Choice of Darkness is a tale of blighted love and mass murder based on the hunt for the biggest serial killer in nineteenth-century America.
Jad Adams tells the story of Henry Holmes from the point of view of the detective who tracked him down, burdened by a love betrayed.
Frank Geyer is a detective in Philadelphia who in 1894 is called to investigate the death of Ben Pitezel. He encounters Dr Henry Holmes who says he is acting for Pitezel’s family to collect the insurance money. Holmes had been best friends with Geyer in their home town of Gilmanton, New Hampshire, they have unfinished business over a woman.
Alerted by the insurance company, Geyer seeks Holmes in what becomes a journey to redeem Geyer’s life as he discovers how his former friend left horror after horror in a killing programme across the United States.
Set in the gilded age of American history, Choice of Darkness is a meticulously researched study of this late nineteenth century criminal, and the police methods used to bring him down.
Jad Adams has worked as a television producer and a newspaper journalist. He is best known for his works of history including Decadent Women: Yellow Book Lives, Tony Benn: A Biography and Women and the Vote: A World History. He is the author of another novel, Café Europa.
My thoughts: I knew about HH Holmes from reading Devil in the White City, but this takes an interesting angle on that story, by positioning the detective Frank Geyer, who tracked Holmes across the US, as the protagonist. He’s in a unique position as he and Holmes were childhood friends and Holmes left town with the woman Geyer was planning to propose to.
It starts with him being contacted by an insurance company, Holmes is one of the people coming to Philadelphia to identify a body in order to claim an insurance payout. Holmes says he’s doing it for the dead man’s family, the deceased being his friend and business partner. But as with all of Holmes’ many, many crimes, there’s something off about his sincerity and Geyer is suspicious. He begins looking into the man he knew as Henry Mugett.
From medical schools to police departments from as far away as Texas, the truth about Holmes starts to emerge. He’s a conman, a thief and if Geyer can prove it a murderer. In fact, he’s America’s first serial killer – a term that didn’t even exist back then.
At first Chicago’s detectives don’t want to know, they even throw Geyer in a cell, but later they come to him asking for help. Holmes has gone too far and attracted their attention. Geyer has been inside the “castle” his old friend turned nemesis built in Chicago, the place where dozens of people met their terrible end.
It’s these deaths Chicago want Holmes for, Texas is still after him for horse theft, there’s multiple dodgy insurance claims, the kidnapping that haunts Geyer. Will they find the answers in Holmes’ house of death?
Compellingly written, Geyer is a sympathetic figure, while he does have a personal score to settle, it’s overwhelmed by the many terrible things Holmes has done since they were both young men in Massachusetts.
This was a very interesting and enjoyable angle to take as you feel like you’re in Geyer’s shoes as he traverses the country trying to track Holmes down and bring him to justice.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
On the Island of Philae in the upper reaches of the Nile Valley, Nofret, the new priestess to the Temple of Hathor, has left Dendera in the north where she received her training. She now has her own temple to govern.
The hierarchy makes her welcome, but as she settles into life on the island, she slowly realises that her predecessor’s death may not have been straightforward. Hearing different versions of the event, she takes it upon herself to find out what really happened to the Priestess Safiya and finds that the island holds its own secrets, which lie beneath the temple buildings.
Glennis Goodwin is a British author who has long held an interest in the myths and culture of the Ancient Egyptians. Along with that, the people of southern Africa have also been of interest and in the early 1980s, she was fortunate to live and work in Zambia. In her working life, she has gone from Nursing to Retail and from Academic Publishing to PA, but during that time she never lost the feeling that Africa gave her, and, in those years, had holidays in Egypt and Kenya. In 2004, she aimed to return to her nursing career and enrolled in New Zealand on a refresher course. Settling into life on the other side of the world, she continued to further her career, met her husband and made her home there. Sadly, a brain haemorrhage and slight stroke ended her study, but after her recovery, she found herself wanting to write, something she had longed to do but never seemed to have the time for. Returning to the UK in 2017, she settled down at her computer, and over the following months, the tales of the Eight Deities of the Primordial Chaos came to life in the story of Malian, the altar tender. Her first book, The Eighth Deity, then came into being and The Gods of Chaos, a fantasy adventure series, was born. Now living in a Nottinghamshire village, she has since written Brotherhood of Apep, In the Footsteps of Ra, and The Papyrus of Ma’at, her second, third and fourth books. Her fifth, and final title of the series, The Bow of Horus, is published here. Currently, she is looking to expand her writing while using the knowledge gained from her trips to Egypt and is working on an Ancient Egyptian murder mystery set on the banks of the Nile.
My thoughts: a young priestess is given her own temple of Hathor to lead, but her predecessor’s death was far from a straightforward accident. There is something rotten at the heart of the temple complex of Philae and Nofret must tread carefully, unsure who to trust, as she investigates.
Underneath the complex lies a labyrinth of tunnels and tombs. Someone has been stealing and selling the grave goods of the priests and priestesses resting there, it must be someone working with the temples, assisted by an outsider, but as a newcomer Nofret doesn’t know the island’s secrets.
She puts her life at risk to get answers, both to the thefts and the murders. A special ceremony offers the opportunity to expose the criminals but the answers she uncovers are not as expected. Can she still stop the perpetrators?
Nofret is an intelligent and educated woman, sent to serve her goddess as a child, she’s risen far in the hierarchy of Hathor’s followers. The high priest has somehow missed all the intrigue and crime going on beneath his nose, but as someone with an outsider’s perspective, Nofret can see more clearly.
It’s a clever and intricate plot, replete with secret passages and high risks, not least the crocodiles and hippos along the island’s edge, Nofret has no real allies except a little cat that has adopted her, and possibly the local governor, whom she confides in. Despite its ancient setting, this could easily be a modern-day mystery, people after all, have always been people.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
The most famous necklace in the world has finally been found…
Bryher Finch’s life isn’t just a disaster, it’s a catastrophe, until a chance invitation to chart her family tree changes everything. As Bryher uncovers the ancestry she never knew about, she stumbles on the find of the century – Anne Boleyn’s ‘B’ necklace, as enigmatic as Henry VIII’s most notorious Queen herself. But Bryher isn’t the only one who wants the necklace…
Adrienne Chinn was born in Grand Falls, Newfoundland, grew up in Quebec, and eventually made her way to London, England after a career as a journalist. In England she worked as a TV and film researcher before embarking on a career as an interior designer, lecturer, and writer. When not up a ladder or at the computer writing, she often can be found rummaging through flea markets or haggling in the Marrakech souk.
Her debut novel, The Lost Letter, was published in 2019. Her second novel, the international bestseller, The English Wife, was published in 2020. Her third novel, Love in a Time of War, the first in a series of four books in The Three Fry Sisters series, was published in 2022. The second book in the series, The Paris Sister, was published in 2023, and the third book, In the Shadow of War, was published in March 2024.
Her next book, a historical timeslip novel, The Queen’s Necklace, will be published in September 2025, followed by the fourth book in The Three Fry Sisters series, set during WWII, in 2026.
My thoughts: Bryher is a bit of a miserable cow at the beginning, she’s clearly been set up but acts enough like a spoilt brat that it’s hard to empathise with her, at first. As she adjusts to her new reality in a version of the UK that seems to be a blend of actual modern Britain and the 1950s (especially when it comes to cousin Betty, who hasn’t joined the 21st century) and the role as Anne Boleyn in a new mini series, she stops being quite so stroppy and brattish. Thankfully.
The dual timeline narrative where sisters Anne and Mary Boleyn live is interesting although they seem very cruel to each other, especially Anne to Mary, which might have been how they were, considering their father constantly compared them to one another (he was such a great dad).
The link is the infamous Boleyn B necklace, worn in several portraits of Anne, lost somewhere in time (probably dismantled and fashioned into other jewellery) and somehow amongst the gems and trinkets hidden in cousin Betty’s mother’s jewellery box.
Betty and Bryher are distant cousins, both descendants of Mary Boleyn’s line (Anne has no direct descendants of course, her daughter Elizabeth I famously the Virgin Queen), whose children had lots of children themselves and whose eldest daughter might have been Henry VIII’s.
But the necklace is desired both in Tudor times and in Bryher’s. Anne takes it from Mary before eventually giving it to her niece, Catherine shortly before her execution (in this story) and Bryher tries to stop two rather unscrupulous men taking it, although she trusts the wrong one. Thank heavens for cousin Betty.
Speaking of cousin Betty, her constant refrain about being family shifts Bryher’s view of her own past, the difficult relationships she had with her mother and sister, the hardships and struggles they had. It softens her as a person and makes her less heartless, more sympathetic, her life has been mostly struggle and just as she thought things were getting better, it’s all been ripped away. I liked her more by this point.
It’s an interesting take on the Boleyn narrative, Anne’s family was pretty awful, her father always scheming to get wealth and power, using his children as pawns. Which ended with two of them executed and the surviving one estranged. The name of Boleyn besmirched for centuries.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
A murdered suffragette. A missing politician. A stolen artwork.
London, 1910
Coral Fairbanks is a contradiction. As well as a suffragette, she’s a bit-part actress and nude model, earning her the disapproval of her fellow suffragettes. Guy Flynn is an artist. He’s also a detective inspector at Scotland Yard, who doesn’t always see eye to eye with fellow officers in the Metropolitan Police.
When Home Secretary Winston Churchill orders the police to terrorise the suffragettes during an afternoon of violence that becomes known as Black Friday, the battlelines are drawn – and Coral Fairbanks and Guy Flynn are on different sides.
But when a young suffragette is found murdered in the National Portrait Gallery and one of their paintings is stolen – Fairbanks and Flynn must put their differences aside and combine their knowledge to track down the killer.
Introducing an iconic detective duo in Fairbanks and Flynn, this is an exciting and gripping historical mystery, which will delight fans of Agatha Christie, Benedict Brown and T. E. Kinsey
Michelle Salter writes historical cosy crime set in Hampshire, where she lives, and inspired by real-life events in 1920s Britain. Her Iris Woodmore series draws on an interest in the aftermath of the Great War and the suffragette movement.
My thoughts: The first in a new series featuring suffragette, actress and artist’s model Coral Fairbanks who teams up with Met detective and painter Guy Flynn to solve the murder of her fellow suffragette, Marian, in the National Portrait Gallery during a suffrage stunt.
The gallery was mostly empty when Marian was killed, so the suspect pool is small – staff of the gallery, her fellow suffragettes, an MP, his aide, and curiously another MP’s wife, who happened to be there at the same time. A painting was also stolen at the same time.
There’s also a missing Secretary of State, whose wife hasn’t a clue where he’s got to, nor do his colleagues. His house was firebombed roughly the same time and he seems rather connected to the actions the suffragettes have been carrying out.
Coral wants to protect her fellow suffragettes, she can’t imagine any of them are killers, but Flynn knows anyone can snap and do something terrible. Is that what happened here?
I really liked Coral and Flynn, I think they’re going to be an interesting pairing. Flynn empathises with the battle for suffrage, if not with the way the women are going about it. He’s drawn to Coral, they’re both widowed, and Flynn is raising a teenage daughter, who could do with more women around her. Coral is trying to work out what she wants to do with her life now, without her husband, and her acting career on the wane. She’s got good instincts and while she can’t officially be a detective she could be an asset to Flynn.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
A world on the brink of war. One woman whose courage could change everything.
Paris, 1938. As the world teeters on the edge of war, Lady Pamela More knows her latest assignment is her deadliest yet. Her days as a London society columnist are merely a cover. She must infiltrate the decadent Parisian circles of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor as they openly cavort with fascists and voice dangerous Nazi sympathies.
The nation’s security could be compromised — and Lady Pamela must uncover what, or whom, they might betray. In the glittering salons of Paris, amidst the clink of champagne glasses and careless gossip, dark allegiances fester. The Windsors are charming — and cunning — and Pamela walks a delicate line between loyalty and deception.
But as she steps back into a life of shadows, old temptations resurface, including charismatic American Sid White, whose presence reawakens more than just memories.
Surrounded by spies, traitors and the ghosts of her past, Lady Pamela must decide: how far is she willing to go to protect a country that may never thank her before the city falls to the Nazis?
Originally from Chicago, Sarah Sigal works across theatre, film, and fiction. She has a BA in Theatre Arts and English Literature from Gettysburg College and an MA in Writing for Performance and a PhD in Theatre and Performance, both from Goldsmiths College University of London. She teaches at several universities across the UK and is the author of WRITING IN COLLABORATIVE THEATRE-MAKING (Bloomsbury, 2016), as well as numerous plays and 2 short films. THE SOCIALITE SPY (Lume Books, 2023) is her first novel, the first in a series about the lead character, the socialite spy herself–Lady Pamela More. She lives in London.
My thoughts: As the Second World War breaks out, Lady Pamela More is asked to undertake a dangerous assignment, in Paris as the Nazi army moves towards the city, she must renew her awkward friendship with Wallis Simpson, now married to the former king and living in the city.
She’s not entirely comfortable with the Windsors, especially the spoilt, narcissistic Wallis, who is rude, difficult and spends all her time complaining about the exile the Royal Family and government have imposed on them. Pamela is supposed to report back on the relationship between the couple and the German government, under the cover of writing about French fashion houses.
Her marriage is teetering on the edge at the same time, and her connection with a Jewish American journalist might make it fall. Her friend Lettice is in Paris with her artist lover, and as the Nazis approach, Pamela wants to help them escape the dangers engulfing Europe.
Gripping, intelligent writing and fascinating characters, I really like Pamela, I was reading the previous book in this series when I got the invite for this blog tour, and the society she moves in is an interesting one featuring some of the big names of the twentieth century.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
In Nazi-occupied Italy, keeping secrets could be deadly…
Genoa, 1944: Widowed and alone, Anna Pastorino has been surviving on her wits since the Germans invaded. The daughter of a prominent Jewish antifascist, Anna lives a hidden life in her small flat near the harbour… until an RAF bomb destroys her only shelter.
When a Jesuit priest approaches her offering help, she has no choice but to accept. She follows her new friend, Father Vittorio, to a safe house above a printers’ shop in a quiet street near via Assarotti. But the Tipografia Guichard is more than just a refuge. It’s a forgery workshop: a key part of the secret rescue operation headed by Massimo Teglio, the “Scarlet Pimpernel” of Genoa’s persecuted Jewish population.
Drawn into a world of clandestine resistance, Anna discovers a new sense of purpose, a circle of friends, and a passion that brings her alive. Soon, the little flat above the shop holds more secrets than anyone could imagine. As Anna grows closer to both Teglio and Vittorio, she must confront a past trauma of her own: a secret that might endanger her and everyone she loves.
Kat Devereaux was born near Edinburgh, and lived in the United States, Russia, France, Chile, Germany, and the Czech Republic before finally settling in Italy. She is a writer and translator with a special focus on Italian literature.
My thoughts: I’m not usually keen on war novels, but I found this one both interesting and enjoyable. Inspired by real events and real people who worked tirelessly under risk of arrest and death to help Italy’s Jewish community escape the Nazis and fascists during World War Two.
Blending fact and fiction together through the characters of Anna and Father Vittorio who help the real life Massimo Teglio and don Francesco to forge identity papers to help fleeing families leave occupied Italy for safety in places like Switzerland, Britain and the US.
Father Vittorio wrestles with his health and with the fact he is falling in love with Anna – not only is he a priest, but she’s Jewish, there is no world where they can ever be more than friends and allies. And that’s before he learns something about her that blows up his world.
Anna meanwhile falls for the handsome pilot turned hero Massimo, widowed like she is, their relationship is fleeting but leaves a deep impact Anna feels for the rest of her life. In reality, Massimo continued to risk his life to save Jewish people from the Nazis and went on to live a long life reunited with his daughter and family, despite the deaths of his sister, brother-in-law and their children in Auschwitz. He is rightly remembered as a hero.
This is a bittersweet romance amid the horrors of the war, the risks everyone in this book is taking to help save the lives of innocents brought to life, while also bringing the real-life heroes to a wider audience.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
The first in a series of quick-read, cosy mysteries set during the 1970s in North East London and North Devon, featuring the characters of Jan Christopher, her Aunt Madge, her uncle, DCI Toby Christopher and romantic interest DC Lawrence Walker – plus several other endearing, regular characters.
The background of Jan’s career as a library assistant is based on the author’s own library years during the 1970s, using many borrowed (often hilarious!) anecdotes, her life in suburban north east London on the edge of Epping Forest, and her present life in rural North Devon…
July 1971 Eighteen-year-old library assistant Jan Christopher’s life is to change on a rainy evening, when her legal guardian and uncle, DCI Toby Christopher, gives her a lift home after work. Driving the car, is her uncle’s new Detective Constable, Lawrence Walker – and it is love at first sight for the young couple.
But romance is soon to take a back seat when a baby boy is taken from his pram, a naked man is scaring young ladies in nearby Epping Forest, and an elderly lady is found, brutally murdered… Are the events related? How will they affect the staff and public of the local library where Jan works – will romance survive and blossom between library assistant Jan Christopher and DC Walker? Or will a brutal murder intervene?
“I sank into this gentle cosy mystery story with the same enthusiasm and relish as I approach a hot bubble bath, (in fact this would be a great book to relax in the bath with!), and really enjoyed getting to know the central character…” Debbie Young bestselling cozy mystery author
“Jan is a charming heroine. You feel you get to know her and her love of books and her interest in the people in the library where she works. She’s also funny, and her Aunt Madge bursts with character – the sort of aunt I would love to have had. I remember the 70s very well and Ms Hollick certainly gives a good flavour of the period.” Denise Barnes (bestselling romance author Molly Green)
“A delightful read about an unexpected murder in North East London. Told from the viewpoint of a young library assistant, the author draws on her own experience to weave an intriguing tale” Richard Ashen (South Chingford Community Library)
“Lots of nostalgic, well-researched, detail about life in the 1970s, which readers of a certain age will lap up; plus some wonderful, and occasionally hilarious, ‘behind the counter’ scenes of working in a public library, which any previous or present-day library assistant will recognise!” Reader’s Review
Library Assistant Jan Christopher is to spend Christmas in Devon with her boyfriend, DS Laurie Walker and his family, but when a murder is discovered, followed by a not very accidental accident, the traditional Christmas spirit is somewhat marred…What happened to Laurie’s ex-girlfriend? Where is the vicar’s wife? Who took those old photographs? And will the farmer up the lane ever mend those broken fences?
“There are lots of things to enjoy in the second in the Jan Christopher cosy mystery series” Best-selling cozy mystery author Debbie Young
“A laid back sort of novel, the kind that you can relax while reading, and simply let the story happen. This author has a particularly unique style of writing… this book wasn’t simply a story, but an experience. You almost have the feeling that the author is reading the book to you, and is adding in her own little quips every now and again. I loved every second… The whole mystery is well thought out… utterly amazing!” Review: I Got Lost In A Book Blog
“The pace is gently cosy, despite the murder… Jan is a wonderful character; young, naïve, but also savvy when needed. And Laurie is a gem. All the characters and their foibles and actions stay true to the era… a lovely, warm story.” Review: Ruins & Reading
More in the series:
Episode 3 A MISTAKE OF MURDER Was murder deliberate – or a tragic mistake?
Episode 4 A MEADOW MURDER Make hay while the sun shines? But what happens when a murder is discovered, and country life is disrupted?
Episode 5 A MEMORY OF MURDER A missing girl, annoying decorators, circus performers and a wanna-be rock star to deal with. But who remembers the brutal, cold case murder of a policeman?
Episode 6 A MISCHIEF OF MURDER The village Flower and Veg Show should be a fun annual event – but who added mischief and murder to the traditional schedule? *
Known for her captivating storytelling and rich attention to historical detail, Helen’s historical fiction, nautical adventure series, cosy mysteries – and her short stories – skilfully invite readers to step into worlds where the boundaries between fact and fiction blend together.
Helen started writing as a teenager, but after discovering a passion for history, was initially published in 1993 in the UK with her Arthurian Pendragon’s Banner Trilogy and two Anglo-Saxon novels about the events that led to the 1066 Battle of Hastings, one of which, The Forever Queen (USA title – A Hollow Crown in the UK) became a USA Today best-seller. Her Sea Witch Voyages are nautical-based adventures inspired by the Golden Age of Piracy. She also writes the Jan Christopher cosy mystery series set during the 1970s, and based around her, sometimes hilarious, years of working as a North London library assistant. Her 2025 release is Ghost Encounters, a book about the ghosts of North Devon – even if you don’t believe in ghosts you might enjoy the snippets of interesting history and the many location photographs.
Helen and her family moved from London to Devon after a Lottery win on the opening night of the London Olympics, 2012. She spends her time glowering at the overgrown garden, fending off the geese, chasing the peacocks away from her roses, helping with the horses and wishing the friendly, resident ghosts would occasionally help with the housework…
My thoughts: I really enjoyed this 1970s set crime novel, while I wasn’t around in the 70s (I’m an 80s baby) my mum always tells me about then, as she was training to be a nurse and met my dad during the decade, but I have worked in a library or two, so I could relate to Jan’s job, libraries attract some interesting people.
Her uncle, DCI Christopher is an interesting person, he’s obviously very intelligent and capable, and he trusts her to help him at times. His new DC, and Jan’s love interest, Laurie Walker, is new in town and between him and Jan have already stumbled on a murder and stopped a naked man in the forest! Goodness knows what else they’ll find.
I thought this was a very enjoyable, entertaining and clever book. The case was more involved than it first appeared, and there were other, smaller crimes to resolve along the way. Eventually Laurie and Jan might even get to go out for a nice dinner, somewhere other than her aunt and uncle’s house.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
APPOINTMENT IN PARIS, the sequel to Jane Thynne’s acclaimed Midnight in Vienna, which received stunning reviews on its HB outing last year including from The Times (‘evocative, gripping and highly enjoyable’), Observer (‘gripping and surprising’), Financial Times (‘sharply drawn and very enjoyable’) and the Irish Independent (‘beautifully crafted historical thriller’). A finished copy is on its way to you.
APPOINTMENT IN PARIS reunites us with former MI5 watcher Harry Fox and his associate Stella Fry against the backdrop of a 1940s Britain on the brink of a German invasion. Jane takes inspiration from real life Trent Park – the Bletchley Park nobody knows about. Previously a stately home and used during the war as a prison to house high level German POW with it’s true purpose as a way for secret listeners to covertly gather intelligence from prisoners. When the body of a Luftwaffe captain is found in the grounds the day before a listener goes missing, Fox and Fry are called on to investigate before the highly confidential operation is blown wide open.
My thoughts: This was really good, conspiracies abound during the war, and spies could be anywhere. I was fascinated to learn about Trent Park – I am going to get hold of a copy of the book the author recommends on it’s history.
I really liked Stella and Harry – they’re both smart and think on their feet, especially Harry. Stella isn’t an expert investigator but she still finds her man in Paris, and carries out her mission despite the encroaching Nazi army.
I was hooked from the beginning, the writing is compelling and the story is so interesting. The murder of a Luftwaffe captain is taken very seriously – he might be the enemy but his death was never intended, in fact the prisoners are treated very well. Harry is hunting for his killer amongst the ex-pat community in London, where artists, communists, Jews and others who have fled Hitler gather and worry about what will happen to them.
A pretty face distracts him from his case and he makes mistakes. There’s also the issue of his feelings for Stella – it’s apparent to everyone except them it seems. This humanised him a lot for me, he might be a brilliant PI but he’s also a flawed human being.
I haven’t read the previous book to this – but I am going to now. And I hope there’s more for Fox and Fry as I really enjoyed this book.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
Ivanhoe meets Phryne Fisher in this medieval adventure of a woman sleuth.
Toledo, 1193: A city of scholars, secrets, and simmering tensions.
When Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine’s Jewish spy is found dead, whispers of treachery reach all the way to England.
Rebecca DeToledo, a gifted healer and wealthy Jewish heiress, arrives under royal orders to investigate at the School of Translators. Her mission quickly turns perilous as she faces threats to her life and a sudden battle over her inheritance.
Assigned to guard her is Sir John of Hampstead, a disillusioned crusader burdened with knowledge that could threaten King Richard’s release from captivity. Forced into this partnership, he must protect Rebecca while grappling with his own prejudices.
As they navigate Toledo’s complex alliances, where Christians, Jews, and Muslims coexist in fragile peace, they uncover a web of secrets reaching deep into the cathedral. Can Rebecca and John unearth the truth before they become the next targets?
For fans of historical sleuths, slow-burn tension, and secret missions cloaked in royal intrigue.
My thoughts: I really enjoyed this book, I liked Rebecca a lot, she was an interesting character, a trained medic in a time when most were men and bloodletting for medical reasons was a favoured treatment, that more often than not, did nothing beneficial. She’s trusted by Eleanor of Aquitaine – Queen of France, then of England, probably one of the most powerful women in history.
Tasked with looking into the death of the Queen’s man in Toledo, Rebecca and John of Hampstead (a somewhat disgraced knight) find themselves in the bustling Spanish city where Christians, Jews and Muslims live and work alongside each other, slightly uneasily.
The School of Translators was a real place, and there scholars worked at translating ancient manuscripts into Castilian (a dialect of French mixed with Spanish) and Latin from Hebrew and Arabic. It must have been a fascinating place.
But it’s also a place where competition thrives and the various scholars jostle for position. The dead man was known to be boastful, unpopular and a creep. His landlady’s son had kicked him out after he made unwelcome advances to his sister, his colleagues disliked him and he was just generally quite unpleasant.
Rebecca also has to deal with a family issue, her aunt and cousin have been living in her father’s house and running the family business. Her father’s will left everything to her, which doesn’t go down well with her relatives who choose to contest it. This is a complication she doesn’t need and distracts from the investigation.
But as she has decided to stay in Toledo and set up a clinic, she must contend with the traditions and gossip of her community. She doesn’t want to marry but that won’t stop the matchmaking at the synagogue.
I’m looking forward to more of Rebecca’s adventures in Toledo with Sir John as her ever-present shadow, causing gossip of its own, as they work for the Queen.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
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May 1940. As the Nazis overrun Denmark, Britain counters by invading Iceland. Secret agent Daphne Devine is dropped into occupied territory to assess a clairvoyant in Reykjavik, who may be passing information to the enemy. Alone, Daphne must navigate her way through this strange, frozen landscape, where the Allies aren’t always welcomed with open arms.
When a new lead takes her North into Strandir, the land of sorcerers, she encounters fresh peril and discovers that now she, the hunter, has become the hunted. Daphne must use all her Secret Service training to outwit the enemy agents in her midst.
Twice shortlisted for a CWA Dagger, Syd Moore returns with a thrilling new series, exploring Britain’s secret wartime history.
SYD MOORE has been a Royal Literary Fund fellow and is currently working with them to pioneer ‘Reading Round’ courses in hospices. Her novel The Witching Hour was a Top Twenty bestselling horror title of 2024. She was the first Author in Residence for Essex Libraries and is best known for her Essex Witch Museum Mysteries, which was shortlisted for the Good Reader Holmes and Watson Award in 2018 and 2019. She has been shortlisted twice for a CWA dagger for her short stories. Syd founded the Essex Girls’ Liberation Front and successfully removed the term ‘Essex girl’ from the Oxford dictionary in 2020. She lives in Essex.
My thoughts: This was really interesting, I don’t remember learning about the occupation of Iceland during WW2, yet another thing school forgot to tell us!
Daphne has been sent north in the guise of a journalist for The Times, to write about the occupation and also about a medium who is making claims to be able to communicate with the dead – but might actually be communicating with the Nazis. He’s Icelandic and putting on performances in Reykjavik, making it easy for Daphne to observe him. Conveniently everyone speaks English, or she’d be in real trouble (a large percentage of the Icelandic population does speak some English) as none of her training covered learning the language.
She’s paired up with local journalist Anna as her guide and helper, although Anna doesn’t know everything. There’s also a grumpy British major who can’t really be bothered with Daphne and Septimus, who is supposed to be helping her too – but seems to be disinclined to listen.
Eventually she and Anna, and Anna’s police officer cousin, find themselves heading into the more remote north of the country on the trail of a book that Hitler wants. Out amid the falling snow, danger waits.
This was a really gripping, fascinating read. Daphne hasn’t really been prepared very well, she can’t speak or read Icelandic, her clothes aren’t really warm enough and at times she’s forced to improvise, even recruiting Anna and her cousin Rafn isn’t really something she should have done, but the men she’s reporting to don’t seem to be listening.
But her intelligence is good, she and Anna spot the secret messages the medium is passing on to someone in the audience, they analyse everything he says and does on stage, much more closely than most, and following an order from London, take a big risk with a big reward if they survive the weather and whoever is following them.
It’s a really clever, interesting and enjoyable book, I was hooked from the get go. You will be too.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
ramblingmads 