Keep Calm and Read On: The Mitford Murder Series by Jessica Fellowes

 

Title: The Mitford Murder Series

Author: Jessica Fellowes

Published 2018 - 2021

Still missing Downton Abbey? Look no further than the Mitford Murders Series by Jessica Fellowes.  She is the niece of Julian Fellowes, the creator of Downton Abbey. Jessica wrote the companion books to Downton Abbey. The Mitford Murder Mysteries are Downton Abbey meets Agatha Christie. There is lots of period detail including fashions, jewelry, politics, and the hierarchical nature of society The stories are based on true unsolved murders during the 1920s, as well as the real-life Mitford family.

The first book, The Mitford Murders (2018) is set in 1920 when a nurse, who is the goddaughter of Florence Nightingale, is murdered on a train in broad daylight. The Mitfords and Louisa are on the same train.  In the first book Louisa Cannon becomes the nursemaid to the Mitford family living in Ashtall Manor in Oxfordshire England. Louisa has lived in poverty with an abusive uncle who bullies her into crime. Louisa looks for a way out of her miserable situation and finds her way to Ashtall Manor. Louisa Cannon starts as a nursemaid and moves up steadily until in the 4th book she is a lady’s maid. Louisa is also very observant and curious finding herself looking for clues to solve the murder mystery.

The second book, Bright Young Dead (2019), is set during Pamela Mitford’s 18th birthday party where they have a treasure hunt. These treasure hunts are all the rage with the young at the time and one of the young aristocratic guests is killed. This is a real locked-room murder.

Third book, The Mitford Scandal (2020), is set during 1928 and involves the death of a maid during an engagement party for Diana Mitford and Bryan Guinness. Bryan Guinness is the son of the Guinness beer manufacturing family.

The fourth book, The Mitford Trial (2021), takes place on an ocean crossing where another man who is a member of high society is killed and is filled with intrigue, affairs and betrayal.

Michaelle S.

Popular Materials Asst. 

Keep Calm and Read On: Royal Spyness Series by Rhys Bowen

 Royal Spyness by Rhys Bowen                                                                           FIC Bowen                                                                                                       First Published: 2007

In this special series, our librarians are introducing you to more series and authors that keep them reading long into the night. In this post, one of our librarians talks about one of her favorite series: Royal Spyness by Rhys Bowen.

    This series is my go-to when I'm in the mood for something light, amusing, and with just a touch of intrigue.  The main character is Lady Victoria Georgiana Charlotte Eugenie, cousin to King George V of England, and affectionately known to all as "Georgie."  When the reader meets Georgie, we learn that she is penniless and struggling to survive on her own as an "average" person in London in 1932.  Throughout the next 14 novels, we follow Georgie's adventures, meet her friends, watch her trying to stay financially afloat, and dreaming of love and marriage.  Georgie valiantly carries on, despite bodies showing up with disturbing regularity and threats of royal scandals constantly brewing. 

Michaelle S.                                                                                           Popular Materials Asst. 

Her Royal Spyness (Book 1)

Lady Victoria Georgiana Charlotte Eugenie, daughter to the Duke of Atholt and Rannoch, is 34th in line to the throne. She grew up in Scotland at the Castle of Rannoch which is very isolated, cold, and boring. When her brother cuts off her allowance and Georgiana’s relationship with her sister-in-law becomes impossible, she leaves for London. In London the need to earn some income leads her to work behind a cosmetics counter—and she is sacked after five hours. She starts to fall for a quite unsuitable minor royal, makes some money cleaning other people’s houses (incognito, of course) and then is summoned by the Queen to spy on her playboy son. All this before an arrogant Frenchman, who wants her family’s 800-year-old estate for himself, winds up dead in her bathtub. Now her most important job is to clear her very long family name.

A Royal Pain (Book 2)

The Queen has asked Georgie to entertain Bavarian Princess Hanni, while at the same time conveniently placing the princess in the playboy Prince’s path, in the hopes that he might finally marry. But The Queen doesn’t realize that this will take money and Georgie has very little, which is why she moonlights as a maid. She must draw up plans: clean house to make it look like a palace; have Granddad and her neighbor pretend to be the domestic staff; un-teach Princess Hanni the English she’s learned from American gangster movies; cure said Princess of her embarrassing shoplifting habit; and keep an eye on her at parties. Then there’s the worrying matter of the body in the bookshop and Hanni’s unwitting involvement with the Communist Party.

Royal Flush (Book 3)

To avoid scandal, Lady Georgiana is shipped home to Castle Rannoch where her summer plans include honoring a promise to Her Majesty to keep Castle Rannoch's divorcée houseguest from seducing the Prince of Wales. She's also been coerced into helping Scotland Yard with a top-secret mission--namely keeping an eye on the shooting party at Balmoral and preventing someone from shooting the Prince. And Georgie must manage all this without strangling her extremely unpleasant sister-in-law Fig or spineless brother Binky.

Keep Calm and Read On: Mary Russell & Sherlock Holmes Series by Laurie R. King.

 

Mary Russell & Sherlock Holmes Series by Laurie R. King FIC King First Published 1994

In this special series, our librarians are introducing you to more series and authors that keep them reading long into the night. In this post, one of our librarians talks about one of her favorite series: Mary Russell & Sherlock Holmes by Laurie R. King:

In this series, Laurie R. King revives the tradition of Sir Arthur Conan Dole from a distinctly different point of view, while being faithful to the voice of Sherlock Holmes. She presents him with fresh adventures and a new partner in Mary Russell. Mary is a student of Theology and Chemistry at Oxford University. She is intelligent and excels at deduction. Sherlock Holmes long since retired from crime fighting in London and has moved to Sussex, along with housekeeper Mrs. Hudson. There he meets Mary. As the series grows, so does the relationship between Mary and Sherlock. Mrs. Hudson's fascinating background is also revealed throughout the series. Mary struggles against the social norms of the day, and the changing roles of women in society remain a main theme of the novels. As the series progresses, the cases become global, with rich historical and cultural details adding texture to the books. I learn so much about many world locations and their history, customs, languages and beliefs while watching Mary and Sherlock's relationship grow and change. Below are the summaries of the first 2 books in the series, as well as the most recently published installment.

Keep Calm and Read On!

Michaelle S. Popular Materials Asst.

 

          The Beekeeper’s Apprentice (First in Series)

 In 1915, 15-year-old Mary Russell meets Sherlock Holmes on the Sussex Downs. Holmes has retired from investigation, moved to Sussex and his attention is absorbed by beekeeping.  Mary Russell is a gawky, egotistical, recently orphaned young lady who piques Holmes’s interest and in short order impresses the detective with her intellect and powers of deduction. Under his tutelage, this very modern twentieth century woman proves a deft protégée and a fitting partner for the Victorian detective, and in this first volume, we witness the formative years of a character who will grow and develop over many books to come.

 

  A Monstrous Regiment of Women (Second in series)

Two years later, Mary Russell has graduated from Oxford with degrees in Theology and Chemistry and now, will inherit a considerable fortune.  Mary returns to Sussex to find her mentor behaving strangely.  Could he have developed stronger feelings for her?  What about her own feelings about him? Russell turns her attention to the New Temple of God, and its leader Margery Childe, a charismatic suffragette and a mystic, whose draw on the young theology scholar is irresistible. When four young woman with considerable scholarly and intellectual ability turn up dead shortly after agreeing to will money to the temple, Russell and Holmes come together to investigate Childe, and a sinister plot is revealed.  

 

       Riviera Gold (16^th in series, newest)

In 1925, Mary Russell has been a member of a crew sailing to the French Riviera.  She found the experience exhilarating and exhausting.  She meets a group of Americans, Russians, artists, writers and other creative types summering there even though the season has long since ended.  On the beach with these friends, Mary sees Mrs. Hudson of all people wearing apparently new clothing of a very fashionable sort.    Mrs. Hudson is living in a rental home not far from the beach and a young man is killed in her sitting room.  Holmes comes to join Mary and they begin trying to find the murderer.  Mrs. Hudson is the primary suspect, but Holmes and Russell, well Russell at least, is not suspicious.  Holmes, however, is keeping an open mind.  This adventure involves smugglers of all kinds, sea chases, and the great wealth of Monte Carlo where money is won, lost, and stolen.

 

 

 

Keep Calm and Read on: The Sebastian St. Cyr Mysteries by C.S. Harris

Sebastian St. Cyr Mysteries by C.S. Harris

FIC Harris

First Published: 2005

In this special series, our librarians are introducing you to more series and authors that keep them reading long into the night. In this post, one of our librarians talks about one of her favorite series: Sebastian St. Cyr by C.S. Harris:

Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, is a young, extremely intelligent, nobleman living in Regency London after serving as a spy during the Napoleonic Wars.  His military career leaves him with what we now call PTSD.   Along with his bad experience in the Wars, he has a very troubled family history. Sebastian is the third son of an Earl and his older brother dies leaving him one step closer to inheriting the title, but the fact that his father questions Sebastian's parentage complicates matters.  He barely remembers his mother, who was lost at sea while running away with another man.  The relationship with his father is rife with suspicion, disagreement on everything, manipulation and lies.

Further complicating his life, Sebastian doesn't act like how society expects a gentleman to act. He has uncommonly acute hearing and eyesight; his eyes are a “feral” yellow unlike the family’s shade of “St.Cyr blue”.  He doesn’t act as a “gentleman” but involves himself in solving murders and dealing with the criminal classes, governmental and royal personages, and the theater world.  He moves through all the levels of London society seamlessly using disguises when needed.

Sebastian's romantic life is equally complicated and troubled.  He is in a relationship with Kat Bolyen, an actress. Unsurprisingly, his father is completely against this relationship and is constantly meddling with the relationship.  His romantic life takes an even crazier turn when the daughter of his mortal enemy shows up in Sebastian's life, creating an unexpected love triangle.

 

Below are summaries of the first two books in the series, as well as the latest book in the series.

The first book, What Angels Fear, is set in 1811 when revolution may be at hand.  A young woman is savagely murdered on the steps of an ancient church near Westminster Abbey.  Found with the body is a dueling pistol belonging to Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin. To clear his own name he must investigate the murder.  

 In When Gods Die, book two in the series, the young wife of an aging marquis is found murdered in the arms of the Prince Regent. Around her neck lies a necklace said to have been worn by Druid priestesses-that is, until it was lost at sea with its last owner, Sebastian St. Cyr's mother. Now Sebastian is lured into a dangerous investigation of the marchioness's death-and his mother's uncertain fate. As he edges closer to the truth-he confronts a conspiracy that imperils those nearest him and threatens to bring down the monarchy.

Published in April, this latest installment, Who Speaks for the Damned, is set in June 1814, and the royal families of Austria, Russia, and the German states have gathered in London at the Prince Regent's invitation to celebrate the defeat of Napoléon and the restoration of monarchical control throughout Europe. But the festive atmosphere is marred one warm summer evening by the brutal murder of a disgraced British nobleman long thought dead.

There are 15 books in the series. The romantic and swash-buckling Sebastian St. Cyr and the atmospheric historical detail will draw you into the story filled with action. 

Keep Calm & Read On

Michaelle S.

Popular Materials Asst. 

Keep Calm & Read On: Bingeable Books

In this special series, our librarians are introducing you to more series and authors that keep them reading long into the night.  In this post, one of our librarians talks about one of her favorite series: Maisie Dobbs by Jaqueline Winspear.

This historical mystery series has 16 books to it and I’m still ready for more! The story starts soon after World War I in London. Winspear’s sleuth, Maisie Dobbs, started life as a street vendor's daughter who went into service and started reading books from the library of the family she served, the Comptons. When Lady Compton found this out, she found a tutor for Maisie named Dr. Maurice Blanche. Masie studied hard and was admitted to Grifton College. When World War I broke out she left college to be a nurse. She was wounded, but recovered. Her compassion is based on her own experiences. After the war, Maisie continued working with her tutor learning to be a psychologist/investigator. Dr. Blanche mentors her as Maisie learns meditation, mindfulness, and visualization to develop her intuition along with many other skills.. As the series opens, Maisie is starting a private investigation company of her own.

Maisie hires Billy Beal as her assistant. Maisie rents an office for her new investigation firm and Billy was the caretaker of the building. Billy was injured in World War I and Maisie hires him to not only give him a job but to help him recover mentally and emotionally. Billy’s family also appears as mostly secondary characters, but are main characters in some of the books. Maisie’s close-college friend Priscilla marries a man with money and privilege. Priscilla tries to get Maisie to lighten up, have a drink, and go to parties. Most of the time she isn’t successful. Priscilla has three young boys who think of Maisie as their aunt. The boys are rambunctious and a bit hard to manage, but both Priscilla and Maisie love them fiercely. .

Maisie’s private investigation firm thrives. Her first case is that of a young girl who is accused of murder. Maisie uses her impressive skill set to find out what really happened. Each book has its own mystery to solve. Time keeps rolling on and eventually stories are set in World War II and begin to involve Priscilla’s husband and boys and many others.

These stories are smart, compassionate, and interesting. Maisie uses a new tool in solving the mysteries; case maps that visually show connections between suspects and events just like detectives in the future will use. She goes to places the victim lived or worked and studies the person’s space and belongings with meditation and often gets a small inkling of a clue. The mysteries themselves are complex and filled with twists and turns. I do recommend reading them in order to enjoy all the period detail and the character development.

All of the books in the series are on Overdrive/Libby. Hoopla has several of the books available. The print books are available from the Library’s catalog. Winspear also wrote a stand-alone, not a mystery, titled, The Care and Management of Lies: A Novel of the Great War and I enjoyed that too. It is available on Overdrive/Libby in both ebook and eaudiobook. Look for Winspear’s nonfiction book, What Would Maisie Do? It was published in March. I look forward to reading it as soon as I can get my hands on it.

Keep Calm and Read On!

Michelle S.

Popular Materials Asst.

Keep Calm & Read On: Bingeable Books

Keep Calm & Read On

In this special series, our librarians are introducing you to more series and authors that keep them reading long into the night.  In this post, one of our librarians talks about one of her favorite authors: Jill Shalvis.

When there’s a lot going on in the world or your life, sometimes you feel like you can’t concentrate on a book that is heavily detailed or intricately plotted. Sometimes you need something lighter that you know will end with a happily ever after. Romance novels are the perfect solution. Do not be fooled into thinking romance novels are just fluff, though. These novels offer complex characters with their own issues to complicate a relationship and subplots that drive a story forward.

My go-to romance author is Jill Shalvis who writes both romance and women’s fiction. She has multiple series and any one would be worth picking up as they all have a similar feel to them thanks to Shalvis’ writing style. As author Carly Phillips says on the cover of Animal Magnetism, “Jill Shalvis writes with humor, heart, and sizzling heat.” Not only does Shalvis excel at a steamy sex scene, but her characters have a snarky sense of humor that brings laughter or every book. Shalvis has a way of making writing characters that have seem to say whatever is on their mind and not feeling any shame in eating an entire box of Oreos. Her storylines are also not just about two people falling in love but the characters’ struggles to overcome obstacles and work their way to being better people.

Her most prolific romance series are Lucky Harbor, Animal Magnetism, and Heartbreaker Bay. Each series focuses on a group of friends or the local residents of a small town and their escapades in love. Each book in the series, though, works as a standalone because it is the love story of the one pair. Those characters, though, serve as secondary characters in the other books, so you get to see them again and build your own relationship with them. Shalvis has a way of making even the secondary characters important and loveable to the point that I look ahead to see what book that character gets his/her own story.

Shalvis has also been writing women’s fiction, which is similar to romance but less focused on the love story and more on one or two characters fixing what’s wrong in their lives. For example, Rainy Day Friends is about Lanie moving on after discovering her husband had been married to multiple women and River who is pregnant and homeless. These two women meet the Capriottis, who offer them not just jobs but a place in their family as they learn to believe in themselves, trust, and love again. This book still has Shalvis’s humor and the occasional steamy love scene, but the story is far more about Lanie and River healing from their pasts. Shalvis’s women’s fiction books all take place in Wildstone, but they act even more like standalones than her romance series as the only link between the stories is the location, so they definitely can be read in any order.

If you’re looking for a new bingeable author, definitely try Jill Shalvis. She has the humor and heart to keep you coming back for more.

Mary-Megan K.

Popular Materials Asst.

Keep Calm & Read On: Bingeable Books

Keep Calm & Read On: Bingeable Books

In this special series, our librarians are introducing you to more series that keep us reading long into the night.   Our second feature is the The Pink Carnation series by Lauren Willig.  

This series is one of my go-to recommendations for patrons who are looking for a historical fiction novel that has it all--a combination of romance, mystery, adventure and characters that grab the reader and pull them into the story.  The first book in the series, The Secret History of the Pink Carnation, sets the stage for the next 11 books in the series.  The reader meets Eloise Kelly, an American researcher headed to England to finish her doctoral dissertation on the Scarlet Pimpernel and the Purple Gentian, famous English spies who helped win the Napoleonic Wars.  Eloise is invited to study the family papers of Richard Selwick, aka, the Purple Gentian, when she discovers a letter from 1803 that hints at another spy, a spy that no one has heard of--the Pink Carnation.  What follows is a light-hearted romp as Eloise uncovers the romantic story of the Pink Carnation and the events that nearly changed history.   Eloise also meets Colin Selwick, modern-day descendent of Richard and someone who may become more than Eloise's reluctant host at Selwick Hall,. 

Each book in the series is a book within a book.  Chapters alternate between the story of the Napoleonic spy ring and the story of Eloise and Colin. I found it easy to keep track of the storylines and characters.  There were many a late night where I stayed up longer than I should have because I had to know what happened next with the Pink Carnation or with Eloise and Colin.  

Willig has gone on to write standalone historical novels unconnected to the Pink Carnation series and I have enjoyed those as well.  I always find myself going back to Eloise, Colin and the Pink Carnation, revisiting their adventures over and over again. I would recommend reading the series in order, especially later in the series, as more secondary characters are introduced.

All books in this series can be found in Poplar Creek Library's fiction 

collection and in Overdrive/Libby.  Check them out today!  

Series recommended by

Jill B.

Popular Materials Manager

Keep Calm and Read On: Bingeable Books

Keep Calm & Read On:  Bingeable Books

"Reading gives us someplace to go when we have to stay where we are." -- Mason Cooley.

As we are all staying home and practicing social distancing, there is no better way to take a break than by reading and disappearing into a story. We have to stay where we are to protect ourselves and others right now, but there are so many wonderful places we can go in books. One of our favorite things to do is to explore books that create a whole world for us to visit over and over again. Some of our favorite books are books that are part of a series which means we can go on exploring those worlds over and over. You can't read just one!

In this special series, our librarians introduce you to some of their favorite series that keep them reading long into the night. Our first series is the Ruth Galloway Mysteries by Elly Griffiths:

The premise of the series is that some bones are discovered and are either very old or suspected to be very old, and the main character is called upon to investigate the bones.  Ruth Galloway is a forensic archeologist at North Norfolk University. Ruth's reputation as an archeologist and expert on bones grows as the series goes on. Along with the investigation comes the contemporary crime plot that somehow relates to the bones. Detective Inspector Harry Nelson is often the character who investigates each case along with Ruth. He's an old school "copper," who is suspicious about, well, everything. The stories are set in and around Kings Lynn in Norfolk, England. This small town harbors a lot of criminals! Ruth lives in an isolated cottage on the coast of the North Sea, with many of the early stories occurring within the cottage itself.

One of the best things about the series is the development of characters and how they grow over time.  I love the characters; they are diverse and quirky. The stories move at the steady pace of a good police procedural with time to delve deeper into the lives of those who live and work with Harry and Ruth. The recurring characters who populate the private and public lives of Harry and Ruth allows Griffiths to explore various aspects of life, especially the idea of what constitutes family. Each book in the series develops and changes the characters idea of family.

The first book is The Crossing Places published in 2009. You can start the series anywhere.  I started somewhere at third or fourth book. I found I enjoyed them so much I went back to the first book and now I just finished the tenth in the series.  There are several books available in Libby, Poplar Creek Library's app for reading ebooks and eaudiobooks. Visit our website at www.pclib.org or download the Libby App to start reading! Don't forget your library card!

Series Recommended by:

Michaelle S.

Popular Materials Asst.