Book Beginnings on Friday September 20, 2013 - A Disappearance in Drury Lane by Ashley Gardner

Book Beginnings on Friday is a meme hosted by Gilion at Rose City Reader. Anyone can participate; just share the opening sentence of your current read, making sure that you include the title and author so others know what you're reading.

My Book Beginning this week is from A Disappearance in Drury Lane ( a Captain Lacey Regency Mystery) by Ashley Gardner.  Today is the release date so it is hot off of the eBook press.  I pre-ordered the book and got the email telling me it had been sent to my Kindle this morning.  We are all getting the book beginnig on the same day.  For those of you who do not know Ashley Gardner is a pen name Jennifer Ashley.  

A Disappearance in Drury Lane 

Chapter One

"Late December 1817

Marianne Simmons came to me on a cold December day when I was packing away my old life in order to begin my new."

The Captain Lacey Regency Mystery series is one that started in print and was discontinued by the publisher.  When Jennifer Ashley got the rights back she published them in eBook form along with a book she had written before the series was canceled.  They sold so well that she has written additional books (there are eight in all) in the series.  A Disappearance in Drury Lane is the latest.  The Hanover Square Affair (Book One) is .99 at Amazon.  If you like Historical Mysteries give it a try.  The prices for all the books in the series range for .99 to 2.99.  I love the series and hope some of you give it a try.

 

Teaser Tuesday August 13, 2013

Hunter and the turtle.  Who is teasing who?

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:"

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My teaser today if from Glamour in Glass by Mary Robinette Kowal.  This is the second book in a mystery series set in a slightly different Regency Period.  Here there is magic and glamour which a talented person can use to make illusions that look and feel real.  Here is the teaser:

"Because!  You move your hands here"--she waved her hands in front of her in a pattern that could not have produced any sensible expression of glamour--"to create something over here!"  She hopped to the left, nearly toppling over with the movement of the ship."  page 66

I am enjoying the series.  The mystery builds slowly and each book adds to the world building and the character development.  Pick one up if you like what I call gently mysteries.

Waiting on Wednesday (WOW) March 21, 2012

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

I am waiting on The Cocoa Conspiracy: A Lady Arianna Regency Mystery by Andrea Penrose.  Here is what Goodreads says about The Cocoa Conspiracy:

Chocolate mixed with conspiracy is a recipe for death…

Lady Arianna Hadley, now the Countess of Saybrook, is slowly settling into married life with her new husband, the Earl of Saybrook. To celebrate his birthday, she finds the perfect gift——a rare volume of botanical engravings on Theobroma cacao, or chocolate . . . but she is forced to fight off a mysterious stranger who tries to steal it away from her.

The incident is forgotten until Arianna and Saybrook are asked to attend a gathering of international dignitaries at a country estate, where she is shocked to discover that her erstwhile assailant is among the guests. But other events quickly prove even more ominous. And when the chocolate book yields a bitter surprise, someone they hold dear is incriminated in a plot to betray Great Britain at the upcoming Peace Congress in Vienna.

Murder, treason, money, power. Once again, Arianna and Saybrook find themselves drawn into a deadly web of international intrigue. To unmask the real traitor, they journey to Vienna where amidst the seductive pomp and pageantry of Europe’s reigning royalty they must root out a cunning conspiracy—armed only with their wits and their expertise in chocolate…   

The Sleeping Partner by Madeleine E. Robins

Alternate History/Regency Mystery

The Sleeping Partner is the third in the Sarah Tolerance Mystery series and I think the best story yet.  This is another series a publisher decided not to continue after the first two books.  Fortunately the series and Miss Tolerance found a new home.

"It is a truth, universally acknowledged, that a Fallen Woman of Good Family must, soon or late, descend to Whoredom."

Miss Tolerance is a Fallen Woman but she is not going to descend to Whoredom.  She has chosen to be an Agent of Inquiry and she has a lot to contend with in The Sleeping Partner. There is a missing girl, an unexpected reunion with the family that disowned her, the strange behavior of her aunt and then there is her friendship with Sir Walter Mandif.  All add up to an engrossing story.  It is fun to move with Miss Tolerance through all the different levels of London, see the rules that are followed and the different characters that live in this period. 

Madeleine Robins has used a slightly changed history in writing the Sarah Tolerance Mysteries.  Most things have stayed the same but some of the politics and people have followed slightly different paths.

You can read this as a stand-alone. The characters drop small hints about the back-story to keep you from being lost but it would be better to start with Point of Honor and Petty Treason.

Plus One Press published The Sleeping Partner by Madeleine E. Robins in 2011.

Click here to see my post on Point of Honor.

http://mixedbookbag.blogspot.com/2011/02/point-of-honour-by-madeleine-e-robins.html

The Hanover Square Affair, A Captain Lacey Regency Mystery – Book 1 by Ashley Gardner

Mystery

I have discovered a great new to me Regency mystery series.  The Hanover Square Affair is the first book in the series and is a .99 feature available for the Barnes and Noble Nook and Amazon Kindle.  This is a limited time offer so if you like mysteries buy it now.

Captain Lacey is a long time Army cavalry officer who is back in London on half-pay.  He has lost his purpose in life, has little money, a bad leg, and suffers from a deep melancholy.  He walks that boundary between the upper and lower classes in England.  He is a gentleman who has no money but does have acquaintances (he says he has no friends) in both classes.  When he intervenes in an altercation between a cavalry unit and a man who says that his daughter was kidnapped and taken to the home of a prominent man his life takes a turn in a new and dangerous direction.

The plot in The Hanover Square Affair is good; the pacing is great, the characters are interesting and the background is fascinating.  In addition to a good mystery The Hanover Square Affair introduces a large number of secondary characters.  While they are secondary in The Hanover Square Affair they look like they could be important in future books.   All in all this is a great start to a mystery series.  

Ashley Gardner is an established and accomplished author who knows how to tell just enough to keep you reading while still leaving you wanting to find out more.  According to her web site each month another of the Captain Lacey books will be released as an ebook.  All of the other books that have been released as ebooks are priced at 1.99.  I have already purchased the second book, A Regimental Murder.  It is a big plus that I do not have to wait for the next book.

Ashley Gardner is a pen name for Jennifer Ashley.  I found two copyright dates for The Hanover Square Affair, one for 2003 and the second for 2011.  There is no publisher listed for the ebook edition of The Hanover Square Affair.  

Point of Honour by Madeleine E. Robins

Regency Mystery

I found the recommendation for Point of Honour and Petty Treason by Madeleine E. Robins on John Hemry’s web site when I was looking for information about his upcoming Black Jack Geary book.  When I went to Amazon to purchase I found that Point of Honour released in 2003 was out of print, and Petty Treason released in 2006 was the only other book listed in the series.    After doing some research I was happy to find the following posted 02-02-2011 on Madeleine's Live Journal. 

“Sold to Jacqueline Smay at Plus One Press in a nice deal, The Sleeping Partner: a Sarah Tolerance Mystery. To be published Autumn, 2011.”

Like the Sebastian St. Cyr Mysteries, Point of Honour is set in the Regency Period and has a touch of romance to go with the mystery.  However, it is missing the trademark HEA of a Regency Romance.  Madeleine Robins has also chosen to change some of the history of the period and explains those changes in A Note of History and Thanks in the back of Point of Honour.

Sarah Tolerance is the main character in Point of Honour.  Sarah ran away with her fencing master when she was sixteen, lived with him until he died but they never got around to getting married.  As a result she is a Fallen Woman.  To quote Madeleine Robins “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a Fallen Woman of good family must, soon or late, descend to whoredom.”  Sarah chooses to make a life for herself outside of that expectation.   Upon returning to England after the death of her fencing master she becomes an Agent of Inquiry instead of a courtesan.  She uses her skill with a pistol and sword as well as her sharp mind to become a private investigator known for being discreet.  Because of her background she can “float between social layers, unearth secrets, find thing that were lost, and lose thing too dangerous to be kept.”    As Point of Honour opens Sarah has finished a case where a wife who holds the purse strings hires Sarah to find out where her husband is hiding his latest indiscretions using her money.

Sarah’s next case starts when The Earl of Versellion asks her to find a Italian fan that was given by his Father to his mistress 20 years ago.  What Sarah uncovers leads to murder and betrayal.  Look for more than a few twists and turns as the story progresses.  Point of Honour is a great start to a series.   Madeline Robins has taken a slice of Regency England, filled it with great characters, a wonderful plot and many possibilities for future novels. 

TOR published Point of Honour by Madeleine E. Robins in 2003.

Point of Honour is out of print.  I purchased it used through Amazon.

What Angels Fear by C.S. Harris

Historical Mystery

What Angels Fear starts off looking like a typical Regency Romance but quickly becomes a mystery. The manners and society of the era are worked into the lives of the characters.

What Angels Fear is the first book in a five book series. I loved the main character, Sebastian St Cyr, Viscount Devlin. When he finds himself accused of murder he calls on skills he used in the Napoleonic Wars. Knowing he will be convicted unless he finds the evidence to clear himself, he disappears into the London underworld. Using a group of friends and allies he works to uncover the truth.

The fact that I like to read Regency Romances increased my enjoyment of What Angels Fear. This was a different outlook on a world I had already visited many times. I am looking forward to reading the other books in the series. (More books for my TBR pile).

Penguin published What Angels Fear by C.S. Harris in 2006.

C.S. Harris writes historical romances as Candice Proctor.

I purchased What Angels Fear from Amazon.