Historical Mystery Lovers discussion

Level #1: Traveller - 5 to 15 books set in 1 to 3 regions

Regions
Middle East, North Africa, and Greater Arabia

Africa

Europe

North America

Task #1:
A. The region: Europe
B. The country: Great Britain
C. The book to be read:
Death Comes to Bath

Traveling to Regency England to take the waters in Bath.

A. The region: Europe
B. The country: Great Britain
C. The book read:
Death Comes to Bath by Catherine Lloyd Death

A wonderful new addition to the series! It's full of details about bathing in the natural hot springs in Bath, England. During the Regency period Bath was full of invalids, ill and elderly people mingling in the murky waters together. This makes a ripe setting for murder. The plot is worthy of a Shakespeare play and the hero and heroine worthy of solving it. I love how their relationship has developed over the years and they're now truly partners in life.

I enjoyed this visit to 19th century Bath. It's extra special since I have actually been there and walked the same paths the characters take. Alas, bathing is now way too expensive. I did try a small sip of the water though.
Full review

Date read: Jan. 2, 2019

Task #2:
A. The region: Europe (second visit)
B. The country: Greece (Crete)
C. The book to be read: A Poisonous Journey

Task #2:
A. The region: Europe (second visit)
B. The country: Greece (Crete)
C. The book to be read:

a weak 3 stars

The setting is fabulous! If you want to armchair travel to 1920s Crete, this book has some excellent descriptions. The mystery is impossible to guess. However, the story goes on too long. I didn't care for the present tense narration and the subplot about Lady Evelyn's cousin's marital woes/infertility struggle. There are also a shocking number of typos, spelling mistakes, grammatical errors and some missing words.

date read: Jan. 8-9, 2019

Task #3:
A. Region:Middle East, North Africa, and Greater Arabia
B. Country: Egypt with a trek to Gaza in Palestine during WWI
C. The Golden One

Task #3:
A. Region: Middle East, North Africa, and Greater Arabia
B. Country: Egypt and Palestine
C.
The Golden One (Amelia Peabody)

Date finished: 2/3/2019

Rating: 3 stars

This is two stories in one and they don't gel. I was disappointed the Emersons leave off their digging to run off to Palestine on an unrelated adventure. It was certainly funny, and for the purposes of this challenge, it really fit the bill. I learned a lot about the geography and history of Egypt and Palestine during WWI.

I am taking a break from traveling until my next books are out.

Last two coming up probably next week

A. Region : North America
B. Country: United States
C.

A. Region: Africa
B. Country: Kenya
C.

A. Region: Africa
B. Country: Kenya
C. Love and Death Among the Cheetahs (Her Royal Spyness #13) by Rhys Bowen

Dates read: 8/22-8/24

This was a bit disappointing. I wanted an apocalypse to wipe out all the new British characters in Kenya. They were awful! The animals sounded amazing and I wanted more of them. There's only one Maasai man or native African with a real voice and the mystery is never fully resolved. Still, the relationship parts were great and I love Georgie and Darcy!

A. Region : North America
B. Country: United States
C. Murder at CrosswaysMurder at Crossways (Gilded Newport Mysteries #7) by Alyssa Maxwell

Date finished: 8/30/19

This story was a bit disappointing. It was too dark for me, the heroine does something stupid and some of the secrets were easy to guess. I love the Newport setting and still need to go there with the books and use them as guidebooks! Crossways is not open to the public, unfortunately but I think I can find the site of Emma's home and I've walked the Cliff Walk many times. It's fun to armchair travel to a familiar setting in a different time.

This completes my jaunt around the world. It's been fun and interesting!

Well done QNPoohBear!
Glad you enjoyed it :)

I may resume my travels again in December. I found one more book for one more Continent to try.

QNPoohBear wrote: "I may resume my travels again in December. I found one more book for one more Continent to try."

Good luck on your travels.
We will have a new challenge in January 2020, which I will be posting next week.

Lauren wrote: "QNPoohBear wrote: "I may resume my travels again in December. I found one more book for one more Continent to try."

Good luck on your travels.
We will have a new challenge in January 2020, which ..."


Exciting!!!!

I squeaked in one last trip before the year ends.

A. The region: Asia
B. The country: Signapore
C. The book to be read: The Frangipani Tree Mystery

A. The region: Asia
B. The country: Signapore
C. The book read: The Frangipani Tree Mystery

I loved learning about a new place. The description of Singapore was so vivid, I felt like I was there. The author does a great job sharing the history and culture of 1930s Singapore through the eyes of a 16-year-old ethnic Chinese girl.

I still didn't make it past level 1 but I had fun traveling around the world. I made other unofficial visits to England and America as well.

QNPoohBear wrote: "I still didn't make it past level 1 but I had fun traveling around the world. I made other unofficial visits to England and America as well.."

So glad you enjoyed your travels, QNPoohBear!