Showing posts with label Victorian-era. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Victorian-era. Show all posts

Saturday, April 08, 2023

Virtual Book Tour & Giveaway: Murder in Postscript (A Lady of Letters Mystery) by Mary Winters

 

Murder in Postscript
A Lady of Letters Mystery
by
Mary Winters


Historical Cozy Mystery
1st in Series
Setting - Victorian London, 1860
Publisher: Berkley
Publication Date: March 28, 2023
Paperback
Page count: 320 pages
ISBN-10: 0593548760 / ISBN-13: 978-0593548769
Digital ASIN: B0B5D5HW3K


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About Murder in Postscript

When one of her readers asks for advice following a suspected murder, Victorian countess Amelia Amesbury, who secretly pens the popular Lady Agony column, has no choice but to investigate in this first book in a charming new historical mystery series.

Amelia Amesbury—widow, mother, and countess—has a secret. Amelia writes for a London penny paper, doling out advice on fashion, relationships, and manners under the pen name Lady Agony. But when a lady’s maid writes Amelia to ask for advice when she believes her mistress has been murdered—and then ends up a victim herself—Amelia is determined to solve the case.

With the help of her best friend and a handsome marquis, Amelia begins to piece together the puzzle, but as each new thread of inquiry ends with a different suspect, the investigation grows ever more daunting. From London’s docks and ballrooms to grand country houses, Amelia tracks a killer, putting her reputation—and her life—on the line.

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Review
5 stars!

A charming new Victorian-era cozy historical mystery series debut, featuring Lady Amelia Amesbury! 

Murder in Postscript is the debut novel in author Mary Winters’s new historical cozy series, A Lady of Letters Mysteries. The action begins quickly with a murder, but not the one mentioned in relation to THE postscript, which occurs by the end of the third chapter. The book has a charming tone and an equally delightful heroine, Lady Amelia Amesbury, the titular Lady of Letters.
 
Lady Amelia is a refreshing character. Although a countess, her position was attained through a virtual marriage of convenience. The late Lord Edgar, aware that he was dying of a terminal illness, sought out and married Amelia as the perfect guardian and mentor for his beloved young niece, Winifred, after his death. Although sorrowful over his circumstances, Lady Amelia quickly came to love the young girl as if she were her own daughter. I loved that Amelia moonlighted as an ‘agony aunt,’ and that after this pastime was revealed to the reader, each chapter is headed with a letter to and a response from ‘Lady Agony.’
 
Amelia is joined in her investigation of the death of a lady’s maid and her mistress by her best friend, Kitty, and Simon Bainbridge, an old friend of the Amesbury family. Kitty is what we would categorize today as a “ride-or-die” friend. Simon had been a particularly close confidante of Amelia’s late husband, one of the few people aware of the illness that would take his life soon after his marriage to her. From the start, there was a spark between him and Amelia, although, at the time, she only wanted him to be on his way so she could make a secret rendezvous with a distraught letter writer in St. James Park. Together, Amelia and Simon make an excellent team as they work to unravel the book’s mysteries. I will anxiously anticipate their further adventures in future books in this series.
 
As the investigation into the murders intensifies, it uncovers several possible suspects and reveals surprising plot twists. I didn’t figure out the answers beforehand, but I was satisfied with the resolution.
 
I recommend MURDER IN POSTSCRIPT to readers of cozy historical mysteries, especially those that feature unusual (for the times) and progressive female sleuths or Victorian-era London.


About Mary Winters

Mary Winters is the author of Murder in Postscript, the debut novel in A Lady of Letters Mystery series. A longtime reader of historical fiction and an author of two other mystery series, Mary set her latest work in Victorian England after being inspired by a trip to London. Since then, she’s been busily planning her next mystery—and another trip! Find out more about Mary and her writing at marywintersauthor.com.


TOUR PARTICIPANTS

March 28 – Christy's Cozy Corners – REVIEW
March 28 – Maureen's Musings – SPOTLIGHT
March 29 – I'm Into Books – SPOTLIGHT
March 29 – Socrates Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
March 30 – Elza Reads – REVIEW
March 30 – Novels Alive – REVIEW – SPOTLIGHT
March 31 - View from the Birdhouse – REVIEW
March 31 - Diane’s Book Journal – REVIEW
April 1 – Just Another Teen Reading Books – REVIEW
April 1 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT
April 2 – Cozy Up With Kathy – REVIEW
April 2 – The Mystery Section – SPOTLIGHT
April 3 – #BRVL Book Review Virginia Lee – SPOTLIGHT
April 3 – Lisa Ks Book Review – SPOTLIGHT
April 4 – Book Club Librarian – REVIEW
April 4 – The Book Decoder – REVIEW
April 5 – Baroness Book Trove – REVIEW
April 6 – Hearts & Scribbles – SPOTLIGHT
April 6 – Elizabeth McKenna - Author – SPOTLIGHT
April 7 – Reading, Writing & Stitch-Metic – SPOTLIGHT
April 7 – Literary Gold – SPOTLIGHT
April 8 – Guatemala Paula Loves to Read – REVIEW
April 8 – Reading Is My SuperPower – REVIEW
April 9 – Celticlady's Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
April 9 – Cassidy's Bookshelves – SPOTLIGHT
April 10 –The Mystery of Writing - REVIEW
April 10 – Sapphyria's Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT


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Thursday, October 13, 2022

The Lost Melody by Joanna Davidson Politano

Lost MelodyLost Melody by Joanna Davidson Politano
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wrongfully confined to a Victorian mental asylum, a former concert pianist desperately tries to convince someone she's not mad!

After her father's death, concert pianist Vivienne Mourdant is shocked when his solicitor informs her that as his only heir, she was the guardian of one Rosamund Swansea, a patient of the Hurstwell Pauper Lunatic Asylum. Vivienne didn't know anything about the woman, but her father had been paying for her stay at the institution for years. Wanting to learn more about her ward, she contacts the asylum only to be told there was no patient by that name there, nor had there ever been one.

The reply had come too quickly and glibly for Vivienne to accept as a simple mistake; she felt something was 'off.' In addition, there was that long history of payments to the asylum that they denied receiving. Having enough money to make ends meet had been a struggle for her father, but the solicitor claimed he'd never been late or missed paying the Hurstwell bill. With no other ideas on how to discover the truth about Rose, Vivienne goes undercover as an aid at the asylum. But when her questions and snooping attract the attention of Hurstwell's superintendent, Dr. Thornhill, a man she thinks is teetering on the edge of sanity himself, she ends up drugged and confined as a patient, with no way to get help from her friends on the outside.

The Lost Melody was a dark yet exciting historical Christian fiction novel about mental health care and treatment during the 1800s. The asylum storyline and setting are the stuff of nightmares: a creaking old building situated on the edge of the moors, barred doors and windows, hidden passageways, dimly-lit wards with confused and suffering patients, a crumbling tower off-limits to staff, all within view of a well-populated cemetery on the grounds. The main character must even hide in a morgue at one point!

When the story opens, Vivienne is relieved by her father's death; he'd been something of a tyrant. She's an angry young woman, and with good reason. Her father had been an abusive and harsh autocrat, taking the parenting style of the time to an extreme. She's just gotten out from under his thumb only to discover she's got a manager with an agenda that doesn't align with her own. This dissonance led to a gripping novel filled with plot twists and shocking surprises that kept me turning the pages to find out how it would turn out.

The author uses light and dark imagery throughout the story with beautiful results. Within the asylum setting, hope struggles with hopelessness, and dark, gaslit corridors are juxtaposed with the chandelier-bright conservatory. Candles and matches are Vivienne's only items within her control. Light and dark even plays a role in characterization, with some representing light and others darkness while still others actively suck the very light out of the lives of those left to disappear into the asylum.

With its gripping plot, superb storytelling, and sympathetic and engaging characters, I recommend THE LOST MELODY to readers of historical fiction, especially those who are interested in Victorian-era asylums, the treatment and care of mental health patients in the 1800s, and the beginnings of music therapy in mental health settings.

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advanced Review Copy from the author through NetGalley and Lone Star Book Blog Tours.



View all my reviews