Here are 8 books that Blood Among The Threads fans have personally recommended if you like
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Most stories about murder in the Victorian era are set in London. Not all the best mysteries, however, take place there as I have discovered as a long-time reviewer for City Book Review. Some are; some are not. In my own writing, the setting must complement and even amplify the murderous doings being depicted. With this in mind, let me take you on a deadly country-wide tour of mystery, with each of our five stops brightened or darkened by one of my favorite murder stories. Each of them engaged me, mystified me, and, above all, entertained me.
Our next stop is Essex for a classic English village mystery. I knew from the moment I read the opening scene—the grisly discovery of a young man entombed in the crypt of the usually murder-free parish church—that I was going to love the story. And I did.
I was delighted to see how the tranquility of the pastoral scenes—the thatched-roof cottages, the earthy smell of horses in the stable, the square, Norman-style church tower overlooking the village green—carried through the story and beautifully counterpointed the skullduggery at the heart of the mystery.
The quaint village atmosphere heightens the tension in this well-constructed first installment of what promises to be an exciting new mystery series.
When the body of a young man is found stuffed into the tomb of a medieval knight, Parish Constable Daniel Haze is tasked with investigating his first solo murder case. Suspicion instantly falls on the only stranger to arrive in the village of Birch Hill just before the crime took place, but the American captain proves to be an unexpected asset. A former soldier and a skilled surgeon, Jason Redmond is not only willing to assist Haze with the investigation but will risk his own safety to apprehend the killer.With no suspects, no motive, and few leads to follow, Redmond…
It is April 1st, 2038. Day 60 of China's blockade of the rebel island of Taiwan.
The US government has agreed to provide Taiwan with a weapons system so advanced that it can disrupt the balance of power in the region. But what pilot would be crazy enough to run…
Ever since I read the work of Charlotte Bronte, Jane Austen, and Georgette Heyer at an impressionable age, nineteenth-century England has fascinated me. My mother, a lifelong reader, is responsible for sparking this obsession. She never cared that I wanted to read “grown-up books” or later tried to discourage me from majoring in English. After college, I went on to teach British literature to high school students and to write two mystery series, one set during the Regency period, the other taking place half a century later. This new Victorian series introduces a bored spinster who finds her purpose in life as a detective.
Every so often, I meet a charming, humane fictional character who seems like someone I would very much like to have a long conversation with. The gentlemanly amateur detective Charles Lenox is just such a man. And, in fact, he does seem to spend an awful lot of time having tea with his friends in this novel, set in 1865 London.
But that doesn’t stop Mr. Lenox from using his impressive wits to solve the murder of a housemaid, who is dead in an apparent suicide. I love this series by author Charles Finch and eagerly await each new installment.
Most stories about murder in the Victorian era are set in London. Not all the best mysteries, however, take place there as I have discovered as a long-time reviewer for City Book Review. Some are; some are not. In my own writing, the setting must complement and even amplify the murderous doings being depicted. With this in mind, let me take you on a deadly country-wide tour of mystery, with each of our five stops brightened or darkened by one of my favorite murder stories. Each of them engaged me, mystified me, and, above all, entertained me.
This last tale brings the tour back to London, albeit with side trips to Yorkshire. I was attracted to this enthralling mystery not only by the twisty plot but also by the way the author cleverly sets scenes with just a few words. It was enough for me to know time and place while leaving room for my imagination to have its say.
I easily pictured the library or drawing room of Somerville Hall; Harrogate’s rat-infested police station; the derelict building housing Russell’s Book Shop; Verrey’s Restaurant, Regent Street; the London General Mourning Warehouse; and the list continues. I was drawn into every scene with the story’s heroine.
Lucy Lawrence stared down at her husband, his once handsome face now a twisted mask of death. She shivered and pulled her shawl tighter around her shoulders. His life had held so many secrets, and now his sins were hers to bear…England, 1886. In the flickering gaslights of Victorian London, 28-year-old Lucy Lawrence's future hangs in the balance. Her husband's murder has left her reputation in tatters, and the theft of her mother's priceless heirloom pearls has only added to her woes. But when the handsome investigator Phineas Stone enters her life, Lucy finds herself drawn into a web of…
A Duke with rigid opinions, a Lady whose beliefs conflict with his, a long disputed parcel of land, a conniving neighbour, a desperate collaboration, a failure of trust, a love found despite it all.
Alexander Cavendish, Duke of Ravensworth, returned from war to find that his father and brother had…
Most stories about murder in the Victorian era are set in London. Not all the best mysteries, however, take place there as I have discovered as a long-time reviewer for City Book Review. Some are; some are not. In my own writing, the setting must complement and even amplify the murderous doings being depicted. With this in mind, let me take you on a deadly country-wide tour of mystery, with each of our five stops brightened or darkened by one of my favorite murder stories. Each of them engaged me, mystified me, and, above all, entertained me.
This debut author's story takes place in the beautiful city of Edinburgh—beautiful for some, but not all. I very much enjoyed this mystery, a tale of a female medical student’s efforts to find out what happened to a dead prostitute. What really sets it apart for me is the true-to-life description of the city’s underbelly.
Whether it is the infirmary that treats the poverty-stricken, the downcast, and those forced into a life of wrongdoing, or the crime-infested slums where shady deals and illegal trades are carried out with little regard for the arm of the law, I felt as though I was right there.
An irresistible mystery set in 1890s Edinburgh, Kaite Welsh's THE WAGES OF SIN features a female medical student-turned-detective, and will thrill fans of Sarah Waters and Antonia Hodgson.
'Historical fiction doesn't get much more delicious or original' Damian Barr
'This powerful novel combines a disturbing look at late Victorian attitudes towards women and morality with a satisfying murder mystery' Sunday Express
Sarah Gilchrist has fled from London to Edinburgh in disgrace and is determined to become a doctor, despite the misgivings of her family and society. As part of the University of Edinburgh's first intake of female medical students, Sarah…
I have long been struck, as a learner of French at school and later a university professor of French, by how much English borrows from French language and culture. Imagine English without naïvetéand caprice. You might say it would lose its raison d’être…My first book was the history of a single French phrase, the je-ne-sais-quoi, which names a ‘certain something’ in people or things that we struggle to explain.Working on that phrase alerted me to the role that French words, and foreign words more generally, play in English. The books on this list helped me to explore this topic—and more besides—as I was writing Émigrés.
Ennuiis a hidden gem of a novel. I admire the way it deftly weaves together personal lives and political histories on either side of the Irish Sea. I have come to feel strongly that the author, Maria Edgeworth, is unjustly overlooked by literary history in favour of Jane Austen. Yet Austen drew inspiration from her older contemporary. In this novel,Edgeworth draws on French words and ideas to tell the tale of an over-entitled English lounge lizard who is cured of his fashionable affliction—the ennui of the title—by his travels and travails in Ireland. The result is a cosmopolitan novel crackling with invention and implication.
As a curious Pratt Institute art school professor and loving parent of a daughter who has also written and/or illustrated sixteen children’s books I want to share my favorite books with other children’s book connoisseurs. It also helps that I have lots of opinions. Too many to count. And when someone actually wants to listen to my opinions I get very excited. I’m hoping one of my favorites becomes one of your favorites.
This book by the author of Shrek and one of my favorite artist/authors is a story of an island inhabited by crazy awful disgusting creatures and how they make it a terrible rotten island until nature takes hold and corrects all that.
A great book when thinking about our planet and environment. And the artwork is magnificent.
What would happen if every creature on land and sea were free to be as rotten as possible? If every day was a free-for-all; if plants grew barbed wire; if the ocean were poison? That's life on Rotten Island. For creatures that slither, creep, and crawl (not to mention kick, bite, scratch, and play nasty tricks on each other), Rotten Island is paradise. But then, on a typically rotten day, something truly awful happens. Something that could spoil Rotten Island forever. Out of a bed of gravel on the scorched earth, a mysterious, beautiful flower begins to grow...
The Duke's Christmas Redemption
by
Arietta Richmond,
A Duke who has rejected love, a Lady who dreams of a love match, an arranged marriage, a house full of secrets, a most unneighborly neighbor, a plot to destroy reputations, an unexpected love that redeems it all.
Lady Charlotte Wyndham, given in an arranged marriage to a man she…
I study and write about the Early Medieval period, and in a series of books about its most important characters, its archaeology and landscapes, I've tried to share my lifelong passion for this most obscure and tantalizing period of our history – what we still call the Dark Ages. From the two most shadowy centuries after Rome's fall (The First Kingdom) to Northumbrian King Oswald (The King in the North), who brought Christianity into pagan Anglo-Saxon England, and a walking, riding, sailing tour of Britain's Dark Age lands and seas (In the Land of Giants), I see a continuity of rich cultures, vibrant politics and regional characters that help us to understand how and why we are like we are.
This may not look, at first sight, like a book for the general reader. But in my research into the period I have found no more useful, better written, or more thought-provoking work. David Griffiths is, like me, an archaeologist; and he knows his material. How the Vikings explored, conquered, and settled the lands in and around the Irish Sea is a story of marvellous sculpture and enigmatic burial mound; of silver, towns and landscape. A very fine book.
Vikings began raiding islands and monasteries on the Atlantic fringes of Europe in the 790s. The Irish Sea rapidly became one of their most productive hunting-grounds. Attacks, battles and destruction were accompanied by trade - in slaves, silver and fine objects. Vikings crossed and re-crossed the Irish Sea in search of land, wealth and power. Raids were followed by settlement, firstly in fortified camps, and later in towns, market enclaves and rural estates. Vikings came into contact with existing populations in Ireland, Britain and the Isle of Man. Viking paganism, demonstrated by spectacular burials, was gradually eclipsed by Christianity. By…
I’ve always been drawn to the natural world—not just its beauty but also its dirt, the earthiness and vitality of it. I prefer the company of animals to humans and the questions of curious children to the bland certainty of adults. I’ve worked as a teacher, news reporter, horse trainer, volunteer firefighter, and website designer. I try to pull bits of all these experiences together into my writing while also exploring the characters who fascinate me: flawed, compassionate protagonists who believe they must battle their demons alone and complex antagonists who think they have nothing to lose. There’s nothing so satisfying as a high-stakes challenge with an unpredictable outcome.
This book snuck up on me. It’s a lovely story of hope and the strength of the human spirit, featuring three ordinary people living their lives who are suddenly tied together by the tragedy of an accidental death.
I love Hooper’s descriptions of their attempts to muddle through pain and loss, seeking reconciliation and a path forward. This book finds a more upbeat ending than the others on my list, as forgiveness, hope, empathy, and the possibility of a new life come shining through. I love the writer’s obvious compassion for all her characters.
