Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Historic England Comes Alive in These 3 Novels.

Martyr by Rory Clements
England, 1587
First Line: Rose Downie sat on the cold cobbles, cradling a swaddled baby that was not hers.
First in a series, John Shakespeare, investigator, older brother to William, is charged with solving the murder of Queen Elizabeth’s cousin and an assassination attempt against Sir Francis Drake.

The Devlin Diary by Christi Phillips
London, 1672 and Cambridge 2008
First Line: She leaves her house on Portsmouth Street carrying a wood box with a smooth ivory handle and tarnished brass fittings.
Hannah Devlin, physician when her only patients are the poor, becomes convinced that she has found a serial killer at work by the condition of the bodies. Claire Donovan in 2008 finds Hannah’s diary and discovers that the diary is dangerous when a rival is killed.

A Matter of Justice by Charles Todd
England, 1920
First Line: Ronald Evering was in his study, watching a mechanical toy bank go through its motions, when the idea first came to him.
Ian Rutledge, Scotland Yard Inspector, is sent to investigate a murder of a man named Quarles in a particularly vicious manner. Eleventh in the series, Inspector Rutledge is haunted by memories of World War I and the soldier he was forced to shoot for desertion.

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