Portrait of a Scotsman (#3 in A League of Extraordinary Women) by Evie Dunmore (2021)

 

Evie Dunmore’s League of Extraordinary Woman is made up of four Oxford students who have banned together in 1880 over their belief that changes needed to be made to the Married Women’s Property Act which gave husbands financial and legal control over their wives along with control of all property owned by the now married woman and that woman deserved the right to vote.

Hattie Greenfield is the heroine of Portrait of a Scotsman, who after being caught kissing her father’s business rival, financier Lucian Blackstone, is forced to marry him. Hattie only knows Lucien by his reputation for being ruthless in business and fears he will be the end of her dream of becoming a recognized artist.

Lucien is a self-made man driven by political ambitions and a need for revenge. He has wealth but no power and marriage to Hattie is his entry into polite society where the power is held.

As in so many romances Lucian has no time for his new bride but things start to change when he takes Hattie to Scotland with him to check out a mine he just purchased. Although the two discover they really do care for one another, Hattie asks for a divorce when they return to England. Divorce was a scandalous thing in 1880 and had to be allowed by the husband. Hattie was not willing to stay with a husband whom she felt had bought and paid for her, she wants to be wooed.

The Married Women’s Property Act was finally changed in 1882. The new law allowed women to own/buy/sell property, keep any income from the property or an occupation, and keep any inheritance. The law also made both parents equally responsible for their children. Under the former law woman had no rights to their children. The women of Britain were granted the same voting rights as men in 1928.

Although it is not necessary to read the books in order, the characters and events from previous novels are mentioned in the books that follow.

Bringing Down the Duke (2019)

A Rogue of One's Own (2020)

The fourth title has not yet been announced

3.96 stars on Goodreads, 4.4 on Amazon

This series is not available at EPL. Ask any of the reference librarians to get it for you from an area library.

A Darker Reality (Elena Standish #3) by Anne Perry (2021)

 

Anne Perry is well-known for her historical mysteries and the annual Christmas mystery she has written since 2004, but A Darker Reality was my introduction to the author. Now I know why Perry has so many dedicated fans.

The Elena Standish series (one of several by Perry) takes place in pre World War II Europe. Elena is a photographer from England in her late twenties but she is a lot more she appears. Her father is a career diplomat and his father once headed MI6. Let’s just say this apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

Elena travels to America with her parents for the 60^th wedding anniversary party of her American mother’s parents in Washington, D.C. Her grandfather, Wyatt Baylor, is a very powerful financier who has just been appointed an adviser to President Franklin Roosevelt, who is also attending the party. When one of the guests is found dead after being run over by his car, Wyatt is arrested. He claims he is being framed by his enemies and Elena and her father set out to find the truth. The book also touches on the feelings of many Americans at that time – isolationism and racial purity. The splitting of the atom also has a role to play.

Anne Perry is a master at building the suspense throughout the book until the surprise ending. Although it is not necessary to read the books in order, readers will find this title refers quite often to the events of numbers 1 and 2. I have already checked them out!

The Loyal League Books 1, 2, and 3 by Alyssa Cole

 The Loyal League is a covert organization of spies during the Civil War, many of whom are former slaves. Although each book can be read as a standalone novel, it is helpful to read them in order as the main characters return as secondary characters in books 2 and 3.

An Extraordinary Union (#1) (2017)

Elle Burns, a former slave, is living in freedom in Massachusetts. She possesses an extraordinarily memory for visual images and uses this skill to aid the Loyal League, a covert organization of spies. For her latest mission, Elle agrees to return to the South as a mute slave to spy for the Union Army.

Malcolm McCall is a detective in Pinkerton's Secret Service masquerading as a Union soldier. His mission is to infiltrate a Rebel enclave in Virginia. Elle and Malcom join forces when they discover a plot that could turn the tide of the war in the Confederacy’s favor.

Because Elle is acting as a slave she is regarded as less than human in the South. The members of the Caffrey household she serves, and their visitors, speak freely when Elle is in the room, never realizing they are giving away secrets. The situation is a spy’s gold mine.

Malcolm’s skills lie in his charm which make it very difficult for Elle to trust him, even when they are working together. He is also white but appears to have some understanding of the black man’s world.

The author never loses sight of the black perspective. She freely shares Elle’s thoughts and emotions about how blacks are viewed and treated and the danger of her growing feelings for Malcolm.

The story is based on Mary Bowser, a freed slave who spied for the Union Army.

3.85 stars on Goodreads, 4.3 on Amazon

A Hope Divided (#2) (2017)

Marlie Lynch, a gifted healer, is the daughter of a freed black woman and a wealthy white plantation owner. Her half-sister Sarah, an abolitionist, acknowledges Marlie as a member of the family and the two live together in the family home. Things go south rapidly when Sarah's brother and his malicious, racist Southern-belle wife return home

Unbeknown to Sarah’s brother, Marlie has been aiding the North’s war effort by providing tisanes and poultices for Union prisoners, assisting slaves and Freeman escape north and providing the Union with coded messages about anti-Rebel uprisings in the woods near her. When the vicious Confederate Home Guard takes over Marlie's home as their new base of operations in the war against Southern resistors Marlie’s future is in jeopardy.

Marlie soon learns that having a white father will no longer protect her. Although she's a free woman, she can still be sold into slavery and she becomes a prisoner in the house she'd always considered home. Marlie’s fear and uncertainty and the injustice of it all jumps right off the pages.

What the Guard does not know is that Marlie is harboring a wounded Ewan McCall in her laboratory, after his escape from a Confederate prison. When a shocking family secret is revealed and Marlie's freedom is on the line, she escapes the house with Ewan’s help. The pair follow the path of the Underground Railroad and get caught in a battle before they are even out of North Carolina.

4.09 stars on Goodreads, 4.6 on Amazon

An Unconditional Freedom (#3) (2019)

We first met Daniel Cumberland in An Extraordinary Union. Like Elle, he is also free and one of her closest friends. That all changes when he is kidnapped and sold back into slavery. In An Unconditional Freedom a plot to free Daniel is carried out by Malcolm McCall (the hero of An Extraordinary Union) and Daniel is recruited into the Loyal League. Here Daniel finds opportunities to help take down the Confederacy and vent the rage that consumes him.

Janeta Sanchez’s lives in a small Florida town that has been taken over by the Union army. When her father is unjustly imprisoned for treason, Janeta must spy for the Confederacy in order to gain his freedom. Janeta agrees to infiltrate the Loyal League as a double agent, and she finds herself teamed up with Daniel. Daniel has a secret mission of his own to settle a personal vendetta and has no desire for a partner, particularly one with no experience.

Janeta has been brought up in a culture that supports slavery and life in the real world soon causes her to question everything she believes it. Daniel plays a large part in this de-programing.

As in the other two titles in the series, the author does not shy away from the brutality of the Civil War, the injustice of slavery, the invisibility of slaves, and the pain of family secrets, alongside humor and lightness.

4.11 stars on Goodreads, 4.5 on Amazon

Murder on Cold Street (Lady Sherlock #5) by Sherry Thomas (2020)

 

Sherry Thomas offers a whole new take on the Sherlock Holmes stories we know and love. Charlotte Holmes (“Lady Sherlock”) is a female detective in Victorian England, a time that doesn’t approve of ladies getting their hands dirty, especially a member of the upper class. Lady Sherlock’s answer to the situation is to create a fictional brother named Sherlock whom she consults with on all her cases.

To advance the charade, Sherlock is always behind a closed door listening to each client’s story and although the investigation is conducted by Charlotte it is at Sherlock’s direction. The role of Dr. Watson is assumed by Mrs. Watson who is Lady Sherlock’s benefactor and assists Charlotte with her caseload. There are also a variety of secondary characters who move from novel to novel. There’s even a role for Moriarty to play.

Murder on Cold Street focuses on Inspector Treadles, Charlotte Holmes’s friend and Scotland Yard detective. He has been found locked in a room with two dead men, both of whom worked with his wife at a manufacturing enterprise she has recently inherited. The game is afoot to find the real murderer.

Descriptions in the book can be lengthy; the author does love her adjectives and the more the merrier. Murder on Cold Street is not a fast read, but enjoyable none the less. Although each novel in the series can stand on its own, it would be helpful to read them in order to keep up with the backstories of the various characters. There are many references to events from past books that I would have liked to know more about.

A Study in Scarlet Women (2016)

A Conspiracy in Belgravia (2017)

The Hollow of Fear (2018)

The Art of Theft (2019)

Murder on Cold Street (2020)

Miss Moriarty, I Presume? is due out in November.

4.22 stars on Goodreads, 4.6 on Amazon

None of the Lady Sherlock books are available at EPL. Ask any of the reference librarians to get the book(s) for you from an area library.

Seven Perfect Things by Catherine Ryan Hyde (2021)

 

Seven Perfect Things is a story about growing up (Abby), grieving (Elliott), and believing in yourself enough to go after what you really want (Abby’s mother Mary).

Abby Hubble is thirteen-years old living with a mother she adores and a father who makes life miserable for both of them. On her way home one night Abby witnesses a man tossing a wiggling bag into the river. Abby, who is a strong swimmer, jumps in after it because she knows whatever is in the bag is alive. Once Abby and the bag are back on shore, seven perfect puppies emerge. Afraid to leave the puppies to an unknown fate at the pound, Abby decides to take the puppies to the shed of an abandoned cabin where her abusive father will not find them.

Elliott Colvin is a recent widower struggling with the unwanted changes in his life and the words of well-meaning friends that don’t seem to help. He decides to take some time by himself at his hunting cabin which he hasn’t visited in years. When Elliott gets to the cabin, he discovers Abby and the puppies.

As Abby and Elliot’s friendship deepens, Abby begins to wonder what life would be like if her mother Mary were married to Elliott and not her father. When Abby introduces her mother to both Elliott and the puppies, and her father catches wind of it, he abruptly packs up the family and leaves. They move in with his brother where the Mary and Abby are little more than prisoners. An escape plan is needed, the puppies depend on Abby.

If you enjoy feel-good movies with a somewhat unrealistic plot that makes you feel all warm and fuzzy, this book is for you. No tissues needed.

4.41 stars on Goodreads, 4.5 on Amazon

This book is not available at EPL. Ask any of the reference librarians to get it for you from an area library.