What’s true? Dorothy Sayers founded the Detection Club for the best of the best mystery fiction writers of the time. May Daniels, a young English nurse, disappeared while on a day trip to France. Sayers and her reporter husband, Mac, investigated May’s disappearance and probable murder. Marie Benedict takes these facts and creates a locked room mystery solved by the all-star Queens of Crime: Sayers, Agatha Christie, Emma Orczy, Ngaio Marsh, and Margery Allingham. At first the investigation is a bit of a lark, a way to prove their worth by solving a mystery the police and their fellow (male) mystery writers can’t. But the queens bond as they learn about the sweet, naive person May was. The press describe a very different woman, turning public opinion against the victim. She had it coming. The police jump at any excuse to unofficially stop investigating (since they aren’t getting anywhere). Only the Queens care about justice for May, and all of the expendable young women like her.

People traveled in the 12th-15t centuries. Merchants sought new markets, diplomats finagled treaties, and anyone who could get the necessary funding and permissions took religious pilgrimages. Bale explores the most common holy and trade routes based on what the travelers wrote in journals and guidebooks. It is very interesting, but too limited. Bale points out several times that Christians (Roman and Eastern/Greek), Muslims, and Jewish pilgrims visited many of the same places in Constantinople and Jerusalem. We only have the Christian, and almost exclusively Western European Christian, stories. One small chapter near the end follows Asian travelers’ adventures in the west. Ma Huan (Chinese Muslim), Het’um (Armenian Christian), and Rabban Bar Sauma (Christian Mongol) don’t represent the majority of nonEuropeans. A broader range of viewpoints and less personal commentary from the author would improve the book.

Corinne Michaels has a way of grabbing your heart and never letting go. One of my favorite authors and a fantastic listen while washing dishes

This book had my sons begging for the next volume! Shipping took forever, but was definitely worth the wait. Both of my sons enjoyed this volume and look forward to the next.

From a Certain Point of View shares stories from the events of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back as experienced by the background characters. Meet the caf delivery guy who rescues rebels evacuating Echo Base on Hoth. Follow the final thoughts of an Imperial admiral as he’s being force-choked by Darth Vader. A tie-fighter pilot shares her rules for not getting killed. An Uggnaught clan rushes to escape Cloud City when stormtroopers take over. The twenty-odd short stories are written by as many different authors. They vary in tone and length, but all give you the SW galaxy beyond the Skywalker family.

Very good book just like filthy rich fae ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………11111

I’m a big fan of the Meg Langslow Mysteries. The series has gotten maybe a little too cozy with too many delightful side characters who have to make an appearance in every book. I like to go back and re-read the really good earlier books in the series, like No Nest. Meg and fiance Michael host an eXtreme croquet tournament on their new sprawling property. Members of the local historical society make up a team as do their arch-enemies the real estate developers. A disgraced former professor had history with both teams (and Michael). And now she’s dead.

Very interesting read on women of color and their stories in the United States …………………..,..,.:::..:..

Bought for me as a birthday gift and I couldn’t be happier either it! Tina Kent is all about the spice!!

This is always an ongoing read for me. I bought the special edition from b&n years ago and read it with my teen and tween