Beginning with The Orchardist by Amanda Coplin and The Laws of Murder (Charles Lenox, Bk 8) by Charles Finch

Good Morning

For the HIstorical Mystery author of the month in Goodreads, I am reading The Pericles Commission by Gary Corby.

Set in Ancient Greece.

He has very outline of Anicent Greece History/politics,  good list of cast of characters and an excellent glossary of terms.

I am enjoying it so far.

Happy New Year!  I shall be finishing up Circe today, and I started listening to A Place Called Freedom by Ken Follett a couple of days ago.

Well, call me crazy, the book I decided to start reading last night is The Rebels of Ireland by Edward Rutherfurd.  The only one of his books I haven't read.  I might be crazy because I am also listening to A Place Called Freedom by Ken Follet, so I am basically reading two massive tomes at once.  Both authors are well-known for their sweeping stories which make for very long books.  LOL!  I figure the winter is the time to get into these long books.  Hoping to finish both of them by the end of the month. 

Wow!  The Laws of Murder (Charles Lenox, Bk 8) by: Charles Finch is the best one I have read in this series.  Great read with a complex plot, 5 stars.  Also finished The Orchardist by Amanda Coplin which was quite good.  It's a story that takes place around the turn of the century.  Centers on an unmarried man (an orphan himself) cares for two pregnant teenage girls who have escaped from a brothel where they were held against their wishes.  If anyone is interested in either of these books send me a PM.  I have just posted both books.

Finished The Widow of the South by Robert Hicks last night.  It's an incredible read.  The historical fiction I enjoy most are those based on real characters.  This one did.  Carrie McGovock lived in the small town of Franklin, TN.  There was nothing remarkable about her or her husband, John, yet when the war came to them life changed.  Grieving for the loss of three children, she found her home taken for a military hospital.  One of the most deadly battles of the war erupted nearby and Carrie found purpose supervising care for so many wounded men.   In addition, the author explained in wonderful detail his research about a woman who created a cenetary for hundreds of unclaimed soldiers on McGovock land next to the graves of her lost children.

I am reading Mother Daughter Traitor Spy by Susan Elia MadNeal. Set in 1940 California. It is about a mother daughter team trying to expose rogue Nazi cells in the US. Very good.

Like Susan Elia MacNeal, Alice.  This one looks good so it's on my TBR.

Finished Ines of My Soul by Isabel Allende, Margaret Sayers Peden (Translator), 4 stars.  Well written and researched tale based on the Spanish colonization of Chile and their conflicts with Indian tribes who contested their rule and their God.  I liked it very much.   Also enjoyed Freud's Mistress by Karen Mack, Jennifer Kaufman which prompted me to do some research about Freud.

Completing The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn by Robin Maxwell, 4 stars.   The author spent 25 years looking into the past to learn about Tudor England.  She calls Anne Boleyn and Katharine of Aragon "female titans of the early sixteenth century."  It's an interesting approach.  A sad read as the author reflects on how Elizabeth, her daughter, might have felt as she read her mother's diary if it existed.  Does anyone know?

Hello!  Well, one tome down, one to go.  Still reading The Rebels of Ireland by Edward Rutherfurd, but I did finish listening to A Place Called Freedom by Ken Follett yesterday.  Not sure what I will listen to next.  

REK - You've been reading up a storm!  I would imagine any diary Anne Boleyn kept would've been promptly destroyed upon her death.  I would be curious to know exactly what Elizabeth I thought of the mother she never knew.  She was likely brought up being taught that her mother was a terrible person but surely there was someone who whispered in her ear that her mother was most likely a victim of her father's ambition.  Or perhaps Elizabeth herself dug into any existing records and could see that many of the charges against her mother were trumped up.  It is hard to say.  Elizabeth is one of my favorite female historical figures.  The other being Eleanor of Acquitaine.  Both women were surely dynamic and audacious ladies, especially for their times.  If I could go back in time and meet one historical person, Elizabeth would likely be that person.  Although I really would like to go back and meet Vincent Van Gogh because I always feel so bad for him that he died thinking he was a failure as an artist.  If only he knew just how famous he would become and how his art would influence countless painters.  I would love to see his face when he was told that his artwork sells for millions of dollars and that one of his paintings, I believe, holds the record for the highest selling price for a piece of art.  

Finished Rebel Queen by Michelle Moran, a fascinating story about the last uprising before Britain occupied India.  A cousin of the young queen poisoned her son and husband, and betrayed her to the British.  Rani Lakshimi, queen of Jhansi, was killed by the sword of a British soldier as she fought with her troops.   A few days later the uprising ended and seventy-six years later India received its independence.    

Proof of Guilt (Inspector Ian Rutledge, Bk 15) by Charles Todd is a great read with a very complex plot as Ian Rutledge tries to identify tdentify a dead man who appears to have been run over by an automobile.   More men disappear but nothing seems to link them.  Undaunted, Rutledge works against a short timeline set by his new supervisor who doesn't understand the care such an investigation needs.  

Finishing The Haunted Abbot: (Sister Fidelma, Bk 12) by Peter Tremayne, 1/27/2023, 3.5 stars  

Shelley:  working on the HF challenge and hoping to delete some books from my bookshelves.  I'll turn to other genres when I get many of them done.  Planning to read three Frank Tallis mysteries for one prompt.

I finished The Winter Garden by Nicola Cornick. It is about the Gunpowder Plot to blow up Parliment and King James I,  Duel time set in present day and 1600s. Very well written, greatly enjoyed it.

Finally finished New York by Edward Rutherfurd.  Geat book, though the last chapter was a little too close for comfort. 

I started The Passenger by Ulrich Alexander Boschwitz.  It has an interesting history as well as an interesting plot.

Hello!  Just checking in.  I was recently on a trip, and you would've thopught I would've read a lot during travel.  Nope!  I started listening to The Mercies by Kieran Millwood Hargrave (which is just what you'd expect from HF set in Scandinavia - very depressing).  I elected not to bring The Rebels of Ireland with me as it is just too big of a book, but I am almost done with that and should finish up soon.  I brought my Kindle and intended to start a new book while gone, but alas, I never did.  

Alice - The Winter Garden sounds great!  I purchased it!