eyes.2c Reviews

A Season for Justice  (Justice Belstrang Mysteries #3) by John Pilkington         ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Great Comet appeared in   September 6th, 1618. Said to be an omen by many, ex Justice Belstrang just might agree. Disturbing news is coming out of Bohemia. (King James’ daughter is married to the ruler of Bohemia) At home, a simple request to visit an old sick friend turns into a tale of theft, graft, corruption, and treason. A side burden for Belstrang, is the rumored likelihood of King James requesting his property Thirldon to gift to a favorite. Shocking! Being an ex magistrate has given Belstrang time to wander off in other directions of enquiry, which always seems to end in danger. After all this is the time of the great comet! This last in the series, sees Belstrang confront danger, hardship and more with his usual impulsiveness.   A fitting conclusion to these last few years of Belstrang’s life that began in 1616 with his chronicling of his Year of ...

A Hunt for Justice  (Justice Belstrang Mysteries #2) by John Pilkington        ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ It’s a sorry time in Worcester. The young daughter of a powerful landowner has been found drowned in the local witching pool, and a midwife, Agnes Mason has been imprisoned, charged with witchcraft. Former magistrate Belstrang is implored by Agnes’ family to intervene, even as the local preacher rails against the servants of satan. We do wonder if Agnes is more than she seems. Once again Pilkington brings together the age and times,  its  superstitions and practices, and woven all into a twisted mystery. I’m loving Pilkington’s writing! A Boldwood Books ARC via NetGalley.                                               Many thanks to the author and publisher. Please note: Quotes taken from an advanced reading copy maybe subject to change.

A Dangerous Justice  (Justice Belstrang Mysteries #1) by John Pilkington          ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1616, King James is on the throne. Times might be more relaxed but men must be vigilant.  Plots and counter plots attend an innocent inquiry made by Belstrang’s neighbor in Worcester. He’s  been asked by a papist neighbor to journey to London to discover what has happened to his son Thomas. Reluctant to do so, nevertheless he departs and goes to London. He will make enquires, visit his daughter and son-in-law (a man he has little time for) and return. That was his thought! By the time he’s halfway through he has discovered plots that throw innocents to the wolves, justice sorely lacking, himself thrown into Debtor’s prison, and so much more. It’s the ten year anniversary of the gunpowder plot. The population is nervous. Pilkington’s writing is accessible, describes the times accurately, whilst weaving a deft and accessible mystery I found myself unable to...

The Book of Lost Children  by Jenny O'Brien       ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The islands of Guernsey were occupied by the Nazis during World War II. The population suffered and were under the yoke of an unforgiving invader. Evelyn Nightingale lost the love of her life, Joseph in the early days of the war. Through a series of happenings she’s now  nursing (not registered) at the  Emergency Hospital in Câtel. It’s here she meets the pregnant collaborator Marise and her friend Camille. Marise is having a child to an SS officer. An angry man who wants his unborn child to be sent back to Germany to become a child of the Reich. Why these things happen are never straightforward. Unerlieutenant Jannick Klein is a dreadful man. He has the habit of beating his women when they didn’t please him. Evelyn is determined to help thwart him. Fast forward to Dublin of 2018 and we have Kitty White, an antiques and second hand dealer, buying  a  violin from a woman off the streets. It...

Rebellious Grace  (King’s Fool Mystery #3) by Jeri Westerson     ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The perilous life of Henry VIII‘s court jester Will Somers continues to be complex. Will himself is both discerning, convoluted and endearing. Will’s devotion to Henry and the Princesses Mary and Elizabeth is real. His struggles with the love he has for Marion his wife and for Nicholas Patchett, Lord Hammond. A quandary! He loves them both and yet he has said to Marion he will stay true to his love for her, not love his paramours. Ahh! Will is a torn man. Geoffrey Payne, a courtier close to Queen Jane (Seymour) has been brutally killed, buried and then dug up again and his body disembowelled. Will has declared he will find the murderer. We are led down an intricate path, part of which includes Queen Jane’s fool, Janie Foole.  Westerson’s note on the role of fools is fascinating reading. I enjoyed Will’s interactions with the Windsor Herald of Arms in Ordinary, Charles Wriothesley,  an o...

Death Comes in Threes  (A Bloody Mary Tudor Mystery #9) by Michael Jecks     ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️    Ah Jack! Our beloved, narcissistic opportunist, devoted mostly to his own survival.  Because Jack does have his moments of wanting to be more than he is. Alas those moments are few and always end up differently to how he planned. His latest misadventures takes up sixteen parts veering between Jack’s point of view and John Blount’s chronicles. Queen Mary is supposedly pregnant and spymasters serving Mary, Elizabeth and Philip are plotting, weaving plans for what comes next. Even those on the same side are confusing each other as they move their  strategies forward in  secret. And our unlikely, somewhat loveable anti hero Black Jack is caught between them all. Jack’s accused of murdering three people, of course all is happenstance. When he innocently tries to clear himself he trips over so many plots it makes his head spin, which he’s doing already due to the...

Betrayal at Blackthorn Park  (Evelyne Redfern #2) by Julia Kelly         ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 Much as I like the exploits of Evelyne Redfern and David Poole this was just a bit bland. Heaps of happenings but I felt bogged down in the chase to discover what the murdered engineer Sir Nigel Balram had been looking for. Evelyne and David are sent to a very secret dirty tricks location in Sussex looking for something out of the ordinary when an apparent suicide turns up. Their orders change somewhat. David was supposed to be handling Evelyne’s assignment. Working out what happened was straight from one of my fav English detective novels The culprit is finally trapped down. No surprise! However we are left dangling on a cliff’s edge as the next adventure is anticipated  So, despite the not quite up to par of the first in the series I’m anxious to see what happens next. An enjoyable read nonetheless. A St Martin’s Press ARC via NetGalley.           ...

City of Woe  (Simon Merrivale Mystries #6) by A J MacKenzie            ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Oh my! I’m besotted with King’s Messanger Simon Merrivale and his quests. He’s ordered to Florence. He has a Florentine banking house in his sights. King Edward charges Simon to find the money missing from the treasury, and to place the english Bishop of Dorchester, Henry Stapleton, on the papal throne in Rome in direct opposition to the French Pope Clement VI in Avignon. It’s time for France’s power, including papal, to cease. The main action is in Florence with the famous houses of history dropping from the lips like the Medici’s—the new men at this stage.  I must admit description of frescoes, art works, triptychs, pietas in Florence and Pisa stirred my blood. It all sounds wonderful. Mackenzie takes you there! The mixing of paints from crushed precious stones, the colours and application—all stunning descriptions There’s plots and counterplots, betrayals and lov...

Sun Ascendant  (Tarnished Crown #2 ) by C.F. Dunn     ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The fight for who will be King of England continues. Isabel, now ensconced in the Earl’s Keep is surrounded by enemies, including the Countess Felice, and has few friends, no one to protect her. The Earl is off fighting with King Edward, arraigned against the Earl of Warwick, the Duke of Clarence, and their allies. She’s still mistress to the man who took her. Unknown to all, she’s pregnant to the Earl’s brother, Robert Langdon. Her son is her life and she’s desperate to keep him safe.  She learns a terrible secret, flees back to her lands, and fights to death’s door for all she loves. War is bloody, brutal and unforgiving. To the winner goes the spoils. Women and children are as always caught in the middle, powerless and dependent upon their wits. When that fails? The War of the Roses story continues despite the pain, deceit and brutality that is unlocked. After all a crown is the prize. I recommend...

Wheel of Fortune  (Tarnished Crown #1) by C.F. Dunn   ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ It’s a time when British King’s are uncertain, gathering together loyal troops. King Edward IV of York is besieged on all sides. The War of the Roses is nigh. The story is a veritable who’s who. Lady Isabel Fenton is the daughter of Geoffrey Fenton. She’s  promised to Thomas Lacey. The Lacey family is a whirlpool of misdirection and underhandedness. Fenton owes his allegiance to the Langton Earl who in turn serves Edward, and the Lacey’s?? An independent young woman Isobel has been tutored in French and Latin. She can read and write. She’s sent by her father to the Earl to be in his guardianship until Thomas Lacey returns from France. There’s a secret surrounding Isobel’s mother. The Earl sees her and it seems remembers someone. Basically he rapes her and takes her for his mistress.  Isabel through no fault of hers earns the Earl’s wife and Countess Felice’s enmity. Isobel has feelings for the Earl’s bro...

Dangerous Times on Dressmakers' Alley  by Rosie Clarke      ⭐️⭐️⭐️ A relatively interesting story set in the early 1920’s referencing the women’s suffragette movement, sweatshop working conditions for seamstresses, and women being trafficked. Winnie Brown, who’s part of the freedom movement, decides to look at the happenings at Madame Pauline’s, a shonky dress production establishment that treats its seamstresses abominably, on Dressmaker’s Alley in London’s East End. The women are given pittance wages, a 10-12 hour working day, no lunch break and short, infrequent toilet times. They are bullied and harassed. Then there’s the stairs that lead to the closed off attic.  It’s in this area she meets Sam Collins, a cobbler with his own shop nearby. Sam’s sister Susie, as it happens, is the Dresser and personal maid to Lady Dianne Cooper, husband to Sir Henry Cooper. Sir Henry it appears owns the building where Madame Pauline’s is housed. He is completely unaware of a...

The Phoenix Bride : A Novel  by Natasha Siegel     ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Don’t get me wrong, I love a good historical novel. When I first picked this up I just wasn’t in the mood, for something quite as deep. So I read a few lighter novels and then returned. I’m so glad I went back. The story has it all, illicit love, tragedy and rebirth. I loved the sound premise to this story. Set in 1666 London. Time of the Restoration of the Stuart monarchy and King Charles. Cecilia Thorowgood’s husband has died of the plague. Cecilia is distraught. She’s suffers various doctors paraded before her trying to cure her of melancholy. David Mendes is a physician come Portugal, now living in a Jewish neighbourhood in Aldegate.  He has been asked to treat Cecilia.  The story extends into a burgeoning friendship between Cecelia and David,  Cecilia’s increasing fear of entrapment, a  proposal of marriage from her sister’s husband’s nephew, her growing love for David, his fear of the ...