Terrible Beauty, July 2017

A TERRIBLE BEAUTY by Tasha Alexander

August 10, 2017

PERSONAL INFORMATION:

Born December 1, 1969, in South Bend, IN; Education: University of Notre Dame, B.A., 1992. Addresses: Home: Chicago, IL; England. E-mail: tashaalexander@tashaalexander.com, talexanderbooks@gmail.com.

CAREER:

Writer. Worked as a pharmaceutical sales representative in Vermont and as a temporary employment office manager in Laramie, WY.

Tasha Alexander is an American writer whose "Lady Emily" mystery series features a young Victorian woman whose adventures make her quite atypical for her day. The novels in the series, set in England and abroad, are noted for their attention to historical detail and accuracy.

Lady Emily Ashton mysteries

Set in Victorian England, this charming series features a very independent young widow who would rather read than remarry. Witty treatment of the aristocratic life style and leisurely paced plots filled with accurate historical details of daily life bring the characters and places to life. As the characters develop throughout the books, this series should be read in order.

• And Only to Deceive, 2005 (#1)
• A Poisoned Season, 2007. (#2)
• A Fatal Waltz,, 2008. (#3)
• Tears of Pearl, 2009. (#4)
• Dangerous to Know, 2010. (#5)
• A Crimson Warning, 2011. (#6)
• Death in the Floating City, 2012. (#7)
• Behind the Shattered Glass, 2013. (#8)
• The Counterfeit Heiress, 2014 (#9)
• The Adventuress, 2015. (#10)
• A Terrible Beauty, 2016. (#11)
  

SERIES  READALIKES FROM NOVELIST

1. Liberty Lane novels by Caro Peacock  Reason: Both of these series are historical mysteries set during the Victorian era that feature strong young women as sleuths. These slower paced mysteries recreate the details of daily life and culture while incorporating real people from the time. ­­ Merle Jacob

2. Thomas and Charlotte Pitt mysteries by Anne Perry  Reason: These historical mystery series portray strong female characters, and bring Victorian England to life through well ­described settings and historical detail. The tone of the 'Lady Emily Ashton mysteries' is lighter than the somewhat bleak 'Thomas and Charlotte Pitt mysteries.' ­­ Victoria Caplinger

3. Sarah Woolson mysteries by Shirley Tallman  Reason: These Victorian­ era mysteries, set in San Francisco (Sarah Woolson) and Great Britain (Emily Ashton), star very independent young women who investigate crimes. Both richly detailed series also offer trenchant commentary on the social conditions of the day. ­­ Mike Nilsson

4. Edwardian murder mysteries by Marion Chesney Reason: While the fast ­paced Edwardian Murder Mysteries take place in a later period than the Victorian ­set and leisurely paced Lady Emily Ashton books, both feature engaging aristocratic heroines whose sleuthing flouts convention. These compulsively readable series are rich in period detail. ­­ Katherine Johnson

5. Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes mysteries by Laurie R.  King, Reason: The 'Lady Emily Ashton mysteries' and the 'Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes mysteries' are historical mystery series featuring independent female characters, a strong sense of place, and a wealth of well­ researched and historically accurate period details. ­­ Victoria Caplinger

6. Lord Francis Powerscourt mysteries by David Dickinson­ Reason: These leisurely paced Victorian mysteries, starring aristocratic British detectives, possess a strong sense of place as well as witty descriptions of aristocratic life. Each atmospheric novel tantalizes with an appealing fusion of social observation and amateur sleuthing. ­­ Mike Nilsson

7. Lady Julia Grey novels by Deanna Raybourn  Reason: The Lady Emily Ashton mysteries and the Lady Julia Grey novels are historical mystery series featuring independent female characters, a light­hearted tone, and a wealth of well researched and historically accurate period details. ­­ Victoria Caplinger

Website:  http://www.tashaalexander.com/

My Sister's Grave, June 2017

My Sister’s Grave by Robert Dugoni

June 9, 2017

PERSONAL INFORMATION:
Born February 17, 1961, in Pocatello, ID;Addresses: Home: Seattle, WA. E-mail: bob@robertdugoni.com.

CAREER:
Writer, lawyer, actor, and journalist. Worked as a reporter for the Stanford Daily and the Los Angeles Times; Gordon and Rees (law firm), San Francisco, CA, former partner; practices law in Seattle, WA. Former actor, American Conservatory Theater; conducts writing workshops.

AWARDS:
Winner, Pacific Northwest Writer's Association Literary Contest, 1999, 2000; Best Book of the Year, Washington Post, and Idaho Book of the Year, Idaho Librarians' Association, both for The Cyanide Canary.

TRACY CROSSWHITE NOVELS

My Sister’s Grave, #1 (2014)

Her Final Breath, #2 (2015)

In the Clearing, #3 (2016)

Trapped Girl, #4 (2017)

DAVID SLOANE THRILLERS

Jury Master, #1 (2006)

Wrongful Death, #2, (2009)

Bodily Harm, #3, (2010)

Murder One, #4, (2011)

Conviction, #5, (2012)

OTHER TITLES

Damage Control (2007)

7th Canon (2016)

My sister's grave:      Twenty years after Seattle homicide detective Tracy Crosswhite's sister, Sarah, was murdered, Tracy sees a chance to find the real killer when Sarah's remains are discovered near their hometown in the northern Cascade mountains of Washington State.

READ-ALIKES FOR TITLE:
1.   The prophet  by Michael Koryta, Reason:  In these emotional, character-driven suspense novels, the older siblings of murdered teenage girls are compelled to investigate the long-ago murders, crimes for which they continue to feel responsible. Small-town settings add atmosphere. -- Shauna Griffin

READ-ALIKES FOR SERIES:

1.   Kitt Lundgrean thrillers  by Erica Spindler, Reason:  Tracy Crosswhite, a Seattle police detective, and Kitt Lundgrean, a Rockford, Illinois police detective, solve serial murders and cold cases in these plot-driven suspense stories. Personalities clash, conspiracies are revealed, and sometimes violence ensues before the killers are caught. -- Mike Nilsson
2.   J. P. Beaumont mysteries by Judith A.. Jance, Reason:  Both set in Seattle, these grueling suspense novels star savvy police detectives who refuse to give up on a case. Whether chasing a serial killer or solving a crime of passion, these detectives know their way around the city. -- Mike Nilsson
3.   Detective Inspector Geraldine Steel novels  by Leigh Russell, Reason:  Though working in very different places -- Tracy Crosswhite is police detective in Seattle and Geraldine Steel is a police detective in London -- these resolute investigators are each compassionate and complex, perfect for these twisty, suspenseful crime novels. -- Mike Nilsson
4.   Detective Sonora Blair novels  by Lynn S. Hightower, Reason:  The female police detectives in Cincinnati (Sonora Blair) and Seattle (Tracy Crosswhite) routinely place themselves in grave danger while hunting twisted killers. Marked by crisp dialogue and twisting plots, both series are as suspenseful as they are compelling. -- Mike Nilsson

WEB SITE: www.robertdugoni.com

Broken Shore

Broken Shore by Peter Temple

May 11, 2017

PERSONAL INFORMATION:

Born 1946, in South Africa; immigrated to Australia, 1980. Avocational Interests: Cabinetmaking, horse racing. Addresses: Home: Ballarat, Victoria, Australia.

CAREER:

Worked as a journalist and editor for newspapers and magazines, including Australian Society; taught journalism, editing, and media studies at a number of universities; self- employed writer/editor, 1995--.

AWARDS:

Four Ned Kelly awards, for Bad Debts, 1996, Shooting Star, 1999, Dead Point, 2000, and White Dog, 2003; Colin Roderick Award, Federation for Australian Literary Studies, 2005; Duncan Laurie Dagger award, 2007, for The Broken Shore.

WRITINGS:

"JACK IRISH" SERIES  (Australian TV series, shown on PBS)

• Bad Debts, #1. 1996 (also, DVD, Series 1)
• Black Tide, #2  1999 ( DVD, Series 1)
• Dead Point, #3 2000 (DVD, Series 2)
• White Dog,  #4 2003
  

OTHER NOVELS

• An Iron Rose,1998.
• Shooting Star, 1999.
• Identity Theory, 2004
• The Broken Shore, 2007 (Australian movie for TV)
• Truth, 2010
  
• 
  

The Broken Shore

Shaken by a scrape with death, big ­city detective Joe Cashin is posted away from the Homicide Squad to a quiet town on the South Australian coast where he grew up. Carrying physical scars and not a little guilt, he spends his time playing the country cop, walking his dogs, and thinking about how it all was before. When a prominent local is attacked and left for dead in his own home, Cashin is thrust into a murder investigation. The evidence points to three boys from the nearby Aboriginal community; whom everyone wants to blame. But Cashin is unconvinced, and soon begins to see the outlines of something far more terrible than a simple robbery gone wrong.

Title Read­alikes

1. The ways of the dead by Neely Tucker, ­ Reason: Though the Broken Shore is set in a tiny Australian town, and The Ways of the Dead in Washington D.C's inner city, both well­ plotted, bleak mysteries focus on bigger, darker crimes obscured behind easy solutions with racist undertones. ­­ Shauna Griffin

2. Dry bones in the valley  by Tom Bouman Reason: Both are intricately plotted mysteries featuring rough, rural settings and harried, time­worn protagonists (a veteran cop in rural Pennsylvania in Dry Bones, an Australian detective on leave after an injury) who become entangled in murder cases clouded by class issues. ­­ Kim Burton

Author Readalikes

1. Pelecanos, George P. Reason: Both Peter Temple and George Pelecanos write dark crime stories that feature hardboiled detectives who walk the mean streets of their cities and are compelled to find the truth. With a strong sense of place, the books have taunt plotting, well developed characters, graphic violence, and a bleak outlook. ­­ Merle Jacob

Secrets of Wishtide

SECRETS OF WISHTIDE by Kate Saunders

April 13, 2017

BORN: 1960, London, UK

CAREER:

Journalist and writer. Has worked for numerous London, England, newspapers; British Broadcasting Corporation, London, writer for BBC Radio 4 programs Woman's Hour, Start the Week, and Kaleidoscope. Also worked as an actress.

AWARDS:

Cost Children's Book Award, 2014, for Five Children on the Western Front.

MEDIA ADAPTATIONS:

The "Belfry Witches" series has been adapted as a British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) television series.

The secrets of Wishtide In 1850 England, 52 ­year ­old Laetitia Rodd finds herself in reduced circumstances after the death of her archdeacon husband. Living with a friend in Hampstead, she pays her bills by occasionally acting as a private investigator for her barrister brother. ..This well-plotted 1st entry in a new series features a charming main character and is perfect for readers who'd like a Victorian-era novel with a Golden-Age mystery feel. -- Description by Dawn Towery.

Read­alikes

1.Amelia Peabody series by Elizabeth Peters

Reason: Although The Secrets of Wishtide takes place in England while Amelia Peabody explores Egypt, both delightfully complex and atmospheric mysteries feature independent Victorian English women solving crimes while embracing life on their own terms. ­­ Melissa Gray

2. Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian lions by Mario Giordano   Reason: Although these cozy mysteries differ in plot and setting, the older women whose plucky and resourceful personalities steal the show, are what make them alike. Whether solving a murder or quaffing a much ­needed drink, they get the job done. ­­ Jen Baker

3. Home by nightfall by Charles B. Finch  Reason: Relatively minor problems take a nasty, murderous turn, requiring determined, professional sleuths to unravel complex webs of deceit and danger. These intricately plotted and engaging mysteries are set in vividly evoked Victorian English countrysides peopled with richly drawn, intriguing characters. ­­ Melissa Gray

4. Death at the abbey by Christine Trent  Reason: Determined women's forays into wealthy estates turn into quests to suppress scandal and solve murders in these intricately plotted and richly detailed Victorian mysteries.  Melissa Gray

5. Charlotte and Thomas Pitt series by Anne Perry  Reason: Anne Perry is acclaimed for her two well-researched, detail-rich, atmospheric mystery series that probe the social and political injustices found in the underside of Victorian London society. Charlotte often assists her policeman husband, sometimes without his knowledge.

VIDEOS:

http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-30886974

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZL49BfCAhc

==================

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/you/article-2910075/Children-s-author-Kate-Saunders-describes-s-like-lose-child.html

PW talks with Kate Saunders: a sensible Victorian sleuth

Suzanne Fox

Publishers Weekly. 263.27 (July 4, 2016): p42. From Literature Resource Center.

Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2016 PWxyz, LLC

http://www.publishersweekly.com/

British author Saunders launches a new Victorian mystery series with The Secrets of Wishtide (Bloomsbury; pub month, Sept.; Reviews, June 6), which explores the public and private faces of 1850 London.

You've noted that you have loved Victorian fiction since childhood; why do you think the fiction of that era resonated so strongly with you?

I was lucky enough to grow up in a house that was overflowing with books of every kind, from Portnoy's Complaint to Winnie-the-Pooh. Both my parents were addictive readers, and--most important--they never tried to control what their children read. (Krafft-Ebbing! What were they thinking? But it improved my Latin.) The 19th century was the golden age of fiction; I roamed at will among perilous stacks of vast Victorian novels, and even the bad ones (anything by Bulwer-Lytton) made me feel I was looking into another world. A great Victorian novel should make you cry buckets. Towards the end of his first novel, The Pickwick Papers, Charles Dickens discovered that he could do pathos as well as comedy, and he never looked back. I can't read him in public anymore.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

You've said that you were inspired by David Copperfield.

Dickens's David Copperfield has been my favorite novel since I was a teenager. Without giving too much away, Mrs. Rodd's first case was inspired by a certain strand of plot in that book that has increasingly annoyed me over the years. I want to climb right inside the story and interfere.

Mrs. Rodd is a 52-year-old widow with no money--quite a modern situation. Where did she come from?

I invented Laetitia Rodd when I was 52, divorced and penniless, so I had no trouble identifying with her situation. All these years later, the lone middle-aged female is still fighting for her place in the world--but we have it easy compared with Mrs. Rodd, who takes up private investigating because it's the only alternative to being a governess.

Was Mrs. Rodd inspired by any particular person or character?

My splendid heroine was designed so that she wouldn't look out of place if she strolled into the pages of Elizabeth Gaskell, Charlotte Yonge, or George Eliot. She is too sensible for the Brontes.

Mrs. Rodd's friend and landlady, Mary Bentley, offers a working-class perspective on the story. Where did you find her?

Mrs. Bentley was a real person: wife of the Hampstead postman, mother of a string of red-haired boys, and the landlady of the poet John Keats, many years before my story begins. I've always liked reading about her in biographies of the poet; she was kind to the Keats brothers, even when they complained about the noise.

=================================

Another difference is that Wishtide is also, to some extent, a “social problem novel,” meant to expose some insalubrious condition of society. Well-known examples in American literature are Uncle Tom’s Cabin and The Jungle, but the genre flourished also in Victorian England, and Charles Dickens was one of its greatest practitioners. Novels like Oliver Twist, Hard Times, and Bleak House decried the unhealthy state of English society, the immorality of the upper classes, and the suffering of the poor, and it’s no coincidence that Kate Saunders is a devotee of Dickens. In fact, it is a story line in David Copperfield, her favorite novel, that the author says was the inspiration for Wishtide.

=============

Videos

http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-30886974

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZL49BfCAhc

==================

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/you/article-2910075/Children-s-author-Kate-Saunders-describes-s-like-lose-child.html

http://pubshistory.com/LondonPubs/Chelsea/GoatInBoots.shtml

An illustrated historical handbook to the parish of Chelsea

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=vy5RAAAAYAAJ

Reginald Blunt - 1900 - ‎History

Croker, in his interesting "Walk from London to Fulham," has the following note as to this famous sign : — "How the Goat became equipped in boots and the ...