Petteril’s Ladybird by Mary Lancaster – book review

Disclosure.  This post is a review of an e-book I was sent for free.  All opinions are my own.

I have received a free e-copy of the book Petteril’s Ladybird by Mary Lancaster to review. You may find out more about the author on her website.

Here is the book blurb.

An earl’s son, shot in the home of his mistress…

Lord Petteril, with his redoubtable assistant April, is called back to London to help prove the innocence of his friend, Percy Austen, who is suspected of murder.

Percy was once the lover of the victim’s mistress, and his pistol was found at the scene of the crime. However, there is an embarrassment of other suspects, all of whom seem to have a tangled relationship to each other as well as to the dead man. And more than one is connected to April’s past.

As Petteril and April investigate among the aristocracy of Mayfair and the villains of St. Giles, their relationship reaches an unexpected crisis of its own. Is their friendship strong enough to withstand honour as well as convention? Or will this mystery part them for good?

This is the third title in the Lord Petteril Mysteries series.

The story starts with Lord Petteril and his assistant April returning to London to investigate the murder of Barret Bootle. Petteril’s friend Percy Austen who has no alibi, has been accused of the crime. His pistol was found at the scene which occurred in Mrs Eastleigh’s house.

Mrs Eastleigh was the victim’s mistress, but prior to that was Percy’s mistress. April gets a surprise when she meets Mrs Eastleigh and recognises her as an old friend from her past in St Giles.

Petteril and April discover a number of potential suspects but they all seem to have alibis. Who is the murderer?

Meanwhile the relationship between Petteril and April is gradually changing too.

The story worked fine as a stand-alone read but I definitely recommend reading all the titles in order. And I do hope there will be another title in this series.

Petteril’s Ladybird is available on Amazon in paperback or Kindle format.  A great whodunnit.

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About the author

Mary Lancaster lives in Scotland with her husband, three mostly grown-up kids and a small, crazy dog.

Her first literary love was historical fiction, a genre which she relishes mixing up with romance and adventure in her own writing. Several of her novels feature actual historical characters as diverse as Hungarian revolutionaries, medieval English outlaws, and a family of eternally rebellious royal Scots. To say nothing of Vlad the Impaler.

Her most recent books are light, fun Regency romances written for Dragonblade Publishing: The Imperial Season series set at the Congress of Vienna; and the popular Blackhaven Brides series, which is set in a fashionable English spa town frequented by the great and the bad of Regency society.

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Petteril’s Corpse by Mary Lancaster – book review

Disclosure.  This post is a review of an e-book I was sent for free.  All opinions are my own.

I have received a free e-copy of the book Petteril’s Corpse by Mary Lancaster to review. You may find out more about the author on her website.

Here is the book blurb.

A murdered stranger in his home wood…

The discovery of a naked corpse upsets the new Viscount Petteril’s return to his ancestral acres. The local magistrate, Robert Lindon, has no idea how to proceed with so heinous a crime. Neither has Petteril, but curiosity compels him to help – with the aid of his fearless new assistant April, struggling to find her feet in this rich new world, and yet invaluable to more than the investigation.

Identifying the corpse is difficult enough. Suspecting that the culprit is one of the local gentry, some of whom were Petteril’s boyhood friends, is harder still. Could it be the aristocratic fortune hunter betrothed to Lindon’s daughter? Or, as everyone would prefer, Brandy Bill, the highwayman still hiding out in the nearby town?

This is the second book in the Lord Petteril Mysteries series, set in Regency England, but worked well as a stand-alone read.

Piers, Viscount Petteril and his new assistant April seem to have found themselves a sideline in sleuthing. In book 1, it was a missing valuable necklace, but this time a murder. They discover the body in woodland on the Petteril estate, from the smell of burning cloth, before they even arrive at the house for Piers’ first visit since inheriting the title.

Firstly difficult to identify the naked corpse without clues. Why has the murderer burnt the victim’s clothing? Is it to prevent identification?

But a visitor arriving the next day at the nearby Lindon household is able to help by identifying the victim? This also gives them a clue as to other missing possessions of the victim. Where might those be hidden?

Piers and April theorise as to possible motives and culprits, working well together as an unlikely pairing.

Note, if you haven’t read book 1 Petteril’s Thief, this title will give you a spoiler for that, so I do recommend best to read them in order.

Petteril’s Corpse is available on Amazon in paperback or Kindle format. A good historical mystery, although the ending did feel like justice wasn’t really served.

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About the author

Mary Lancaster lives in Scotland with her husband, three mostly grown-up kids and a small, crazy dog.

Her first literary love was historical fiction, a genre which she relishes mixing up with romance and adventure in her own writing. Several of her novels feature actual historical characters as diverse as Hungarian revolutionaries, medieval English outlaws, and a family of eternally rebellious royal Scots. To say nothing of Vlad the Impaler.

Her most recent books are light, fun Regency romances written for Dragonblade Publishing: The Imperial Season series set at the Congress of Vienna; and the popular Blackhaven Brides series, which is set in a fashionable English spa town frequented by the great and the bad of Regency society.

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Petteril’s Thief by Mary Lancaster – book review

Disclosure.  This post is a review of an e-book I was sent for free.  All opinions are my own.

I have received a free e-copy of the book Petteril’s Thief by Mary Lancaster to review. You may find out more about the author on her website.

Here is the book blurb.

A missing family heirloom – and one of the family stole it.

In the spring of 1812, Piers Withan is dragged from his beloved Oxford to be the new Viscount Petteril. Burdened by responsibilities he doesn’t want and the remnants of a family who don’t want him, he is saved from an irredeemable mistake by Ape, the small thief burgling his house.

When the family heirloom known as the Petteril Necklace is found to be missing, Piers seeks out his burglar to get it back. However, their search leads them to Piers’s own family – entitled, resentful and largely indebted. Only, which one of them is the thief?

As he uncovers the truth, Piers begins to find his feet and his old joy in life, not least in his burgeoning friendship with Ape, whose past is a mystery of its own.

This is the first title in the Lord Petteril Mysteries series.

The story starts by immediately introducing us to both main characters, Ape, a young thief who got more than he bargained for when he realised the house he was burgling wasn’t empty. Instead his quick reaction saves Viscount Piers Petteril from falling off the balcony, who lets him leave with the few trinkets he has purloined.

Piers had reluctantly returned to London from Oxford to take over his duties as new Viscount following the death of his uncle. But the next day, Piers along with the Dowager Viscountess discover that the valuable Petteril ruby necklace heirloom is missing.

So Piers sets to track down Ape and his master in his search for the missing heirloom. And if they don’t have it, then who else might?

And what other surprises might be revealed?

The story worked fine as a stand-alone read but you could see how openings had been left to develop the main characters further. I certainly am looking forward to reading book 2.

Petteril’s Thief is available on Amazon in Kindle format.  An intriguing historical mystery.

I’ve only read one other title by Mary Lancaster a few years back, a romantic novel, The Wicked Marquis, so it is good to see that she can switch between genres and keep the reader enthralled.

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About the author

Mary Lancaster lives in Scotland with her husband, three mostly grown-up kids and a small, crazy dog.

Her first literary love was historical fiction, a genre which she relishes mixing up with romance and adventure in her own writing. Several of her novels feature actual historical characters as diverse as Hungarian revolutionaries, medieval English outlaws, and a family of eternally rebellious royal Scots. To say nothing of Vlad the Impaler.

Her most recent books are light, fun Regency romances written for Dragonblade Publishing: The Imperial Season series set at the Congress of Vienna; and the popular Blackhaven Brides series, which is set in a fashionable English spa town frequented by the great and the bad of Regency society.

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A Dragon’s Dyne by Brett Salter – book review

Disclosure.  This post is a review of an e-book I was sent for free.  All opinions are my own.

I have received a free e-copy of the book A Dragon’s Dyne by Brett Salter to review. You may find out more about the author on his website.

Here is the book blurb.

Things have gone from weird to blatantly absurd in Rome and Julian’s quest to preserve the boundary between the Earth realm and The Void. With Darkbrand numbers growing at a terrifying rate, the escape of Beliarahm, the fiercest Nocturn yet, and the struggle to make ANY headway with the Elementals and all their tomfoolery, The Alliance has hit a veritable wall. Even with the promise of the light Talisman to oppose the forces of darkness, there’s just no telling how or where to find it. All the other Talismans are collected, but that doesn’t necessarily give our heroes any comfort, because to this point, these magical items seem to have served more as crosshairs than protection. Maybe they need something more than the Talismans. But what could that be?

This is the sixth title in the Talisman series, but works fine as a stand-alone read. However I have read all the books and love how they follow-on, but am always pleased with the bonus of a recap in the prologue, when it has been a while since reading the previous title.

This time the story begins with Rome, Julian and the rest of the team attempting to locate the light Talisman, but the Elementals seem unable to help until Arbalis is summoned, who shows them an image of a lake. Can they identify which lake it is?

Meanwhile a new Rider family member is revealed. And of course there are more battles with Nocturns. Some dragon romance plus Rome gets a bonus Dyne ability. What might that be? The arrival of allies and more surprises.

I love how they all gel so well as a team. Each character is well developed by the author.

And after the final showdown just when you think it is the end, a clue in the epilogue. Could that be a hook for another book?

A Dragon’s Dyne is available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle format, targeted at young adult readers. Another brilliant episode in this great fantasy series. Suitable from age 11 upwards in my opinion.

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Wedding Bells Brew Murder by Carolyn Arnold – book review

Disclosure.  This post is a review of an ebook I was sent for free.  All opinions are my own.

I have received a free e-copy of the book Wedding Bells Brew Murder by bestselling author Carolyn Arnold to review. To find out more about the author you may visit her website.

Here is the book blurb.

With all the guests at Sara and Sean’s wedding suspected of murder, her walk down the aisle will need to wait…

Everything is going perfectly on the big day until Sara opens the door of her bridal suite. Darlene Day, who made the wedding cake, falls into the room, a serving knife plunged into her back.

As the organists start to play “Here Comes the Bride,” Sara calls a pause to the proceedings. There’s a murder to solve, and the motive may be in the icing.

Darlene wasn’t the most loved person in the small town of Cotton Spring Falls, but rumor has it that she refused the offer of a big franchise to buy her bakery. Did they go so far as murder to put her out of business?

But when it’s discovered their wedding cake was poisoned, Sara and Sean could have been the intended victims all along. Did Darlene stumble upon the killer’s conspiracy and they silenced her before she could reveal their secret? Is it someone on the invitation list or the mysterious wedding crasher?

As long as the coffee is hot, and Sara has Sean and her beagle, Magnum, at her side, she isn’t going down in a heap of tulle and lace.

This is the second title in the Sara and Sean Cozy Mystery Series, and what a novel idea to set it on their wedding day.

To set the scene, the story starts the night before at their pre-wedding meal, but Sara overhears Darlene Day arguing. Darlene has baked them a fabulous wedding cake and gives them all a little pre-taster.

Then the next day, minutes before the ceremony is due to take place, Darlene stumbles in on Sara, her mum and bridesmaids with a knife in her back. She utters one word before dying, but what is the significance of it?

So with the ceremony on hold, Sara and Sean start sleuthing, as with tight security, all their guests are now suspects. Plus a run-in with the local cops, who do not like their interference in the case. Roll gatecrashers and secret passages into the mix. Plus who has gone missing now?

As hours pass, their guests are getting hungry, so might as well serve up the wedding cake. Bad decision as those who eat some, start getting pains. Who poisoned the cake?

I loved the premise of setting this tale on their wedding day. And in true whodunnit style, there are plenty of clues and counter-arguments. Just got to work out which are key and what are red herrings.

And I love how Carolyn Arnold can give the reader a cosy mystery, when most of her other series are dark psychological thrillers. Excellent that she can switch her writing so easily between the two genres.

Wedding Bells Brew Murder is available on Amazon. A great mystery, with two sides to the coin.

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About the author

Carolyn Arnold was born in a small Canadian town and enjoys spending time outdoors, but she also loves the lights of a big city. Grounded by her roots and lifted by her dreams, her overactive imagination insists that she tell her stories. Her intention is to touch the hearts of millions with her books, to entertain, inspire, and empower. As an international bestselling and award-winning author, she has several continuing fiction series, including her popular Detective Madison Knight series. She offers readers nearly three dozen published books in genres ranging from crime thrillers and hard-boiled mysteries to cozy mysteries and action adventures. She currently lives north of London, Ontario, with her husband and two beagles.

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I’m participating in the blog book tour. Do take time to browse round some of the other posts.

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If She Lives by Erik Therme – book review

Disclosure.  This post is a review of an ebook I was sent for free.  All opinions are my own.

I have received a free e-copy of the book If She Lives by Erik Therme to review. You may find out more about the author on his website.

Here is the book blurb.

Tess Parker knows tragedy better than most.

After surviving the death of her daughter and kidnapping of her nephew, Tess is ready to return to normal life. But her troubled past has other plans, and when an old threat reemerges, Tess must seek the help of an unlikely ally to set things right.

No matter what the cost.

If She Lives is the final installment in the Harlow trilogy. It works fine as a stand-alone read, but even better to read them all.

Following everything that happened in the earlier titles, Tess has now separated from her husband Josh and is living with her sister-in-law Torrie and nephew, baby Levi. The prologue cleverly makes use of Tess attending her first session with a psychiatrist, to give the readers a recap.

But circumstances seem to continue to follow Tess and there is a fire at Torrie’s home. Is it arson? Then faces from the past start to show up, with crazy suggestions. What will Tess do?

Plenty of unexpected twists and turns in this gripping tale, with a very surprising ending.

If She Lives is available on Amazon in paperback, hardback, audiobook and kindle format. A compelling thrilling exciting read.

Here are my reviews of the previous two titles.
If She Dies
If She Wakes

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Bowled Over Americano by Carolyn Arnold – book review

Disclosure.  This post is a review of an ebook I was sent for free.  All opinions are my own.

I have received a free e-copy of the book Bowled Over Americano by bestselling author Carolyn Arnold to review. To find out more about the author you may visit her website.

Here is the book blurb.

Sara Cain isn’t your typical thirty-two-year-old woman. Murder detective by day, writer and… sleuth by night? Just as long as there’s enough coffee to keep her going…

When her first novel gives her trouble, Sara goes for a walk to clear her writer’s block and ends up stumbling right into a real-life murder mystery. Magnum, an adventurous beagle, comes running off leash toward her in the local park, and she returns him home only to find his master dead on the entry floor.

Cliff Cunningham was a championship bowler with a mean streak and a temper, and police are pegging his Golden Pin bowling trophy as the murder weapon. While any number of people could have clocked a strike by knocking him on the noggin, the prime suspect is a friend of Sara’s mother—and she expects Sara to prove the woman’s innocence. A tall order, as the case isn’t officially hers and belongs to a rival detective.

But a promise is a promise, and Sara soon finds herself sleuthing undercover—and off the clock—in a world of polyester shirts and rental shoes. It’s not all bad, though, as she’s taking her friend and partner Sean McKinley along for the ride. They are better together than they’ve ever been split, and they’re not amateurs at finding killers.

Despite being up against small-town hijinks and colorful characters who threaten to roll their efforts into the gutter, they are having fun. That is, until they get close to the killer and a dangerous twist puts their lives at risk.

This is the first title in the Sara and Sean Cozy Mystery Series, but as soon as I started reading it, I knew I had already met and loved Sara and Sean in Exercise is Murder, a McKinley Mystery. I’ve now discovered that the McKinley Mysteries were unpublished last year, in order to be expanded into full-length novels. However I hadn’t read the original that this one is based on, so all new and fresh to me.

The story begins with Sara, a detective rescuing a lost dog in the park, but when she returns him home, she finds his owner Cliff Cunningham murdered. Certainly an opening to get the reader hooked.

She ends up having to take Magnum the dog home with her, but sneaking him into the police station for work the next day doesn’t go down well with the Sergeant. What will she do with Magnum?

Sara and partner Sean aren’t assigned to the Cunningham case, but when her mum calls to ask for help because her friend Gladys has been arrested for the murder of Cliff Cunningham, she and Sean set about some moonlighting on the case.

Can they do a better job at it than Detective Davenport? Is Gladys innocent?

Have a laugh at the antics of how they deal with Magnum.

The author has done a great job at filling in the back story for this, the start of a series, which is interwoven into this tale. And a fab twist at the end.

Most of Carolyn Arnold’s other series are dark psychological thrillers. Yes this is still murder, but a much more light-hearted fun mystery style.

Bowled Over Americano is available on Amazon. A highly recommended whodunnit style mystery, that will leave you looking forward to reading more Sara and Sean tales.

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About the author

Carolyn Arnold was born in a small Canadian town and enjoys spending time outdoors, but she also loves the lights of a big city. Grounded by her roots and lifted by her dreams, her overactive imagination insists that she tell her stories. Her intention is to touch the hearts of millions with her books, to entertain, inspire, and empower. As an international bestselling and award-winning author, she has several continuing fiction series, including her popular Detective Madison Knight series. She offers readers nearly three dozen published books in genres ranging from crime thrillers and hard-boiled mysteries to cozy mysteries and action adventures. She currently lives north of London, Ontario, with her husband and two beagles.

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I’m participating in the blog book tour. Do take time to browse round some of the other posts.

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Discovery of the Five Senses by K N Smith – book review

Disclosure.  This post is a review of an e-book I was sent for free.  All opinions are my own.

I have received a free e-copy of the book Discovery of the Five Senses by K N Smith to review. You may find out more about the author on her website.

Here is the book blurb.

Welcome or unwelcome. Fate has arrived.

A suspenseful incident in a forbidden preserve heightens the senses of five friends. Sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell become super-gifts that forever change the world. But furious battles confront the boys as they try to understand their sensory super powers in a race to save mankind. With light beings and mysterious strangers complicating their plight, will the boys defeat the evil Druth before it’s too late? Get prepared for the twisting and grinding of this award-winning, action-adventure story — an edge-of-your-seat narrative for young and mature readers alike.

The prologue is set late at night in the mysterious forest where a despicable act takes place. But the readers are not the only witnesses!

Moving forward 20 years to the main story, we are introduced to five teenage friends and their families who live in the town Danville Heights. The boys are Kinsu, Chase, Jordan, Rhee and Alex.

A few miles away in neighbouring town Sandry Lake, hooligans now roam the streets led by evil Druth.

Humans are not the only characters in the tale, we also have peaceful Naculeans, tiny light beings who look like fireflies and rely on nectar.

But when the boys set foot in the forbidden preserve, they are unaware of either their encounter with the Naculeans or of the mysterious stranger who observes them.

They awake, back in Rhee’s home, not really aware of what happened, each with a heightened sense and a bonding connection.

I did find some of this tale rather confusing, but effectively it was a chain of events set in motion. The boys need to work together as a team, harnessing each of their individual super-powers for this book to progress to a positive conclusion. Plenty of twists and turns en-route in this fantasy action-packed adventure. I loved the characterisation of the boys, plus how their family members, friends and neighbours were all developed too. Although it does mean a lot of people and relationships for the reader to remember.

Discovery of the Five Senses is available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle format, targeted at young adult readers. An interesting fantastical adventure. Suitable from age 13 upwards in my opinion.

However this is billed as book 1 in The Urban Boys series. But there doesn’t appear to be a book 2 yet, although this title was published in 2015.

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When Fire Splits the Sky by Tyler James Russell – book review

Disclosure.  This post is a review of an ebook I was sent for free.  All opinions are my own.

I have received a free e-copy of the book When Fire Splits the Sky by Tyler James Russell to review. You may find out more about the author on his website.

Here is the book blurb.

Following Ben’s weekend hunting trip outside Juneau, his wife Maranda—a trauma survivor with multiple personalities—makes a discovery that looks like it will finally put their limping, less-than-a-year marriage out of its misery. But in the morning, when a cataclysmic blast throws the world into chaos, Ben and Maranda find themselves stuck in a car, heading north to Anchorage, on a seemingly hopeless quest to reunite with a missing family member before it’s too late.

I struggled to get into this book, being turned off on page 2 by the casual use of strong swear words. There is a lot going on in the story, as Maranda has 6+ multiple personalities, both male and female, both child and adult, an extra complexity for the reader. Maranda and Ben’s marriage is in a mess, when their own situation is dwarved by a huge blast in Yukon.

As sirens wail, a memory resurfaces for Maranda and they head on a long car trip to Anchorage, Why does Ben come too? Who do all Maranda’s alter egos represent? Who is Maranda trying to find? What is Maranda’s history? And who are trailing them? Why are they heading the opposite way to everyone else fleeing? What dangers await?

The author has packed a lot in encompassing mental illness and post traumatic stress.

When Fire Splits the Sky is available on Amazon in paperback and kindle formats. Plenty going on in this dark storyline, but it didn’t hit the spot for me.

Note does include human trafficking and suicide.

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The Mystery of the Blue Train by Agatha Christie

This is a review that son1 did for a book which he read at school. I was so impressed with what he had written compared to the one-liners he gives me for the books he reviews for my blog, that I asked him if I could share it here.

This book, written by Agatha Christie, was first published by Collins in 1928. It was once televised as a film in 2006 with some minor changes. The author, Agatha Christie, was born on the 15th September 1890 in Torquay, Devon and died on the 12 January 1976 in Winterbrook, Oxfordshire, aged 85. She had her first book, the Mysterious Affair at Styles, (featuring Hercule Poirot) published in 1920. The most famous detectives in her novels are Hercule Poirot, Jane Marple and Tommy & Tuppence.

In this novel, Ruth Kettering is on the Blue Train to Nice. Katherine Grey is also on the train on a trip to see her distant cousin in France. When the train reaches Nice, the French police discover that Ruth Kettering has been murdered and her precious rubies had been stolen as well. The main suspects are her lover, the Comte de la Roche and her husband Derek Kettering. Hercule Poirot and police interrogate Katherine as a witness to see what she knows of the crime. The maid, Ada Mason is also interrogated. Ruth’s father, Rufus Van Aldin and his secretary, Major Knighton, are invited to the crime scene. Monsieur Papopolous, a jewellery dealer, mentions that a man known as the marquis could be linked to the crime, creating another loose end that Poirot must tie together. To bring everything together Poirot takes a trip to Nice on the Blue Train himself with Mr Van Aldin and Major Knighton.

I loved reading this book and would truly recommend it to anyone after a good murder mystery. It felt boring at the start but the further you go the more interesting it gets. Hercule Poirot is very memorable as not only did he have good detective skills, but he also had a good sense. He is also very inspirational, showing a growth mindset throughout the novel making sure he had got everything spot on before he closed the case and he was very intimidating to people he interrogated. I would love to read another Agatha Christie novel to see how it compares to this novel.

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