Mistress and the Art of Death is first book of in this series from Ariana Franklin. I didn’t quite know what to expect – a pure historical fiction or a paranormal mystery? It’s actually more akin to a modern murder mystery simply set in 12th century Cambridge. Four children have been murdered and the English community, rife with religious prejudice, blames the ghetto-ized Jewish community. Henry II is forced to step in and quarantine the Jewish people in a nearby castle. Lest they be lynched by the Catholic […]
The butler totally didn’t do it
Great name for a classic mystery. We for sure know who didn’t do it, but then who did? Driving out to the countryside, London barrister Frank Amberley stops to help a lady on the side of the road. While he’s doing that, he finds a sports car with a dead man behind the wheel. The girl insists she didn’t do it, but who else could have? They’re in the middle of nowhere! Turns out the dead man was the butler at Norton Manor, an estate […]
Blunt Instrument
Everyone liked Ernest Fletcher, or at least, that’s what everyone thought. Until he was bludgeoned to death in his study. The body is discovered by PC Glass, who happened upon the scene when he was on foot patrol. This particular patrolman is also a very religious sort, spouting bible quotes (at least I assume they’re quotes) – he seems to have one for every occasion. There are quite a few suspects: the gadabout nephew who stands to inherit, the put-upon sister who lives with the […]
A refreshing take on a done-to-death subject.
Forty-eighth book reviewed as part of the 130 Challenge. In India, we are taught about our freedom struggle for almost 5 years as part of the high school curriculum. But the study is just a brief overview of the entire movement and does very little justice to this major event in the history of the sub-continent. It involved millions of people and had several leaders that spanned many generations. While writing textbooks for high school history, the authors tend to concentrate on a few of […]