I'll Sleep When I've Read... Mary Lancaster's Pleasure Garden Series

Ahhh the Regency Pleasure Garden. The Museum of London refers to them as "part art gallery, part fashion show and part brothel ... from concerts and balloon-flights to drunkenness and debauchery." Mary Lancaster's Maida Pleasure Garden also serves as the perfect backdrop for her series of romance novels -- the first three of which I have flown through since Thursday night because they're just that good and sleep is highly overrated. The fourth is already lined up to be this week's Tuesday Intros & Teaser Tuesday post.

So far the second in the series, Unmasking Deception, is my favorite, but they are all oh-so-worthy of reading. In order, please. Of course, this is another series that claims that it can be read out of order and as stand-alone works... and I'm sure that they could be read all willy-nilly, but I don't recommend doing so. I never recommend doing so. Each book has characters that you meet and get to know in previous books and it's just more enjoyable to see the back-stories and growth ... and guess as to who might get their lovematch next and how. 

Which brings me to a request to please please please let Rollo Darblay finally meet his match! I will gladly forego more sleep to see more Rollo 💕

If you want to share whatever has kept you up past your bedtime because you just needed one more chapter ... or the entire book ... please comment! My TBR pile is already toppling, but I can always add more.

Educated by the Earl by Alexa Aston (Book Beginnings & Friday 56)

 

Title: Educated by the Earl

Author: Alexa Aston

Publication: 25 February 2022

Format: Kindle eARC via NetGalley

Amazon Description

When Major Spencer Haddock’s father dies, he returns to England as the Earl of Middlefield. He seeks a typical marriage, where his wife will provide him with an heir and possibly other children and then they go their separate ways. He intends to find his countess quickly and not waste time at boring social affairs. Lady Tessa Foster delays her come-out for several years in order to care for her ill parents. Now out of mourning, Tessa is eager to be introduced in Polite Society so she can find a husband and start a family of her own. When Spence attempts to save Tessa from a thief brandishing a knife, she turns and attacks Spence. He quickly learns that instead of the pliant woman he thought he wanted as his countess, he desires Tessa—a woman of beauty and valor who stands up for herself and those she cherishes.

Ramble-y Teaserish Stuff

I cannot get over how ridiculously swoon-worthy I found the hero of Educated by the Earl -- the first book in Alexa Aston's new Second Sons of London series. Scholarly, a bit socially awkward, more than a bit snarky, devoted, sexy as hell, retired army Major, able to curl the heroine's toes (and other bits) with nothing more than a kiss .... or a glance ....

Yeah. He's basically my actual Other in book form .... but with a title .... that he never intended on having.

It's so hard to write about this one without giving too much away. I wouldn't be able to do it justice, anyway. 

Basically, Spencer has every intention of marrying but no intention of marrying for love until he encounters the headstrong spitfire that is Tessa .... who is even more impressive to him than the Celtic warrior queen Boudica .... and who has no intention of being wooed. At least, not by Spencer in spite of everyone else realizing that they would be perfect for each other. 

Even Tessa's lady's maid, Abra, is smitten and her first encounter with him was when he punched her in the face. 

Really. 

That's how the three of them first met.

So Spencer's greatest allies in winning over Tessa end up being Abra and Tessa's cousins, Adalyn and Louisa. After Tessa's father died and she was put out by his brother, the new Earl of Paxton, and his insipid cow of a teenage bride, Tessa moved in with Adalyn's family .... who happen to live directly across from Spencer during the Season. Watching them all work together to sway Tessa was a joy.

Watching Spencer? Absolutely swoon-worthy.

Educated by the Earl is an absolutely perfect beginning to what I am confident will be one of my favorite series. There will be seven books in total, from the looks of things, and I'm already getting ready to swoon over the second one when it's released in April .... or before if I'm granted another eARC from Dragonblade. 

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As always, Friday 56 (share a blurb from the 56th page or 56% mark) is hosted at Freda's Voice 

& Book Beginnings (share the first few sentences) is at Rose City Reader

WWW Wednesday -- 23 February 2022

 

The Three Ws are:

What did you recently finish reading?

What are you currently reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

Recently Finished : 

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie -- The "Currently Reading" from last week's WWW Wednesday and the book for the most recent Book Beginnings & Friday 56 post ... and supposedly one of the books you should read before you die. Sadly, it's not even in my top 5 of Agatha Christie novels. Ah well. At least it's crossed off my list.

The Brazen Bluestocking by Tracy Sumner -- A new-to-me author and series and I'm absolutely in love 💕 I flew through this one in under a day and used it for yesterday's Tuesday Intros & Teaser Tuesday post.

Currently Reading:

Educated by the Earl by Alexa Aston

Description from Amazon:

When Major Spencer Haddock’s father dies, he returns to England as the Earl of Middlefield. He seeks a typical marriage, where his wife will provide him with an heir and possibly other children and then they go their separate ways. He intends to find his countess quickly and not waste time at boring social affairs. Lady Tessa Foster delays her come-out for several years in order to care for her ill parents. Now out of mourning, Tessa is eager to be introduced in Polite Society so she can find a husband and start a family of her own. When Spence attempts to save Tessa from a thief brandishing a knife, she turns and attacks Spence. He quickly learns that instead of the pliant woman he thought he wanted as his countess, he desires Tessa—a woman of beauty and valor who stands up for herself and those she cherishes.

This is the first in a new series that, from the looks of it, will have seven books. I'm only at the 16% mark as I type this and I'm already in awe and looking forward to devouring everything Alexa Aston writes. It will be this week's Book Beginnings & Friday 56 .... if I can wait that long. 

What's Next?

When I requested Educated by the Earl on NetGalley I also requested, well, pretty much everything Dragonblade Publishing had to offer ... including the fourth book in Mary Lancaster's Pleasure Garden series. This, of course, means that I will need to read the first three ... which, thankfully, are all on Kindle Unlimited and, therefore, ready to go as soon as Educated by the Earl is finished. Look for one big giant ramble on Sunday because I have a very good feeling about these being perfect fodder for staying up past my bedtime and, therefore, perfect for an I'll Sleep When I've Read... post.

Series Description from Amazon:

Premise: Set in Maida Gardens, fictional fading pleasure gardens in London (like Vauxhall or Ranelagh). Very mixed clientele from daring or bored aristocrats to thieves, swindlers and women of the demi-monde. Notorious for romantic assignations, intrigue, adulterous liaisons and crime. Masked balls are held twice a week, and licentious behaviour is normal. No one is quite who or what they seem. Opportunity for lots of fun with mistaken identities, mystery and adventure.

Theme: Unmasking; people are not always as they seem; learning to see behind more than physical masks to the real person.

The Brazen Bluestocking by Tracy Sumner (Tuesday Intros & Teaser Tuesday)

 

Title: The Brazen Bluestocking

Author: Tracy Sumner

Publication: 30 September 2021

Format: Kindle eBook

Amazon Description

In this Regency Romance by award-winning author Tracy Sumner, a willful bluestocking matches wits with a devilish scoundrel she never expected to desire with every beat of her heart.

A defiant society outcast.
A scandalous rogue who doesn’t believe in love.
And a passionate wager.

Daughter of an earl, Lady Hildegard Templeton hasn’t conformed to what society expects from a woman of her station. Industrious and unique, she’s created an emboldened organization for women on the cusp of marriage, The Duchess Society. Called a bluestocking to her face and worse behind closed salon doors, she vows to marry for love. And nothing but. Although the emotion has yet to show itself to her. Until she meets him.

Bastard son of a viscount and king of London’s sordid streets, Tobias Streeter has spent a lifetime building his empire, and he needs the Duchess Society to find a suitable wife to ensure his place in society. But he vows his search will have nothing to do with love and everything to do with vengeance. Until he meets her.

Soon, Tobias and Hildy’s plans are in turmoil as they must choose between achieving their goals or a life filled with love.

Ramble-y Teaserish Stuff

This was not the book I had intended for today. 

Today's book was supposed to be a horror/slasher/"holy crap what was that" book ... that is currently sitting at home at the edge of my couch rather than being in the bag I brought with me to work. I'm more than a little glad that it is because I opted, instead, for the totally different and totally delectable The Brazen Bluestocking -- the first book in Tracy Sumner's The Duchess Society series. There's still a bit of "holy crap what was that," but in a totally different manner. 

Lady Hildegard Templeton (Hildy) is a woman on a mission. Along with her best friend, Georgiana Munro, the Duchess of Markham [note to self : read Georgiana's story in the prequel!], she runs The Duchess Society -- a service for the ton to help arrange marriages so they aren't complete disasters for the women involved. She's known as a spinster, a bluestocking, an outcast, and The Mad Matchmaker. 

She's also completely out of her depth when it comes to her latest assignment -- pairing Matilda (Mattie), the eldest daughter of the Earl of Hastings who wants to be a doctor, with Tobias Streeter, the son of Viscount Craven and his Romani mistress (so, hence, a bastard), and the Rogue King of Limehouse Basin. It shouldn't be a problem. Matilda wants to marry him for his money and willingness to let her do her own thing with her studies. Tobias is agreeable as marriage to Mattie will give him a semblance of credibility amongst the mucky-mucks of Society. It most certainly won't be a love match for reasons you'll just have to read about yourself ... but still, it shouldn't be a problem.

There ends up being a rather huge problem, though, in that Hildy and Tobias are almost immediately drawn to each other. Because of course they are. To be honest, I was immediately drawn to Tobias, as well.

In love with his work, if not the woman he planned to marry.

He should've appeared a ruffian playing a part, fashioning a ruse of some sort when instead he looked utterly appealing -- like no man she'd ever known. She simply had no comparison. Tobias Streeter rejected every box she shoved him in.

Gentleman, delinquent, scholar, charlatan.

To be completely honest, I was almost as drawn to his intended, Mattie. It would have been so easy to make her a simple character whose sole purpose in the story would be to act as a block for Hildy and Tobias to come together (because you know that is what is supposed to happen). From the get-go, though, I was kind of dreading that the easy path that was intended for her might become far more complicated. Poor thing has enough complications in life and a marriage to Tobias would have been a perfect solution. Well, a good solution, anyway. Okay, okay ... a solution.

Mattie isn't the heroine of the tale, though. That honor, of course, is bestowed upon Hildy. She's a bundle of confidence and insecurity and she makes Tobias completely flummoxed.

She could've asked for the moon, and he'd have labored to snatch it down for her.

Frankly, it was her smile that killed him. Measured, subtle, and almost hesitant -- but when it broke, it broke. Wicked and alluring, as glorious as a blazing sunset you weren't expecting that you caught sight of around a being in the road.

He was puzzled by her. And fascinated.

Alas, there is still the not-so-little matter that Hildy's job is to see that Tobias is properly wed to someone else. Someone whom they both like quite a lot. Someone who needs the marriage to happen. It doesn't help at all that Hildy's best friend and partner and Tobias's best friend and partner both seem to know that there's more between the two than they care to admit.

@ Georgiana : The duchess couldn't help it if she was dreaming up stories. People in love wanted the world to be in love, too.

@ Macauley : "Whipped like a dog, you are. Over dimples and a set of eyes sweet enough to top a jam tartlet."

By the way, I'm quite enamored with Mac and would love to see him get "whipped" in a future match.  

Oh, this book. Not at all the horror/slasher book that I thought that I wanted,  though there does end up being some intrigue and danger and ""holy crap what was that" moments. Mostly there was humor and romance and just the perfect amount of toe-curling steam ... and it was definitely the book that I needed.

****************************************************************

"First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros" is from the first paragraph or two of a book being read now (or in the future) and is hosted by Socrates' Book Reviews. 

"Teaser Tuesday" at The Purple Booker asks for a random line or two from anywhere in the book currently being read.

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie (Book Beginnings & Friday 56)

 

Title: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

Author: Agatha Christie

Publication: 1926

Format: 1975 paperback

Amazon Description

Roger Ackroyd knew too much. He knew that the woman he loved had poisoned her brutal first husband. He suspected also that someone had been blackmailing her. Then, tragically, came the news that she had taken her own life with an apparent drug overdose.

However, the evening post brought Roger one last fatal scrap of information, but before he could finish reading the letter, he was stabbed to death. Luckily one of Roger’s friends and the newest resident to retire to this normally quiet village takes over—none other than Monsieur Hercule Poirot . . .

Ramble-y Teaserish Stuff

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is the only one of Christie's books to make it onto the wretched "1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die" list... so, of course, I've been putting it off. Those kinds of lists tend to be rubbish. Sorry, but nobody needs to read Herman Melville and he appears on the list twice. But, it is Agatha and it was one her personal top ten of her own books and it is the next on the list for reading her novels in publication order ... so ... here we are. 

Even though it is only the third Poirot novel, it finds him having retired to the small village of King's Abbot where the only person who knows him is his old friend, Roger Ackroyd. Even his neighbors -- Dr James Sheppard and his sister, Caroline -- only know that he's a foreigner, though they do speculate on his past.

"My dear Caroline," I said. "There's no doubt at all about what the man's profession has been. He's a retired hairdresser. Look at that moustache of his."

I may have spurted some coffee.

Roger Ackroyd is, of course, murdered not long after the apparent suicide of his fiancée, Mrs Ferrars (who is said to have poisoned her first husband about a year prior). His niece, Flora, enlists Dr Sheppard's help in persuading the elusive Poirot into helping solve the mystery. She fears that her fiancé -- who also happens to be Ackroyd's stepson -- is being suspected and set up to take the fall. 

Got all that? 

You sure?

Seeing as how Poirot and Ackroyd had been acquainted, he agrees to help for the sake of helping, not as a paid job (he is, retired, after all).

"Not that I do not care for money." His eyes showed a momentary twinkle. "Money, it means much to me and always has done. No, if I go into this, you must understand one thing clearly. I shall go through with it to the end. The good dog, he does not leave the scent, remember! You may wish that, after all, you had left it to the local police."

"I want the truth," said Flora, looking him straight in the the eyes.

"All the truth?"

"All the truth."

Of course, being Poirot, he dives right in and what he is asking and why does not always make sense to those around him -- or, indeed, the reader. It is one of the many charms of Poirot, after all.

"Everything is simple, if you arrange the facts methodically."

And, with that, I will go back to reading and you can get to the Book Beginnings and Friday 56 ... and 156 .... since Christie always deserves more than just two blips. She also deserves at least a dozen more spots on that fool list.

****************************************************************

As always, Friday 56 (share a blurb from the 56th page or 56% mark) is hosted at Freda's Voice 

& Book Beginnings (share the first few sentences) is at Rose City Reader

WWW Wednesday - 16 February 2022

 

The Three Ws are:

What did you recently finish reading?

What are you currently reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

Recently Finished : 

The Hangman's Curse by Sharyn McCrumb -- The second of McCrumb's Ballad novels and the introduction of my favorite character, Nora Bonesteel.  I did a random ramble about it on Thursday. 

Front Page Murder by Joyce St Anthony -- A great start to a new series set during World War II with a young female newspaper editor as the lead. It's being released on March 8th and was the most recent Book Beginnings & Friday 56 post.

Half A Soul by Olivia Atwater -- I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this one. It's a Regency faerie tale with a spitfire heroine .... and a horrible last paragraph. It kept me up late and was this week's I'll Sleep When I've Read... pick.

If You Ask Me by Libby Hubscher -- I'm participating in the release tour for this so my post will go up on March 6th. It's not at all my typical kind of read, but I loved it anyway.

A Spoonful of Murder by Robin Stevens -- The sixth installment of my favorite middle grade mystery series .... and one of my favorite mystery series regardless of age. From the very beginning of the series I have laid claim to Hazel Wong as my spirit animal .... and this book introduced her little sister May Wong who wants to be a pirate queen and is getting a spin-off series of her own by the end of the year. I'm sorry, Hazel. Truly. I think your sister May may win. In the meantime, though, there are still a few more books and several short stories to get through for the Murder Most Unladylike series. This one was used for yesterday's Tuesday Intros & Teaser Tuesday post.

Currently Reading:

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie

Description from Amazon:

Roger Ackroyd knew too much. He knew that the woman he loved had poisoned her brutal first husband. He suspected also that someone had been blackmailing her. Then, tragically, came the news that she had taken her own life with an apparent drug overdose.

However, the evening post brought Roger one last fatal scrap of information, but before he could finish reading the letter, he was stabbed to death. Luckily one of Roger’s friends and the newest resident to retire to this normally quiet village takes over—none other than Monsieur Hercule Poirot . . .

What's Next?

Either the next Lily Adler book, Silence in the Library, or India Holton's The League of Gentlewomen Witches. It will very likely come down to an eenie-meenie-minie-moe when it's time to decide. I was going to try and hold off on the Holton until my upcoming rescheduled trip ... but I was begging for a copy for what felt like eons and now that I finally have it I really don't think I want to wait any longer. The only reason it's not my "Currently Reading" is because I didn't have my Kindle with me when I finished the Robin Stevens book ... but I did have the Christie in my bag because, well, I always have the next Christie in my bag.

A Spoonful of Murder by Robin Stevens (Tuesday Intros & Teaser Tuesday)

 

Title: A Spoonful of Murder

Author: Robin Stevens

Publication: 8 March 2018

Format: paperback

Amazon Description

When Hazel Wong's beloved grandfather passes away, Daisy Wells is all too happy to accompany her friend (and Detective Society Vice President) to Hazel's family estate in beautiful, bustling Hong Kong.

But when they arrive they discover something they didn't expect: there's a new member of the Wong family.

Daisy and Hazel think baby Teddy is enough to deal with, but as always the girls are never far from a mystery.

Tragedy strikes very close to home, and this time Hazel isn't just the detective. She's been framed for murder!

The girls must work together like never before, confronting dangerous gangs, mysterious suspects and sinister private detectives to solve the murder and clear Hazel's name - before it's too late . . .

Ramble-y Teaserish Stuff

It has been far too long since I've spent some quality time with Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong -- which is horribly horrible since Hazel is still, and will likely always be, my literary spirit animal. Sadly, this is book 6 out of 9 in the Murder Most Unladylike Mystery series. Aside from a couple of the novellas I have acquired them all and they will be read. And re-read. And passed on to future generations, with any luck. They are that spiffingly delightful.

This installment finds Daisy accompanying Hazel home to Hong Kong to mourn the passing of her beloved grandfather. Hazel has an interesting family situation. Her father has two wives and they -- and all of their children -- live together. Hazel has two younger half sisters ... and a new baby brother. She doesn't find out about him until she arrives at home after the month-long sea voyage from England to Hong Kong. Her importance of being the eldest child is pretty much forgotten since her father now has a son. Her baby brother even receives a much larger inheritance from the grandfather that she adored. All she got was a jade pin. She even lost the one person (pre-Daisy, of course) closest to her since her childhood maid, Su Li, had been tasked with now caring for Teddy, instead.

"Had been" since while off to a doctor's appointment for little Teddy, while Hazel and Daisy are waiting in the lobby, Su Li is murdered and Teddy is kidnapped. On a stopped elevator. With the jade pin Hazel got as her inheritance stabbed into her dear Su Li's neck.

So now you have all of the build-up and background for today's teasers ... and I have 150 more pages to delight in. 

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"First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros" is from the first paragraph or two of a book being read now (or in the future) and is hosted by Socrates' Book Reviews. 

"Teaser Tuesday" at The Purple Booker asks for a random line or two from anywhere in the book currently being read.

I'll Sleep When I've Read... Half a Soul by Olivia Atwater

I wasn't really sure what to expect when I grabbed Olivia Atwater's Half a Soul to read. Sure, I had read the Amazon description, but still wasn't sure what I was getting myself in for.   

It’s difficult to find a husband in Regency England when you’re a young lady with only half a soul.
Ever since a faerie cursed her, Theodora Ettings has had no sense of fear, embarrassment, or even happiness—a condition which makes her sadly prone to accidental scandal. Dora’s only goal for the London Season this year is to stay quiet and avoid upsetting her cousin’s chances at a husband… but when the Lord Sorcier of England learns of her condition, she finds herself drawn ever more deeply into the tumultuous concerns of magicians and faeries.

Lord Elias Wilder is handsome, strange, and utterly uncouth—but gossip says that he regularly performs three impossible things before breakfast, and he is willing to help Dora restore her missing half. If Dora’s reputation can survive both her ongoing curse and her sudden connection with the least-liked man in all of high society, then she may yet reclaim her normal place in the world… but the longer Dora spends with Elias Wilder, the more she begins to suspect that one may indeed fall in love, even with only half a soul.

What I got was a book full of characters that I instantly fell in love with (and a few that I, rightly so, instantly despised) ... and a 1am bedtime because I couldn't stop reading until I found out what was going to happen with all of them. From beginning to end I was pulled in as though a magic spell had been cast. My only complaint through the whole thing was the very last paragraph of the Epilogue. Partially because it meant that the book was over .... mostly because it somehow seemed to diminish one of the major themes of the story for me. And it was a beautiful theme of self-acceptance .... and that sometimes even curses don't need to be broken and the broken don't need to be fixed.

Still, I highly recommend this if you love love stories, faerie tales, Regency romps, spitfire heroines, broken heroes, and being kept up late because you just can't stop reading .... just stop before the last paragraph.

If you want to share whatever has kept you up past your bedtime because you just needed one more chapter ... or the entire book ... please comment! My TBR pile is already toppling, but I can always add more.

Front Page Murder by Joyce St Anthony (Book Beginnings & Friday 56)

 

Title: Front Page Murder

Author: Joyce St Anthony

Publication: 8 March 2022

Format: Kindle eArc via NetGalley

Amazon Description

Ramble-y Teaserish Stuff

It's May 1942 -- not even 6 months after the attack on Pearl Harbor thrust the United States into World War II. Irene Ingram is 22 years old and is the new editor-in-chief of her small town Pennsylvania newspaper because her father is off doing war correspondence stuff somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. A lot of women have had to fill in for the missing male workforce, of course, but a young female in charge of a newspaper still didn't please a lot of people -- including some of Irene's staff. 

One of her reporters, Moe Bauer, is prone to follow his own leads in search of the next big story. When he fails to follow up on a couple of stories that she assigned him, and then doesn't show up to work after that, she goes to check on him and finds him dead. She doesn't think that it was an accident and soon begins to wonder if his death was somehow linked to the stories he was supposed to be following up on -- stories that may have Anti-Semitism at their core.

At first, quite a lot of people urge Irene to stay out of it -- including her future father-in-law who happens to be the Chief of Police, the mysterious girl boarding at her family home who works at a local factory where some of the possible hate crimes have been happening, and the victims themselves. Of course, she has to find out the truth so investigates anyway with the help of her best friend and some others. 

It all takes place over the a time span of less than three weeks so the pacing is pretty steady but not break-neck. I really felt like I knew the characters and the community and enjoyed trying to figure out what was going on. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing where the series leads.

****************************************************************

As always, Friday 56 (share a blurb from the 56th page or 56% mark) is hosted at Freda's Voice 

& Book Beginnings (share the first few sentences) is at Rose City Reader

Rambling About.... The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter by Sharyn McCrumb

Title: The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter

Author: Sharyn McCrumb

Publication: 2 April 1992

Format: hardcover

Website Description

From the chestnut blight of the 1930's to industrial water pollution today, this novel looks at environmental issues and the issue of environmental responsibility. In this novel, sorrow comes to the mountain community in the guise of a murder/suicide on a remote farm and via a polluted river that brings death into the valley. Nora Bonesteel, with her graveyard quilt and her herbal remedies, does what she can to protect the ordinary folk from tragedy. This is a wonderful novel to trace the continuance of Celtic heritage and folkways into America's eastern mountains, which were settled by Britain's highlanders.

Ramble-y Teaserish Stuff

Sharyn McCrumb is comfort reading for me. I'm supposed to be on vacation right now. I'm supposed to be hundreds of miles away with my 💕 .... but flight and scheduling issues made that not happen so I've been in a bit of a funk. I tried book after book and none of them were sticking, and then I remembered by pledge to read the entire Ballad series this year .... and that my favorite character would be introduced in the next book on my list .... so The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter it is.

Okay, so perhaps it might be odd that my "comfort reading" starts with an apparent mass-murder/suicide and includes a toxic cancer-causing river, ghosts, and a pregnant minister's wife left to deal with everything while her husband is stationed in the Middle East .... but it also has Nora Bonesteel and she makes everything okay. Well, she at least makes everything a bit less awful. She doesn't appear often in this one, but just enough to make her presence known and meaningful. 

She's part Cherokee, part Scottish, and completely Appalachian. If she wasn't a fictional character I would be scouring my family tree to try and find a link. [That actually does happen down the line .... but we'll get to that in April.] She has The Sight and whether it's a blessing or a curse really depends on the day and what it is she's seeing and who she's seeing it about. It isn't really something that can be controlled. She does, though, tend to know about tragedy before it happens -- the wedding gown she stopped working on before it as discovered that the groom wouldn't be returning from the battlefields; smelling devastating fires days in advance; funeral cakes baked before accidents were even reported. Oh yeah, and she can speak to the dead and gets "lost" in time.

I'll be completely honest here. Since this was a reread and all I really cared about was Nora, I skimmed large parts of the book. I remembered the story well enough that I still knew what was happening, but I just needed Nora.... and Vernon..... and Spencer and LeDonne.... but mostly Nora.

WWW Wednesday - 9 February 2022

 

The Three Ws are:

What did you recently finish reading?

What are you currently reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

Recently Finished : 

Death in Disguise by Emma Davies -- This was the "currently reading" for last week's WWW Wednesday. I couldn't bring myself to put it down for more than a couple of hours and finished within 24 hours of picking it up. It's that good and then some, if that's even possible.  I used it for the most recent Book Beginnings & Friday 56 tease and ramble.

Paula Quinn's Echoes in Time series -- I flew through the trio over the weekend. I don't care what other reviewers might say, these need to be read in order and should be read together as it's just one really long fabulous story broken into three separate books. It was this week's I'll Sleep When I've Read... pick.

Under Skeleton Lock & Key by Gigi Pandian -- One of the good things about it being the slow season in hotel land is that I get a lot of time to get completely carried away by really good books ... like this one which is set to be published mid-March. It was yesterday's Tuesday Intros & Teaser Tuesday book and I'm already looking forward to the next in the series.

Currently Reading:

The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter by Sharyn McCrumb

Description from SharynMcCrumb.com:

From the chestnut blight of the 1930's to industrial water pollution today, this novel looks at environmental issues and the issue of environmental responsibility. In this novel, sorrow comes to the mountain community in the guise of a murder/suicide on a remote farm and via a polluted river that brings death into the valley. Nora Bonesteel, with her graveyard quilt and her herbal remedies, does what she can to protect the ordinary folk from tragedy. This is a wonderful novel to trace the continuance of Celtic heritage and folkways into America's eastern mountains, which were settled by Britain's highlanders.

After several failed attempts at books I figured I would read next, I decided to return to my Ballads. This is one of my favorites of the ones I have already read as it introduces the inestimable Nora Bonesteel. I expect it to be this week's Book Beginnings & Friday 56.

What's Next?

I'm 99.999% sure that Olivia Atwater's Half a Soul will be next. After that? I could tackle more of my NetGalley shelf with either Front Page Murder by Joyce St Anthony or If You Ask Me by Libby Hubscher. They're both due out early March so there really isn't a big rush ... and I vaguely recall agreeing to do a blog blitz for the Hubscher so that may wait. I may tackle one of the piles of "actual" books I have scattered about my house instead. 

Under Lock & Skeleton Key by Gigi Pandian (Tuesday Intros & Teaser Tuesday)

 

Title: Under Lock & Skeleton Key

Author: Gigi Pandian

Publication: 15 March 2022

Format: Kindle ebook

Amazon Description

An impossible crime. A family legacy. The intrigue of hidden rooms and secret staircases.

After a disastrous accident derails Tempest Raj’s career, and life, she heads back to her childhood home in California to comfort herself with her grandfather’s Indian home-cooked meals. Though she resists, every day brings her closer to the inevitable: working for her father’s company. Secret Staircase Construction specializes in bringing the magic of childhood to all by transforming clients’ homes with sliding bookcases, intricate locks, backyard treehouses, and hidden reading nooks.

When Tempest visits her dad’s latest renovation project, her former stage double is discovered dead inside a wall that’s supposedly been sealed for more than a century. Fearing she was the intended victim, it’s up to Tempest to solve this seemingly impossible crime. But as she delves further into the mystery, Tempest can’t help but wonder if the Raj family curse that’s plagued her family for generations—something she used to swear didn’t exist—has finally come for her.

Ramble-y Teaserish Stuff

I immediately got hooked with this one. Tempest Raj is 26 years old and has recently returned home to Hidden Creek, California, after an accident during a magic performance in Las Vegas almost killed her and did kill her career. Her childhood home, Fiddler's Folly, is full of hidden passages and secret staircases and her grandparents live in a treehouse in the backyard. Her father runs the Secret Staircase Construction company "to bring magic to people through their homes." He began the company with Tempest's mother who was also a magician ... until she disappeared on stage five years ago. The disappearance wasn't part of the act, but was thought by many to be linked to a family curse going back five generations. 

Shortly after Tempest returns home she is convinced to help with the family business -- currently doing renovations to a 110 year old mansion. The blueprints don't seem to match up what they're physically seeing, and they soon discover a body in a wall that apparently hadn't been touched in the 110 year history of the house. It literally falls out of the wall onto Tempest and wasn't a 110 year old body, at all -- it was Tempest's stunt double from Las Vegas. Her doppelganger. The one Tempest believed caused the career-ending accident.

There are so many questions facing Tempest, her friends, and her family (and the police, of course, even though they make an arrest very early on):

Who put Cassidy in the wall and how? 

Was it meant to be Tempest? 

Is it all related to the supposed curse? 

And is her mother really haunting her?

Like I said, I got hooked early. I have always wanted a secret room or hidden staircase which, of course, would lead to a nook where I could read my beloved mysteries and watch old classic movies and just hide from the world in general. Tempest and her best friend, Ivy, are also mystery buffs so there's plenty of name dropping that made me smile. Nancy Drew, Agatha Christie, Alfred Hitchcock and so many more. They plan to use their knowledge of mysteries -- both fictional and non (Ivy's sister is a true-crime writer), Tempest's knowledge of magic (along with her grandfather's though he hasn't performed in decades and hot hot hottie fellow magician Sanjay), and the combined knowledge of secret construction from her father and his crew (experts in "architectural misdirection") to figure out what really happened, how, and why.

I have had Gigi Pandian books on my TBR for years now. I am ridiculously glad that St Martin's agreed to let me have an advanced copy via NetGalley ... and I'm just as glad that I have so many other Pandian books available while I wait for the next Secret Staircase Mystery. Between the compelling mystery that kept me guessing the entire time, the rich details of the settings I will dream about for ages, and the mouth-watering food cooked up by Grandpa Ash, I'm definitely a fan.

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"First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros" is from the first paragraph or two of a book being read now (or in the future) and is hosted by Socrates' Book Reviews. 

"Teaser Tuesday" at The Purple Booker asks for a random line or two from anywhere in the book currently being read.