In the 1860s a group of 22 young women set sail from Australia destined for new lives and husbands in Canada. They are initially hidden below deck to protect their virtue from the all-male crew and even the captain but are eventually discovered. One woman disappears and the doctor on board begins to investigate with the help of Alyssa Chambers, one of the other women on the boat.
As a history graduate, I loved the historical setting but I’ll be honest and say I have no idea if Australian women really did set off for new lives.
The character of Alyssa is really strong and tenacious in a world where women were expected to be meek and submissive. The antagonistic relationship she develops with Doctor Bryson which is realistic and interesting, furthers the plot as well as explores their characters.
The first half of the book sets the scene and introduces all of the charcaters. There were clues in the form of a sinister perspective and journal entries so we know something bad is on its way. I was surprised to see I’d already read half of the book before the girl went missing.
I had no idea who was responsible, although I do admit to being a little confused with the different levels and roles of the men on the ship (saloon passengers, engine crew, ship crew).
Overall, this was a solid introduction to a new lead character in the form of Alyssa, although I hope she continues her friendship with the doctor, and the mystery of the disappearance was a good way to introduce her and explore her personality.
I have heard there is a sequel so watch this space…
The Case of the Missing Bride blurb
It was supposed to be the start of a happy, new life …
1862 – a group of young Australian women set sail for matrimony in Canada. Their presence is withheld from the male passengers and all but a select few members of the crew. But their worlds collide when one of the gentlemen stumbles over the women.
When one of the intended brides goes missing, only Alyssa Chalmers, the one educated, wealthy woman in the group, is convinced the disappearance is no accident. She sets out to find out what happened.
Has there been a murder?
Alyssa is willing to move heaven and earth to find out the truth. She is about to discover that there is more to her voyage into the unknown than she bargained for …
Carmen Radtke has spent most of her life with ink on her fingers and a dangerously high pile of books and newspapers by her side.
She has worked as a newspaper reporter on two continents and always dreamt of becoming a novelist and screenwriter.
When she found herself crouched under her dining table, typing away on a novel between two earthquakes in Christchurch, New Zealand, she realised she was hooked for life.
“The Case of the Missing Bride” is a former Malice Domestic finalist, inspired by a true event. Its heroine Alyssa Chalmers will soon return in “Glittering Death”.
When Carmen is not writing, reading or dreaming of travel, she is busy acting as resident cat servant.
She’s currently working on her first contemporary crime novel.
Safely on dry land after an eventful sea voyage, murder included (see my review of The Case of the Missing Bride), Alyssa Chalmers must negotiate the new direction her life is taking. The group of brides head towards their new potential husbands and Matron weds her onboard love.
Rosie made her decision on board and runs off with her lover only to be abandoned days later. She follows the group to the town and secures a job at the inn but soon the publican is found dead and she is their prime suspect.
Alyssa feels sorry for Rosie despite the antagonism she has experienced during their voyage together. Can she find the true killer and keep Rosie safe?
Alyssa’s relationship with Mr Kendrick and Dr Bryson continues to take centre stage throughout the story. I won’t give away the ending but she does choose between them…
This book seems surpringly modern despite the setting in 1862. Alyssa is very self-aware of her own limitations in society based solely on her gender. Stereotypes of the time are explored and rejected with characters seen in the modern context as individuals rather than a consequence of their social status.
Despite being a history graduate, I know little about the gold rush era in the USA and really enjoyed seeing this personal account. The book seems well researched and a careful balance of fact and fiction.
The characters are all well developed and most are likeable. Themes of social class and gender are approached within the plot. The tone and narrative is easy and enjoyable to read. I had no idea on the murderer, will you?
I really hope there is another book soon to see how Alyssa fares with her chosen husband…
GLITTTERING DEATH – Blurb
1862: A group of brides from Australia have arrived in British Columbia, and love is in the air – until their new-found happiness in the prospectors’ town “Run’s End” is shattered when the hotel-owner is murdered. To make matters worse, something is wrong with the stored gold at the hotel, and an epidemic makes it impossible for anyone to leave town.
The brides set all their hopes on their friend Alyssa Chalmers to find the murderer and restore peace in their new home. But the killer is cunning, and desperate …
Carmen Radtke has spent most of her life with ink on her fingers and a dangerously high pile of books and newspapers by her side.
She has worked as a newspaper reporter on two continents and always dreamt of becoming a novelist and screenwriter.
When she found herself crouched under her dining table, typing away on a novel between two earthquakes in Christchurch, New Zealand, she realised she was hooked for life.
“The Case of the Missing Bride” is a former Malice Domestic finalist, inspired by a true event. Its heroine Alyssa Chalmers will soon return in “Glittering Death”.
When Carmen is not writing, reading or dreaming of travel, she is busy acting as resident cat servant.
She’s currently working on her first contemporary crime novel.
1911, Scotland. Maud McIntyre defies convention by setting up her own detective agency with her former maid Daisy Cameron. Their first case begins as a jewel theft but swiftly turns into a murder investigation…
The Scottish Ladies’ Detective Agency is the first book in a new series to feature Maud and Daisy as they establish themselves as female private detectives.
The Duchess of Duddingston is hosting a house party and she doesn’t want the notorious jewel thief to target her guests. She hires Maud and Daisy to attend the party but nobody expects a murder to take place. The pair seem to solve the case quite quickly and then move on to three new cases in Edinburgh (a missing bride to be, stolen letters and a vanished Pekingese).
I enjoyed the historical elements to the plot. The world is three years away from war, the suffragettes are campaigning for the vote, King George V has recently been crowned. Maud feels passionately about women’s rights and is determined to succeed in her own venture as a private detective despite the prejudice against her. The class and social norms also play a key role in the investigations.
The cases interconnect cleverly and I found myself rooting for Maud and Daisy to uncover the truth. They are both hugely easy to like although I did feel that the Scottish dialect was applied a little haphazardly. There is a wonderful frisson of romantic tension mixed with antagonism between Maud and Lord Urquhart over the course of the book.
The Scottish Ladies’ Detective Agency was a very enjoyable cosy murder mystery. I look forward to reading more about Maud and Daisy’s adventures in the future.
Book Description:
When Maud McIntyre sets up her own private detective agency, she never imagines her first case will involve murder… A mystery in the Highlands? The Scottish Ladies’ Detective Agency is on the case!
Edinburgh, 1911: When Maud McIntyre and her lady’s maid, Daisy, form a detective agency, they never dream their first case will take place at a glamorous house in the Scottish Highlands. But when the Duchess of Duddingston, concerned that a notorious jewellery thief will target her lavish weekend party, employs Maud to go undercover as a guest to find the culprit, the agency has its first case to solve…
Undercover with Daisy as her maid, Maud follows a trail of clues across the Duddingston House estate. And as she meets the weekend guests, she hopes one of them will reveal themselves as the jewellery thief. But when one of the house guests is discovered dead, Maud and Daisy realise they’re not only hunting precious gems, but a murderer…
As Maud and Daisy investigate, they realise that a connection in Edinburgh might hold a vital clue that will help them solve the case. Travelling back to the city, Maud hopes that what she and Daisy uncover will help them piece together the mystery.
But when Maud receives a telephone call from the Duchess requesting urgent assistance, she realises that the murderer didn’t have just one victim in mind. Speeding down the drive to Duddingston House, Maud and Daisy hear gunshots ring out across the estate. Will they reach the Duchess in time to save her? And might they catch the murderer in the act?
A warm page-turning historical whodunnit, perfect for fans of the mysteries of Helena Dixon, Verity Bright, T.E. Kinsey and Catherine Coles.
Author Bio:
Lydia Travers was born in London. She moved progressively north until settling with her husband in a village on the edge of the Scottish Highlands. She has raised children, bred dogs and kept chickens; and for as long as she can remember has written for pleasure. A former legal academic and practitioner with a PhD in criminology, she now runs self-catering holiday accommodation, sings in a local choir and is walked daily by the family dog.
Lydia also writes as Linda Tyler and her first novel under that name, Revenge of the Spanish Princess, won a 2018 Romance Writers of America competition for the beginning of an historical romance. Her second novel The Laird’s Secret was Commended in the 2021 Scottish Association of Writers’ Pitlochry Quaich competition for the beginning of a romantic novel. Mischief in Midlothian won the 2022 Scottish Association of Writers’ Constable Silver Stag trophy. She has had a number of short stories published in magazines, journals and anthologies in the UK, the USA and Australia.
Detective Ellie Reeves is looking forward to attend a friend’s wedding. But the bride vanishes moments before walking down the aisle and the bridesmaid is found dead in the river.
The Girl in the River is the 7th book to feature Detective Ellie Reeves and her colleagues. There are no spoilers about the crimes of earlier books but there are continuations of the personal and relationship developments of Ellie’s life.
Ellie thinks she kows her friend Mia well and is looking forward to celebrating her wedding. But Mia’s disappearance leads to shocking revelations about her identity and Ellie needs to unpick the clues from the past and present to understand the situation.
The chapters are short and show multiple perspectives. This increases the pace as well as the tension as we make assumptions and links between characters and events. It also tempts you to keep reading as one more chapter becomes 3 or 4!
The Girl in the River is a tense and engaging detective thriller.
The body lay in the river, arms outstretched. Long brown hair swirled in all directions, flowing with the current of the water. Her eyes were wide open in death, pale pink lips parted in a scream.
Detective Ellie Reeves should be enjoying the wedding of her dear friend Mia Norman. But instead of celebrating, she is frantically searching for the missing bride. Something is terribly wrong—just hours ago, Mia was blissfully happy. Why would she suddenly vanish?
Bursting through the dressing room, Ellie finds it in disarray—chairs overturned, a perfume bottle shattered. Hiding in the bathroom is Mia’s six-year-old daughter Pixie, curled in a ball and sobbing her heart out. The little girl says she was locked inside when she heard a man’s voice, and her mother crying. “I just want my mommy back,” she pleads. Ellie vows to make that happen.
Turning the venue upside down, Ellie’s blood turns to ice when she reaches the riverbank. Someone is dead in the rippling water, floating beside a white veil. Ellie holds her breath as she turns the body over. It belongs to Tori, Mia’s bridesmaid, a gunshot wound in her back. Near the murder scene, Ellie discovers a button from a man’s shirt, and her friend’s engagement ring. The race is on to find Mia—before it’s too late.
When forensics come back, the investigation takes a dark turn. DNA proves that Mia was actually Jesse Habersham, a woman who went missing five years ago. Ellie is certain that Mia was running from someone. Did her past finally catch up with her?
Facing the most complex case of her career, Ellie is in a race against time. Can she uncover the truth before her friend is brutally killed? And when the murderer comes after innocent little Pixie, will Ellie save her from the clutches of death?
This pulse-pounding and utterly addictive crime thriller will have you staying up way past your bedtime, and scared to turn the lights off! Perfect for fans of Melinda Leigh, Lisa Regan and Kendra Elliot.
Author Bio
USA Today Bestselling and award-winning author Rita Herron fell in love with books at the ripe age of eight when she read her first Trixie Belden mystery. But she didn’t think real people grew up to be writers, so she became a teacher instead. Now she writes so she doesn’t have to get a real job.
With over ninety books to her credit, she’s penned romantic suspense, romantic comedy, and YA novels, but she especially likes writing dark romantic suspense and crime fiction set in small southern towns.
For more on Rita and her titles, visit her at www.ritaherron.com. You can also find her on Facebook/ritaherron.com and Twitter @ritaherron.
A murder victim found in the snow but she has been frozen for over a decade. A killer looks for his next love and a detective determined to thwart him…
Frozen Souls is the fourth book in the Ellie Reeves series from Rita Herron. I have previously reviewed books 2 and 3: Wildflower Graves and The Burning Girls. There are spoilers about outcomes from previous books and the effect they have had on the police characters.
Detective Ellie Reeves has been significantly affected by recent events. She is still clashing with the sheriff as well as having major ongoing family issues. This latest case has a political edge as the missing woman is a governor’s daughter.
The weather and landscape play a vital role in this book as the terrain and snow hamper searches and mask evidence. However, Ellie is a fab lead character who is willing to overcome any challenge even the physical obstacles!
The book is written from various third person perspectives. We see the killer’s twisted logic as he searches for a perfect bride. A missing woman’s panic as she desperately attempts to free herself. Ellie’s fierce and dogged determination to find the missing woman before another body is found. The pace, with short chapters, is fast and furious as Ellie tries to find the killer.
Frozen Souls is an enjoyable crime thriller with a strong lead detective who we can cheer along in the case and empathise with her personal circumstances.
She looked like an angel. She lay perfectly still, silky blonde hair falling to her pale shoulders. Icicles clung to her eyelashes as snowflakes fluttered to the frozen ground, burying her body.
As a snowstorm wreaks havoc in the mountain town of Crooked Creek, a woman is found buried in ice. Detective Ellie Reeves is first on the scene. Examining the body, she finds frozen blonde hair, pink nail polish and a silver heart necklace engraved with Mine Forever.
Ellie has first-hand experience of the monsters that lurk in the mountains––her childhood is testament to that. She vows to catch this one, but she’s up against the brutal weather, with snow covering footprints and making forensics impossible.
Frantically trawling through missing-person’s reports, Ellie identifies the victim. Nadine Houser disappeared eleven years ago. Where has she been all this time? Why was she only murdered now?
As storm clouds roll in, another girl is reported missing. Ellie retraces the steps of Ginger Weston who was renting a cabin in the mountains. She discovers a gold chain in the snow, spotted with blood. The killer is accelerating, and it’s just a matter of time before more innocent lives are robbed.
With the town blaming Ellie for the missing girl on her watch, and everyone fearing for their safety of their daughters, it’s down to Ellie to solve the toughest case of her career. But when the killer comes after her, will she live to save Crooked Creek from its ruthless monster?
A totally gripping read that will get your pulse pounding as you flip through the pages! Perfect for fans of Lisa Regan, Melinda Leigh and Kendra Elliot who love a roller-coaster, twist-packed page-turner!
Author Bio
USA Today Bestselling and award-winning author Rita Herron fell in love with books at the ripe age of eight when she read her first Trixie Belden mystery. But she didn’t think real people grew up to be writers, so she became a teacher instead. Now she writes so she doesn’t have to get a real job.
With over ninety books to her credit, she’s penned romantic suspense, romantic comedy, and YA novels, but she especially likes writing dark romantic suspense and crime fiction set in small southern towns.
For more on Rita and her titles, visit her at www.ritaherron.com. You can also find her on Facebook/ritaherron.com and Twitter @ritaherron.
