Death on the Sapphire introduces Lady Frances Ffolkes, a proto-feminist and suffragette in 1906. It’s the first in a new series by R.J. Koreto. I liked the heroine more than the mystery. She struggles with the constraints on a “proper” lady in her time, but she still does what she wants — moving out of her brother’s house to live independently (accompanied by her ladies’ maid, Miss Mallow), handling her own finances (mostly an inheritance), and exploiting expectations of what […]

Arsenic With Austen features an older woman, Emily, a widow and a college professor who’s feeling burnt out. Then she gets the kind of news most of us can only dream of. The aunt with whom she spent summers as a teenager has passed away, leaving Emily an amazing house in a beach village, a well-stocked library, a grumpy housekeeper who’s an accomplished cook, and millions of dollars. Emily moves back and quickly finds herself set upon by a pushy […]

I enjoyed E.J. Copperman’s Asperger’s mystery The Question of the Missing Head so much that when I found out he was launching a new series, this time starring a female author, I jumped at the chance to read it. And I was not disappointed. Written Off features Rachel Goldman, a mid-list mystery writer who’s in revisions on her fifth book. Her series character is Duffy Madison, a Holmesian police consultant who is scarily skilled at finding missing people. He’s direct, […]

Murder at the Spa by Stefanie Matteson is the first of eight mysteries starring Charlotte Graham, an older actress. It was originally published in 1990 and is now out of print but available digitally through Open Road Media, along with the other seven books in the series. Charlotte is enlisted by an old friend, cosmetic mogul Paulina Langenberg (think Helena Rubinstein or Estée Lauder), to find out who is trying to sabotage her luxury spa. This was either the best […]

There have been female takes on Sherlock Holmes before, but A Study in Charlotte beautifully blends the traditional detective with a teen romance and a young adult boarding school novel. James “Jamie” Watson is a new student at the Sherringford boarding school in Connecticut. Although American by birth, he’s previously been living in London with his divorced mom. He wants to be a writer but has to play on the rugby team for his scholarship. He’s the latest generation of […]

The schoolgirl detectives of Murder Is Bad Manners, Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong, return in Robin Stevens’ sequel, Poison Is Not Polite. Here, they tackle a murder during one of those classic English mystery situations: the manor house party. It’s the Easter holidays, so instead of going home to Hong Kong, Hazel is staying with Daisy and her family at their estate. Daisy’s parents, Lord and Lady Hastings, aren’t getting along, a situation exacerbated by Lady Hastings’ friend, Mr. Curtis, […]