BOOK REVIEW: Murder in Moonlight by Mary Lancaster

I received this book for free from Netgalley. That did not influence this review.

I love Mary Lancaster’s writing. I’ve read several of her historical romances and historical romance with elements of mystery. Her latest novel (book 1 of a new series) takes a different tack. It’s a mystery first and foremost (with elements of romance.) The detecting couple have met before but very briefly. Now, they launch a series of their own. I imagine we’ll find them growing closer and closer as the series progresses. I love this type of series!

Murder in Moonlight is book 1 of the Silver and Grey series. Constance Silver and Solomon Grey (hence the series name) meet again at Greenforth Manor out in Norfolk, home of the Winsom family. Constance, the owner of a high-priced brothel back in London, is masquerading as a respectable widow, Constance Goldrich. Both Constance and Solomon have been invited for social reasons, by different members of the family. Both are there for information-seeking reasons of their own. Solomon could give Constance away, but sees no reason to, so he keeps quiet. Constance knows that could change at any moment, but she has learned to keep a charming, give-nothing-away demeanor, which intrigues Solomon even more.

The two watch each other warily, knowing they are both there under false pretenses. But the game quickly becomes very real when one member of the family is found dead, stabbed in the back with a kitchen knife. 

In this “stuck-together” mystery, the protagonists, family, and other house guests must remain at the manor until the police investigation is completed, which is longer than anyone wants, considering the murderer is very probably one of them. Constance and Solomon work together to solve the mystery, understanding that they are considered suspects, and knowing that they don’t quite trust each other. The more information they uncover, the more it seems everyone there has a motive. And opportunity. 

Fast-paced, well-plotted, and with a wonderful budding friendship likely to turn into more, Murder in Moonlight is my favorite kind of mystery. I eagerly await book 2.

BOOK REVIEW: The Village Library Demon-Hunting Society by C.M. Waggoner

The Village Library Demon-Hunting Society by C.M. Waggoner is a delightfully wacky murder mystery. It begins as a garden-variety cozy mystery. Sherry Pinkwhistle is a middle-aged librarian in a small town in upstate New York. She lives alone, has a close friend, a new friend, and an across-the-street neighbor that she looks in on. She has an almost boyfriend, a sweet middle-aged man who owns an antique shop. And, she solves murder mysteries.

There has been an uncannily high number of murders in their small town. Sherry has helped the local sheriff to solve them. She has a knack for it and, although he grumbles about her involvement, he accepts her help (and takes the credit).

A local art gallery owner is murdered—the cheating husband of Sherry’s new friend. Sherry gathers the clues (which are very conveniently strewn in her

path) and solves the mystery pretty quickly. She’s pleased with herself. As a reader, I’m wondering where this is all going. It’s a little too cozy. And Sherry is dizzy and funny, but...

And then her almost-boyfriend is killed. And everything flies off the rails.

There is a demon in her town, orchestrating the murders. And Sherry has to solve them to entertain the demon. A cast of characters help and hinder her: the sheriff who is intermittently possessed, the handsome, very young, very earnest new priest and his evil twin, as well as the dead boyfriend’s family. If this all isn’t enough, Sherry is hiding a crime in her own past.

The whole story is implausible (obviously), yet Sherry pulls it together to solve her boyfriend’s murder in conventional detective fashion. The trouble is, what will the demon do when Sherry wants the fun and games to stop?

BOOK REVIEW: A Holiday by Gaslight: A Victorian Christmas Novella by Mimi Matthews

I don’t generally read novellas, or seasonally-themed stories, but I love Mimi Matthews’ books so I read A Holiday by Gaslight: A Victorian Christmas novella.

Sophie Appersett is the older daughter of an impoverished baron, impoverished because of his passion for the renovation and innovation of his country home (among other extravagances.) In order to install gaslights in the house, he spent Sophie’s dowry. And he’s entirely unrepentant.

Sophie’s younger sister is just as impulsive and selfish as their father. She wears all the latest fashions, while Sophie and their mother content themselves with patched-up, made-over clothes. Sophie is resigned to this, but less resigned to the fact that she is supposed to marry for money to pay off the family’s debts. She is being courted by a wealthy, educated, manufactory owner, Edward Sharpe, but he is so cold and dull she breaks off the courtship.

Edward Sharpe is not as cold as he appears. Rather, he is truly smitten by Sophie, so much so that he has been following to the letter the advice in a book on gentlemanly behavior. When she breaks with him, he is hurt and peeved.

But Sophie has second thoughts. Not only because her father and sister are furious with her, but also because she thinks she didn’t give Edward a fair chance. She realizes they don’t know each other at all. 

The Appersetts are returning to their country home for a big Christmas celebration. Edward had been invited, and Sophie urges him to come despite their breakup. If he will talk to her, let her get to know him and him to know her, they might have a chance after all.

If you’re looking for a short and sweet holiday romance, this is a charming love story with likeable protagonists and a thoroughly happy ending.

BOOK REVIEW: Daniel Coit Gilman and the Birth of the American Research University by Michael T. Benson

Something completely different!

I have an interest in the early history of Johns Hopkins University and Hospital (which will be on display in my forthcoming historical novel, Till Taught by Pain, to be published by Regal House in November, 2025). I’m also interested in early U.S. university presidents (such as Robert M. Hutchins, a character in my work-in-progress). So I knew I had to read this biography of the first president of Johns Hopkins, who helped build the university, medical school, and hospital from scratch. The author gave a talk at our local library, which made me even more determined. However, it took two long car rides back and forth to my sister’s house for Thanksgiving before I finally moved it to the top of my TBR pile and read it.

Daniel Coit Gilman and the Birth of the American Research University by Michael T. Benson is an interesting account of Gilman’s life. It centers on his work, without touching upon his private life except to mention that he was married, widowered, remarried, and had two daughters. 

Born in 1831, Gilman devoted his life to the study of education, utilizing (as a young man) a position as an attaché to the ambassador to Russia to tour Europe and Russia and investigate universities there. His interest always seemed to lie more with administration than with teaching. He returned to various positions at Yale before being hired as the president of the University of California as it was getting started. (There is an analysis of the Morrill Act, the government program of land grants for education purposes; both Yale and the University of California made use of such grants.) Although Gilman accomplished a good deal in California, it wasn’t a great fit. (Disgruntled faculty members caused some problems.)

Back in the east, in Baltimore, the Trustees of the board administering the bequests of railroad tycoon Johns Hopkins were tasked with founding a new university. They took their responsibility seriously. Interviewing other educators and university presidents provided the unanimous recommendation of Gilman to head up this new endeavor. Gilman was promised almost complete control over building a true research-oriented university from the ground up. It was an opportunity he couldn’t resist.

This new biography delves into the nitty-gritty of Gilman’s process, the vision he had and the men he hired to bring his vision to life. It goes beyond the founding of Johns Hopkins. Gilman had his finger in many pies, all related to education.

It’s not an adventure-filled story, or even one rife with conflict, but it does bring notice back to the life of this remarkable man. It also shows the reader something of the state of higher education in the mid-to-late eighteen hundreds and the central role of Johns Hopkins University as a premier example of what academic research could become in the U.S.

BOOK REVIEW: The Wrong Lady Meets Lord Right by Suzanne Allain

I received this book for free from Netgalley. That did not influence this review.

The Wrong Lady Meets Lord Right by Suzanne Allain is a Regency Romance take on The Prince and the Pauper.

The orphaned Arabella (Bella) and her heiress cousin Lady Isabelle (Issie) have been raised together since toddlerhood by Issie’s demanding, overbearing mother, Lady Strickland, who makes it clear that her daughter is a disappointment and Bella is an unwanted burden. So it is somewhat of a relief to both young ladies when Lady Strickland suffers a stroke and dies.

After a year of mourning, during which they stayed hidden in the countryside, the two emerge to go to London for Issie’s planned season. Issie, who is painfully shy, doesn’t want to go, but Bella is more eager. Unfortunately, when they get to London, they are to stay with Issie’s great-aunt, Lady Dutton, who is every bit as bad as Lady Strickland.

However, Lady Dutton has poor eyesight and it isn’t long before Issie launches a scheme: taking to her bed, she claims she is too ill and frail to be presented to the Queen. And since Lady Dutton has been mixing them up anyway, why can’t Bella pretend to be her?

Good-natured and manipulable, Bella agrees, even though she can foresee all the potential consequences. The one she doesn’t foresee is falling for a handsome, kindly lord who courts her, thinking he is courting Lady Isabelle.

This sweet mistaken-identity romance is a delight to read (even if the reader will figure out what is going on with the hero long before Bella does.)

BOOK REVIEW: Home Is Where Your Bark Is by Debbie Burns

If you’re in the mood for some sweet contemporary romance, Home Is Where Your Bark Is by Debbie Burns is a new release from Sourcebooks Casablanca. (The title is a clue: there is also a lovable dog.)

Jenna Dunning has devoted far too much of herself to supporting her younger sister (just 15 months younger) ever since their mother died. Even the fact that her sister married the man Jenna had once been in love with couldn’t shatter their bond. But when her sister asks her to take the border collie she’d just adopted a couple weeks ago back to the shelter, this seems to be the last straw. Jenna had warned her the high energy dog was not the right fit for her family (two boys not even school age, a baby on the way, and a radiologist husband who spends more time working than at home, not to mention their expensively decorated house.) On the way to the shelter with the dog, Jenna is hit by a drunk driver and her car crashes into another.

Jake Stiles is the driver of the other car (not the drunk guy.) He rushes to help, holding her hand until the ambulance arrives. And then, he agrees to take the dog where it needs to go, not realizing the phone number he finds is for the shelter. Unable to surrender the trembling border collie, he finds himself fostering the dog.

A few of the chapters are in the voice of the dog, who comes to be named Seven.

Jenna and Jake bond over Seven, and despite their mutual decision to take things slowly, (Jake has just gotten out of a long-term relationship; Jenna is wary of jumping into a relationship with a stranger she met in a car crash when she had a concussion) there is strong momentum driving them along – especially when it seems they might have lost Seven.

This is a heartwarming love story, highly recommended if you need a lift.

BOOK REVIEW: The Women by Kristin Hannah

I finally read The Women by Kristin Hannah, an homage to the women who served in Vietnam. It reads fairly quickly despite its length.

It’s 1966, and Frances “Frankie” McGrath is a sheltered, innocent California girl, a “good girl,” whose parents’ plans for her are marriage, motherhood, country clubs, and maybe some volunteer work. She has an older brother, and is devoted to him. In keeping with the family expectations, he volunteers to go to Vietnam. Missing him, and wanting to get the same respect from her father that her brother gets, she signs up to be an army nurse. Her parents aren’t proud; they’re horrified.

Frankie is 20 years old and, although she has a nursing degree, she has no experience to speak of. When she arrives in Vietnam, it is to a baptism by fire. Fortunately, with the support and camaraderie of the staff there, especially two fellow nurses, she learns quickly and is soon a superbly competent surgical trauma nurse.

The harsh realities of life (and death) in Vietnam are fully explored, and are contrasted starkly with goings-on back home that Frankie learns about in letters from her mother. In country, Frankie falls in love, enjoys occasional respites with colleagues, learns to smoke and drink, and makes lifelong friends. But she also experiences the trauma and horrors of Vietnam. They are not spared the bombings and, if they venture away from camp, the threat of snipers or ambush. This part of the novel is like M*A*S*H, but in Vietnam, not Korea, seen through women’s eyes, not men’s, and without the humor.

The first part was a wrenching read, but captivating.

At the halfway mark, Frankie’s tour is done and she ships home. She arrives to a U.S.A. that has grown vehemently anti-war and anti-soldier. Her parents won’t speak of the war. It is made very clear to her that she should be ashamed of having been there. And when she reaches out for help for what we would now recognize as PTSD, she is told over and over that there were no women in Vietnam and that she doesn’t deserve resources reserved for combat veterans.

The second half of the book reads as a history lesson, as Frankie is traumatized again and again, suffering everything that nurses and returning veterans are known to have suffered and then some, until it began to feel like a checklist that needed to be completed. The plot twists were a bit too predictable. And the concluding chapters felt too preachy – even though I agree with the sermon that was preached.

So overall, I have mixed feelings about this book. The first half was riveting. The second half seemed to have an important message, but the plotting felt a bit contrived as it worked to deliver that message.