What Cannot Be Said by C.S. Harris

What Cannot Be Said
by C.S. Harris

ISBN-13: 9780593639184
Hardcover: 368 pages
Publisher: Berkley
Released: April 16, 2024

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
July 1815: The Prince Regent’s grandiose plans to celebrate Napoléon’s recent defeat at Waterloo are thrown into turmoil when Lady McInnis and her daughter Emma are found brutally murdered in Richmond Park, their bodies posed in a chilling imitation of the stone effigies once found atop medieval tombs. Bow Street magistrate Sir Henry Lovejoy immediately turns to his friend Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, for help with the investigation. For as Devlin discovers, Lovejoy’s own wife and daughter were also murdered in Richmond Park, their bodies posed in the same bizarre postures. A traumatized ex-soldier was hanged for their killings. So is London now confronting a malicious copyist? Or was an innocent man sent to the gallows?

Aided by his wife, Hero, who knew Lady McInnis from her work with poor orphans, Devlin finds himself exploring a host of unsavory characters from a vicious chimney sweep to a smiling but decidedly lethal baby farmer. Also coming under increasing scrutiny is Sir Ivo McInnis himself, along with a wounded Waterloo veteran—who may or may not have been Laura McInnis’s lover—and a charismatic young violinist who moonlights as a fencing master and may have formed a dangerous relationship with Emma. But when Sebastian’s investigation turns toward man about town Basil Rhodes, he quickly draws the fury of the Palace, for Rhodes is well known as the Regent’s favorite illegitimate son.

Then Lady McInnis’s young niece and nephew are targeted by the killer, and two more women are discovered murdered and arranged in similar postures. With his own life increasingly in danger, Sebastian finds himself drawn inexorably toward a conclusion far darker and more horrific than anything he could have imagined.


My Review:
What Cannot Be Said is a mystery set in 1815 in London. This book is the 19th in a series. You can understand it without having read the previous novels, and it didn't spoil the whodunits of the previous mysteries.

The historical information was woven into the story without slowing the pacing. It created a distinct feeling of that specific time and place and helped bring the story alive in my imagination. The characters were interesting, complex, and acted in realistic ways. Both Hero and Sebastian were involved in the investigation. They tracked down leads and asked good questions. Though there were plenty of suspects, I guessed whodunit before Sebastian. I understood why he didn't guess whodunit sooner, though.

There were no sex scenes. There was a fair amount of bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this interesting historical mystery.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.

Death in the Details by Katie Tietjen

Death in the Details
by Katie Tietjen

ISBN-13: 9781639107186
Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books
Released: April 9, 2024

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Inspired by the real life Frances Lee Glessner.

Maple Bishop is ready to put WWII and the grief of losing her husband Bill behind her. But when she discovers that Bill left her penniless, Maple realizes she could lose her Vermont home next and sets out to make money the only way she knows by selling her intricately crafted dollhouses. Business is off to a good start—until Maple discovers her first customer dead, his body hanging precariously in his own barn.

Something about the supposed suicide rubs Maple the wrong way, but local authorities brush off her concerns. Determined to see “what’s big in what’s small,” Maple turns to what she knows best, painstakingly recreating the gruesome scene in death in a nutshell.

With the help of a rookie officer named Kenny, Maple uses her macabre miniature to dig into the dark undercurrents of her sleepy town. But when her nemesis, the town gossip, goes missing, she becomes a suspect, she's determined to solve the mysteries before someone else ends up dead.


My Review:
Death in the Details is a mystery set in 1946 Vermont. I've read about Frances Lee Glessner's work of making miniature crime scenes and was intrigued with a sleuth based on her, but making miniatures of crime scenes seems to be the only similarity between them. While the author wove historical details into the story to give it a distinct sense of time and place, she also used several phrases that didn't come into use until after that date. She also mentioned seat belts, but those weren't added to cars until after 1949. Wrong details like this kept me from getting immersed in the story.

The mystery was clue-based, but Maple was so certain that her judgements about others were correct that she couldn't see the obvious. I had most of the whodunit worked out back when the murder was discovered. The crime scene miniature was mostly a way for Maple to demonstrate her theories. Maple wasn't very likable at the beginning and only slowly learned how to get people to listen to her. She was very socially inept, and it didn't help that she assumed the worst about others and didn't hesitate to let a person know that she held them in contempt--which was most people. However, she's devoted to justice, has a photographic memory, is observant, and likes everything to be neatly explained, so she got it solved.

There was a minor amount of bad language. There was no sex. Overall, I'd recommend this novel, but more to historical fiction fans as the story was more about Maple growing as a person than the mystery.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.

The Songbird of Hope Hill by Kim Vogel Sawyer

The Songbird of Hope Hill
by Kim Vogel Sawyer

ISBN-13: 9780593600818
Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: WaterBrook
Released: April 9, 2024

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Birdie Clarkson only recently started working at Lida’s Palace, a house of ill repute at the edge of Tulsey, Texas. Abandoned and penniless, she turned to someone she thought was a friend, but instead it turned out to be a nightmare. She wants to leave, but doesn’t know how. And how will she ever feel clean again? When Reverend Isaiah Overly and his son, Ephraim, arrive offering a safe haven and better life for any of the women who want to leave, Birdie takes a chance. Ignoring the madam’s furious raging, she climbs into the back of the preacher’s wagon.

The Reverend and his wife, Ophelia, welcome Birdie to Hope Hill, which they founded as a haven to teach women, providing them with an education and skills necessary to ensure their future will be brighter than their past. Hesitant at first, Birdie soon joins the preacher at revival meetings as part of the chorus, singing alongside Ephraim.

Reverend Overly’s ministry is built on the premise than none are irredeemable. Will the Reverend be able to convince Birdie that God’s redemption wipes the soul clean—or will she feel forever to smeared to accept love?


My Review:
The Songbird of Hope Hill is a Christian romance set in 1895 in Texas. Birdie's father died and her mother abandoned her, so she goes to her mother's childhood friend hoping she'll help her get to her aunt. Only, Lida pressures Birdie into prostitution at her brothel. Birdie now feels worthless, used, and rejected. Then a pastor enters the brothel, offering refuge at his mission, and Birdie accepts. But what does her future hold? Most folk don't want anything to do with an ex-prostitute, and a few even claim God won't forgive a sin as bad as hers.

Ephraim is talented at playing and singing music, and he dutifully helps his pastor father with his mission and revivals. He feels restless, though, and he doesn't understand how his parents can pray for Lida (as he's never been told that they once knew each other). He's captivated by Birdie's beautiful singing and enjoys her kind, caring personality, but he's not supposed to get personally involved with the girls at the mission.

The main characters were engaging, reacted realistically to events, and grew in maturity. Birdie and Ephraim shared interests and got along well. The main focus of the story was how God forgives and can make one new. The pastor constantly prayed to God for guidance, and several of the ex-prostitutes accepted Christ as they came to understand what He'd done for them. There was no sex or bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this story of renewal and healing.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.

These Tangled Threads by Sarah Loudin Thomas

These Tangled Threads
by Sarah Loudin Thomas

ISBN-13: 9780764242014
Paperback: 368 pages
Publisher: Bethany House Publishers
Released: April 2, 2024

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
When Biltmore Industries master weaver Lorna Blankenship is commissioned to create an original design for Cornelia Vanderbilt's 1924 wedding, she panics knowing she doesn't have the creativity needed. But there's an elusive artisan in the Blue Ridge Mountains who could save her--if only she can find her. To track the mysterious weaver down, Lorna sees no other way but to seek out the relationships she abandoned in shame. Lorna is forced to confront the wounds and regrets of long ago. She'll have to risk the job that shapes her identity as well as the hope of friendship--and love--restored.


My Review:
These Tangled Threads is a historical set between 1915 and 1924 in North Carolina. The action switched between three main timelines (start, middle, end) with events being referred to in the later timelines that hadn't yet happened. It got a little confusing to keep track of what had happened in each timeline, and I think I would have enjoyed the story more if it'd just happened in order. The main characters were realistically complex with reactions based on their upbringing and tragedies in their past.

Lorna's a drama queen. It's all about her. For example, it didn't matter that two people were finally reunited and were having a joyous reunion. She wanted them to hear her guilty confession immediately and get angry at her to validate her guilt. Or the wood carver who has long admired her kept trying to compliment her, but all she could hear is that he might know her guilty secret. He's kind-hearted and talented but feels like few women would want him because of his club foot. At least he knows exactly what he's getting when he wants to court Lorna as he's been dealing with her confusing (to him) behavior for years.

The story was based in historical events, like the Biltmore Industries shops, a flood that happened in the area, and Cornelia's wedding. Those historical details were interesting and necessary to the story and so didn't slow the pacing. There was no sex or bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this enjoyable historical.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.

The Missing Maid by Holly Hepburn

The Missing Maid
by Holly Hepburn

ISBN-13: 9781835337394
ebook: 219 pages
Publisher: Boldwood Books
Released: March 27, 2024

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
London, 1932. When Harriet White rebuffs the advances of her boss at the Baker Street building society where she works, she finds herself demoted to a new position… a very unusual position. Deep in the postal department beneath the bank, she is tasked with working her way through a mountain of correspondence addressed to Baker Street’s most famous Mr Sherlock Holmes.

Seemingly undeterred by the fact that Sherlock Holmes doesn’t exist, letter after letter arrives, beseeching him to help solve mysteries, and Harry diligently replies to each writer with the same Mr Holmes has retired from detective work and now lives in Sussex, keeping bees.

Until one entreaty catches her eye. It’s from a village around five miles from Harry’s family estate, about a young woman who went to London to work as a domestic, then disappeared soon afterwards in strange circumstances. Intrigued, Harry decides, just this once, to take matters into her own hands. And so, the case of the missing maid is opened…


My Review:
The Missing Maid is a mystery set in 1932 in England. No one is murdered. It started off fine, with a well-born gal working as a secretary at a bank deciding to solve a case sent to Sherlock Holmes (because the bank is located at the fictional address). She posed as Holmes' secretary when dealing with the missing girl's family. She asked questions and followed up on leads, though mostly she seemed to stumble upon the needed information. She realistically made mistakes along the way, including not being very convincing in a disguise. Things started to become less and less realistic, though. The missing maid showed back up, but she's accused of theft. Again. Harry's determined to prove the maid's innocent.

At least one modern phrase was used. When questioning the girl, the maid never mentioned that the girl who took her in looked exactly like her yet Harry immediately assumed she was the look-alike girl. Harry put on trousers for the first time and hid her hair, and suddenly she had everyone convinced she's a man. The author implied she stunk and people moved downwind to avoid it, but they'd want to move upwind, and why is there a wind in an enclosed space? When in disguise, she walked off with a beer mug from a bar, and no one objected or found it odd that she was carrying it around in the streets. She could throw corrugated iron sheeting some distance yet couldn't figure out how to deal with her captive without help. Yet Oliver (who was helping her) could not only do it alone but came up with a way to pass the evidence on to the police. She's the one who insisted on doing a citizen's arrest, yet she hadn't thought all that through? And then she decided to type up her adventures like a Sherlock Holmes story while on bank time. Huh. Not to mention, why did the thief twice hide the jewelry under Mildred's pillow so she'd get caught if the game was to use her to allow the true thief to walk out of the house with the stolen goods? As in, the true thief never benefited from this complicated look-alike game.

There was no sex or bad language.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.

To Slip the Bonds of Earth by Amanda Flower

To Slip the Bonds of Earth
by Amanda Flower

ISBN-13: 9781496747662
Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: Kensington
Released: March 26, 2024

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
December 1903: While Wilbur and Orville Wright’s flying machine is quite literally taking off in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina with its historic fifty-seven second flight, their sister Katharine is back home in Dayton, Ohio, running the bicycle shop, teaching Latin, and looking after the family. A Latin teacher and suffragette, Katharine is fiercely independent, intellectual, and the only Wright sibling to finish college. But at twenty-nine, she’s frustrated by the gender inequality in academia.

Returning home to Dayton, Wilbur and Orville (and Katharine) receive an invitation to a fancy Christmas ball. Orville decides to bring their as-yet-unpatented flyer plans to the festivities, where they are stolen. Orville and Katharine also find a murdered blackmailer with Orville's screwdriver in his chest and the host's son covered in blood. Katharine sets out to find the missing plans and prove that her student is innocent.


My Review:
To Slip the Bonds of Earth is a historical mystery set in 1903 in Ohio. Katharine had a hard time remembering that her goal was to find the stolen plans. She spent no time looking for them but switched to proving that her student wasn't the murderer, or maybe discovering whodunit. She asked questions, broke into buildings to poke around, read letters not meant for her, and generally annoyed people. Yet she didn't figure out whodunit or find out who had the plans. Whodunit helpfully decided to confess in front of witnesses. It's never adequately explained how everyone seemed to know that Orville had Critically Important Plans in his jacket pocket, and it's mind-boggling that he took them to a party instead of leaving them behind with Wilbur. So I found the mystery pretty disappointing and, yes, I guessed whodunit before the reveal.

Katharine certainly had courage and drive, but she's not willing to listen to anyone's advice, even the people she's supposedly helping. She just did what she wanted to do, usually very impulsively and without thinking out the consequences. She had a quick temper, which didn't make her any friends, but she felt completely justified in her behavior. She lied all the time, yet was so disappointed when she caught her maid in a lie. She wasn't especially logical. For example, she couldn't decide if she should trust the description of a man given by a servant that she knew who was familiar with the man or the besotted description of him given by her best friend. Basically, I didn't find her very likable, and none of the other characters were particularly engaging.

There was no sex or bad language.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.

One Last Shot by Susan May Warren

One Last Shot
by Susan May Warren

ISBN-13: 9780800745479
Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Revell
Released: March 5, 2024

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
When country music star Oaken Fox joins survivalist Mike Grizz's new adventure show in the Alaskan wilderness, he just wants to please his fans while earning money for his favorite charity. But when tragedy strikes, Air One Rescue must save them. The show's producer convinces him to sign on with Air One Rescue as a recruit for a new reality show as another way to get the money for charity.

EMT Boo Kingston did not join Air One Rescue to train a celebrity. But she's a rookie to the team, so yes, she'll train Oaken and keep him alive and not for a minute pay attention to his charm. And then five women go missing from a resort during a bachelorette weekend gone wrong. Now, Air One and the rescue team will have to use all their skills and manpower--including Oaken--to find them before a blizzard settles in.


My Review:
One Last Shot is a Christian romantic suspense. Boo pays too much attention to the negative things that people say about her on social media. She hopes that avoiding media attention will keep her emotionally safe, but she can't hide from how she feels about what happened. She's afraid that men that act like they care about her might just be using her. Oaken has to care about what his fans think of him if he wants to keep his fame, but he feels like he took over his talented sister's place after her death and maybe doesn't even deserve his fame. He also feels like God doesn't like him and is constantly making things go wrong around him. When he agrees to star in a reality show about SARs, Boo is tasked to be his main trainer and has to face the spotlight again. Her teammates help Oaken to see that God isn't against him, and Oaken helps her see the truth about what happened in her past and that he's trustworthy.

The main characters were engaging and came across as real people. I cared about what happened to them. Oaken and Boo got to know each other as they worked together and built each other up. There was plenty of suspense from the physical dangers of search and rescue as well as the emotional trials that they faced. The one thing that didn't make sense to me was how people spoke multiple times about sending the chute to the police (and I thought they finally had), yet at the end it was still just sitting around like no one even tried to put it somewhere secure.

The Christian theme was how God can use things in our lives to get our attention. There was no sex or bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this enjoyable suspense.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.