The Music Makers by Alexandra Walsh

A dual time line fascinates me and most readers. This one was particularly evocative. 1875 London Victorian and we have young women who are not timid nor retiring but who want to make a stand for themselves. Esme Blood and Lynette are young women with theatre in their blood but they now want to spread their wings and see what the wider world holds. They step out into a newer, more sophisticated one than the one they left behind and are successful in their fields. Fast forward to 2020 Wales - Eleanor has been diagnosed with an auto immune illness which has had her hospitalized for a long time. She is now recovering albeit slowly and is building up her business as an online one. She specialises in the theatre - clothes, memorablia and particularly programs. She is very good at her job and when she comes upon a set of programs she is drawn to them almost magnetically as if they are telling her something. Eleanor is also well versed in Tarot card reading and all her readings point her in a direction which she is careful to follow. The similarities between the cards and stories she unearths from 1875 show that there are links between Esme and herself even though they are centuries apart. The story was beautifully descriptive of all the characters involved - especially the 1875 ones and in 2020 the main characters of the story. Family details and how the story is evolving are also minute and very well explained. It is a real page turner and one book which is hard to put by for a later read. Sent by Sapere Books for an unbiased review, courtesy of Netgalley.

The Dangers Of An Ordinary Night by Lynne Reeves

A small town on the outskirts of Boston. A high school but one which has a good reputation for its performing arts students. Students here hope that they, depending on their performances get picked by one of the talent scouts invited for performances and this will be their stepping stone into the big world of the arts. June and Tali have been friends for a long time, and one night after auditioning for a play the two girls go missing. Two days later they are found, one dead one suffering from amnesia, badly scratched and bruised with no account of what happened, other than a man pushing them into a car. Detectives have to work blind - looking into any strange people in the area, anyone with a track record for abduction. and the tedious work of detection and elimination begins. Focus on both girls families as always, then on their circle of friends and their families and small details emerge which dont quite add up. The final denouement is difficult to fathom and understand but it is very well done in the whole drama of this performance. Because it is a performance. Very good characterization, good outline of the story. Perfectly unbelievable till it becomes fact a good mystery suspense thriller. Sent by Crooked Lane Books for an unbiased review, courtesy of Netgalley.

The Midnight Hour by Elly Griffiths

1965 Brighton England. Bert Billington rich and famous impressario is found dead in his own home it seems very natural. He was in his 90s but when his own son blurts out to the police that he suspects his mother had a hand in the death, the police have got to take action, especially since a post mortem shows that he died of rat poisoning being ingested over a period of time. Brighton Police have got competition in the form of a private detective agency of two women - one a journalist and one a former detective herself who married the Chief Inspector and retired. Emma and Sam are hired by Verity - Bert's wife and slowly they untangle so much in the past life of Verity and Bert (who seemed to have no end of people who would be happy to see him dead). What especially marked it for me, was that women whether it was 1930s England or as recent as 1965 their position had not changed much. Slightly derogotary was the attitude of the Police towards fellow workers and did not give them the dignity of their position at all. It was an upward task all the time and women seemed to have to fight to get a position. Many just gave in timidly it seems. The detective story was an interesting one. Old characters coming up again. Sent by Mariner Books for an unbiased review, courtesy of Netgalley.

The Complete Provincial Lady Series - Five Novels - E M Delafield

1930s England. The setting mainly a village in Devon full of self important characters - the Vicar's wife for one and we have our very self effacing lady. Who would like to retort cleverly and smartly and never does and gets taken advantage of left, right and centre. The stories are a collection of five pieces - each interesting and details the Provincial Lady's travels and pursuits from Russia to America to wartime England. There are trips back and forth home but the children are growing up fast and she though particularly sentimental over her children, has accepted the fact that they are now grown up. Her relationship with Robert is a bit sad - she loves him dearly, but he is typified as the usual stoic Englishman who is frightened to even show the slightest bit of emotion or feelings - not a new age man definitely and I do so wish he could have been a bit warmer! The stories are tailor made for an Anglophile - they may not appeal to all because they are old fashioned, the women somehow give in to the men at all levels whether husband, bosses, uncles or anyone around. But it is descriptive of the age in which they were set and the conditions of the time. The stories apart from describing the conditions, the characters of the times also depicts the domestic front which was in operation at the time. England's homes still had a cook, a maid and the change had not yet fully come. I enjoyed reading it very much. Was just happy that Amazon put this out in a collection at such a reasonable price too.

Gated Prey by Lee Goldberg

One in a series but good as a stand alone we have our female Chief Detective facing as usual the barrage of bad feeling from her colleagues with just a few supporting her work. Her success is the cause for the antagonism, never mind that she almost died in the case and the fact that the last case is going to be cast into a TV series has not won her any followers amongst her fellow workers. When a series of robberies takes place in gated communities with so called security guards and plenty of preventive measures in place Eve follows up on the latest robbery. A trail which leaves the three robbers dead all not caused by her own hand, anyway gets her the notoriety she hates and which her boss is going to use to his best advantage for the advancement of his own political career. Uncovering a racket which seems to go beyond just three youngsters on a stealing spree, a murder of a woman and a baby is uncovered which adds to the complications in the story. The story is fast paced, and an eye opener on how easy it is to get into even a gated community when the community itself becomes lax on security and warnings. Everyone gets very settled into an easy pace and then the trouble begins. Sent by Thomas & Mercer for an unbiased review, courtesy of Netgalley.

Sherlock Holmes and the Rosetta Stone Mystery by Linda Startmann

1876 Holmes has already garnered a reputation of being odd, eccentric, not quite following the rules and the bane of London Police Chiefs. They do not like his unorthodoxy, his so called modern methods and his way of doing things just out of the box. When the priceless Rosetta Stone is found missing from the museum - no break in, no obvious sign of damage it is extremely puzzling to all including the Police. Followed by a ransom note to say that unless paid, the Stone would be cast into the sea - it sends everyone on a wild goose chase to the Docks to see whether the stone is being hid on a ship there. But how did it get there as it was a cumbersome thing to move. When one employee who was coshed on the head dies during the burglary, and the other suffering from amnesia Holmes considers it an inside job and slowly starts to unravel the pieces of the puzzle. Quite slow on the detective angle, at times lingering and repetitive, the story picks up rapidly and then moves on with a number of characters involved and different sets of people and places. Interesting angle on Holmes, Watson and Stamford. Sent by Sapere Books for an unbiased review, courtesy of Netgalley.

Murder on the Pier by Merryn Allingham (A Flora Steele Mystery No. 1)

Again this can be read as a stand alone though there are references to the earlier story (also in the same genre). Flora is a bit of a day dreamer, also a amateur detective also owner of a bookshop which she inherited from her aunt. She loves her job, she loves her village but like the Midsomer Murder series, this idyllic village area harbours very vicious people. When Polly a beautiful girl from the village is found murdered and discovered near a pier by Flora and Jack, who are out for a day outing with the boy Charlie the detection has to start on the part of Flora because the Detective Inspectors assigned to the case call on it as an accident if not suicide. They are not willing to even admit to the fact that Polly had her life in front of her and it could never be considered suicide - or the theory of Flora's that it was no accident but that the girl was pushed. When Flora herself is pushed at the same pier and escapes a gruesome death, very narrowly Jack is convinced that someone is trying to cover up Flora's enquiries because she is the only person who is pursuing the line that Polly's death is murder. Jack and Polly have a way to go to uncover clues because the murderer is someone whom they least suspect. In this case there are plenty of suspects but the final closure is different. A very nice cozy. Sent by Bookouture for an unbiased review, courtesy of Netgalley.