Friday Focus: The Friday 56 and Book Beginnings

It's Friday . . . time to share book excerpts with:

• Book Beginnings on Fridays hosted by Rose City Reader, where bloggers share the first sentence or more of a current read, as well as initial thoughts about the sentence(s), impressions of the book, or anything else that the opening inspires.  
• The Friday 56 hosted by Freda's Voice, where you grab a book and turn to page 56 (or 56% of an eBook), find one or more interesting sentences (no spoilers), and post them.

Today I'm featuring my current read, Lady Takes the Case by Eliza Casey. The excerpts shared are from a trade paperback edition borrowed from the library.

Beginning: Prologue   Spring 1912

When Colonel Havelock bicycled through the tall iron gates, past the gatehouse, up the long gravel drive, and along the lane of ancient oak trees, he found a scene of utter chaos.

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Page 56:  At least Mrs. Solent, her mother's best friend, was already there, sipping tea with Lady Avebury.

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My thoughts: Danby Hall puts one in mind of Downton Abbey in terms of setting and time period. When a guest collapses and dies during a dinner party at the stately manor, it is quickly discovered that he ingested a tainted beverage. Was Richard Hayes the intended victim, or was the poison meant for Annabel Clarke, the American heiress and guest of honor whom the Aveburys hope will save their estate from ruin by marrying into the family? Lady Cecilia Bates, the family's young debutante, is determined to find out.

There is no shortage of suspects both above and below stairs in this delightful first installment of the Manor Cat Mysteries series. A proper cup of tea has added to my reading enjoyment as this traditional British mystery unfolds in perfect measure.

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From GoodReads: When a dinner party turns deadly, the feisty Lady Cecilia Bates and intuitive cat Jack are on the case, in this first entry to an exciting new historical-mystery series.

England 1912. Danby Hall is the only home Lady Cecilia Bates has ever known. Despite the rigid rules of etiquette and her mother the Countess of Avebury's fervent desire to see her married off, Lady Cecilia can't imagine life anywhere else. But now, with an agricultural depression sweeping the countryside, the Bates family's possession of the hall is suddenly in peril.

A possible solution arrives in the form of the imperious American heiress Annabel Clarke. The Earl and Countess of Avebury are determined that Cecilia's brother, Patrick, will win Annabel's hand in marriage--and her fortune along with it. To help the lackluster Patrick in this pursuit, the Bates and their staff arrange a grand house party upon the heiress's arrival.

When a guest dies after sipping from a glass meant for Annabel, it's clear the Bates have a more poisonous problem on their hands than a lack of chemistry. As the scandal seizes Danby, Cecilia sets out to find the culprit, with help from Annabel's maid, Jane, and Jane's curiously intelligent cat, Jack.

After the poison that someone had stashed away inside the manor is discovered, Cecilia is left with two possibilities: Either a resident of Danby snapped and tried to kill the arrogant heiress, or the threat is coming from one of their guests, who would love to see the Bates family's decline become permanent.

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This Friday Focus: The Friday 56 & Book Beginnings post was originally composed and/or compiled and published for the blog, bookclublibrarian.com. No portion can be republished without proper attribution.

 

Friday Focus: The Friday 56 & Book Beginnings

It's Friday . . . time to share book excerpts with:

• Book Beginnings on Fridays hosted by Rose City Reader, where bloggers share the first sentence or more of a current read, as well as initial thoughts about the sentence(s), impressions of the book, or anything else that the opening inspires.  
• The Friday 56 hosted by Freda's Voice, where you grab a book and turn to page 56 (or 56% of an ebook), find one or more interesting sentences (no spoilers), and post them.

Today I'm featuring my most recent read, Death at the Emerald by R.J. Koreto.  The excerpts shared are from an advance copy.  (The book was published on November 7, 2017.)

 

Beginning:   

Lady Beatrice Torrence, widow of Sir Arnold Torrence, reflected wryly that she knew all the names of everyone at the party but none of the faces.  She had been abroad with her husband, from one posting to another, for so long and had come back to find that London was populated by the children and even grandchildren of those she had known a lifetime ago.

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56% of eBook: "Perhaps sensing that Frances was digging for more information, she now looked a little tense at the mention of the vicar's name."

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My thoughts:   This was a most enjoyable read for me in what has become one of my favorite historical mystery series.  Koreto's Lady Frances Ffolkes series features a Downton Abbey feel and lead character who is an unconventional woman determined to blaze her own trail -- despite her privileged birth -- in a world on the brink of change.  Read my review here, which includes a link to enter a giveaway of this book.

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From Goodreads:  An elderly family friend commissions Frances to find Helen, a stunningly beautiful actress who vanished 30 years ago. Taking on the role of the Lady Sherlock, with her loyal maid Mallow drafted as her Watson, Frances immerses herself in the glamorous world of Edwardian theater and London's latest craze—motion pictures.

Frances' first stop is the venerable Emerald Theatre, where aging actors are still in love with the memory of the beguiling Helen. It seems like a dead end—but one of Helen's old suitors is suddenly murdered. Frances and Mallow beat both the police and killer to a box of subtle clues. However, a stalker, another old suitor of Helen's long presumed dead, threatens them. Will Frances' latest hobby, a study of Japanese martial arts, be enough to save them?

Undaunted, Frances and Mallow follow their leads, and along the way get some advice from George Bernard Shaw, star in a motion picture, and joke with King Edward VII. Clues eventually lead them to a forgotten grave outside of London, which contains a mysterious biblical inscription--and a shocking secret. Frances finally assembles the pieces, and with Mallow as stage manager, produces her own play to uncover a decades-old conspiracy, reveal a killer—and find the remarkable Helen.

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This Friday Focus post was originally written and published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com.  It cannot be republished without attribution.  Retweeting and sharing on Google+ are appreciated.  

Thursday Thoughts: Blog Tour/Review and Giveaway--Death at the Emerald by R.J. Koreto

Today I'm participating in the Death at the Emerald Blog Tour.  In this post you will find book and author information along with my review.

About the Book . . .

Death at the Emerald: A Frances Ffolkes Mystery
Historical Cozy Mystery
3rd in Series
Crooked Lane Books (November 7, 2017)
Hardcover: 272 pages
ISBN-13: 978-1683313373
EBook ASIN: B06XWF3K5Z

Synopsis . . .

One-named stunning actress Helen mysteriously vanished 30 years ago. An elderly family friend is unable to bear not knowing any longer and commissions Lady Frances Ffolkes to track her down. Taking on the role of Lady Sherlock, with her loyal maid Mallow drafted as her Watson, Frances finds herself immersed in the glamorous world of Edwardian theater and London’s latest craze—motion pictures.

As Frances and Mallow make their way through the theaters, they meet colorful figures such as George Bernard Shaw and King Edward VII. Tracking the theaters seems like a dead end. That is until one of Helen’s old suitors is suddenly murdered. With the stakes raised, Frances and Mallow work quickly to uncover a box of subtle clues to Helen’s whereabouts. But someone unexpected wants that box just as badly and is willing to kill to keep it shut.

The stage is set for murder and Frances and Mallow are determined to unravel the decades-old conspiracy in Death at the Emerald, R. J. Koreto’s third installment in the captivating Lady Frances Ffolkes mysteries.

My review . . .

With two solved cases to her credit and deductive skills that rival the great Sherlock Holmes, Lady Frances's reputation as London's first female consulting detective is firmly established.  In this latest installment, Franny is retained by Lady Beatrice Torrence to investigate the fate of her daughter who disappeared in 1875 after leaving home to join the Green Players theater group rather than become the companion to an officer's widow abroad.  Seeking peace of mind about her beloved rebellious child, the aging Lady Torrence asks Frances to either find her daughter or proof of her death.

Lady Frances, accompanied by her loyal maid June Mallow, begins the investigation at the Emerald Theater, home to the Green Players, where she interviews actors and theater workers, some of whom were in the theater's employ thirty years ago and knew the actress.  Several had harbored romantic feelings and were unsettled when the actress married someone not connected to the theater and left to pursue a life abroad.  Although the information initially shared isn't particularly enlightening to the case, there is a hint of secrets yet to be revealed.  And when one of the men recently questioned is found dead in an alley behind the theater, Lady Frances delves deeper into the past, leading her on an at times dangerous path to uncover the truth.  She and Mallow work tirelessly and creatively to solve the mystery of Miss Torrence's disappearance and give closure to her family.

Death at the Emerald is an engaging, entertaining mystery with a fascinating cast of characters. In addition to colorful theater folk, clergy, and people from different levels of society, there are cameo appearances by historical figures including the playwright George Bernard Shaw: King Edward VII and his mistress Alice Keppel (the real life great-grandmother of Camilla Parker Bowles); and Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, the first female British doctor. There are also amusing references to Sherlock Holmes and a Downton Abbey flair, and I commend the author for his creative detail and historical accuracy. Although the book can be read as a stand alone, once readers make the acquaintance of the high-spirited Lady Frances, they will surely want to follow her adventures by reading the previous two books in the series.

Koreto's Lady Frances Ffolkes series features a lead character who is an unconventional woman determined to blaze her own trail -- despite her privileged birth -- in a world on the brink of change.  A titled member of the aristocracy, Franny refuses to be defined by accepted social norms, much to the admiration of her fiance, the solicitor Henry Wheaton and the dismay of her brother, the marquess of Seaforth, Undersecretary for European Affairs in the Foreign Office.  Unlike her peers, Franny is an alumna of Vassar College and a suffragist.  In contrast to other single young women of the time who live with their families, Lady Frances lives with her maid at Miss Plimsoll's, a residential hotel intended for elderly widows.  She takes classes in juyutsu and rides about town on a bicycle.  Comfortable in her own skin, Frances is considered "eccentric," "odd," and "mad" by those in her own social circle, but this memorable character is anything but that to me. And while each book in the series has a different gem in its title, the real gem is Lady Frances herself.  I look forward to her continuing escapades in the books to come.

Anglophiles, fans of stories with strong female protagonists, cozy mystery readers, and historical fiction aficionados are sure to be delighted by this series.

For my thoughts on the first book in the series, Death on the Sapphire, which I read in August 2016 and a description of the second book, Death Among Rubies, which I will be reading soon, click here.

Giveaway . . .
Enter for a chance to win a copy of Death at the Emerald by R.J. Koreto by visiting this Rafflecopter link

About the author . . .

R.J. Koreto is the author of the Lady Frances Ffolkes mystery series, set in Edwardian England, and the Alice Roosevelt mystery series, set in turn-of-the-century New York. His short stories have been published in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine and Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine.

In his day job, he works as a business and financial journalist. Over the years, he’s been a magazine writer and editor, website manager, PR consultant, book author, and seaman in the U.S. Merchant Marine. Like his heroine, Lady Frances Ffolkes, he’s a graduate of Vassar College.

With his wife and daughters, he divides his time between Rockland County, N.Y., and Martha’s Vineyard, Mass.

Author links . . .

Website: www.ladyfrancesffolkes.com (contains sign-up form for my weekly newsletter)

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ladyfrancesffolkes/ 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RJKoreto

Purchase links . . .
Amazon  

Barnes & Noble 

Books-A-Million 

IndieBound

Tour Participants . . .

November 6 – Cozy Up With Kathy – INTERVIEW
November 7 – Island Confidential – CHARACTER INTERVIEW
November 8 – Celticlady’s Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
November 9 – A Holland Reads – REVIEW, GUEST POST
November 10 – The Editing Pen – INTERVIEW
November 11 – My Reading Journey – SPOTLIGHT
November 11 – Deal Sharing Aunt – REVIEW
November 12 – Christa Reads and Writes – GUEST POST
November 13 – Back Porchervations – REVIEW
November 14 – Books a Plenty Book Reviews – REVIEW
November 15 – Bibliophile Reviews – REVIEW
November 15 – Lisa Ks Book Reviews – INTERVIEW
November 16 – Book Club Librarian – REVIEW
November 17 – Brooke Blogs – REVIEW, GUEST POST
November 18 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – SPOTLIGHT
November 19 – 3 Partners in Shopping, Nana, Mommy, &, Sissy, Too! – REVIEW
November 19 – Nadaness In Motion – CHARACTER GUEST POST

Note:  I received a complimentary advance copy of Death at the Emerald  in exchange for an honest review.

Thursday Thoughts: Blog Tour/Review and Giveaway--Death at the Emerald by R.J. Koreto was originally published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com. This post cannot be republished without attribution.  Retweeting and sharing on Google+ are appreciated.
 

First Chapter ~ First Paragraph

It's Tuesday . . . time for . . .

                                                      

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros hosted by Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea, where bloggers post the first paragraph(s) of a book they are currently reading or planning to read sometime soon.

Today I'm featuring Death on the Sapphire by R.J. Koreto, which I borrowed from the library.  It's the first book in a new historical mystery series set in London in the early 1900s.

Goodreads Page

Chapter 1

London, 1906

The surprising coda to the tragic death of Major Daniel "Danny" Colcombe, a restless war hero, capped what was already an especially busy day for Lady Frances Ffolkes. The morning had been taken up writing a speech on women's suffrage in her capacity as chair of the outreach committee of the League for Women's Political Equality.  Next was following up on arrangements for the Ladies' Christian Relief Guild soup kitchen in the East End.  She had also made an appointment for what would no doubt be a tedious meeting with Henry Wheaton, the family solicitor--ever since moving out of the family home and into Miss Plimsoll's Residence Hotel for Ladies, she had started taking care of her own finances.  A dull task, but rather liberating nonetheless for an independent woman.

What do you think?  Would you continue reading?   

The first paragraph describes why I am so enamored of books set in Edwardian London--strong, independent ladies who fight for women's rights and social justice and are dedicated to improving society in the early years of the 20th century.

First Chapter ~ First Paragraph was originally published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com.  This post cannot be republished without attribution. Retweeting and sharing on Google+ are appreciated. 

Waiting on Wednesday: Vanessa and Her Sister

 

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly feature of the Breaking the Spine blog.  It's a great way to share information about forthcoming books with other readers.  Today I'm featuring a debut novel by Priya Parmar that piques my interest.  I love historical fiction about famous people for its insight into their lives and world.  This book focuses on sisters Vanessa Bell and Virginia Woolf, and the Bloomsbury Group.

 

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group 

Publication date: December 30, 2014

 

From barnesandnoble.com:  For fans of The Paris Wife and Loving Frank comes a captivating novel that offers an intimate glimpse into the lives of Vanessa Bell, her sister Virginia Woolf, and the controversial and popular circle of intellectuals known as the Bloomsbury Group.
 
London, 1905: The city is alight with change, and the Stephen siblings are at the forefront. Vanessa, Virginia, Thoby, and Adrian are leaving behind their childhood home and taking a house in the leafy heart of avant-garde Bloomsbury. There they bring together a glittering circle of bright, outrageous artistic friends who will grow into legend and come to be known as the Bloomsbury Group. And at the center of this charmed circle are the devoted, gifted sisters: Vanessa, the painter, and Virginia, the writer.

Each member of the group will go on to earn fame and success, but so far Vanessa Bell has never sold a painting. Virginia Woolf’s book review has just been turned down by The Times. Lytton Strachey has not published anything. E. M. Forster has finished his first novel but does not like the title. Leonard Woolf is still a civil servant in Ceylon, and John Maynard Keynes is looking for a job. Together, this sparkling coterie of artists and intellectuals throw away convention and embrace the wild freedom of being young, single bohemians in London.

But the landscape shifts when Vanessa unexpectedly falls in love and her sister feels dangerously abandoned. Eerily possessive, charismatic, manipulative, and brilliant, Virginia has always lived in the shelter of Vanessa’s constant attention and encouragement. Without it, she careens toward self-destruction and madness. As tragedy and betrayal threaten to destroy the family, Vanessa must decide if it is finally time to protect her own happiness above all else.

The work of exciting young newcomer Priya Parmar, Vanessa and Her Sister exquisitely captures the champagne-heady days of prewar London and the extraordinary lives of sisters Vanessa Bell and Virginia Woolf.

 

Which book are you waiting for?

  . . .  Will you add this one to your list of must-reads?

 

Waiting on Wednesday: Vanessa and Her Sister was originally published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com.  This post cannot be republished without attribution.

Waiting on Wednesday: New Barbara Taylor Bradford Novel

 

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly feature of the Breaking the Spine blog.  It's a great way to share information about forthcoming books with other readers.
 

 This week's anticipated book:

 

 Publisher: St. Martin's Press 

Publication date: April 1, 2014

From barnesandnoble.com:  Set in Edwardian England, this sweeping story of secrets and lies, honor and betrayal, and love at all costs from blockbuster bestselling author Barbara Taylor Bradford is one that no reader will soon forget… 

Cavendon Hall is home to two families, the aristocratic Inghams and the Swanns who serve them. Charles Ingham, the Sixth Earl of Mowbray, lives there with his wife, Felicity, and their six children. Walter Swann, the premier male of the Swann family, is valet to the earl. His wife, Alice, a clever seamstress who is in charge of the countess’s wardrobe, also makes clothes for the four Ingham daughters. For centuries, these two families have lived side-by-side, beneath the backdrop of the imposing stately home in Yorkshire.

Lady Daphne, the most beautiful of the earl’s daughters, is about to be presented at court when a devastating event changes her life and threatens the Ingham name. With World War I looming, both families will find themselves tested in ways they never thought possible. Loyalties will be challenged and betrayals will be set into motion. In this time of uncertainty, one thing is sure: these two families will never be the same again…

My thoughts:  I am jumping up and down waiting for this novel from one of my all-time favorite authors, set in my favorite historical time and locale.

Which book are you waiting for?

Enjoy life with books . . .

Catherine

Waiting on Wednesday: New Barbara Taylor Bradford Novel was originally published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com.  This post cannot be republished without attribution.  

 

 

 

First Chapter ~ First Paragraph #43

 

First Chapter ~ First Paragraph Tuesday Intros is a weekly meme hosted by Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea. It's an opportunity to share the first paragraph(s) of a book I am currently reading or planning to read sometime soon.

This week I'm featuring the opening paragraph from The Year After by Martin Davies, which I purchased a few months ago.

  

The Year After  

1

London in 1919 was a city of shadows.  I arrived late in the evening, my uniform still grimy with Flanders dust, and took a room at the Mecklenburg, reluctant to face the emptiness of my own rooms in Rudolph Square.  It had been a solitary journey, the boat quiet and the train nearly empty, and I felt subdued.  I'd gone to war in the company of friends, people I knew well.  I was returning alone, to a city where I felt a stranger.

What do you think?  Would you continue reading?  I'm looking forward to starting this novel.  I'm curious about the narrator, find the cover intriguing, and consider the setting and era personal favorites. 

 

 

What are you reading?

 

Enjoy life with books . . .

 

Catherine

 

First Chapter ~ First Paragraph #43 was originally published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com.  This post cannot be republished without attribution.