Book Review: The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey

The Daughter of Time
Author: Josephine Tey
Series: Inspector Alan Grant Mystery (Book 1)
Publication: Evergreen Publishers (January 28, 2023)

Description: Inspector Alan Grant of Scotland Yard, recuperating from a broken leg, becomes fascinated with a contemporary portrait of Richard III that bears no resemblance to the Wicked Uncle of history. Could such a sensitive, noble face actually belong to one of the world’s most heinous villains – a venomous hunchback who may have killed his brother’s children to make his crown secure? Or could Richard have been the victim, turned into a monster by the usurpers of England’s throne? Grant determines to find out once and for all, with the help of the British Museum and an American scholar, what kind of man Richard Plantagenet really was and who killed the Little Princes in the Tower.

My Thoughts: I'm still trying to figure out why a mystery with a man confined to a bed in hospital with a broken leg and concussed spine was so engaging. I couldn't put the book down!

The story opens with Inspector Alan Grant staring at the ceiling in his hospital room. A friend brings a variety of historical pictures to try to get him interested in solving historical mysteries while he is convalescing. The portrait of Richard III intrigues him and sets him on a quest to find out more about the man and his supposed evil deeds. 

He's assisted by a young American researcher who followed a girlfriend to London and is now studying in order to keep his father off his back. Brent Carradine acts as Grant's legs and soon comes to share his fascination with the mystery of Richard III.

I loved the historical detail and the way Grant uses his investigative skills to piece together the puzzle. 

I bought this one May 24. You can buy your copy here.

Book Review: An Ace and a Pair by Blake Banner

An Ace and a Pair
Author: Blake Banner
Series: A Dead Cold Mystery (Book 1)
Publication: Right House (August 10, 2017)

Description: He's a dinosaur...she's got a bad attitude. The Captain wants them gone, so she gives them the Cold Cases files. The one's nobody gives a damn about...

USA TODAY & Amazon 2-million copy bestselling author BLAKE BANNER is at his best in this mystifying crime series!

Detective John Stone of the NYPD has the best arrest record in the 43rd precinct. But he’s a dinosaur who belongs to another age. Detective Carmen Dehan has such a bad attitude that nobody at the precinct can stomach her. Captain Jennifer Cuevas wants them both out of the way and thinks they make a perfect pair. So she gives them the Cold Cases file – the cases nobody gives a damn about.

Ten years back Nelson Hernandez and his four cousins were playing poker in a dive at Hunts Point. Somebody came in, blew them away and beheaded and castrated Nelson, leaving his head and his balls on the table. There was no shortage of suspects, the Jersey Mob, the Triads from Manhattan, or the 43rds own bent cop, Mick Harragan. But nobody was ever charged, and the night of the murder Mick Harragan went missing with Nelson’s wife, Maria.

Now Stone and Dehan plan to find him – whatever the consequences…

My Thoughts: AN ACE AND A PAIR begins a new mystery series by Blake Banner. This police procedural begins a series. 

John Stone has been a NYPD homicide detective for more than 20 years. He has been very successful. But a new boss would like to ease him aside to bring in younger detectives who are more comfortable with modern techniques. John isn't willing to gracefully step aside. 

In the hopes of easing him out, his captain assigns him to working cold cases. He is also assigned a new partner. Detective Carmen Dehan has a bad attitude and hasn't made any friends in the precinct. 

The two decide that the first case they will work on is the unsolved murder of Nelson Hernandez and his four cousins who were murdered while playing poker. There are lots of suspects. Nelson was trying to take over the area and run the drug and crime activities. The Jersey Mob, the Triads, and another Hispanic mob all had reasons to want Nelson dead. And a dirty cop known to John could also have had a hand in it. He disappeared shortly after the murders. 

As John and Carmen look into the case, they are also building a strong working relationship. They uncover old witnesses and gradually put the pieces together. 

This was an entertaining mystery with fascinating characters and a nicely twisty plot. 

I bought this one November 3, 2018. You can buy your copy here.

Audiobook Review: Lord of the Silent by Elizabeth Peters

Lord of the Silent
Author: Elizabeth Peters
Narrator: Barbara Rosenblat
Series: Amelia Peabody Novel of Suspense (Book 13)
Publication: HarperAudio (May 13, 2014)
Length: 16 hours and 9 minutes

Description: Undeterred by world war and enemy submarines, Amelia and Emerson set sail once again for Egypt, where ghosts of an ancient past and spectres of a present-day evil hover silently over an inscrutable land.

In the autumn of 1915 Cairo is transformed into an army camp teeming with enemy agents and shockingly bold tomb robbers are brazenly desecrating the ancient sites. Amelia seeks refuge at a remote dig in Luxor, but this provides no guarantee of safety when she discovers a fresh corpse in an ancient tomb. But are the Emersons in even darker danger with the intervention of one of Amelias oldest and most dangerous adversaries? Tantalizing clues suggest this might be so, and point toward an archaeological discovery of unparalleled importance - and the resurrection of a voice that has been silent for millennia.

My Thoughts: This is the thirteenth book in the Amelia Peabody series. It's nearly Christmas 1915 and the Emersons are in Egypt. Ramses, who has refused to do more work for British intelligence, is newly married. When one of the men from his earlier work attempts to murder him, he and Nefret are sent to Luxor to check out thefts of antiquities and, hopefully, get him out of danger while Amelia and Emerson try to find out who wants Ramses dead.

But Luxor is no safer for Ramses and Nefret. Rumors of the reappearance of the Master Criminal and further attempts on Ramses' life along with persistent rumors of a marvelous new find all keep Nefret and Ramses busy.

Despite their vows to each other, both sets of Emersons are keeping secrets from the other and each are convinced that this is keeping the other pair safe. For example, the younger Emersons are aware that the Master Criminal who supposedly died in Amelia's arms after a heroic action is actually still alive and rebuilding his criminal enterprise in Luxor.

It isn't until both sets of Emersons reunite in Luxor that the mysteries are solved. 

I enjoyed this episode which seems weighted to the younger Emersons' viewpoint and provided a lot of action including the Master Criminal. I am becoming quite a fan of the Master Criminal. The plot was twisty as is the case when the subject matter includes spies and thieves and political activities. 

I bought this one as a Chirp audiobook. You can buy your copy here.

Audiobook Review: The Ape Who Guards the Balance by Elizabeth Peters

The Ape Who Guards the Balance
Author: Elizabeth Peters
Narrator: Barbara Rosenblat
Series: Amelia Peabody (Book 10)
Publication: Recorded Books (April 18, 2005)
Length: 15 hours and 7 minutes

Description: Against the romantic backdrop of Edwardian Egypt, the irresistible Amelia Peabody and her charmingly unconventional family prove themselves to be formidable foes of villainy. 

In The Ape Who Guards the Balance, Amelia must muster all of her considerable skills of detection to unravel a snarled web of stolen archaeological treasures, murderous cults, and fallen women.

The Peabody-Emerson family has set sail for Egypt and the 1907 archaeological season. But a mint-condition papyrus of the Book of the Dead falls into their hands, and the prospects for the 1907 archaeological season turn deadly.

My Thoughts: In this tenth Amelia Peabody historical mystery, the Emersons are in Egypt and it is 1907. When an unknown papyrus falls into their hands, they find themselves dealing with a villain from the past. Sethos has kept his word and his distance but now a rival threatens Amelia and all bets are off.

As Emerson closely watches archaeological rival Davies unearth a tomb filled with treasures, his family is off having adventures of their own and distracting him into hunts for murderers. With the younger Emersons including Amelia's namesake Lia on the way to Egypt, they need to be quick to track down the villains in order to keep their family safe.

With the children growing up, they are having issues of their own. David has fallen in love with Lia which doesn't please his parents or Amelia who finds that she has prejudices that she was not aware of. And Ramses seemingly unrequited love for Nefret is making things very hard for him. 

The death of Abdullah who died saving Amelia from a villain's bullet, casts a pall on the group and makes Amelia realize just how important he was to her. His death seems to also shift her feelings on David and Lia.

This was an engaging story. I like Manuscript H and the letters which are apparently from Nefret to Lia which help balance the account since Amelia's viewpoint is filtered through her own beliefs and prejudices.

I bought this one. You can buy your copy here.

Audiobook Review: The Silent Witness by Carolyn Arnold

The Silent Witness
Author: Carolyn Arnold
Narrator: Lisa Rost-Welling
Series: Detective Amanda Steele (Book 3)
Publication: Hachette UK - Bookouture (September 24, 2021)
Length: 8 hours and 49 minutes

Description: It’s four a.m. when her mom shakes her awake. “Get up baby, we’re going to play hide and seek.” The little girl presses back into the dark space, holding her breath as she hears the shots ring out. She knows she’s next....

When the bodies of a local family are discovered on a quiet street in the small town of Dumfries, Virginia, Detective Amanda Steele takes charge of the case. Brett and Angela Parker were shot three times each, leaving no hope of survival, and their tidy suburban home has been ransacked. But there is no sign of their beloved six-year-old, Zoe.

Zoe is the same age as Amanda’s daughter was when she died, and Amanda can’t bear the thought of another little girl in danger. She’s organizing a search for the child, when she notices something strange about the ottoman at the foot of the Parkers’ bed. She opens it to find Zoe, mute and traumatized, but alive.

With Zoe completely uncommunicative, Amanda must find another way to untangle what destroyed this seemingly perfect family. It’s clear that the killer is searching for something the Parkers had, and until she has this monster behind bars, Amanda fears that he may return for Zoe. When she learns that Brett Parker cut short the family’s recent lakeside vacation, she wonders why. What happened at that lake house, and did it ultimately get them killed?

Amanda heads out to Lake Chesdin on the feeling it might be key to the case, and when she finds a cell phone in the murky waters next to the Parker cabin, she knows she’s made a breakthrough. But then terrible news reaches her from Dumfries; Zoe has been taken from her school playground.

Someone wants to silence the Parker family for good, can Amanda catch them before the little girl she’s desperate to protect pays the price?

A completely gripping and addictive crime thriller that will keep fans of Rachel Caine, Lisa Regan, and Robert Dugoni entertained into the early hours.

My Thoughts: This was an entertaining audiobook though a little light on police procedures. Amanda Steele is a police detective who is called in when the bodies of two people are found after a home invasion. Their six-year-old daughter Zoe is missing. This brings back all sorts of memories for Amanda who lost her own daughter and husband in a car accident which also claimed the life of her unborn baby and robbed her of the possibility of more children. 

She immediately begins a search for the child. When Zoe is found hiding in a hamper in the bedroom where her parents' bodies have been found, Amanda is determined to solve the case and protect the child. Zoe probably saw the killers, but she isn't talking. Circumstances induce Amanda to take Zoe home with her to protect her from those who killed her parents which brings back all sorts of old memories.

Meanwhile, Amanda's mother is on trial for murder - a murder she confessed to Amanda that she committed - and Amanda learned that her father once had an affair which resulted in a child. The affair came out when it was revealed that one of the CSI who should have testified at her mother's trial had to recuse herself because she was the "other woman."

The story had a lot of rather unlikely events including a police chief and politician involved in a sex trafficking ring with only Amanda and her partner knowing about it. It was packed with high emotion though. I liked the character of Amanda and was curious about her past activities which I assume are detailed in the first two books of this series. 

The narration was well done. The narrator was good at all the accents and good at building the appropriate suspense.

I bought this one. You can buy your copy here.