Dark Fire by C.J. Sansom

Title: Dark Fire
Author: C.J. Sansom
ISBN:  0670033723
Publisher: Viking, 2005
Hardcover, 502 pages
Genre: Historical mystery, #2 Matthew Shardlake mystery
Rating: A
Source: Purchased from Bookcloseouts.

First Line: I had left my house in Chancery Lane early, to go to the Guildhall to discuss a case in which I was acting for the City Council.


Lawyer Matthew Shardlake may have too many irons in the fire. His scribe can't seem to do anything right, and not having the documents he needs when he needs them makes Shardlake grumpy. A friend's young niece has been accused of murder and is facing a death sentence. Even though the young girl refuses to speak, after visiting her in prison,Matthew believes she's innocent. However, before he can mount any sort of defense for her, Henry VIII's vicar general, Thomas Cromwell, postpones the trial in order for Shardlake to track down a cache of and the recipe for "dark fire"-- the liquid weapon of mass destruction dating from the time of the Greeks-- that Cromwell has promised to a very irritable king.

With the help of one of Cromwell's trusted servants, Shardlake finds himself traveling all over London tracking down clues-- interviewing alchemists, aristocrats and lawyers alike. Not only that-- he also finds himself trying to avoid the assassins who seem intent on killing everyone who's ever heard of the elusive "dark fire".

I read the first book in this series shortly after it was published and for the most part I loved it. The only real quibble I had was that the main character, Matthew Shardlake, whined too much about his hunchback keeping him from scoring with the babe of his choice. Yes, his affliction would be a tough one to bear, especially during that era, but I come from a long line of people who do not believe in whining.  (And from their devotion to that rule, I have to believe that it's been in place for a few centuries.) Be that as it may, Shardlake scarcely whines at all in Dark Fire, and I appreciated that.

Shardlake is a fully fleshed character. He's a sharp, intelligent lawyer. He can circumnavigate the dangerous circles that do the king's bidding. He's a genuinely caring person-- even though he's blind to those around him at times.

The magic starts to happen when a character like Shardlake is put in charge of solving two very complicated puzzles in the fantastically rich and treacherous tapestry of Henry VIII's London. Sansom's character is a lawyer with his normal caseload, but he's also worked for the government during the dissolution of the monasteries and in other projects for the king. Shardlake can ride through the streets of London and see how the city has changed. He can tell us of these changes-- and the reasons for them-- without it sounding like a history lesson. He's merely commenting on the passing scenery. If you're not familiar with Tudor England, you're learning and enjoying; if you are familiar with it, you sigh with satisfaction and sink deeper into the story.

Although this is the second book in this series, you don't need to read the first to be able to make sense of everything in Dark Fire. So... if you enjoy rich, meaty, multi-layered historical mysteries with excellent characterization and plotting, by all means make the acquaintance of Matthew Shardlake!

Buy from Amazon.

Buy from Alibris.

My Lady Judge, A Mystery of Medieval Ireland by Cora Harrison

Title: My Lady Judge, A Mystery of Medieval Ireland
Author: Cora Harrison
ISBN: 9780312368364, St. Martin's Minotaur, 2007
Genre: Historical Mystery, #1 The Burren mystery
Rating: B
Source: Paperback Swap

First Line: It was then, as it is now, a land of grey stone.

Thirty-six-year-old Mara is the Brehon (judge) of the kingdom of the Burren in western Ireland, and also in charge of the law school. When everyone in the area troops up Mullaghmore Mountain to celebrate a feast day, Mara's assistant, Colman, does not return. Two days later his body is found up on the mountain in close proximity to where the celebration occurred. Although Colman has never been popular, Mara has to wonder how he could die so close to revelry... and no one sees a thing. As judge, it is her business to bring the murderer to justice.

Each chapter of My Lady Judge begins with a bit of medieval Irish law, which I found to be very interesting. Sometimes I even found those ancient laws to be better than current ones, such as this judgment concerning someone we would call developmentally disabled today:

"The Court finds that Feirdin MacNamera is to be classified as fer lethcuinn, a half-sane man. This means that he has the protection of the court and the community. Anyone who incites him to commit a crime must himself pay the penalty, anyone who mocks him will be fined five sets, two and a half ounces of silver, or three milch cows. This is the law of the king."

Once Mara discovers the main reason why Colman was so unpopular, she has more suspects than she knows what to do with, so she proceeds to investigate as quickly as she can. Most of Mara's investigative skills could be chalked up to plain old common sense, and although I enjoyed the mystery and the glimpse into another time and place, I didn't appreciate the solution to the murder being told to me at the end of the book. Take me along during the entire process. Don't lock me up in my room until it's over, then sit me down in front of the fire to tell me a story.

Occasionally the bits of Irish law, customs, clothing and language got to be a bit too much, momentarily dragging me out of the story, but I jumped back in with little trouble because I enjoyed the setting and the character of Mara so much. I look forward to reading other books in this series.

The Mapping of Love and Death by Jacqueline Winspear

Title: The Mapping of Love and Death
Author: Jacqueline Winspear
ISBN: 9780061727665, Harper Collins, 2010
Genre: Historical Mystery, Private Investigator, #7 Maisie Dobbs mystery
Rating: B+
Source: Amazon Vine

First Line: Michael Clifton stood on a hill burnished gold in the summer sun and, hands on hips, closed his eyes.

Try as I might not to play favorites, there are still mystery series that are near and dear to my heart-- ones that I will always recommend first whenever I'm asked "What's good?" Jacqueline Winspear's Maisie Dobbs series is on the shortlist of my favorite series. I know readers who do not like the time period about which it's written (1930s showing the aftereffects of World War I), but they love these books, and it's all due to the characters.

Maisie was born into the English lower class and became a maid for a wealthy family when she was a young girl. Fortunately her employers were liberal thinkers who recognized Maisie's intelligence and fed it. After serving as a nurse in France during World War I, Maisie completed her university education and with the help of her teacher and mentor, Maurice Blanche, she set up practice in London as a private investigator.

In this seventh installment of the series, Maisie is asked to help a wealthy American couple after their son's body is plowed up in a French field. Although the rest of the bodies in the bunker died when it collapsed, Michael Clifton did not. He had been murdered. His parents are not aware of that fact, but Maisie is. What his parents are concerned about are the love letters from an English nurse that were given to them with the rest of Michael's effects. When Maisie begins her investigation, the American couple is attacked in their hotel room and very seriously injured. Maisie knows she's going to have to be very careful working this case.

In each book, Winspear addresses an area of World War I that may not be familiar to most readers. The Mapping of Love and Death covers the importance of cartography in the conflict. The mystery was dangerous, but one of its threads was a bit easy to guess. What I enjoyed most about the book was the author's setting the stage for future events in her characters' lives.

She shows the utmost empathy when writing about World War I and its effects on people, but she never leaves her characters behind. Maisie's assistant, Billy Beale, has his own aspirations and problems to deal with, and they're a part of the story. Maisie's mentor, the elderly Maurice Blanche, plays a role in this book, as does James Compton, the son of the people whom Maisie worked for as a young girl.

In a way, the mystery in The Mapping of Love and Death took a backseat to the main characters, but I didn't mind at all since I got the distinct impression that Winspear was doing a bit of her own cartography with her characters' futures. I am definitely looking forward to the next books in this series!

Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn

Title: Silent in the Grave
Author: Deanna Raybourn
ISBN: 9780778325246, Mira, 2007
Genre: Historical mystery, #1 Lady Julia Grey mystery
Rating: C+

First Line: To say that I met Nicholas Brisbane over my husband's dead body is not entirely accurate.


London, 1886. Unbeknownest to his wife, Julia, Sir Edward Grey has received death threats and hired private enquiry agent Nicholas Brisbane to protect him. It was action undertaken too late.

Lady Julia believes that her husband's death is due to a longstanding illness, and she's outraged when Brisbane calls with the information that her husband was probably poisoned. However, after reflection, Julia sees the truth behind Brisbane's assertions, and she's determined to bring her husband's murderer to justice.

When Silent in the Grave was first published, I heard raves about it. As usual when a book receives so much praise, I decided to wait a while before reading it. Three years have passed, and I've read it with mixed reactions.

I enjoyed Raybourn's depiction of Victorian England and her characterizations-- particularly of Julia and Brisbane. I enjoyed watching Julia decide to use her widowhood to spread her wings a bit and find out who she really was. I applauded her choice to use her background of belonging to an eccentric family to go against the status quo.

What I didn't enjoy was the plot and the book's length. From certain characters' behavior, it was all too easy to deduce the identity of the killer. I came within an eyelash of skipping to the end to see if I was right, but I didn't. It took over 500 pages to tell this story when no more than 300 would have done a proper job of it.

I would like to see how Julia and Brisbane get along in the other books in the series, but I have to admit that I'm not in any real hurry to do so. I don't care how long a book is if it holds my interest. Julia and Brisbane just weren't enough to make Silent in the Grave a completely satisfying cup of tea.


[Source: Purchased at The Poisoned Pen.]

Among the Mad by Jacqueline Winspear

Title: Among the Mad
Author: Jacqueline Winspear
ISBN: 9780805082166, Henry Holt, 2009
Genre: Historical Mystery, Private Investigator, #6 Maisie Dobbs
Rating: A

First Line: Maisie Dobbs, Psychologist and Investigator, picked up her fountain pen to sign her name at the end of a final report that she and her associate, Billy Beale, had worked late to complete the night before.

It is Christmas Eve, 1931, in London, and Maisie Dobbs is walking down a city street. She sees a dirty, physically handicapped man sitting on the pavement, and there's something about the look on his face that makes her walk toward him to see if she can help.

The man detonates a bomb, killing himself and slightly wounding several others--including Maisie. In no time at all Maisie finds herself working with a special team out of Scotland Yard to discover the identity of a man who's sending very threatening letters to the Prime Minister. In a city filled with veterans of World War I who have been mentally disabled by their service but put out of hospitals with no pensions and no hopes of employment, Maisie is looking for a needle in a haystack. Somehow she manages to piece together a profile of the man sending the letters, but will they be able to find him before he carries out his threat?

The only writer outside of Jacqueline Winspear who I've found capable of putting me body and soul into this time period is Lyn Macdonald. Among the Mad can oftentimes be an upsetting book to read as Winspear describes a government which was completely comfortable using an entire generation of men as nothing but cannon fodder and then denying them the help, the employment and the pensions they so desperately needed--and earned. To a government that would say doing so would bankrupt the country, I would reply: hadn't the killing and maiming of hundreds of thousands of men already achieved that? As you can see, this book touched a nerve because history just keeps on repeating itself.

The time period isn't the real reason why I love these books, however. In fact, I have a friend who is also hooked on this series, and she doesn't care for the time period at all. You see, we both love Maisie Dobbs. In Among the Mad, the man writing those threatening letters explains it best:

She showed care. That is all I have asked for, these many years, that people are concerned, and that in their actions, they demonstrate care. It occurred to me that the woman did not wait for someone else to approach Ian. She did not ignore him. She walked toward him without looking in another direction. I noticed that. I have come to notice that people do not look at the Ians of this world, but instead turn their heads here and there.

If you want to be immersed in another time, read Winspear's series. If you want to solve intriguing mysteries, read Winspear's series. If you want to read about a woman who cares deeply...read Winspear's series.

The Keeper of Secrets by Judith Cutler

Title: The Keeper of Secrets
Author: Judith Cutler
ISBN: 9780749079123, Allison & Busby, 2008
Genre: Historical Mystery
Rating: B

First Line: I was musing on my future, seated in the room I had been kindly allocated in the east wing of Moreton Priory, when I heard the scream of terror.

Judith Cutler is one of my favorite writers, and I'm a bit puzzled as to why she's not more well known on this side of the pond. Her characterizations are often brilliant, she knows how to plot and to set a fine pace. She's even made me laugh countless times, so she's no stranger to humor.

Her series about young police officer Kate Powers shows how difficult it can be to juggle a personal life with a demanding career. Her series about an older police officer Fran Harman portrays a very caring woman toward the end of her career, and she's also written two laugh-out-loud funny books centering around Josie Welford, a middle-aged pub owner in the West Country. When I discovered that she'd written an historical mystery, I almost clicked my heels together in glee. I couldn't wait to see what Cutler could do in a different time period. She does a very fine job indeed with young Parson Tobias Campion in the spring of 1810.

Born to a life of wealth, Campion accepts a living in the small village of Moreton St. Jude, and his real education begins. His privileged childhood has not prepared him for the poverty in which he's surrounded. Fortunately he's guided by a fine cast of supporting characters: his childhood friend and (now) servant Jem, Edmund Hansard the local doctor, and the housekeeper of Moreton Priory, Mrs. Beckles. He is a sincere and quick learner which is a very good thing because things begin to happen. A poacher dies a suspicious death. A local aristocrat meets an untimely end, and Campion himself is viciously attacked. Just what is going on in Moreton St. Jude? What is the secret for which someone is so eager to kill?

Cutler once again has a marvelous cast with the lovable and naive Campion at the center surrounded by three stout hearts and true. The early nineteenth century comes to life under her pen, and her social commentary is in turns chilling and humorous. The only part of the book that was a letdown for me was the identity of the murderer. I don't consciously set out to figure out whodunit from the very first page. If I do figure it out, all well and good, but one phrase in The Keeper of Secrets leaped out at me, and everything fell into place way too early. I felt as though I'd stepped on the blade of a hoe and got whacked right between the eyes with the stick. Ouch.

That was a bit disappointing, but my championship of Judith Cutler is unchanged. I won't rest until I've read every single one of her books!

Review-- The Harper's Quine

Title: The Harper's Quine
Author: Pat McIntosh
ISBN: 9781845294618/ Robinson, 2008
Genre: Historical Mystery, #1 in the Gil Cunningham series
Rating: B+

First Line: At the May Day dancing at Glasgow Cross, Gilbert Cunningham saw not only the woman who was going to be murdered, but her murderer as well.

I am a fan of both historical mystery series and of mysteries set in Scotland. Many of the historical mystery series I've found are set in the eastern part of Scotland. Having more than a drop of Highland blood in my veins, I'm a firm proponent of the idea that there's more to Scotland than Edinburgh and its environs. As a result, I was thrilled when I found this mystery series set in fifteenth-century Glasgow.

Gil Cunningham is a newly qualified lawyer whose family expects him to join the priesthood. Although Gil likes the idea of practicing the law, he's not so sure about his vocation for the priesthood. During the May Day celebrations, Gil notices an attractive woman. Later that evening he stumbles upon her body in a building under construction at Glasgow Cathedral, and he's asked to investigate along with Maistre Pierre, a French master mason. The victim was the runaway wife of a cruel and unpleasant nobleman. She had left him to live with a blind harper to whom she bore an infant son. Will Gil be able to find her murderer?

Even though the book was filled with unpleasant people, the murderer's identity was rather easy for me to deduce. I didn't find myself caring much because McIntosh's skill in characterization and her richly appointed setting more than made up for that one small weakness. The Harper's Quine is an excellent beginning to this historical mystery series, and I'm looking forward to reading more.

Forgotten Books: Fidelis Morgan's Restoration World of Crime

If you enjoy a good historical mystery and have yet to have the pleasure of meeting the Countess Ashby de la Zouche and her maid, Alpiew, you're in for a treat. I've never understood why Fidelis Morgan's series of four mysteries set in Restoration London aren't popular. Say what you will about people not enjoying history, I know there are historical mystery fans out there, and they should love these.

Fidelis Morgan has a keen interest and knowledge of Restoration England, and it shines through her Countess Ashby de la Zouche mysteries. This series is one of the best I've read for placing the reader in the life and times of a particular era. But setting is not all in these books. The characters are wonderful, the plots involving, and the humor laugh-out-loud funny throughout.

There are four books in the series. Click on the cover of each to read more information about that book.

Unnatural Fire introduces us to the Countess and her household staff. A former mistress of the deceased King Charles II, the Countess has fallen on hard times and is forced to earn her living by reporting for a scandal sheet. A woman hires her to follow her unfaithful husband, and the Countess soon finds herself implicated in a murder.




The Rival Queens finds the Countess still being pursued by bailiffs wanting to collect on her debts. With the law hot on their heels, they hide in a lecture hall where an actress is murdered. The Countess and Alpiew now not only have to avoid the debt collectors, they have to find a murderer.






The Ambitious Stepmother is a woman who'll stop at nothing to get rid of her stepdaughter--including hiring the rather unreliable Countess as chaperone when sending the young girl off to the exiled English court at St. Germain outside Paris. The Countess and Alpiew find themselves unraveling plots against kings, tasting strange culinary eccentricities, and meeting mysterious prisoners from the Bastille.




Fortune's Slave is the fourth (and so far, final) book in the series. (I'll never give up hope!) For once the Countess has money to spare and, caught up in the current craze for speculating in stocks and shares, she decides to invest her money. Of course her path to greater riches is destined to be anything but smooth.






Speaking of speculation, there have been rumors that at least one of these books is going to be filmed in the UK. Given the right screenplay and casting, they would be absolutely marvelous. It's impossible to read about the Countess without visualizing each and every scene.

How much do I like Morgan's series? I became a member of Paperback Swap a few months ago and have been busily sending books to new homes. However, I will never send away the Countess and Alpiew. They have a permanent home on my shelves.

If you're looking for good books to read that have unaccountably flown beneath the radar, check out Patti Abbott's excellent weekly Forgotten Books series on her blog, Pattinase.