he Rush is a fabulous novel about the Gold Rush in Canada in the late 1800s. It takes us to Dawson City and introduces us to three strong-willed women in a world where men seem to hold all the power—or do they?
Our three main characters offer a nuanced view of Dawson City and the surrounding area during the Gold Rush. We have our brothel owner, Martha (although she thinks of it differently), our prospector's wife, Ellen, and our young news reporter, Kate, who is also a visitor to the area. And we also have a mystery to solve: Who murdered Molly?
This is a fast-paced novel, the narrative switching between our three women and moving slightly backwards and forwards through time. It is a fascinating look at what was happening in 1898 and how this affected those involved. It is at times bleak and unsettling. It is also an interesting examination of what drove men (and women) to venture to such inhospitable locations. The mystery itself is well-plotted and keeps readers on their toes. Who killed Molly? And more importantly why?
I found this novel to be thoroughly engrossing. I especially enjoyed learning how the author devised her characters based on real historical personalities.
'A rip-roaring adventure that's rich with drama' - DAILY MAIL 'A riveting read. Pure gold' - SUNDAY POST 'Transports the reader to a lawless wilderness' - DAILY EXPRESS
Gold fever has taken him. I believe he means to kill me...
Canada, 1898. The gold rush is on in the frozen wilderness of the Yukon. Fortunes are made as quickly as they're lost, and Dawson City has become a lawless settlement.
In its midst, three women are trying to survive on the edge of civilisation. Journalist Kate has travelled hundreds of miles…
The Bookseller of Inverness is an enthralling mystery set during the years after the events of the Battle of Culloden in 1745. It portrays the uneasy accord in Inverness at the time, with the Jacobites (well, those who survived the repercussions and the battle itself of 1746) and Hanoverians living in an uneasy discord that threatens to crack at the slightest provocation.
We have multiple characters from both sides of the divide, but our main character is Iain, a wounded Jacobite survivor of the battle, who is content with his bookshop until events draw him back into the conspiracies and the Jacobites' ongoing desire to put their king back on the throne.
It is deeply enmeshed in the politics of the era, but in the way they affected men and women on a day-to-day basis. Inverness seems small and inconsequential, but it's a microcosm of what's happening on an almost worldwide basis, with the Jacobites sent to the Americas as indentured slaves, while those endeavouring to bring their king back to the throne move through the European courts. It is a fabulous novel, especially when the mystery of the dead man in Iain's bookshop begins to unravel.
I've been to Culloden on numerous occasions, and a local once stopped me there, walking his dogs, and regaled me with the story of the battle. It was fascinating to stand there and have someone who could bring the battle to life before my eyes, explain everything. It also helps that I've visited the locations, and I could envisage much of the environment and how it must have been then. The novel certainly evoked the atmosphere of the location fabulously.
The many characters are also engaging. Donald Mor was perhaps a favourite, along with Tomorod, although it is Iain who carries the narrative.
I loved this book. I'd had it for ages, but then sat down to read it and couldn't stop. I mean, it involved a bookshop and then a mystery!
A GRIPPING HISTORICAL THRILLER SET IN INVERNESS IN THE WAKE OF THE 1746 BATTLE OF CULLODEN.
'This slice of historical fiction takes you on a wild ride' THE TIMES
After Culloden, Iain MacGillivray was left for dead on Drummossie Moor. Wounded, his face brutally slashed, he survived only by pretending to be dead as the Redcoats patrolled the corpses of his Jacobite comrades.
Six years later, with the clan chiefs routed and the Highlands subsumed into the British state, Iain lives a quiet life, working as a bookseller in Inverness. One day, after helping several of his regular customers, he…
I love these feisty women, and I was lucky enough to read an advanced copy so I can share my review today on release day.
It's so good to be back with Efi, Appel and Greta. And this time, they're thrust into a most beguiling mystery, with missing shoes, missing novices and, as usual, the men of the town are more likely to be sent running for the hills with fear than solving the mystery themselves. It's a good job Efi, Appel and Greta are more curious than terrified, although they're not without some worldly and otherworldy worries.
I've read all three books in The Alewives of Colmar series. They are delightful fun, and a real treat for the reader. If you've not yet discovered Efi, Appel and Greta and the charming town of Colmar then what are you waiting for?
Another five star read for me. Bring on book 4 (no pressure Elizabeth R Andersen:))
As winter draws to a close, something suspicious lurks outside the walls of Colmar.Appel, Gritta, and Efi, the three alewives of Colmar, are enjoying a calm month of brewing and friendship after solving the deeply unsettling riddle of the severed hands. But peace is not destined to last for long. The disappearance of two novice monks in the care of Friar Wikerus spark tales of a supernatural beast on the loose, and when a lowly street sweeper is terrorized one night, fear stalks the town like a monster.Theories of demons and beasts run wild. Could this foretell another great mortality…
While the whine of the air raid sirens might no longer be rousing him from bed every night, a two-decade-old unsolved murder case will ensure Chief Inspector Mason of Erdington Police Station is about to suffer more sleepless nights.
Young Robert McFarlane’s body was found outside the local church hall on 30th September 1923. But his cause of death was drowning, and he’d been missing for three days before his body was found. No one was ever arrested for the crime. No answers could ever be given to the grieving family. The unsolved case has haunted Mason ever since.
But, the chance discovery of another victim, with worrying parallels, sets Mason and his constable, O’Rourke, on a journey that will take them back over twenty-five years. They will have the chance to finally solve the case while all around them, the uncertainty of war continues, impossible to ignore.
