Category Archives: Historical Fiction

The Lighterman (Charles Holborne #3) by Simon Michael #Crime #HistFic @simonmichaeluk #FridayReads

Posted in Book Review, Books, Crime, Historical Fiction, Legal, Noir, Reading, Suspense, Thriller by
  • Author: Simon Michael
  • Published: June 2017 by Urbane Publications
  • Category: Historical Fiction, Crime, Thriller, Suspense, Books, Book Review, Reading

The Lighterman is the third book in the bestselling series of legal thrillers starring barrister Charles Holborne. Simon Michael’s follow up to the bestselling The Brief and An Honest Man, continues the adventures of criminal barrister Charles Holborne. 

A copy of The Lighterman came to me through a giveaway in conjunction with Matthew at Urbane Publications and Jo’s Book Blog. Not having read the first two books I was a little concerned, but happily there was enough back information woven into the story so that I didn’t feel confused at all or unable to follow the plot. 

The story opens with a short prologue going back to September 1940 and the blitz. Charles Horowitz along with his brother, David, and parents, Harry and Millie, live in the East End and are taking shelter from the bombs in the depths of the school. When one of the bombs lands too close for comfort the family risk a race across the playground and just make it before the school suffers a direct hit. The Horowitz’s are evacuated to Carmarthen but after four weeks Charles runs away, back to London where he spends his formative years as a Lighterman with his cousin, Izzy. Continue reading →

Wolfsangel (Bone Angel Trilogy #2) by Liza Perrat #Histfic #WWII #RBRT @LizaPerrat #TuesdayBookBlog

Posted in Book Review, Books, Historical Fiction, WWII by
  • Author: Liza Perrat
  • Published: October 2013 by Perrat Publishing
  • Category: Historical Fiction, WWII, Book Review, Books, Reading

Seven decades after German troops march into her village, Céleste Roussel is still unable to assuage her guilt.

1943. German soldiers occupy provincial Lucie-sur-Vionne, and as the villagers pursue treacherous schemes to deceive and swindle the enemy, Céleste embarks on her own perilous mission as her passion for a Reich officer flourishes.

We first meet Céleste Roussel as an elderly lady attending a memorial ceremony with the remaining survivors of their village, along with their families. The atrocities and personal losses of WWII still weigh heavily and as Céleste reads the engraved names she is assaulted by memories, the decisions she made, actions she took, the feelings of guilt and sorrow which never truly leave her. Her granddaughter now wears the bone angel talisman passed down through the women of her family for generations. Continue reading →

#ThrowbackThursday ~ Playing With Fire by @tessgerritsen #Historical #Contemporary #Audiobook

Posted in Audiobook, Book Review, Books, Contemporary Fiction, Historical Fiction, Reading, Throwback Thursday by

Renee at It’s Book Talk began this meme as a way to share old favourites, as well as books that were published over a year ago. Not to mention those that are languishing on the to be read pile for whatever reason.

This was my first Tess Gerritsen book and I enjoyed it very much. It was released as an audiobook in 2015 and performed brilliantly by Julia Whalen and Will Damron.  Continue reading →

Guest Post from #author Merryn Allingham #HistoricalFiction #BlogTour @MerrynWrites @HQstories

Posted in Blog Tour, Books, Guest Post, Historical Fiction, Mystery, Reading by

For my stop on the blog tour I’m delighted to welcome Merryn Allingham with her guest post ~ The English Country House

The English country house was at its most popular in the 19th and early 20thcenturies. It was where wealthy and aristocratic families retired once the London season came to an end. The First World War is often seen as the moment when the English country house began its sharp decline but with the outbreak of the Second World War in September, 1939, the last remaining vestiges of country house living disappeared. 

When war broke out, houses all over the country were commandeered by the Government, some for training, others for offices or research centres. The least popular option for owners was to house soldiers – and with good reason. A number of country houses were destroyed by military occupation, their interiors hacked about to make different accommodation and several burned to the ground because of carelessness. There were stories of panelling chopped up for use as kindling and jeeps being raced along wide corridors. In The Secret of Summerhayes, Alice Summer, now an old lady, is confined to a small attic apartment while the mansion she once called home is battered and scarred by military occupation. Continue reading →

Secrets: In the Shadows Lurks the Truth by Judith Barrow #ShortStories @barrow_judith #histfic

Posted in Book Review, Books, Historical Fiction, Reading, Short Stories by
  • Author: Judith Barrow
  • Kindle Edition published June 2017
  • Category: Short Stories, Historical, Fiction, Book Review, Books, Reading

Ashford, home of the Howarth family, is a gritty northern mill town, a community of no-nonsense Lancashire folk, who speak their minds and are quick to judge. But how many of them are hiding secrets that wouldn’t stand up to the scrutiny of others?

This is a wonderful collection of short stories, focussing on characters from Judith Barrow’s Howarth family trilogy and giving a brief but heartfelt glimpse into some of their lives, pre saga. Including situations and misfortunes, some of which were brought about by the restrictions and expectations of the time, unmarried women who have no choice but to give up their baby and the cruelty meted out to a conscientious objector to name just a couple. Others which are sadly still relevant today, namely the victims of incest and rape.  Continue reading →

#ThrowbackThursday ~ Two Rivers (The Great Peacemaker Series #1) #HistFic #NativeAmerican

Posted in Book Review, Books, Historical Fiction, Native American, Reading, Throwback Thursday by

Renee at It’s Book Talk began this meme as a way to share old favourites, as well as books that were published over a year ago. Not to mention those that are languishing on the to be read pile for whatever reason.

This week I’m revisiting one of Zoe Saadia’s books ~ Two Rivers, the first of the Great Peacemaker series.  Continue reading →

Fatal Coin ~ A Dan Foster Mystery by Lucienne Boyce #HistFic #Spotlight #Extract @BrookCottageBks

Posted in Books, Extract, Historical Fiction, Reading, Spotlight by

Genre: Historical fiction

Series: A Dan Foster Mystery

Release Date:

16 May 2017

Publisher: S Books

In the winter of 1794 Bow Street Runner and amateur pugilist Dan Foster is assigned to guard a Royal Mail coach. The mission ends in tragedy when a young constable is shot dead by a highwayman calling himself Colonel Pepper. Dan is determined to bring Pepper to justice, but the trail runs cold.

Four months later Dan is sent to Staffordshire to recover a recently excavated hoard of Roman gold which has gone missing. Here he unexpectedly encounters Colonel Pepper again. The hunt is back on, and this time Dan will risk his life to bring down Pepper and his gang.

The Fatal Coin is a prequel to Bloodie Bones, the first Dan Foster Mystery, which was joint winner of the Historical Novel Society Indie Award 2016.

Continue reading →

The Constant Soldier by William Ryan #WWII #HistoricalFiction @WilliamRyan_ #TuesdayBookBlog

Posted in Book Review, Books, Historical Fiction, History, Reading, WWII by
  • Author: William Ryan
  • Published: This edition, June 2017 by Pan
  • Category: WWII, Historical Fiction, Books, Reading

The pain woke him up. He was grateful for it. The train had stopped and somewhere, up above them, the drone of aircraft engines filled the night sky. He could almost remember her smile . . . It must be the morphine . . . He had managed not to think about her for months now.

It’s 1944 and Paul Brandt, a German soldier, horrifically wounded and returning from the front, is on a hospital train bound for recuperation, convalescence and finally, home and his father. The village he had left years before, and the people, were not the same.  By the same token, neither was Paul. His experiences have left him demoralised and guilt ridden. Continue reading →

Dark Clouds Over Nuala by Harriet Steel #HistFic @harrietsteel1 #RBRT #FridayReads 1930s Ceylon

Posted in Book Review, Books, Cozy Mystery, Historical Fiction, Murder/Mystery, Reading by
  • Author: Harriet Steel
  • Published: May 2017 by Stane Street Press
  • Category: Cozy Murder/Mystery, Historical Fiction, Book Review, Books, Reading

Set in Ceylon in the 1930s, this second book in the Inspector de Silva Mysteries offers another colourful, relaxing read as the arrival in the hill town of Nuala of the heir to an English earldom signals more trouble for the hapless Inspector de Silva and a new mystery to solve. Throw in a mega-rich Romanian count, his glamorous countess and an enigmatic British army officer and the scene is set for an entertaining mystery. 

Inspector Shanti de Silva and his English wife, Jane, were attending Nuala’s very fashionable horse racing event, the Empire Cup, along with the assistant government agent, Archie Clutterbuck and his wife, Florence. William and Lady Caroline Petrie, were also in attendance with visiting family. The Wynne-Talbots, Ralph and Helen, were on their way from Australia, via Ceylon, to England to visit Ralph’s grandfather. Ralph is in line for the title of the 14th Earl of Axford and as his grandfather is not in the best of health, it seems he may inherit the title sooner rather than later. Continue reading →

#CoverReveal ~ A Shape on the Air ~ Julia Ibbotson #Histfic Time Slip #Romance @BrookCottageBks #Giveaway

Posted in Books, Cover Reveal, Giveaway, Historical Fiction, Romance, Time Slip by

 

Genre:  historical time slip romance

Release Date: 28th July 2017

Publisher: Endeavour Press

Pre-Order link: AMAZON 

Two women 1500 years apart. One need: to save the world they know. Can they help each other to achieve their greatest desire? And what if that world they want is not the one that’s best for them?  University lecturer in medieval studies, Dr Viv Dulac, is devastated when her partner walks out (and with her best friend too!) and threatens her home.  Drunk and desperate, her world quite literally turns upside down and she finds herself in the body of the fifth century Lady Vivianne, who is struggling with the shifting values of the Dark Ages and her forced betrothal to the brutish Sir Pelleas who is implicated in the death of her parents. Haunted by both Lady Vivianne and by Viv’s own parents’ death and legacy, can Viv unravel the web of mystery that surrounds and connects their two lives, and bring peace to them both? A haunting story of lives intertwining across the ages, of the triumph of the human spirit and of dreams lost and found.

Continue reading →