is a fine follow-up.

Brenda