Hello I see you’re back—today my pictures are from Little Venice….a great place in London…lots of people don’t know what or where it is…but it’s another one of those unexpected places that makes London great.

Today we’re still looking at detectives and murder mysteries again–still on the good….and some things I’m interested in.

and of course Support for my fellow Droughtlander sufferers.

“‘To that Providence, my sons, I hereby commend you, and I counsel you by way of caution to forbear from crossing the moor in those dark hours when the powers of evil are exalted.’   Dr. Mortimer

 

 

“‘Snap goes our third thread, and we end where we began….I tell you, Watson, this time we have got a foeman who is worthy of our steel.’” Holmes to Watson

 

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One of the things that I have found interesting is the number of historical murder mysteries that are popular now.  You know that I am a big history buff and mysteries set in a history setting of course has gotten my attention and I’m even (surprise) reading one.

Publishers Weekly noted in 2010 of the genre, “The past decade has seen an explosion in both quantity and quality. Never before have so many historical mysteries been published, by so many gifted writers, and covering such a wide range of times and places Wikipedia.

and this West Virginia Girl is true to her roots:  Perhaps the first modern English work that can be classified as both historical fiction and a mystery however is the 1911 Melville Davisson Post story “The Angel of the Lord,” which features amateur detective Uncle Abner in pre-American Civil War West Virginia.  Cool.

“‘The devil’s agents may be of flesh and blood, may they not?’” Holmes to Watson

Sansom started out as a  historian and in fact got a PhD in the subject prior to deciding to redo his life and become a barrister.   While working for disadvantaged client he began writing and Matthew Shardlake was born.  Shardlake is an attorney in London during the Reign of Henry VIII.  Our hero was born less than privileged and came up through his education and this was made even harder due to the fact that he is physically deformed with a hunch back–a condition in an age with many believed that the disability is a comment on his being bad even evil.

He is joined by Barak who has a history of working for Thomas Cromwell one of Henry’s men that fell from grace.   Shardlake has has various assistants I think Barak (whom I like best) being the one who has lasted the longest–and he thru 6 novels (he wrote the last book in 2014—Lamentation which I’m reading now–but he has taken an average or 2 years between books —though he did go 4 years with one so I have high hopes he’s writing another one.) has gone thru the reign of Henry and all the back stabbing and manipulation to make the King happy which usually either involved ridding him of one wife or another or dealing with various religious issues.    There is also issues of the King’s progress to York—who was notorious for being on the edge of rebellion in one form or another through many reigns including Henry’s.  And in addition to all the turmoil of Henry—who Shardlake always manages to be on the edge of, if not really in the court though the book I’m reading now has him working directly for Henry’s 6th (and last) wife and of course a murder that may or may not be related to her issues.

“I can still remember your complete indifference as to whether the sun moved round the earth or the earth round the sun.”  Watson

Now let me tell you the good about these books—warning only read the first 3—I’ll explain why….Ariana Franklin was a very mature lady when she started these novels about a young lady who is brought to England by Henry II–Henry’s money came from financers and only Jewish did finance (usury being considered a sin by the church–there was only one then)….when several small children are murdered, the people’s prejudice place the blame on the Jews—so Henry sends to Italy for a Master of the Art of Death (basically the original European coroners) What he gets is a lady doctor–something unheard of in England.  On her way to London her group of travelers join with a group of Crusaders returning to England and so she meets her love interest.

The story is a great read, the history good and the mysteries baffling –all four books are great and include famous people and the love interest being made a bishop–when she refuses to get married….they would be my favorite as the characters are good and the writing as well….but….

While the first 3 books were a continuing story there were no cliff hangers and if she had stopped there I would have missed the series but not felt left down, however she leaves one of the characters clinging on with their lives and leaving a possible replacement in the wings…..and that was it.  She started one other book that is a historical mystery but many years earlier than these stories–her daughter finished her manuscript but nothing more was done to round of the story in this one so if you really like the first 3 just leave it at that and you won’t feel like the bottom was dropped out of your literary life—hey I know I should get a life.

“‘They say it is the cry of the Hound of the Baskervilles.’” Holmes, to Sir Henry

Elizabeth Peters series:  Crocodile on the Sandbank (Elizabeth Peters) (Amelia Peabody, Book 1) into the hot and exotic sand dunes of Victorian era Egypt. It is here, in the early 20th century that we meet Amelia Peabody, an Egyptologist with an attitude. Armed with her wit, sharp sarcasm and fierce curiosity for all things historical, she embarks on a journey to Egypt, through it’s deserts and cities steeped in ancient culture to an archaeological dig site, and ends up with more than she bargained for. What makes…even better is that its author was herself an Egyptologist, and so her knowledge and details regarding ancient Egypt are spot on.  Overall, it’s an alluring and heady mix of mystery, history, romance and comedy that is extremely hard not to to enjoy. – See more at: http://bestmysterybooks.com/best-historical-mystery-books.html#sthash.gBXXokqj.dpu

The Beekeeper’s Apprentice (Edwardian England)

by Laurie R. King

 

“I swear that another day shall not have passed before I have done all that man can do to reach the heart of the mystery.” Watson