Traveling, via mysteries, in time: When are you now?

Reading Globally has a "Where are you now?" topic. Made me think that perhaps a topic of "When are you" might add some activity to this group.

I just finished visiting all 13 American colonies between 1755 and 1776 with S. S. Rafferty's Cork of the Colonies. I'm currently in WWII Detroit via Lipstick and Lies by Margit Liesche.

When, and where, are you?

I'm currently in 1930s London, in the company of a fictional Josephine Tey, in Nicola Upson's An Expert In Murder.

Currently jumping back and forth between the present and 1777 Devon, Britain in Kate Ellis's Skeleton Room. The Vicar of Millicombe is quite distressed over a deathbed "Account of the Dreadful and Wicked Crimes of the Wreckers of Chadleigh."

It's 1925 and I'm back and forth between NYC and Newport, RI, traveling in style in a chauffeur driven Packard. I'm also rubbing shoulders with the wealthy and a gangster as former news reporter and current art gallery owner Bedford Green tries to help the Vanderbilts by discreetly uncovering the person responsible for Countess Zala's murder, The Uninvited Countess who washed up dead on their beach during a party at their mansion.
Author is Michael Kilian.

Now I'm in Britain in 1912 with Watson and Sherlock Holmes and the Greyfriars School Mystery by Val Andrews as they investigate a missing manuscript.

I'm in medieval Britain with Brother Cadfael in 1142, responding to the mystery surrounding The Confession of Brother Haluin. I'd never known anything about the era of the war between Stephen and Matilda, but I've read a few mysteries set in that time lately.

I'm closing in on Boston during the American Revolution following The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing.

ETA: ooops mistook this thread for the When Are You Now over in historical fiction...

In historical mystery, I'm running around with Shakespeare & Smythe in A Mystery of Errors.

Have continued in medieval Britain with Brother Cadfael, and it is now 1144 and The Holy Thief led us on a merry chase.

All the books I'm reading currently are contemporary, but the most recent historical book I read was an ARC of David Liss's The Whiskey Rebels which I finished up just a couple of days ago. It's set in 1790's Philadelphia and New York, and I was surprised I enjoyed this as much as I did, because The American Revolution and afterward really isn't my favorite time period at all! Plus this was heavily about banking/finance stuff and that is another of my least-favorite topics. But the characters and the story seemed to transcend all that so I enjoyed it a lot!

Cheryl

I'm currently in 1926 Scotland, tho the stories in Murder Most Scottish range from the days of the crusades to the present, so I won't be long in 1926.

I'm currently stuck in 1195 Exeter, UK, investigating a series of murders with Crowner John, the first coroner for the county of Devon. He's investigating a serial killer who leaves Biblical messages with the bodies, so the suspect list is limited since about the only ones who can read and write and who know their Bible in those times were priests and clerics. Enjoying this so far!

Cheryl

I am, as always, wallowing in the French Revolution, presently re-reading my own novel Game of Patience in order to refresh my memory and make sure I'm not setting up any contradictions in future books in the Aristide Ravel series! I've jumped from putting the finishing touches on The Cavalier of the Apocalypse (a prequel set in 1786, due summer 2009), to starting the next book in the series, set in 1793 when all hell is breaking loose in Paris. (Blame my editors for this bizarre non-chronological progression. They wanted it this way... ;-)

Susanne Alleyn
Game of Patience
A Treasury of Regrets

1960, in Alaska, with a serial killer and a bunch of other kids.

oh, it's called Unseen Companion.

#11 Spuddie -- You didn't say which Crowner John book you are reading? Is it the first time you've read this series?

The only Crowner John I've read so far is Bernard Knight's contribution to The Tainted Relic by The Medieval Murderers. I enjoyed his writing in that so plan someday to begin his series.

I've been in Victorian London with The Ghost and Mrs. Jeffries by Emily Brightwell.

in 1946 London with Truth Dare Kill

I was back in medieval Shrewsberry and over by the Welsh border with another Brother Cadfael book, Monk's Hood.

I'm reading stories from Historical Whodunits, so I've been in ancient Egypt, Rome, and Byzantium, then in a southern state in the early 1800's with Uncle Abner in The Doomdorf Mystery. According to the intro, Melville Davisson Post was the first author to write a historical mystery.

Sorry it's taken me so long to get back to this thread. CD1am, I try to read series in order from the beginning, and the Crowner John book I'd been reading was The Grim Reaper, which was #6 (out of 12 so far). I've enjoyed them all, though I do tend to space them out--as I do all my series reads--so I don't get tired of them. The Crowner is definitely a grump and has his foibles, but I like him anyway. :)

I'm now in 12th century France with Sharan Newman's Catherine LeVendeur in The Difficult Saint and enjoying that a lot. Also just started Elizabeth Kostova's The Historian so I imagine that I'll be tied up in that for quite awhile!

Cheryl

Spuddie, we read The Historian for one of my mystery groups a couple years ago. I don't like horror, and didn't think I would like this, but I did. There were a few in the group who didn't finish it because it is quite a long book.

I've been in 1848 Philadelphia in a book with multiple story lines that come nicely together at the end: The Conjurer by Cordelia Frances Biddle.

My next stop is Elizabethan England with a book by Leonard Tourney. (Can't remember the title.)

This is definitely one of the coolest threads on this group!

Have recently finished Oscar Wilde and the Ring of Death by Gyles Brandreth (celeb mystery) and my last excursion into time was the "steampunk-Victorian" mystery The Affinity Bridge by George Mann.

The Elizabethan book I'm reading is Low Treason.

Was just in 1492 Glasgow, Scotland at The Nicholas Feast by Pat McIntosh. This is the first Gil Cunningham murder mystery that I've read and I enjoyed the mystery, the period detail and the characters, so it was a win. I'll be looking for her other books, now...

I'm in 1939 St. Paul, Minnesota, with an ER book, Mr. White's Confession. Haven't gotten that far but it's interesting so far . . .

Early Victorian London, in Caro Peacock's Death of a Dancer.

I reread Susanna Gregory's 3rd Mathew Bartholomew Chronicle, A Bone of Contention set in 1248 Cambridge. It's a wonderful series.

CD1am, did you ever try Gregory's Restoration England series? I read the first one, A conspiracy of violence, and enjoyed very much the setting and milieu, but my god, it was convoluted...it got so bad that Gregory had Thomas Chaloner, the main character, constantly reviewing plot points in his head. A mystery (at least 90% of the time) really shouldn't run more than 400 pages. Unlike a straightforward fiction novel, where length tends to breed understanding, if a mystery runs too long the author is obliged to spin off new difficulties in order to ensnare the protagonist--sort of like what happens in Raymond Chandler's aptly-named The long Goodbye. Of course, now that I think of it, I could probably toss off a number of exceptions (An Instance of the Fingerpost for one) but still.... There's a murder mystery, TWO secret societies, buried treasure, religious strife, court rivalry, espionage, etc etc....it sounds like a fun romp when I list it like that but really it's somewhat fatiguing. Then there are romantic issues to deal with as well. I suppose part of it was a consequence of the era--the Restoration was full of shady characters and conspiracies etc etc--but still....I think my local library has the second title--I might flip through it if I find they carry it, just to see if it improves any.

uncultured,
No, I haven't read her Thomas Chaloner series yet. A friend of mine, who also likes the medieval Mathew Bartholomew series, has read the first two and enjoyed them.

I do agree her plots are complex. In rereading A Bone of Contention there was one incident, a murder carried out by a young woman, that I couldn't see the sense of, or thought it unlikely that that character would have done that. It should have bee committed by a different character. But that was just a minor flaw in an otherwise excellent book.

A re-read of Justice Hall by Laurie King set post WW I. An entertaining read, even the second time through.

Just left 1910 Italy in A Dead Man in Trieste by Michael Pearce.

It's 1941 and I have been sailing the war zones of the Mediteranean on a tramp steamer, and now headed for the Baltic in Dark Voyage by Alan Furst.

Just left Victorian England in Death at Bishop's Keep by Robin Paige. Seemed pretty well researched and I enjoyed the main characters. Have BookMooched another four from the series, so shall be returning there soon . . .

I'm in 1384, London, in Veil of Lies.

I was in Victorian Britain with Sergeant Verity and the Swell Mob. But was not impressed with the characters or the unrealistic situations.

I was posting here last night when the site went down, I had just hit submit. I guess its lost in the ether.

The last historical mystery I read, in December, was Ovid by David Wishart. It is the first in the Marcus Corvinus series. It is set in imperial Rome during the reign of Tiberius.

Parts of it were very good, but the main character spoke and acted and thought like a modern person. It was very jarring, and I don't think I will continue with the series.

Historical fiction is one of my favorite genres, and I also love historical mysteries. I need to read more of both in 2009.

I am just starting The Mosaic of Shadows by Tom Harper
It is set in Constantinople, Byzantine Empire (Turkey) in 1096. The POV is hunting an assassin who is trying to kill the Emperor Alexios, and the first Crusade is camped outside the walls and no one knows if its there to fight the Turkish army, or to sack the city.

I spent most of December and half of November alongside Brother Cadfael in Ellis Peters stories reading from book 7 The Sanctuary Sparrow to the anthology A Rare Benedictine. Having finished all of them, decided it was time for some non-mysteries. Just prior to my finishing of Cadfael I was still hanging around Medieval England with Michael Jecks and Bernard Knight reading The Sanctuary Seeker, The Leper's Return and The Abbot's Gibbet

I was just in Wales with Brother Cadfael's first adventure, A Morbid Taste for Bones.

I love the Marcus Corvinus books by David Wishart. If you like the Falco books by Lindsay Davis, these are very similar but Marcus Corvinus is a 'narrow striper' to quote himself rather than Falco's man of the people. The earlier books like Ovid are about politics relating to Tiberius's family but the later ones are about 'ordinary' crimes. I don't mind the modern language as they would have spoken slang in Rome but we wouldn't understand or appreciate it if the author used a direct translation from the latin. I hate reading fake period speech like books that are laced with 'prithee fair maiden' etc - that does jar.

I am in Britain during the dark ages. Rome has fallen, but Byzantium is a royal court to be envied, and Merlin (no supernatural powers, just a scholar, very intelligent and well traveled, which gives him great powers of deduction) wishes Arthur's court were more like it. The Excalibur Murders sounded like a fun premise, but the writing is not that good, and if the mystery ends the way I expect, the villian was way too obvious.

I'm in 1830 or thereabouts, reading The Pale Blue Eye by Louis Bayard, which is set at West Point and either cameos or features Edgar A. Poe as a cadet (I'm not far in yet).

In Edwardian England by the sea with Kate Kingsbury at the Pennyfoot Hotel in Do Not Disturb. Perhaps not as well written as others who do historical mysteries...

In 1922/1932 Berlin with City of Shadows by Ariana Franklin. It's a great mystery, plus a very interesting portrait of Berlin post WWI and preWWII.

AlaMich, I've heard that Ariana Franklin's 1st book in a medieval series is excellent. Have you read that, and is this as well written?

#45...CD, yes I read Mistress of the Art of Death also, and I agree that it was excellent. I'm looking forward to The Serpent's Tale (I think that's the next one in the series). I would highly recommend Franklin for historical mystery fans. I'm also hoping she might write another standalone someday, since I enjoyed City of Shadows so much.

CD1am, I forgot to mention that if you like Ariana Franklin, you should definitely read C.J. Sansom, if you don't already know about him (don't think the touchstone is working). LOVED Dissolution! His Matthew Shardlake series is set in England during the reign of Henry VIII.

AlaMich, I haven't read Franklin yet, but one of my book groups read Dissolution awhile back. I enjoyed it, & expect I will read more some day.

Current read is To Kill or Cure by Susanna Gregory. Only read the prologue and first chapter so far. Gregory has always been good at depicting the squalid reality of the Middle Ages, but this one starts by describing Cambridge as more dilapidated than has been my perception from the previous books in the series. Gregory has a newer series that takes place during the Restoration. I wonder if the supposedly better conditions of the Restoration era has made her view the Middle Ages as worse than her earlier portrayals?

CD1am ~ I don't think I've read anything by Gregory yet. How have I managed to miss her?

Well, I'm about 3/4 of the way through Autobiography of Henry VIII and about 1/2 of the way through Sarum. So, sometimes I'm in the 15th century at the Tudor court and other times it depends on which era Sarum is set in at the moment. For instance, I've just finished with a segment on the Black Death in the 13th century. The Middle Ages is portrayed as pretty squalid and frankly disgusting by Rutherfurd too. I love to read about it, but I really don't believe I'd have enjoyed living during that time. Really.

>50 Storeetllr:

Couldn't agree more; I love the medieval period but am a firm fan of indoor plumbing, hot showers, and antibiotics. Plus, well, electronics.

#50 Storeetllr, Do try one of Gregory's Mathew Bartholomew series. Since it'll be the first of hers you've read, be sure to pick one that is set in Cambridge. She occasionally takes Mathew and Brother Michael on a trip to another locale, and those books just aren't quite as good as the rest of the series set in Cambridge.

I just picked up Wings of Fire by Charles Todd. It's set in Britain just after WWI. I read Test of Wills, the first book in the series, a couple years ago and really enjoyed it.

I'm in England in 1719 in David Liss's A Conspiracy of Paper, which I'm enjoying so far.

I am in 1836 Istanbul in the dying Ottoman empire with the eunuch investigator Yashim in The Janissary Tree.

#54 FicusFan -- I followed Yashim around a couple tears ago & really enjoyed it. I haven't got the second book yet, but its on my list.

CD1am,

I am about 40 pages from the end. I have enjoyed it very much. Very well done. I have Snake Stone around here somewhere. Unfortunately, I have 5 more required reads this month, so I can't start it right after I finish book 1.

I did finish the book The Janissary Tree and enjoyed it very much. The only problem I had was with part of the ending. They are on the roof and then its over, and I am not really clear on why the plan for revolution didn't work.

I liked the characters and the setting was very well done.

I've been in impoerial Rome during the reign of Augustus, as the slave Solinus tries to solve "The Treasury Theft", a short story in Historical Whodunits.

I am starting the 2nd book in the Yashim Togalu series set in Istanbul, Turkey at the end of the Ottoman Empire, The Snake Stone by Jason Goodwin. Yashim is an investigator and a eunuch. It is set in 1838, 2 years after the first book.

I'm with (soon to be King) Arthur and Malgwyn in The Killing Way.

In Rome in 80 B.C. - Roman Blood by Steven Saylor

I joined Captain Alatriste in 1620's Madrid, as he regrets taking the commission to assault two English gentleman, especially after he gets contradictory instructions--to kill or not to kill.

I'm a little confused about where I've just returned from, ie "Victorian Egypt" with Amelia Peabody Emerson. The only problem with that is that most of the time the characters in her books think they're really in Ancient Egypt. To make matters worse I also just read Rhadopis of Nubia by Naguib Mahfouz which is not a murder mystery but is set in Ancient Egypt. So I guess you could say I've been traveling through time, but definitely in Egypt.

I'm in 1910 Paris with it raining almost constantly, tho Parisians believe the walls along the Seine will protect them from possible flooding, totally unsuspecting that the largest flood in centuries is about to innundate the city. There's been a murder, and the madman is sending notes to the psychiatrist, Reisdan, who has been preoccupied with his love for a young pianist, who won't marry him because she wants to tour.

For the first 120 pages, I couldn't get into this book, and had decided to read one more chapter (they are short), then jump to the end and be done with it. But the next chapter brought in this quaint American detective, and some possibly forged paintings, and suddenly I've finally really gotten into The Knowledge of Water.

I've just returned from "...the vast Eurasian steppelands during the great age of the nomads that opened with the raids of Attila the Hun..." Blurb after re-reading R(obert) F(rederick) Tapsell's brilliant "The Year of the Horsetails" pub. Knopf, 1967.

Although the precise dates and location of the action are never given, there are tantalising similarities to the Rus experiences with the Tartar and Mongol hordes...

Despite its vagueness as to time and place, this is a fast-paced action novel showing the clash between a settled, semi-feudal civilisation and the overwhelming and very destructive horse-borne nomadic hordes from the steppes.

What are the mystery elements? Well, Tapsell's "The Year of the Horsetails" is certainly not a conventional whodunnit, but, oh well, read it for yourself and make up your own mind......

I'm sometime during the reign of Hadrian in Persona Non Grata.

It was 1857 and I was in Victorian London with Monk and Latterly trying to find the motive benind a wife's murder of her husband in Anne Perry's Defend and Betray.

I am in Gaul in Persona Non Grata also

It's 1786, not long before the Revolution, and I'm in a graveyard in a Paris slum. Reading an ARC of The Cavalier of the Apocalypse, a new historical mystery by Susanne Alleyn, and am being blown away by it! It's a prequel to Game of Patience and Treasury of Regrets, her two previous Aristide Ravel mysteries set in the years just after the French Revolution.

I am Face Down among the Winchester Geese.

I am in Roman Britain and Gaul with Persona Non Grata by Ruth Downie.

I am in England in the early 1700's with Benjamin Weaver or David Liss in A Conspiracy of Paper

Started Dissolution by C. J. Sansom and thoroughly enjoying it. Don't know why I waited so long to read it since it got such good reviews on LT.

I'm in the last days of the Roman Republic with The Triumph of Caesar.

I just started And Only to Deceive by Tasha Alexander. It is an historical mystery set in Victorian England. Book 1 in the Lady Emily Ashton series. I found out about the books from LT (ER program).

It's January 1907 and I'm in a lighthouse near Carmel-by-the-Sea with Fremont Jones as she remembers the devastating earthquake that forced her to leave San Francisco. She has just discovered the body of a woman floating in the ocean, probably the first of The Bohemian Murders.

I'm in 1786 with Aristide Ravel in The Cavalier of the Apocalypse.

Oooh, enjoy, Estelle! I wanted to read it again as soon as I finished it, I thought it was that good.

We're on a cruise ship sailing from New York to Europe in April 1896 (I think), in No Honeymoon for Death. It's apparently the second in a series featuring a cop and his wife.

I never knew what "the Gilded Age" was, but it is apparently contemporaneous with at least part of the Victorian era.

I also spent some time with John the eunuch in Byzantium, and Brother Cadfael in medieval Britain thru short stories in Historical Whodunits.

I am in 1900 Barcelona, trying to figure out "the angel`s game".....

I spent time with Sergeant Cribb in 1880's Britain. It took me awhile to get into The Detective Wore Silk Drawers, because the only hint to the identity of a headless corpse discovered in the Thames was the condition of his fists and some bruising on his body, meaning he was a barefisted boxer, which had been outlawed in Britain a couple years before the story takes place. So there was a lot about boxing in the book, and I just wasn't interested. However, I enjoyed the last third of the book which read really fast.

I'm in 1773 investigating a murder with Abigail Adams in The Ninth Daughter.

I'm in Devon with Inspector Rutledge trying to find the children of a man accused of murdering his wife because he had been told she and his children had died during a bomb raid, and now, after the war, he saw her on a train platform with another man. Search the Dark is the third in the post WWI series by Charles Todd.

I am in London in 1856. I am reading The Face of a Stranger by Anne Perry. This is the first William Monk book.

With Nostradamos' apprentice The Alchemist's Apprentice in Renaissance Venice

lindab -- The first Anne Perry I read was Paragon Walk with a stupid cop who missed the all too obvious clues to identify the killer when he first found the victim, and his stupid wife who put herself in danger. Fortunately, I didn't give up on Anne Perry, but went on to read The Face of a Stranger. I've since read the next two and really like the William Monk series.

I am now in ancient Egypt after the fall of Ankhnaten, and the abandoned and possibly cursed city of Amarna, with The City of Refuge by D (Diana) .M. Wilder. The new Pharaoh has reopened the stone quarries there an nothing good can come of it: murder, theft, revenge.

FicusFan, it looks like this is a new ancient Egypt mystery series. I'll be interested in your reaction.

I don't know if its a series, there is another book that has some connections, but there is so little in terms of description. I completed The City of Refuge and enjoyed it, but it did have its problems. It may even be a self-published work.

1. the writing at the start was bumpy. She tried to pack too much in each sentence. It seemed she got a better rhythm going once into the book.

2. The main character, who is the Chief of Police for a Nome, is supposed to be smart, but he misses the clues the author plants in the story in several places. He is a good character, so I think she was just too obvious to make sure the readers got it.

3. The good characters are a bit too perfect, though most of the bad characters are not evil cartoons.

4. There are anachronisms: the police chief title, and at one point one of the characters said "The mind boggles", and other items here and there. It didn't bug me (though I laughed about the boggling), though I know it will some.

5. She invented a Pharaoh (Huy) between Tut and Aye.

Her interpretations:

6. She believes in Smenkhare as an older brother to Tut who ruled for 3 years (not a throne name for Nefertitti). Which I also think is true.

7. She makes Akhenaten fade into the night with a series of personal tragedies that caused his downfall. He wasn't evil, just ineffective. A bit too pat and makes Akhenaten's hands too clean - but she does it plausibly.

8. Ignores Akhenaten banging his eldest daughters. I think this is why Nefertitti disappeared. I think she entered menopause and couldn't bear any more children, and they only had daughters. Akhenaten moved on to his daughters because they had royal blood, and so would their children. I think Tut and Smenkhare are nephews rather than sons.

I am glad I read it, and I liked the ending, though it was a bit too perfect.

I got a used copy which saved me some money, since I wasn't sure it would be worthwhile. I will get the other book she has Pharaoh's Son.

Hope that helps.

Travelled back to Roman Britain with The Germanicus Mosaic by Rosemary Rowe, then forward to the Boston Tea Party with The ninth daughter by Barbara Hamilton (so nice to have a historical female sleuth who is not an aristocrat!).

I'm now re-reading Bleak House and a certain deeply unpleasant lawyer has met his just desserts.

I'm in London in 1384 with Crispin Guest in Serpent in the Thorns.

I am now in 1888 Istanbul, Turkey in the dying Ottoman Empire in The Winter Thief by Jenny White. Book 3 in the Kamil Pasha mystery series and a LT Early Review book.

I am in 1482 Florence, with The Botticelli Secret by Marina Fiorato.

I returned to medieval Britain with The Pilgrim of Hate.

Hi All! So happy to find this thread ! I live in the middle of Mexico and books are very hard to find and very expensive when you earn in pesos. So when I do buy a book ( usually used ) I get upset if it turns out to be a bummer. I am now in 12th century England with Ariana Franklin in her Mistress of the art of Death. GREAT book ! Unfortunatley it was loaned to me and I must return it - so if anyone knows where I can get used and cheap that book and all of her others please let me know. I am soooo interesed in other books of this type and now I have dozen recomendations from fellow feeders that I can look for - THANK YOU !

Sheila in Mexico

Cheryl - please tell us the name of the book and the author.

Thank you,
Sheila in Mexico

Sheila, I don't know what the logistics/shipping are on ordering from Amazon for you, but many of the Ariana Franklin books are available used there. Also, although I don't find any of Franklin's books on the site, have you checked out www.BookMooch.com? This only works if you have books you want to give away, of course!

I am in Republican Rome with Decius Caecilius Metellus in the SPQR series by John Maddox Roberts

I've been in medieval Cambridge again with Mathew Bartholomew, who this time is embroiled in mysteries involving bodies pulled out of their graves and a growing belief in witches by both townsfolks and scholars challenging the Church. I really enjoyed The Devil's Disciples by Susanna Gregory.

Now reading The Unquiet Bones by Melvin Starr. It is an historical mystery set in medieval England in 1360s. POV is a surgeon, and the book is the start of the Hugh de Singleton, Surgeon series.

I won the 2nd book in the February ER and wanted to read book1 first.

It's 1893 and I'm in San Francisco with Big Red and Old Red, who have just been rejected when they applied to the Pinkerton Detective Agency. We are currently having lunch with a very worried Dr. Chan in Chinatown, after he mistakenly took a shot at Big Red, fatally wounding his new bowler hat.

The Black Dove is the third in the delightful Holmes on the Range series by Steve Hockensmith.

I'm in 1786 in Ireland with Mary Wollstonecraft in Midnight Fires.

I've been in France and Italy during the age of swashbucklers, in short stories by Rafael Sabatini, from The Evidence of the Sword.

I'm in 1176 with Relics of the Dead by Ariana Franklin. I loved the first two mysteries of the "Mistress of the Art of Death" series very much and the third one starts off entertainingly too.

I'm back in steamy, dangerous 1830's New Orleans with 'Dead and Buried', the latest Benjamin January book.

I'm in Portland in 1868 in The Shanghai Tunnel.

I'm now in fifth century England in Divine Sacrifice.

Just left 14th c. England with the Waxman Murders by Paul Doherty and am entering 19th c. England with Mr. Timothy by Louis Bayard (with a tip of the hat to Charles Dickens)

Briefly visited Regency England with Jane and The unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor by Stephanie Barron, a mystery featuring Jane Austen as detective, which had been highly recommended, but I couldn't get on with it at all and was forced to abandon ship.

It's about 1900 and Queen Victoria is facing threats on her life, bringing Sherlock Holmes and Watson to Edinburgh, Scotland, where she is summering. The mystery of The Italian Secretary by Caleb Carr is somehow related to the murder of Rizzio, who was secretary and dance master to Mary, Queen of Scots.

I finished The Paris Enigma by Pablo de Santis. It is set in 1888-1889 Buenos Aires and Paris. It was good in a slow way.

Just finishing my sojourn through 1321 England with Simon Puttock and Baldwin de Furnshill in Michael Jecks' The Mad Monk of Gidleigh and will speed on to the Great Depression and An Affair with a Mutilated Mink Coat by James Anderson

In Lincoln Castle in 1201 w/the Templar Bascot de Marins solving the mystery surrounding the Death of a Squire which is the 2nd of Maureen Ashs Templar Knight Mystery series. I am currently wallowing in the Middle Ages & enjoying it greatly. I now own every one of the Brother Cadfael series & have read about half of the so far (I'm rationing my self as i want to make the pleasure last!) Also still reading, what else but, The Mysteries of the Middle Ages. Ta ta! 8^)

I've been back in the Regency again with A moment of silence by Anna dean. (Cosy mystery, a little light on plot, but entertaining characters with convincing Regency mindset).

Then I nipped forwards to Victorian England with The keeper of secrets by Judith Cutler. (Engaging characters but rather too egalitarian to be convincingly Victorian. Bonkers plot).

I'm in New York in 1906 in A Curtain Falls.

Thanks to Ariana Franklin, I'm walking along the bank of the river Cam that wanders through Cambridge. It's 1171 in King Henry II's England, and I'm walking slowly with Vesuvia Adelia Rachel Ortese Aguilar, The Mistress of the Art of Death, hoping for clues to the vicious murders of four children.

I have just joined Lord Powerscourt in Edwardian London. He is investigating the Death of a wine merchant. I'm expecting to enjoy this as much as the rest of the series.

#116 Estelle
That new New York series sounds interesting. Did you enjoy the book?

I was in London with The Bride of Newgate, set in the year Napoleon was defeated at Waterloo. It's a historical mystery by John Dickson Carr. Interesting read.

>119 CD1am:

I actually gave up on it 100 pages in. It didn't have a strong enough sense of the time and place for me. I hadn't read the cover copy in a couple of months before starting it, and a couple of scenes in I had to stop and reread it because I couldn't figure out what era I was in (other than pre- cell phones and pagers, just due to logistics). Even after I established the year, I didn't feel like I was being shown what it was like to be in NYC in 1906 so much as like occasional references such as an electric lamp being a new invention were being dropped in as a reminder of the setting. It's no The Alienist.

Just left 18th c. England with The Devil's Company by David Liss then entered 17th c. Amsterdam when I realized that The Coffee Trader's protagonist was an ancestor of Ben Weaver. I am an admirer of the Ben Weaver series and David Liss's outstanding period research.

I've finished and reviewed the latest "Mistress of the Art of Death" medieval mystery, A Murderous Procession. The review is in my thread... post #121.

The factual wedding procession of Henry II's daughter Joanna to William II of Sicily is the backdrop of the book. It's beautifully described, and very involving.

I am reading The Bellini Card by Jason Goodwin, the 3rd in the Inspector Yashim series. It is set in Istanbul and Venice (for this book) in 1840s.

I just left a house party in 1930's England: The Affair of the 39 Cufflinks by James Anderson. Fluffy, not stuffy.

I've been in a mining town in Victorian Britain in Rose by Martin Cruz Smith. It really evokes the feel of the era with interesting details, such as the use of arsenic as "medicine," British exploration and subjugation of Africa, and some of the politics related to coming changes in the role of women as exercised by the pit girls, young women who wear pants and sort coal as it is brought up from the mines.

It gives a different picture of the Victorian era than many of the usual cozies that are set among the upper classes. The main character is an American mining engineer who was disgraced when he used the Bible fund to pay his African porters after the money that was supposed to be funding his expedition was used by British authorities to entertain "important" British visitors to South Africa. Now the bishop he works for won't send him on another expedition unless he first finds a missing minister who was engaged to the bishops daughter.

I would highly recommend this book. Writing is wonderful, characters are interesting, and Smith's research on the era is spot on, making you feel like you are there.

Just left Amsterdam circa 1974, where I watched Nicolas Freeling's Inspector Henri Castang on the trail of a family of kidnappers who have spirited away the 8-year-old daughter of his friends, Colette and Bernard Delavigne. This was the first book in Freeling's new series after he did what Conan Doyle wasn't allowed to do: kill off his very popular protagonist, Inspector Piet Van der Valk after thirteen highly successful books.

Now I've landed suddenly in 13th c Italy, where Elizabeth Eyre is introducing me to a prince who is in danger of being poisoned in Poison for the Prince.

Back in the delightful garden spot of post-WWI...Dorset in particular...with INspector Ian Rutledge. Search the Dark is, so far, a wonderful read.

I was in 1303 Britain with Hugh Corbett, investigating several murders at an abbey, in Corpse Candle by P.C. Doherty. I hadn't read this author before, and I enjoyed the book. He had touches of language from medieval Britain that I hadn't come across before in other medieval mysteries I've read, such as the term wolfshead or wolf something that described violent criminals.

I am now starting Dissolution by C.J. Sansom, an historical mystery set in Tudor England. It was an LT inspired book.

#130 Ficusfan - I read Dissolution a few years ago and enjoyed it. Have meant to read more in the series but haven't yet.

Currently I'm in 1942 Paris where a serial killer, dubbed Sandman (the title of the book, however, it won't touchstone), is murdering schoolgirls. J. Robert Janes' series set during the occupation has earned star reviews from historians for the accuracy of his portrayals of that period. St. Cyr and Kohler are a detective of the French Surete and a former Munich cop, now part of the Gestapo, who are paired to solve the ordinary crimes that occur despite the war. I highly recommend this series.

I've just finished and reviewed Instruments of Darkness by Imogen Robertson. It's set in 1780 Sussex, is richly atmospheric and still a good puzzle to solve, and has characters I look forward to meeting again!

> 131 CD1am

I did eventually enjoy it, but for most of the book the POV was a nasty, priggish, henchman of Cromwell (Thomas).

So while it was well written and interesting I didn't care for for Shardlake. He seems to have 'seen the light' at the end. I have the rest of the series that is out in paper and will read them

I have just finished the latest Susanna Gregory so I've been in 14th century Cambridge with the occupants of Michaelhouse. It's called A Killer of pilgrims and is as convoluted as usual. For once I did work out who the killer was. Last night Peterhouse, Cambridge trounced the opposition in University Challenge.

Love this thread! If I was ever worried about running out of good historical mystery titles, I'm not anymore. :) I must admit I only skimmed most of the titles and authors, but I think the only one I've actually read is Mistress of the Art of Death. (LOVED it, by the way! Can't wait to read more of that series.)

Okay, so where am I right now? I'm currently bouncing back and forth between the present and 1830s Boston in Tess Gerritsen's The Bone Garden. I'm not super far into it (and I'm listening to it on disc while at work), but so far, it's great!

Thanks for all the recommendations, ya'll!

~Lisa Joanne

I'm making the 12th century pilgrimage with Chaucer to Canterbury with with P.C. Doherty's Ghostly Murders: The Priest's Tale of Mystery and Murder As He Goes on Pilgrimage from London to Canterbury.
Just finished A Tournament of Murders: The Franklin's Tale of Mystery and Murder As He Goes on Pilgrimage from London to Canterbury

I've finished and reviewed Search the Dark for another trip to post-WWI England. Wonderful stuff!

I've finished and reviewed Child 44, a grim, grisly, exciting thriller that kept me awake several nights. And not just reading it. *shiver* Had I ever entertained the smallest desire to travel in time to Stalinist Russia, that desire is fully satisfied by reading this book!

I reviewed a medieval English mystery, The Unquiet Bones, on my thread...post #212. Fourteenth century Oxford, and the village of Bampton, come across very well in this book.

I'm about to be in 1774 with Abigail Adams in A Marked Man.

Now I'm in 1384 with Crispin Guest in The Demon's Parchment.

In 1434 England with Joliffe & the Players A Play of Dux Moraud. Still lost in the Middle Ages! 8^)

I am currently lost in the Moors of northern England with a Mr. Hannay, who is wanted by the police for a murder he didn't commit, while trying to solve the mystery of who killed the man he had talked to. Surrounding this is another mystery involving political intrigue and attempts by nefarious groups to start another World War. One of the best mysteries I have ever read, and one can easily read it in only "39 Steps."

I just left 1929 Soviet Russia, reading and reviewing Eye of the Red Tsar in my thread...post #90.

It's 1775 and I'm in NYC with the new coroner, just back from several years study in London, now trying to solve the mystery of who is beheading red headed whores. The city has lost half it's population, as residents flee the expected war, while Tonneman doesn't want to commit to taking a side in this conflict. The latest beheaded victim has shaken Tonneman, but she doesn't fit the profile.

In addition there is The Kingsbridge Plot to kill General Washington.

This is the 2nd book in the Tonneman Family series by Maan Meyers. The first, The Dutchman, takes place during the colonial era and this 2nd one is set 100 years later. Interesting concept and very good historical mysteries.

I am in ancient Greece, in Athens in 461 BC with Death Comes by Amphora by Roger Hudson.

Victorian London with William Monk in A Dangerous Mourning by Anne Perry, the second book in the series.

It's 1793, the terrifying midpoint of the Terror, in Paris...I've posted my highly laudatory review of LT author Susanne Alleyn's Palace of Justice in my thread ...post #106.

>148 richardderus:

I'm there now.

Back in Victorian London with Monk again; I'm up to A Sudden Fearful Death in the series, which I'm reading in order. Perry has a way of revealing a very dark underbelly to all the Victorian propriety.

I have recently read The Pericles Commission by Gary Corby and Veil of Lies by Jeri Westerson.

Enjoyed them both.

I've been back in medieval England with Brother Cadfael in An Excellent Mystery.

I have been hanging out with Adelia in 12th century Cambridge in Mistress of the Art of Death. Great story with some sly humor thrown in!

Late 19th century Ottoman times via Turkish Gambit, for which I've written a review in my thread...post #197. I read this book before the first in the series, that's how much I couldn't wait to read it! And, for a wonder, I'm only mildly sorry I did. Normally I'd be unable to do this. Enjoyable book!

I've just left czarist-era Moscow and St. Petersburg via Boris Akunin's wonderful first novel, The Winter Queen. I enjoyed it, but I'm very glad I read Turkish Gambit first! My review is in my thread...post #106.

I've departed from 1878 Paris, and sailed aboard the RMS Leviathan through the Suez Canal, to Aden, and thence to Bombay and Calcutta. I finished the diverting entertainment that is Murder on the Leviathan by Boris Akunin. Anyone not familiar with the Erast Fandorin series could pick this book up and start cold right here, since Akunin excels at the enriching aside...a grace note that old hands get, but isn't necessary for others to get full enjoyment from the story.

With Julian Kestrel and Dipper, in Regency England, on my annual re-read of Kate Ross's 'Cut to the Quick'. (Dipper appears to have made off with the touchstones).

I've been with the eunuch Yashim in 1830's Istanbul as the Sultan lies dieing and Yashim tries to find the murderer of the French archaeologist who spent his last days with Yashim. The Snake Stone by Jason Goodwin, the second in the series, immerses you in the city of Istanbul, the various cultures that shared the city and the historical era. Although I liked the mystery in the first book, The Janissary Tree, better, this was still an excellent read.

I'm in Roman-occupied Britain with Ruso, the doctor-detective in Ruth Downie's Medicus. Hadrian has just become emperor and I think he might be wanting to build a wall soon.

I've just got out of the area behind the 1916 Somme trenches in Andrew Martin's The Somme Stations. I'm not sure that it's all that great as a detective story, but it's a fantastic slice of Great War life.

I'm soon going to be back in pre-Great War Vienna with the fourth of Frank Tallis's Max Liebermann stories.

I've been in ancient Egypt with the Chief Judge trying to get past the politics to find out the truth re how Pharoah Tuthmosis II died, in The Mask of Ra by P.C. Doherty. One thing I found really unbelievable was having the Chief Judge close down the court and leave the capital to lead a combat troop into battle. I don't think so! I guess Doherty couldn't think of any other way of having him find out the secret the Pharoah had discovered before he died, but it seemed so unrealistic I found it irritating. Based on this first book, I think Doherty's medieval Hugh Corbett series is better written.

I'm in Arthurian Britain in The Beloved Dead by Tony Hays.

Had to look up "squick" but what a wonderful word. Almost onomantopoetic.

I'm in Regency England with C.S. Harris's Sebastian St. Cyr series. I've read What Angels Fear and When Gods Die. I can't wait to dive into Why Mermaids Sing. review

I just finished 1824 England in Cut to the Quick by Kate Ross.

ktleyed lucky for you to find and enjoy Kate Ross. There are 4 Julian Kestrel novels. We lost Kate Ross too early for her writing, IMHO is among the best.

#168 - I agree, I loved it and this was by far one of the best written historical mysteries I've read. I have got all the others already and they are queued up to read over the next several months. Such a shame she died so young.

I recently finished The Secret of the White Rose. I picked it up not realizing it was third in a series. I'll have to backtrack and read the first two soon.

Back in Roman Britain with Ruso and Tilla in Caveat Emptor. I enjoy this series but got sidetracked quite a bit by my visit to the fantasy kingdom of Westeros (A Game of Thrones and its long, long sequels).

1499, in Milan with Leonardo da Vinci on the trail of 'The Tears of the Madonna,' a unique necklace.

In Devon England in 1316 w/Baldwin Furnshill & Simon Puttock-The Cediton Killings-4th volume of the Knights Templar Mystery series by Michael Jecks. 8^)

I'm in 12th century England in Grave Goods by Ariana Franklin.

I am in the 18th century with The Girl in the Gatehouse . I dont know if it would be construed as a true mystery but something is definately going on.

In eighteenth-century Blighty...A very enjoyable weekend spent reading Anatomy of Murder and Island of Bones, jointly reviewed in my thread...post #229.

In Constantinople in 1203 w/Feste & the Fool's Guild A Death in the Venetian Quarter in the midst of the Fourth Crusade while the Venetian fleet is about to besiege the city! Ack! Of course a murder is committed & Feste sets out to investigate it. This is the first of this series I have read. So far am enjoying it muchly. 8^)

#177 - My favourites! I've recently finished a re-read of the whole Fools' Guild series, with the exception of The widow of Jerusalem... still trying to get hold of a copy, but it's going for silly money on Amazon.

This is my first Fool's Guild book & I am having to learn a new bunch of terminology but am enjoying it! I have been reading mysteries set in England mainly. Thought I needed a change-up-so chose to try this series. 8^)

I'm in London, 1811 in What Angels Fear by C.S. Harris.

I had been trying to get a hold of The Widow of Jerusalem also, I finally checked it out of my public library.

I'm in 1930's England with Hercule Poirot reading Agatha Christie's Evil Under the Sun

Fifth Century Ireland with Sister Fidelma in Valley of the Shadow by Peter Tremayne.

In 1303, in Oxford w/Hugh Corbett & his bailiff Ranulf investigating a series of murders for King Edward himself! 8^)

I'm in 1774 with Abigail Adams in Sup with the Devil.

just left 1960 with Publish and Perish by Sally Wright

I'm in 1811 London and Brighton with C.S. Harris' When Gods Die

I'm in the century of the fruitbat in Maskerade

I just left 1930's French Riviera with Rhys Bowen's Naughty in Nice. It was a fun trip. The Royal Spyness series has become one of my favorites.

In 17th century Scotland where there has been a murrrder among the Presbyterians. The redemption of Alexander Seaton by Shona Maclean. Brilliant book.

In Virginia with Meg Langslow in The Real Macaw. It's a pleasant read, but without the inspired wackiness of earlier books in the series, alas.

I'm in 14th century England with Crispin Guest in Troubled Bones.

I happen to be reading two different historical mysteries at the moment, A Broken Vessel in Regency London and A Murderous Procession by Ariana Franklin which takes place in 1176 England.

I've just returned from the Rocky Mountains in the year 1837, where Benjamin January has been helping his friend Abishag Shaw track down a killer in The Shirt off His Back. Barbara Hambly scores another victory in one of the best mystery series ever! Can't recommend it highly enough.

I love this series! I actually thought that The Shirt Off His Back was one of the best ones although it doesn't take place in New Orleans.

I'm in 1760 London in The Scottish Prisoner by Diana Gabaldon.

I'm in the Netherlands in 1953. The Storm by (Margriet de Moor)

In 14th century Oxford with Hugh de Singleton, surgeon, bailiff, and dogged investigator, in A Trail of Ink. He's trying to find John Wycliff's missing books and also trying to get himself a wife.

Loved that book-I got it as a Santathing gift a year or 2 ago & want to read the other books in the series. 8^0

I'm in 1st century Britain under Roman occupation in Ruth Downie's Medicus. I'm enjoying it so far.

>200 spaceofflowers: Really like that series, which I think gets better with each book.

>198 ejj1955: and >200 spaceofflowers: I like both of those books and series. I read Trail of Ink first (out of the series) and thought it so-so but since have read the rest of the series and it is very good. I agree that the Medicus series gets better and better. I think I got two, if not three, of the Medicus series through Early Reviewers.

I am in the year 1Q84 (the Q stands for 'question') in a world with two moons. The story is set in the year 1984, hence the title.

I am on Book 3 of 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami and struggling. It is taking three books to say what could easily be condensed into one and am only bothering to read to the end because it is an e-book and it is tidier to finish them than leave them half-read.

It is 1885, London. Certain people are getting The Black Hand. (Will Thomas). I love this series. So far, so good.

I took a delightful break from serious fiction and read the hilarious second Algonquin Round Table Mystery by J.J. Murphy called You Might As Well Die set in New York in the 1920's. Here's my review. Its zany cast of characters includes Dorothy Parker and Harry Houdini, along with a bunch of fictional characters who are truly "characters." A great way to cheer yourself up and laugh yourself silly.

I am Dancing with Demons by Peter Tremayne in 7th Century Tara, in Ireland, with Sister Fidelma and Brother Aedulf.

I'm in the Lake District in England, 1913 with Beatrix Potter and her fiance Will Heelis and all their friends, human and animal, in The Tale of Castle Cottage by (Susan Wittig Albert), the newest and last book in the cozy Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter series. Gentle, fun, feel-good books.

In Devon in 1321 w/Baldwin Furnshill, Keeper of the King's Peace & his sidekick Bailiff Simon Puttock solving a couple of murders. I have been reading Medieval Mysteries for over a year now & am seeing so many similarities to the present. One percent-The King & his favorites live 'high on the hog' & let the other 99%' root hog or die!' 8^)

I have just finished Susanna Gregory's latest in her medieval series Mystery in the Minster and was surprised but delighted to discover it is set in York. I've never been to Cambridge but, being a Yorkshire woman, I know York well and for once didn't need the map. I was delighted to discover there is a new David Dickinson Francis Powerscourt book out next month, so I'm looking forward to that.

My most recent read was The Scottish Prisoner by Diana Gabaldon. I particularly loved the way she used the plot devise of key "clues" being in a language (variants of Celtic) that only some characters understood and could thus control the translation/access of the information for the other characters who are nominally the dominant ones. Interesting all around. Here's my review.

My most recent read is fascinating Death Comes to Pemberley. Instead of contemporary England, P.D. James has set her latest book at Pemberley estate in 1803, six years after Miss Elizabeth Bennet has married Darcy. That is, P.D. James takes the prose of Jane Austen as her setting. James plus Austen is a fascinating combination, although there are some difficulties in the marriage. Here's my review.

In Devonshire in 1322 w/Baldwin, the Keeper of the King's Peace & Bailiff, Simon Puttock who are investigating several mysterious deaths in a remote villageThe Stickleback Strangler. 8^)
Edited to add title.

I'm in 1896 or so New York City with The Alienist.

>214 majkia: Really liked that book.

I'm in Detroit, Michigan, in the 1970s with Middlesex, which is not a mystery in any sense at all, not even the "I wonder what happens?" way that most books are. The narrator begins in the present and goes back to his grandparents and mostly doesn't show up until he's born about halfway through the book. Maybe this is why it's taking me forever to read this book!

I'm in the late 19th century, Sudan in The Last Camel Died at Noon by Elizabeth Peters.

I have been in California before there were mobile phones and Kinsey Milhone would have done better sooner and safer if she owned one.

I finally wrote my review of The Coroner's Lunch, set in 1976 Laos, over in my thread, in post #228. Wonderful series, like the premise, and the setting is pleasantly unusual.

I'm in Regency London in When Gods Die by C. S. Harris.

I am in England with Charlotte Bronte in 1851 in Bedlam..Bedlam Insane Asylum seems to be a big thing in the Victorian era.

I've finished and reviewed Thirty-Three Teeth, the second installment of the Dr. Siri Paiboun, Laotian national coroner series, in my thread...post #114. They're set in 1970s Laos, just after the American defeat in Vietnam. It's amazing how deliciously atmospheric they are!

I'm at the 1889 World Fair in Paris with muck-raking journalist Nellie Bly investigating The Alchemy of Murder - we may be on to Jack the Ripper amongst the Parisian anarchists. Now if we and Jules Verne (and Oscar Wilde) can only get Louis Pasteur to help, we may be able to untangle the mysterious Black Fever besetting the poorer districts as well!

I've been investigating the muder of the 2 Princes in the Tower with Josephine Tey's Inspector Grant in The Daughter of Time. It took me about 74 pages to get into it, but once Grant realizes that Sir Thomas Moore's account of King Richard lll killing the Princes wasn't contemporary, but was written during the reign of Henry Vll, I became hooked.

I just left 1929. Was experiencing it with Maisie Dobbs . Now reading a non-mystery for a change up.

I'm in 1929 now, but it's in Children of Wrath.

I'm in 1099 England in Honor's Splendour.

I've read and reviewed a Kindle original mystery novella, Accomplished in Detection, in my thread...post #163.

It's quite charming, a Victorian woman forced into amateur detective-hood by a dastardly attempt to pin a crime on the man she's only recently rejected as a suitor. Well worth the hour or so it takes to read it.

Right now I'm reading The Deathly Portent, but so far it's not grabbing me. Giving it to page 50.

Reading A Mortal Terror by James R. Benn. It is the 6th in the Billy Boyle WWII mystery series. Really good so far. I really like this series. I think I know who the murderer is, a rarity for me. Time will tell.

Just finished and my guess was wrong! All the more fun.

I'm in Elizabethan England with Bruno Giordano whose running from charges of Heresy in his native Italy.

Last night I was on "The Willow Walk" with Jasper and John Holt (and Sinclair Lewis). I also visited with Eugene Valmont in 1880s Paris in The Triumphs of Eugene Valmont.

Back to 1977 Laos! I do love it there. I've finally written my infuriated, -14,975 star review of the fourth Dr. Siri Paiboun Investigation, Anarchy and Old Dogs, and posted it in my thread...post #285.

Hurt. I am Hurt. Colin Cotterill led me on, made me fall for...well, a main character, and now...!

I'm in London at the turn of the twentieth century in The Anatomy of Death.

Now I'm in post-Roman Britain with High King Arthur and his councilor Malgwyn in The Stolen Bride.

I just ended a visit with Nicodemus Dunne, the Running Patterer, in Australia in 1828 (Robin Adair, Death and the Running Patterer).

Just finished my trip to Egypt in the beginning of the 18th Dynasty in Pauline Gedge's "Lord of two Land's" trilogy with the founder of the dynasty. What a wonderful read - the characters definitely stay with you - it was even invading my dreams. Great books!
Just noticed someone mentioned Agatha Christie "Death comes as the end" - I love her books and had never heard of this one until a few days ago and then to see it here - someone's telling me to move this one up on my TBR pile.

Great topic, thanks for prodding a new discussion. Things seem to be getting kind of stagnant on this discussion site. For me, I am in Victorian England right now, but I am going to warp somewhere else pretty soon.

jd - I'm reading The Silent Lady by Catherine Cookson and I know I'm in London but not real sure about the time period but it's not present day.

Last week I finished the last of the four Mistress of the Art of Death mysteries by Ariana Franklin, A Murderous Procession. I devoured those books. Great characters, stories so superbly done. What a writer she was! What a terrible loss that she will write no more. My favourite is Grave Goods.

After them I read Alison Weir's non fiction Eleanor of Aquitaine, which was good but somewhat dry after Adelia Aguilar (but what a life Eleanor had) and next months will see me reading Elizabeth Chadwick and Sharon Kay Penman about the same period and sometimes the same people. Long live the late 12th century!

I am currently in 1892 in Portland, Maine chasing down a serial killer in The Truth of All Things. Only about 5 chapters in, but so far, so good. There's a connection somewhere with the Salem Witch trials and as that is one of my favorite events in history, I just had to pick this one up.

I am currently on the China coast in the 19th Century amidst opium, cut-throats, pirates, T'ai'p'ing rebels, English and American mercenaries; whew! I'll be lucky if I make it back across the Pacific alive.

I've finished and reviewed One for Sorrow, the first John the Eunuch mystery set in Constantinople in the reign of Justinian the First, over in my thread...post #218.

Atmospheric!

Re #s 235 The Stolen Bride & 241 The Killing Way, both by Tony Hays. I love Arthurian legend so I'm glad to hear of a new series that both of you seemed to enjoy. The only Arthurian mystery I've read, The Excalibur Murders, did not have very good writing. I'm definitely going to look for Tony Hays. Estelle & Samantha, I'm glad you both posted.

I've just started a Templar Knight mystery by Maureen Ash. Haven't read her before, so don't yet know how late autumn 1200 AD will be like with the Death of a Squire.

I'm in London with Scotland Yard's Inspector Lynley - not sure of the year??? A Great Deliverance by Elizabeth George. I actually had bought this book a while back not realizing it was part of a series and I really lucked out that it's the first book.

I'm in London, 1812 in Where Serpents Sleep by C. S. Harris.

I've reviewed Death in Bordeaux, a first-in-a-series mystery set at the Fall of France. It and I aren't destined to be besties. See why at my review in my thread...post #219.

I'm in 19th century Venice with Tasha Alexander's Lady Emily - "Death in a Floating City." Terrific series.

Oh, that's a wonderful series, some of the first ones get a little mired down with secondary characters, but then they pick up again - I love discovering a new series, especially one where a) there are a lot of books and b) the author is still alive and writing! Much enjoyment to come.

A new thread over here!