My Review (5 stars out of 5) Robin Odell has produced a fascinating and very readable book that lifts the lid on a case which resulted in the first solicitor in England to be hanged for murder. Hay on Wye solicitor Major Herbert Rowse Armstrong became known as the Hay Poisoner following an investigation into…
Category: History
‘The Sun’s Shadow’ by Stephen Wiseman
My Review (5 stars out of 5) Étienne de Vaurain – Gentleman of the Bedchamber to Louis XIV – has spent years developing his role as the right hand of the Sun King. But his ambition and sharp wit are about to be interrupted. The fountains of Versailles fall silent and something unseen and mysterious…
‘How to Kill a Witch’ by Claire Mitchell and Zoe Venditozzi
My Review (5 stars out of 5) (Audiobook) In Scotland in the 1500s, witch hunts ripped through the country for over 150 years. More than 4,000 women were accused, many of whom were executed by strangulation and burning. Campaigners and writers Claire Mitchell, KC, and Zoe Venditozzi, explore what happened and why, revealing the process…
‘House of Thieves’ by Rachel Walkley
Welcome to my spot on the Blog Blitz for House of Thieves, via Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources Blurb At Terrington Hall, objects are treasured while people are forgotten. Chief conservator Amy is restoring the Hurly family’s guilt-stained hoard when a theft forces her to hire Harrison, a security adviser on a personal quest to…
‘Unruly’ by David Mitchell
My Review (5 stars out of 5) (Audiobook) From legendary (and non-existent) King Arthur to Elizabeth I, this is a book that charts the rise and fall of England’s Kings and Queens. Revealing who did the job well and who didn’t, David Mitchell lifts the lid on the royal highnesses of history without ever letting…
‘The Crimean War’ by Paul Kerr
My Review (5 stars out of 5) Based largely on extracts from letters, diaries and newspaper articles, Paul Kerr’s book was originally a tie-in with a 1997 TV series on Channel 4, and is told through the eyes of the soldiers, sailors, doctors, nurses, artists and reporters who were there. As well as the British…
‘Operation Berlin’ by Michael Ridpath
Welcome to my stop on the Blog Tour for Operation Berlin, via Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources. Blurb In a city rebuilding from war, truth can be the most dangerous weapon of all. Berlin, 1930. Historian Archie Laverick, scarred mentally and physically by the Great War, travels to Berlin to research a famed Prussian general.…
‘Sacrilege’ by Keith Moray
Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for Sacrilege, via Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources. A nun is found dead. A priest is horribly attacked. An evil older than sin is loose in Yorkshire… Marske, 1361. Sir Ralph de Mandeville with his assistants Peter and Merek have recently come from Reeth to hold a…
‘Storm of Mercia’ by MJ Porter
My Review (4 stars out of 5) King Wiglaf must oust the Vikings from the border with Wessex. He commands Icel and Ealdorman Ælfstan’s warriors to set off and locate the Viking raiders. But Icel’s mission is plagued by difficulties which could prevent him getting back to Tamworth. This is book 9 in the Eagle…
‘The Mysterious Mrs Hood’ by Kim Donovan
My Review (5 stars out of 5) (Audiobook) In the fishing port of Great Yarmouth in September 1900, a young woman known only as Mrs Hood had been staying in a local lodging house. When she was found dead on the beach, strangled with a bootlace, police struggled to learn her identity, and that of…
