SEPTEMBER 2024 READING LIST
In a crazy, busy month, books were necessary to distract me from the pressures of responsibility. Don’t get me wrong, I am glad to be productive and have family engagement, but it can be overwhelming at times. Reading calms me down and gives me time to breathe amidst the chaos. Then I realized all my reads were mysteries. Going into the next month, I want to step away from the darker side and perhaps find a nice historical fiction novel to cozy up with.
Here are the books I read and listened to in September:
MURDER ON FIFTH AVENUE BY VICTORIA THOMPSON
Sarah Brandt’s family is one of the oldest in New York City, and her father, Felix Decker, takes his position in society very seriously. He still refuses to resign himself to his daughter being involved with an Irish Catholic police detective. But when a member of his private club — the very exclusive Knickerbocker — is murdered, Decker forms an uneasy alliance with Detective Sergeant Frank Malloy to solve the crime as discreetly as possible.
I listened to this book through Libby. This is book fourteen in the Gaslight Mystery series.
As with the rest of the series, there was plenty of back and forth. The dual POV of Frank and Sarah provides great cliffhangers that make me want to read more. In this story, Sarah’s parents are more involved. This provided another look at the Deckers and gave their characters more depth. On the flip side, the deviation felt a little lackluster. The mystery was intriguing, but I like the series better when the focus is on the mystery and not the characters.
What I enjoyed about this installment was the development of the main characters. It is evident that Frank and Sarah will be together in the end, but the slow procession to their union is delightful to read. I have read books where the other connects the two interests too fast, and then the following books I read about marital squabbles. Another series caused disasters to happen to the main character's love interest, causing me to lose heart. Thompson does an excellent job of not giving in and just throwing Frank and Sarah together. The tension of their fondness toward each other only adds to the tension in the story and amplifies the mystery.
4/5 Stars
MISTRESS OF THE ART OF DEATH BY ARIANA FRANKLIN
A chilling, mesmerizing novel that combines the best of modern forensic thrillers with the detail and drama of historical fiction. In medieval Cambridge, England, four children have been murdered. The crimes are immediately blamed on the town's Jewish community, taken as evidence that Jews sacrifice Christian children in blasphemous ceremonies.
Henry calls on his cousin, the King of Sicily- whose subjects include the best medical experts in Europe- and asks for his finest "master of the art of death," an early version of the medical examiner. The Italian doctor chosen for the task is a young prodigy from the University of Salerno. But her name is Adelia-the king has been sent a "mistress" of the art of death.
I was curious about this book because of the cover and the intriguing fusion of historical fiction and murder mystery. Also intriguing was the idea of a female doctor in medieval England. I had a hard time sticking with the story. I would read a couple of pages, and I just couldn’t get hooked. Finally, I just pushed through. The story ended up being darker, more sinister, and more sexually themed than I thought it was going to be.
I did enjoy the references to the time period and Adelia’s comparison of England and Sicily. Having read books by Sharon Kay Penman around the same time period enlightened me even more about the story’s background. I already knew that the English were prejudiced towards Jews. I knew that Sicily was a diverse, progressive city and a strange land mixed with Christian and Muslim influences. I also knew that some women were gaining independence, but they were still extremely diminished. This knowledge was helpful in providing a backdrop to Franklin’s world.
In the end, I skimmed through the story more. I was just not invested, and once the truth about the deaths of the children was revealed, I was even more detached from the story. Perhaps I was suffering a little historical fiction fatigue, but I was not able to get into the story and the time period. The book is the first of several and I have opted not to continue with the story. My sensitive soul could not handle more of the same dark themes.
3/5 Stars
CROCODILE ON THE SANDBANK BY ELIZABETH PETERS
Amelia Peabody, an indomitable product of the Victorian age, embarks on her debut Egyptian adventure. On her way to Cairo, she rescues young Evelyn Barton-Forbes, whom her scoundrel lover has abandoned. Together, the two women sail up the Nile to an archeological site run by the Emerson brothers—the irascible but dashing Radcliffe and the amiable Walter. But when gossip of a curse and a mummy sighting overshadow the excavation, Amelia may get more of an adventure than she bargained for.
Out of a need for a reprieve from the darker reads on my list, I returned to a beloved favorite. I re-listened to Peters’ first book in the Amelia Peabody series and a lighter mystery. I hope the series can be made into a TV series one day, although if I were in charge of the story, I would make a few changes. Again, I was transported to the end of the 19th century and the blazing sands of Egypt. I love how the book introduces the characters in this book and reading about the strong-willed dynamic of Amelia Peabody.
This is my fourth read, and although the storyline and some of the dialogue are slightly more comical, I still enjoy the book. Barbara Rosenblatt is a wonderful narrator, and I enjoy her work every time I listen to this series.
4.75/5 Stars
MURDER IN CHELSEA BY VICTORIA THOMPSON
Sarah Brandt is shattered when she learns that a woman has inquired at Hope’s Daughters Mission for Catherine, the abandoned child she has taken as her daughter. The woman claims she was Catherine’s nursemaid, now acting on behalf of the girl’s mother to reunite them.
Unwilling to simply hand Catherine over to a complete stranger, Sarah asks Malloy to investigate. But when he goes to interview the woman at her tenement in Chelsea, he finds she has been murdered.
I listened to this book through Libby. This is book fifteen in the Gaslight Mystery series.
I was thankful to find that this book was less dark than some of the other in the series. The focus is less on the terrible living conditions of 19th-century New York and more on the life of Catherine, who Sarah has adopted. The twists and turns were great in the discovery of who killed whom and how the story would unfold. I especially liked how Thompson didn’t fall into the trap of allowing everything to neatly fall into place. Sarah and Frank are closer to being together, but not in the way they had originally thought. The mystery was compelling, but the characters were more the focus. The ending of this book opens the door for all kinds of possibilities for future books.
4.25/5 Stars