Catherine Collins wants to see the world beyond Longbourn and jumps at the chance to escape her stepmother’s demands. She travels north to act as governess to Sir Robert Courtney’s mute daughter Matilda. But is she suited for the role…?
Catherine is the second book in the Cousins of Pemberley series by Linda O’Byrne, set 20 years after the events of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. I have previously reviewed the first book in the series, Cassandra, which I LOVED!
Catherine is the daughter of Elizabeth Darcy’s late best friend Charlotte and Mr Collins who has since married Elizabeth’s sister Kitty. She spends her days caring for her little sister and being completely unappreciated by Kitty. There is a longing and free spirited side to Catherine which made me like her.
Meanwhile, Sir Robert Courtney is looking for a new wife after the death of Lucinda in a tragic accident which his daughter witnessed. He wants a governess with good common sense to care for and protect his daughter. His first impression of Catherine is not great and the pair develop a strained friendship as they clash over Matilda. But affection and romance simmer just below the surface.
The romance is hampered by the social differences between them but also the arrival of Abigail who is intent on becoming Robert’s bride. I felt so outraged at her snide comments to Catherine which relentlessly make her feel inferior. Robert’s brother Martin and aunt Honoria bring humour to the book.
I enjoyd the style of writing which is modern with Austen-esque phrases. The locations, fashion, social conventions and characters are all vividly described and bring the 1830s to life across the pages. The main couple are both easy to like and the book is fun to read as we await their acceptance of their true feelings.
Catherine is an enjoyable historical romance novel and a must for all Austen fans.
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Book Blurb
Many years have passed since the dramatic events of Pride and Prejudice. In The Cousins of Pemberley series we follow a new generation of heroines – cousins with lives as different and interesting as those enjoyed by their mothers.
Catherine:
Catherine Collins, a very ordinary young woman – plain, quiet, often over-looked but possessing a reputation for having great common-sense.
Or so her distant cousin Elizabeth Darcy believes and so recommends her as governess for little Matilda Courtney.
Catherine travels to Northumberland, full of good intentions to do her best and be a credit to the family.
But appearances and reputations can be deceptive – Robert and Martin Courtney will soon learn exactly what type of girl Elizabeth has sent them.
Author Bio
Fiction has always been my go-to world, a place of entertainment, excitement and imagination – I am told that I wrote my first story when I was four about a lady who had twenty children! Sadly it has been lost for posterity.
I have been writing all my life in the time I could spare from having a “proper job”, mostly for children under the name of Linda Blake, stories of ballet dancers, pony riding and talking animals! Not all in the same book!
But my love of romance, a great tendency to say “What if..?” and the endearing characters of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice have now resulted in a series of books that will take the reader forward to the next generation of heroines.
I am retired, live in Kent and am a keen member of my local drama group. Directing and acting take up a lot of my time – I have been given the onerous task of writing the Christmas pantomimes – but I still need to cope with a large garden, doing daily battle with the heron who thinks my pond is his own breakfast buffet and keeping in touch with friends and family scattered all over the world.
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Elderly victims murdered in horrific ways. There are few clues but a deputy is implicated at the scene of the third murder. Can Sheriff Jenna Alton and Dave Kane prove their colleague’s innocence and protect the rest of the elderly community?
Pray For Mercy is the 14th book to feature Kane and Alton. There is enough information about their background to catch up on their personal lives without any spoilers of events or cases in previous books. However, this is a great series, so read them all!
The elderly women from the quilting club are being killed in different ways and there appears to be no motive. But it is the third murder where the plot takes a major twist as Deputy Zac Rio is found at the scene, covered in blood and with the weapon near his hand. The killer (and the author) cleverly misdirects us all but the truth can be found using forensic detail.
There was only one chapter from the perspective of the killer so I didn’t feel such a emotional revulsion or understanding of their motive as I have in previous books. The victims’ last moments are written to show their terror and make us want Kane and Alton to prevent more killings. Zac is going through difficulties at home so our sympathies are with him even before he is framed for murder.
On a personal level, things are intense between Jenna and Dave especially when jealousy rears its head and Kane is repeatedly put in danger. The simmering relationship between the pair, alongside the need to overcome the trauma of the past, makes the reader desperate for a happy outcome.
Pray For Mercy is a fab addition to the series and I can’t wait for the next book especially as there is a loose end…
MEDIA PACK
Book: PRAY FOR MERCY
Author: D.K. Hood
Pub Day: March 7th 2022
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About the Book:
Her heart races as a noise from downstairs wakes her. She checks every room in her small home, but it’s not until she returns to the safety of her bedroom does she see movement. She’s not alone. And nobody can help her now…
Writing scrawled on the wall of Sheriff Jenna Alton’s office overnight leads her and her deputy David Kane to a secluded house on the outskirts of town. Inside, Jenna is devastated to find a much-loved local resident lying in a pool of blood, stab wounds covering her lifeless body. What monster would attack a defenseless woman living alone?
With no trace of the killer at the scene, the deadly message written on Jenna’s door is her only clue. But as the small town grieves, it leads her to a contractor who recently had access to the woman’s home. She races to interview him, only to discover the wreck of a car on a steep mountain road with another dead woman inside.
Jenna knows the victims were friends and regularly went to church together. She thinks a twisted killer has been watching them, waiting for the perfect time to strike. But before she can make her next move, one of her own team is found unconscious and covered in the blood of a third female victim—a knife inches away from his hand.
Pulse racing, Jenna questions her shaken deputy, who can’t explain why he was in the woman’s house. Could he really be a killer, or is someone playing an evil game? The clock ticks to uncover a dark secret that connects all three victims, but can she work it out before another innocent life is taken?
An absolutely unputdownable crime thriller from a USA Today bestselling author. If you’re a fan of Lisa Regan, Melinda Leigh and Kendra Elliot, you will love this gripping read.
Author Bio and Social Media
D.K Hood is THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, USA TODAY, and Amazon Bestselling Author of The Kane and Alton Series. She is a member of International Thriller Writers, Australian Crime Writers Association, and Sisters in Crime Australia.
D.K. lives very quietly with her husband and enjoys her beautiful garden filled with birds and water dragons. The dogs and cats in her stories are reminiscent of her wonderful companions.
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Liz McLuckie is out on her early moring walk with her dog Nelson when she stumbles across a body. She clashes horns with the lead police officer but is determined to investigate…
Death at the Abbey is the first book in a new cosy murder mystery series about an amateur sleuth Liz and her wonderul canine companion Nelson.
Liz has a depth to her character and exhibits a range of emotion over the book. She is griefstricken following the death of her husband and has thrown herself into renovating two cottages after her retirement from nursing. Yet she has solid friendships and may even be ready for romance. The chance to investigate a murder gives her something else to focus on whilst also aggravating DI Flint.
The plot was engaging and had me guessing right to the end, even getting tricked by some red herrings! There are not many gruesome forensic details but Liz is on hand for the discovery of two bodies. I loved the inclusion of Nelson the bull terrier and was very concerned for his safety at one point (no spoilers!)
This was a quick read but completely satisfying and enjoyable. The descriptions of the food, locations etc are vivid and the characters are well developed and realistic. The antagonism between Liz and DI Flint was a fun addition which I expect will continue through the series.
Death at the Abbey is an enjoyable cosy murder mystery and I look forward to the next book in the series.
Book Blurb
A cliff-top murder. A clever canine. A seaside sleuth.
After the death of her husband, Liz McLuckie has taken early retirement and moved to Whitby, a picturesque fishing town on the North Yorkshire coast. She thinks the renovation of two ramshackle fishing cottages will take her mind off things, but soon discovers Whitby isn’t quite the peaceful retreat she imagined.
When she discovers the body of a local Professor near the medieval Abbey, Liz reluctantly finds herself at the centre of a murder investigation. The post mortem reveals death by drowning. So how did he get onto the clifftop? And why did he have a fish in his pocket?
Liz follows the trail of the murderer, and many red herrings – both literal and metaphorical – in the company of her friends, including an almost-reformed burglar, a disgraced archaeology student and Nelson the bull terrier – the ugliest (and bravest!) dog in Yorkshire.
Book 1 in the Kipper Cottage Mystery Series. Book 2 in the series, Death at Neptune Yard, is now available.
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Author Bio
Jan lives just outside Edinburgh with her husband, three kids, a one-eye whippet, and a fat black pug. Born in a colliery village in the North East of England, she cut her literary teeth on the great storytellers of the 60’s and 70’s – Wilbur Smith, Frank Yerby, Mary Renault, and Sergeanne Golon. She began her writing career as an advertising copywriter and has since had novels published by Random House and HarperCollins, and original audio series produced by Audible UK. She also writes for tv.
Jan enjoys psychological thrillers and crime fiction of all kinds, from the coziest of cozies to the blackest of noirs.
Death at the Abbey is her first cozy mystery in the Kipper Cottage series with Inkubator Books. Book 2 in the series, Death at Neptune Yard, is also available now.
A play about women’s suffrage. Two actresses desperate for roles. The writer and producer teeter on a relationship. Will the play be a success?
Mrs Morphett’s Macaroons is a quirky and witty novel set in Edwardian England’s theatrical community.
This book is quite character driven in my opinion. The relationships between the characters are very important as they react to events surrounding the play. Many of the characters are larger than life and were brought to life through the descriptions of their behaviour as well as their dialogue.
I liked the strong female characters and their struggles to live their lives in the way they choose. They felt thoroughly modern as they strive for friendships and careers even when the odds are stacked against them. The world of the theatre is richly described through the experiences of actresses Merry and Gaye, and producer Violet as they deal with male dominated society’s norms.
As a history with women’s studies graduate, I was thrilled by the historical aspects to the book in relation to women’s suffrage. The social, class and gender politics of the era were wonderfully recorded. The humour of the book is both warmly light hearted and satirical as the personal and political narrative strands develop.
Mrs Morphett’s Macaroons in an entertaining and light hearted novel.
Mrs Morphett’s Macaroons
London, 1905. A show. A stuttering romance. Two squabbling actresses.
Is it Shakespeare? Is it Vaudeville?
Not quite. It is Mrs Morphett’s Macaroons, a satirical play about suffragettes which its creators – friends and would-be lovers Robbie Robinson and Violet Graham – are preparing to mount in London’s West End.
It is the play rival actresses Merry and Gaye would kill to be in, if only they hadn’t insulted the producer all those years ago.
For Robbie and Violet however the road to West End glory is not smooth. There are backers to be appeased, actors to be tamed and a theatre to be found; and in the midst of it all a budding romance that risks being undermined by professional differences.
Never mix business with pleasure?
Maybe, maybe not.
Author Bio – Patsy Trench has spent her life working in the theatre. She was an actress for twenty years in theatre and television in the UK and Australia. She has written scripts for stage and (TV) screen and co-founded The Children’s Musical Theatre of London, creating original musicals with primary school children. Patsy is the author of three non fiction books about colonial Australia based on her own family history and four novels about women breaking the mould in times past. Mrs Morphett’s Macaroons is book four in her ‘Modern Women: Entertaining Edwardians’ series and is set in the world she knows and loves best. When she is not writing books she teaches theatre part-time and organises theatre trips for overseas students.
She lives in London. She has two children and so far one grandson.
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Giveaway to Win an Ebook of short story anthology All We Need Is Love. (Open INT)
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Anastasia has been married four times and is about to marry again. Is she unlucky in love or could she have murdered her previous husbands?
The Mystery of the Lost Husbands is a private investigator and crime novel set in multiple locations and timelines.
The SeeMs detective agency usually deals with locating missing pet dogs. But a personal connection starts them off of an investigation into Anastasia Rodriguez, a woman who has already been widowed four times and is about to embark on another marriage.
The investigation takes them around the world, meeting a host of witnesses. Plus we see aspects from the past with Anastasia meeting and marrying her former husbands. There are also letters she writes to her family which give the reader a personal insight into her viewpoint. I enjoyed the plot of this book but the style of writing didn’t suit me as I felt is was a little jumpy.
The three main women investigators (Cat, Miranda and Stevie) are intrepid and determined. There is plenty of back story on each of them which slows down the pace of the book. Their quirks make them all unique and different to other amateur sleuths. Meanwhile we develop an understanding and perhaps sympathy for Anastasia through her own words as well as the opinion of others. No spoilers here about whether she was capable of murder!
The Mystery of the Lost Husbands is the first in a new series and I would be interested to read about the main characters again.
The Mystery of the Lost Husbands
Is murdering husbands an addiction or merely a bad habit?
This is the question facing Private Investigator Cat Harrington when rich builder, Tom Drayton, dies shortly after his wedding night. Suspicion falls on his widow, Anastasia Rodriguez, the survivor of three previous ‘lost’ husbands.
Two years later, Anastasia is engaged again, to Cat’s friend Angelo, an Italian snail collector.
Angelo’s sister, Gia, employs Cat and the SeeMs Detective Agency to discover if her brother’s financé is a killer.
The search for Anastasia’s lost husbands takes Cat and her team from Scotland to the South of Spain and on to Argentina.
They have just a few weeks before the wedding to discover if Anastasia is a murderer and save their friend from becoming victim number five.
For fans of Arsenic and Old Lace and The Number 1 Ladies Detective Agency
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Author Bio –
Gina has worked as a physiotherapist, a pilot, freelance writer and a dog breeder. Since marrying the first time, she has lived and worked in many countries including Spain and the USA.
For a few years Gina was a Wingwalking pilot, flying, amongst others, her 64-year-old mother standing on the wing to raise money for a cancer charity. She was also a helicopter instructor and examiner and took part in the World Helicopter Championships in Russia and the USA.
She became a writer because her first love was always telling a good yarn!
Under the name Georgina Hunter-Jones she has written illustrated children’s books such as The Twerple who had Too Many Brains, and Nola the Rhinoceros loves Mathematics.
She now lives in Sussex with her husband and dogs, one of who inspired the Biscuit and Pugwash Detective Series about naughty dogs who solve crimes.
The Mystery of the Lost Husbands is the first in the SeeMS Detective Agency series and Gina’s first crime novel for adults.
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