Reading right now:

            “The Book of Fires” by Paul Doherty. Doherty does medieval mysteries right. This is the fourteenth book in the Sorrowful Mysteries of Brother Athelstan series. The series name alone is fantastic and the books are even better. Coroner Sir John Craston and monk Brother Athelstan are the investigators in this series set in the 1300s.

On hold right now:

            “Lamentation” by C. J. Sansom. This is the sixth book in the Shardlake series which takes place in 1546. Lawyer Matthew Shardlake gets pulled into the desperate plight of the current Queen (Catherine Parr) who wrote a confessional book (Lamentation of a Sinner) which has now disappeared. The information in the book could well bring down the Queen and her sympathizers.

Other Mysterious Things:

            I never think of myself as an historical mystery fan, but when I look back and think about the mystery series that I have enjoyed and the authors that I look forward to reading, I realize that I am a fan. The Cadfael series by Ellis Peters is one of my favorite medieval mystery series and I still enjoy watching the TV series over and over again. I watch carefully for the next Anne Perry novel (“The Angel Court Affair” March, 2015), Tessa Harris (“Shadow of the Raven” Apri, 2015), and C. S. Harris (“Who Buries the Dead” March, 2015) which are some of my favorites. This month there are several historical mysteries to look forward to so watch for them and give one a try. You never know, you might find that you too can be turned into an historical mystery fan (if you aren’t already). Just a few appearing soon are: Laurie R. King’s next Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes series set in 1925 is coming out this month (“Dreaming Spies”). S. D. Sykes’ “Plague Land” is said to be a brilliantly thrilling debut set in medieval Kent. Book eleven in the Medieval Mystery series by Priscilla Royal appears this month (“Satan’s Lullaby”) which is set in 1278. Cora Harrison releases the 12^th book in the Burren mystery series set in the sixteenth century in Ireland (“Condemned to Death”). Hope you enjoy one or perhaps all of them!