Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Still marooned in 1815 with murder afoot

A Twist in Time by Julie McElwain

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This is book two in the Kendra Donovan series, where the heroine has travelled back to Regency London through some sort of wormhole (that part really isn’t explained).  I reviewed the first book earlier this year, and found it to be decent enough to give this one a go.  You definitely need to be willing to suspend belief when reading these books, however, because they really are wallpaper historicals.  Kendra is an FBI agent from the 21st century who found herself dropped back in time […]

Diamonds and death

Secrets in the Stones by Tessa Harris

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This is book six in the Dr. Thomas Silkstone Mysteries, which are the exploits of an American anatomist in 18th century London.  I had read book two last year, and somehow didn’t realize this one was four books after that already.  Still, I was able to pick up the threads of the series without too much effort again. It begins with a duel between Thomas and another man, over the affections of Lady Lydia Farrell, whom Thomas hopes to marry.  She has been through some […]

And Now I Have to Wait for the Next One …

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I am all caught up on the Sebastian St. Cyr series, and I am so disappointed now!  All the novels in the series are good with so many densely plotted mysteries, interesting recurring characters and a compelling plot line that runs through the series.  Still, I admit to starting to feel less drawn into the novels at some point in the middle, only for the last three to completely suck me back into the series. And now come the minor spoilers for previous novels in […]

I Probably Shouldn’t Like A Novel Involving a Serial Killer This Much

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Once Sebastian St. Cyr starts investigating a new case, he discovers street children have been disappearing for years but no one has noticed because they are at the edges of society, and its most vulnerable members.  The fact that a novel about the early 19th century and its treatment of the poor, and most especially poor children, still feels relevant today is rather condemning. Of course, to paraphrase a scholarly article I barely remember, historical fiction and sci-fi are both genres that tend to say […]

A Village Haunted by the Past

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I was actually reading a different novel (still trying to get through that sci-fi novel I mentioned before especially since it has taken an unfortunate turn and become a bit of a drag) but I have had some upsetting news followed by more upsetting conversations, and I needed something else to distract me.  This novel ended up being perfect for that! As with many of the Sebastian St. Cyr, Harris works in a potential French conspiracy angle, this time through the presence of Napoleon’s younger […]

I Don’t Think That Was the Takeaway from the Revolution You Needed to Focus on, Princess

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I had actually started reading an older sci-fi novel recommended on various Pajiba/Cannonball FB threads, but I spent the weekend in Toulouse, France, and while surrounded by the beautiful medieval architecture of the churches and museums, space exploration and colonization didn’t feel appropriate.  Not that a mystery novel set in 19th century England is a perfect fit, either, but it’s a bit closer to matching the atmosphere, especially since I wouldn’t even know where to start for novels set in France.  Fortuitously, even though this […]



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