AUGUST 2024 READING LIST

An earlier school start date and a rapidly approaching nonprofit event I was assisting with limited my reading time considerably, and listening to audiobooks provided much-needed stability to my reading schedule.  More exciting was to read another Sharon Kay Penman book, the last of her strictly historical fiction novels.  

Here is what I read in August:

THE SUNNE IN SPLENDOUR BY SHARON KAY PENMAN

A glorious novel of the controversial Richard III - a monarch betrayed in life by his allies and vilified by historians.

At first, I struggled with the shift from Penman’s Plantagenets Series, which ended with Richard the Lionheart three hundred years earlier.  Once I found that the book was also a tale of The War of the Roses and showcased the captivating reign of Edward IV, I was completely enthralled. The terrible death of the Duke of York and his son was followed by the remarkable celestial phenomenon of sun dogs during Edward IV's (York) glorious routing of the Lancaster army. 

Penman wrote about the final Plantagenet rulers with sympathy while still showing their faults and failures.  I read the book less to learn more about Richard III and more to read another book by the author.  Penman is an amazing historical fiction writer.  Her attention to detail, relation to history, and writing style are incredibly absorbing.  Now that I have completed most of Penman’s work, I have been looking for other writers to fill the void, but I have yet to find a writer or series that has kept my attention.

4.25/5 Stars

MURDER ON LEXINGTON AVENUE BY VICTORIA THOMPSON

When a wealthy businessman is murdered, Detective Sergeant Frank Malloy is assigned to investigate, even though the crime is out of his jurisdiction. The reason he soon realizes is that the man has a deaf daughter—and it is well known that Malloy’s own son attends the New York Institution for the Deaf and Dumb.

I listened to this book through Libby. This is book twelve in the Gaslight Mystery series. 

It is a very intriguing mystery and another Victoria Thompson book I could not solve.  The storyline of the deaf school was a good way to personalize the case to Malloy.  Again, the slow budding romance between Sarah and Frank continued, but I have to imagine their relationship will be resolved soon, one way or another.  I was a little disappointed in the identity of the murderer, more so because I got attached to some of the characters.  That being said, the ending was not what I expected, making it enjoyable. 

4/5 Stars

MURDER ON SISTER’S ROW BY VICTORIA THOMPSON

With the help of a charitable lady of means, midwife Sarah Brandt rescues a young woman and her newborn from the brothel where the mother was forced to prostitute herself. But their success comes at a high price when their benefactor is found murdered.

I listened to this book through Libby. This is book thirteen in the Gaslight Mystery series. 

The beginning of the book was a little bit of a struggle to get through.  The voice used for the young woman who delivered a baby in the brothel got on my nerves, and her whole attitude was difficult to listen to.  However, once her part of the story was, for the most part, completed, the actual mystery of who killed Mrs. Van Orner and learning the secrets of her home were intriguing.  This mystery was a little easier to figure out, but Thompson kept up the tension with the tea scene toward the end.  Sister’s Row felt somewhat like a filler book—something to keep the main characters moving along.  Yet, it did have an intriguing storyline by showcasing the devastating working and living conditions in the late 19th century, especially for women.

3.5/5 Stars