Historical Mysteries

Mary Jo Adamson
§ The Blazing Tree 		Rennie Airth
§ The Blood-Dimmed Tide 		Tasha Alexander
§ And Only to Deceive 		Suzanne Arruda
§ Stalking Ivory
Cordelia Frances Biddle
§ The Conjurer
§ Deception's Daughter 		Rhys Bowen
§ For the Love of Mike
§ Her Royal Spyness
§ In Dublin's Fair City
§ Murphy’s Law
§ Oh Danny Boy
§ A Royal Pain 		Barbara Cleverly
§ The Damascened Blade
§ The Last Kashmiri Rose
§ The Palace Tiger
§ The Tomb of Zeus 		Jeanne M. Dams
§ Crimson Snow
§ Silence is Golden
Kathy Lynn Emerson
§ Face Down Below the Banqueting House 		Margaret Frazer
§ The Bastard’s Tale
§ The Hunter’s Tale
§ The Traitor's Tale
§ The Widow’s Tale 		Alan Gordon
§ The Widow of Jerusalem 		Ann Granger
§ The Companion
Kathryn Miller Haines
§ The War Against Miss Winter 		Barbara Hambly
§ Wet Grave 		C.S. Harris
§ What Angels Fear 		Craig Holden
§ The Jazz Bird
Margit Liesche
§ Lipstick and Lies 		Paul L. Moorcraft
§ Anchoress of Shere 		Sharan Newman
§ Heresy
§ The Shanghai Tunnel
§ The Witch in the Well 		Candace Robb
§ The Cross-Legged Knight
P.B. Ryan
§ Murder in a Mill Town
§ Still Life With Murder 		Tom Rob Smith
§ Child 44 		Daniel Stashower
§ The Beautiful Cigar Girl:
Mary Rogers, Edgar Allan Poe and The Invention of Murder 		Kate Summerscale
§ The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher:
A Shocking Murder and the Undoing of a Great Victorian Detective
Andrew Taylor
§ An Unpardonable Crime 		Jacqueline Winspear
§ Birds of a Feather
§ An Incomplete Revenge
§ Maisie Dobbs


What Angels Fear, C.S. Harris, Signet, $6.99.

If you enjoyed the Pirates of the Carribean movies this is the book for you. It's not set in the Carribean, it's set in London, and it doesn't feature pirates, but the main character, Sebastian St. Cyr, is every bit as dashing as Johnny Depp. He even has a rare (but apparently factual) syndrome that allows him to see in the dark and hear exceptionally well. A Viscount and a veteran of the Napoleonic wars, Sebastian's existence in London is disrupted when the body of an actress is found ghoulishly mutilated on the steps of a church. Because of some evidence found on the body, he's the main suspect, and the only way out is for him to assume a disguise and try and solve the crime himself.

The book is rife with sword fights, duels, burning warehouses, street urchins, kindly doctors who pay off body snatchers, and a lost love, and it's a great deal of fun. Set in 1811 London, if it's occasionally anachronistic, the author has also gone to great lengths to sketch in the complex historical background - the mad king George is being politically usurped by his son, the Prince of Wales (hence the term "regency"). Eventually the political background becomes just that - a background - as the story takes on a decidedly familial turn. Harris has also done a terrific job of setting this up as a series; Sebastian even takes on a street urchin sidekick and has a forbidden love in the background of his own life. While I imagine gentleman like Sebastian, Viscount Devlin, didn't freely throw around the word "shit", like Pirates of the Carribean, it's all part of the fun. So give up a couple of brain cells and settle in for an enjoyable ride.

To browse more reviews, use the navigation links at the top of the page.