The Mobster’s Lament (The City Blues Quartet #3) by Ray Celestin #Historical #CrimeFiction set in 1940s New York #TuesdayBookBlog

Posted in Audiobook, Book Review, Crime, Historical Fiction by Cathy

Performed by Christopher Ragland

Published: March 2019 by Whole Story Audiobooks

Category: Historical Fiction, Crime, Suspense, Thriller, Private Detective, Audiobook, Book Review

Fall, 1947. New York City.

Private Investigator Ida Davis has been called to New York by her old partner, Michael Talbot, to investigate a brutal killing spree in a Harlem flophouse that has left four people dead. But as they delve deeper into the case, Ida and Michael realize the murders are part of a larger conspiracy that stretches further than they ever could have imagined.

I really enjoyed the first two books in the series—The Axeman’s Jazz & Dead Man’s Blues—and The Mobster’s Lament was no exception. Set in post war New York where private investigator Ida Davies arrives to help her old friend and mentor, ex Pinkerton Michael Talbot.

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16May2019

#ThrowbackThursday ~ Dead Man’s Blues by Ray Celestin #HistoricalFiction set in 1920s Chicago #Gangsters

Posted in Audiobook, Book Review, Crime, Fiction, Historical, Throwback Thursday by Cathy

Ahead of my review for the third book in the City Blues Quartet, The Mobster’s Lament, I’m revisiting the second instalment, Dead Man’s Blues, a historical novel based on fact. It was released in audio format in August 2016 by Wholestory Audiobooks and narrated superbly by Christopher Ragland.

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25Apr2019

The Inheritance (The Guernsey Novels #7) by @AnneAllen21 ~ Dual Timeline #Contemporary #Historical

Posted in Book Review, Contemporary, Dual Time Line, Fiction, Historical, Romance by Cathy

Author: Anne Allen

Published: April 2019 by Sarnia Press

Category: Historical, Contemporary, Dual Timeline, Romance, Book Review

1862 Young widow Eugénie is left bereft when her husband dies suddenly and faces an uncertain future in Guernsey.

2012 Doctor Tess Le Prevost, Guernsey born though now living in Exeter, is shocked to inherit her Great-Aunt’s house on the island.

The Inheritance is a well written and intriguing story that includes accurate historical details as well as a dual timeline.

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4Mar2019

#Spotlight & #Extract ~ Displaced by Tony Halker ~ Pre #History Literary #Fiction @tonyhalker

Posted in Book Related, Extract, Historical, Literary Fiction, Prehistoric, Spotlight by Cathy

~ About The Book ~

In a landscape of pre-history, a time of ancestor worship, young Druid priests Owayne and Nial, are tasked to travel and learn all they can of rite and rule in a world of competing tribes, unsettling technologies and priest power.

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20Nov2018

A Keeper by Graham Norton ~ Contemporary/Historical Fiction & Family Drama set in Ireland @grahnort #TuesdayBookBlog

Posted in Audiobook, Book Review, Contemporary Fiction, Family, Historical, Historical Fiction by Cathy

Author: Graham Norton

Narrated by Graham Norton

Released: October 2018 by Hodder & Stoughton

Category: Fiction, Contemporary, Historical, Family Drama, Book Review

The mystery of Elizabeth Keane’s father is one that has never been solved by the people of Buncarragh – not for lack of speculation.

Now, as Elizabeth returns to the village after her mother’s funeral, bringing with her own regrets and wounds, she finds a thin pile of ribbon-bound letters at the back of a wardrobe that may at last hold the key to her past.

It was the first week in January and Elizabeth Keane had flown from New York to Buncarragh after the death of her mother. Someone had to put her affairs in order and, while Elizabeth didn’t have particularly fond memories of Buncarragh, she felt guilty knowing she’d been all her mother had.

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12Nov2018

The Lost Letters by Sarah Mitchell ~ Dual Timeline #Family #Saga reviewed for #RBRT @SarahM_writer @Bookouture

Posted in Book Review, Contemporary Fiction, Dual Time Line, Family Saga, Historical by Cathy

Author: Sarah Mitchell

Published: August 2018 by Bookouture

Category: Contemporary, Historical, Fiction, Dual Timeline, Book Review

Norfolk, 1940: Sylvia’s husband Howard has gone off to war, and she is struggling to raise her two children alone. Her only solace is her beach hut in Wells-Next-The-Sea, and her friendship with Connie, a woman she meets on the beach. The two women form a bond that will last a lifetime, and Sylvia tells Connie something that no-one else knows: about a secret lover… and a child.

Canada, present day: When Martha’s beloved father dies, he leaves her two things: a mysterious stash of letters to an English woman called ‘Catkins’ and directions to a beach hut in the English seaside town of Wells. Martha is at a painful crossroads in her own life, and seizes this chance for a trip to England – to discover more about her family’s past, and the identity of her father’s secret correspondent. Continue reading →

24Aug2018

The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris ~ Historical Fiction based on a true story #WWII #Holocaust #FridayReads

Posted in Based on a True Story, Historical, Holocaust, Love Story, WWII by Cathy

Author: Heather Morris

Published: January 2018 by Zaffre

Category: Historical Fiction based on a true story, Love Story, WWII, Auschwitz, Holocaust, Book Review

The incredible story of the Auschwitz-Birkenau tattooist and the woman he loved.

Lale Sokolov is well-dressed, a charmer, a ladies’ man. He is also a Jew. On the first transport from Slovakia to Auschwitz in 1942, Lale immediately stands out to his fellow prisoners. In the camp, he is looked up to, looked out for, and put to work in the privileged position of Tätowierer– the tattooist – to mark his fellow prisoners, forever. One of them is a young woman, Gita, who steals his heart at first glance.

The Tattooist of Auschwitz is incredibly powerful and moving, all the more so for being the true story of Lale and Gita Sokolov.

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29Jun2018

The Red Hand Of Fury by @rnmorris ~ Historical Crime Fiction #GuestPost #Extract & #Giveaway @rararesources

Posted in Crime, Extract, Fiction, Giveaway, Historical by Cathy

Welcome to my stop on Rachel’s Random Resources blog tour for The Red Hand Of Fury. We have a guest post, extract and giveaway, but before I hand you over to R.N. Morris, who is going to introduce the main character, here’s a little about the book.

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5Jun2018

Runaway by @authorpetermay ~ Dual TimeLine #HistoricalFiction #TuesdayBookBlog

Posted in Audiobook, Book Review, Crime, Historical, Murder, Mystery by Cathy

Author: Peter May

Performed by Peter Forbes

Released: December 2014 on Audible by Quercus

Category: Mystery, Murder, Crime, Historical, Audiobook, Book Review

In 1965, five teenage friends fled Glasgow for London to pursue their dream of musical stardom. Yet before year’s end three returned, and returned damaged. In 2015, a brutal murder forces those three men, now in their sixties, to journey back to London and finally confront the dark truth they have run from for five decades.

Beginning with a murder in 2015, both murderer and victim’s identities initially unknown, it forces three friends to face the events that determined the path their lives would take fifty years ago.

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1May2018

Entry Island by @authorpetermay ~ Complex and Emotional Dual Timeline #MurderMystery #Historical #TuesdayBookBlog

Posted in Book Review, Contemporary Fiction, Historical, Murder, Mystery, Romance by Cathy

Author: Peter May

Performed by Peter Forbes

Released on Audible: December 2013 by Quercus

Category: Historical, Contemporary, Murder, Mystery, Romance, Book Review

When Detective Sime Mackenzie boards a light aircraft at Montreal’s St. Hubert airfield, he does so without looking back. For Sime, the 850-mile journey ahead represents an opportunity to escape the bitter blend of loneliness and regret that has come to characterise his life in the city.

Travelling as part of an eight-officer investigation team, Sime’s destination lies in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Only two kilometres wide and three long, Entry Island is home to a population of around 130 inhabitants – the wealthiest of which has just been discovered murdered in his home.