Tag: #historicalmystery

Book Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: The Last Fatal Hour by Jan Matthews

THE LAST FATAL HOUR

by Jan Matthews

May 4 – 29, 2026 Virtual Book Tour

Hi, everyone!

Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for THE LAST FATAL HOUR by Jan Matthews on this Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tour.

Below you will find book description, my book review, an excerpt from the book, the author’s bio and social media links, and a PICT giveaway. Enjoy!

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Book Description

For Leona Gladney, former woman soldier of the Union Army, life goes on despite the echoes of the battlefield in her heart. Now a suffragist and budding socialite in Brooklyn Heights, she yearns for a literary life and family. But her husband’s business partner embezzles their money and disappears.

The society matrons of Brooklyn Heights turn a gimlet eye on Leona after the suspicious death of a wealthy friend. Leona will do anything to find justice for her friend and clear her own name, but she finds only secrets, seances and murder.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/246335662-the-last-fatal-hour?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=qBbDWbM73z&rank=1

The Last Fatal Hour

Genre: Historical Mystery
Published by: Coffee&ink Press
Publication Date: April 7, 2026
Number of Pages: 320
ISBN: 9798232470982

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My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

THE LAST FATAL HOUR by Jan Matthews is an intriguing historical murder mystery and domestic suspense mash-up set post-Civil War in Brooklyn Heights, New York. This book features a female main character attempting to be an amateur sleuth to clear her name and due to blackmail. She was previously a fighting female soldier in disguise during the Civil War who is now struggling with severe PTSD. This is a standalone fictional historical story that is authentic to the era and society it portrays.

Socialite Leona Gladney has attempted to put her past as a soldier in the Union Army and death of her first husband behind her. Remarried and working on personal literary pursuits, she still has dreams and moments of anxiety over her time in the service. Her anxiety is exacerbated by her husband’s business partner disappearing with their company’s funds.

When the robbery and suspicious death of a wealthy friend and matriarch leaves Leona a suspect, she is determined to uncover the real culprit. What she is not prepared for is a tangled web of seances, lies, deception, and murder.

This is an enlightening as well as maddening story of the legal and political struggles women faced in the 19th century intertwined with the intricately plotted chase of a killer. Leona is a strong character that is more than just her heritage and social status, but even as she tries to fulfill her feminine societal duties, she has an entire previous life she has kept from everyone but her grandfather. While her time as a soldier makes her an unusual protagonist, her life is historically possible. The many uses of laudanum especially involving females throughout this story is not only historically accurate, but also sad. While I suspected the outcome, it is still satisfying and once again brings society’s treatment of women to the forefront.

I highly recommend this intriguing historical mystery and domestic suspense mash-up.

***

Excerpt

CHAPTER ONE

The blot of ink stuck to her finger, tacky like drying blood. Leona scrubbed at it with her handkerchief as the clock chimed two hours after midnight. She capped the inkwell, and while the ink dried on her most recent entry, she organized the copies with ribbons. Blue for Daphne and red for Ruth. With shaking hands, she slipped the copies into stiff cardboard folios and tied them closed. Sighing, she set them on the desk in front of her.

The flames in the hearth beckoned. This wasn’t the first night she’d yearned for obliteration. It wouldn’t come if she gave in to the urge to throw her labor into the fire. Only paper and ink would vanish, leaving the memories behind.

Pen and ink or back to the laudanum.

A grim thought, the grimmest of all.

The words had clawed their way out tonight. She’d begun the memoir of her time as a Union soldier months ago with the hope her drowning spirits would revive once the words dropped to the page. Yet the foreboding crept through her and tightened around her throat as the little study filled with familiar shadows. This old terror had become a second skin, like the tattered and dirty uniform she’d once worn.

Over the monotonous chatter of the rain, the clock ticked away the seconds until her husband came home. Leona moved to the window, pushed aside the heavy velvet curtains, and looked out at night-shrouded Cranberry Street. A lamp glowed in a window across the street. Homesickness for Boston, for life before the war, for herself before the war, settled on her. The wind threw a heavy splash of rain against the window, and she jumped back, letting go of the curtain.

Pacing the study, her restless thoughts rushed on without fatigue. To keep the memories inside only fed the persistent mental return to the battlefield, and the outpouring of words somewhat tamed her tormented soul. She stopped and touched the folio. Work would save her: work, family, friendship, and love. Maybe she’d write a story about two clocks. A natural clock which kept good time and a mad clock that twisted time out of true.

The street door below opened and closed. At last Gil, home safe. She couldn’t even bring herself to scold him for being so late. Leona listened for his footsteps as she crossed the room to tuck the folios into her desk drawer and locked it. She closed the gaslight apertures in the study and turned up the flame on the wall sconces in the drafty hallway so he could find his way. In the bedroom, she shed her dressing gown, stepped out of her slippers, and kicked them under the bed. Gil made his clumsy climb up the stairs. When he stumbled into the room, she pulled the covers back. He fell into bed fully clothed beside her, mumbling and fretful, the sharp ripe scent of whiskey lacing his breath.

She laid her hand on his shoulder. Beneath the cloth of his shirt, his skin was cold and damp. “Rest now, go to sleep,” she whispered.

***

At first light, Leona had dressed in a blue and cream day gown and made her way downstairs for breakfast. The creeping dread of the night before had waned. She rubbed her gritty eyes and yawned again. Mrs. McCarthy poured coffee from the silver pot, the familiar, civilized table a welcome sight. The scent of bacon made her stomach growl.

“Are you well, m’um?”

Leona glanced into the broad face of their cook and housekeeper, a sturdy and mature woman with a comforting Irish burr. She wore her fading blonde hair in a crown around her head.

“I didn’t sleep much.” Leona yawned again behind her fingers.

Gil’s heavy tread on the stairs made them both jump, and Mrs. McCarthy squeaked.

“I’ll bring more breakfast in a jiffy.” She fled through the side door to the kitchen just as Gil ducked through the hall entrance.

Leona rose and smiled at her husband. He’d made a great effort to come down early after returning so late. She accepted his peck on the cheek, poured him coffee and set it between them, wifely mask in place. He glared with bloodshot eyes at the letter in his hand, and her stomach clenched.

“It’s not all bad news, Gil.” She’d read the contents of the letter before leaving it on his desk in his study, as Grandfather had addressed it to both.

He raised his hazel eyes to her. “You recall Henry has absconded with all our funds?” he asked in a sarcastic tone, squinting at the letter, then back at her.

She no longer knew what to say about Gil’s former business partner, Henry Caldwell-Jones. The police were still looking for him. It put the devil in Gil’s eyes to speak of it, so she tried to let it be, not wanting to distress him even more.

“Of course, I remember, Gil. I—”

“And now your grandfather won’t give me a second loan. I’ll have to go back to the bank and ask them again.”

“He only wants to speak with you face to face about our situation,” she said, in her grandfather’s defense. “He’ll help us, Gil. He did offer to speak at the lyceum on his return from Ohio, to help raise funds. It isn’t as if—” Or was it? “We won’t lose the house, will we?”

The muscles in his lean face twitched as Gil fought to hide his disappointment, and her heart broke a little more to witness it. “Your grandfather does not bring in the interest he once did.”

It was true Leona’s grandfather, poet, abolitionist, and Transcendentalist, didn’t bring in the money he used to at readings in New York and Brooklyn, but he didn’t suffer for it.

Gil raked his fingers through his thick, brown hair and opened his mouth. Mrs. McCarthy entered with his breakfast, apparently stopping what he meant to say next. He reached inside the pocket of his trousers and pulled out a small notebook and pencil. Laying them on the table, his frown deepened.

Once Mrs. McCarthy had bustled out again, Leona said, “I could write to Aunt Louisa.” Who was not truly an aunt, but a friend of her mother’s.

He opened the notebook and touched the tip of his tongue to the pencil. “We cannot afford to feed and house a man of Bronson Alcott’s caliber,” he replied with heaviness. He bent his head to the columns of numbers on the pages.

His confidence and spirits were usually high, and it hurt to see him laid so low. She did mean Louisa Alcott herself, not her father Bronson Alcott, as the speaker for the lyceum to draw a crowd. Her novel, Little Women, published two years before, had become hugely popular.

“I’ll sell the lyceum, that should help,” Gil murmured, eyes downcast.

Leona winced. It was where they’d met nearly a year before. At a loss again, she glanced down at her lapel watch—9 o’clock already. She stood and set cups and plates on the tray.

“Let Mrs. McCarthy do that.” His pencil went on calculating their precarious position.

“I don’t mind. I’m off to see Daphne this morning. I won’t be home until the late afternoon.” Taking a deep breath, she dared to ask, not expecting an answer. “How much do we owe?” She blew out her held breath, apprehension biting at her. “Why won’t you tell me how much Henry has stolen?”

“He’s made me a laughingstock.” His handsome lips formed a tight smile, but he didn’t look at her. “Don’t you worry, Leona, leave it to me. This will all be over by Christmas.”

***

On the street, she began to walk, then turned to observe the window where Gil labored, smoke curling from the chimney. The image stayed with her as she made her way to the newsstand around the corner and waited patiently for her turn to buy a paper. The sunny day, though cold, had driven people outdoors, well wrapped in fur-collared coats and wool scarves. Woodsmoke and the sharp tang of the river mingling with the scent of baking bread drifted on the breeze. She chewed on the frustration that he wouldn’t share their financial details with her. It made her more fearful not to know. Though she kept the memoir and chapter stories a secret from him, this was hardly the same.

Passing the newsstand, an article about the new bridge caught her eye so she bought the latest Brooklyn Eagle. The previous summer, the four of them, Henry, his wife Helen, herself, and Gil, had stood at the end of Noble Street to watch the construction of the giant caissons in the naval yard. Though approval of the bridge was a long-foregone conclusion, the article was typical of the Eagle’s awful anti-consolidation fear mongering. The article repeated the claim linking the boroughs would only bring the dregs of Manhattan’s Lower East Side into Brooklyn’s pure white Heights. The wrongness of such an attitude churned her stomach.

Leona folded the paper and tucked it under her arm with the folio, sighing. Who would save the poor of this world from the hatred of the rich? Her spirits drooped lower.

She breathed deep the November air on familiar, tree-lined Remsen Street, where she’d lived for two years before marrying Gil in August. The red door of the brownstone opened, welcoming her in. Timothy, the butler, took her hat and coat. Before he disappeared with them, his eyes met hers with a familiar blue twinkle.

“I’ll tell her you’re here,” he said.

“Thank you.” She inhaled the sweet smell of hothouse roses set in vases along the long hallway and waited for word of her arrival to reach Daphne and her nurse Audrey.

Audrey approached from the depths of the house. Her eyes, though hooded, were a pure delphinium blue, blonde hair pinned tight to her head. She wore a plain uniform of dark gray with long cuffed sleeves and a white apron.

“Mrs. Van Wyn is in the Lavender Room.” With a curt nod, she turned away.

When they first met, Leona and Audrey had often shared tea and conversation, but of late Leona felt nothing but a wall of smothered animosity between them. They hadn’t argued, as such, though she had an idea where the strained relations came from.

“Is she well?” Leona asked.

For a moment, she didn’t think Audrey would answer, but the woman turned toward her again. “She passed a quiet night. The laudanum helps.”

Leona frowned. Audrey flicked a dismissive hand and went on her way.

The introduction of laudanum in Daphne’s life began not long after Leona moved to Cranberry Street with Gil that summer. The spas and cures Daphne’s grandson Benedict and his wife arranged didn’t seem to help anymore. The family hired Audrey, who administered the laudanum, a common enough panacea. Laudanum’s presence always disturbed Leona, and she had protested to the family, but no one listened. Audrey had become cold after this discussion. Leona believed some of Daphne’s pain came from her daily battle with grief. Leona often feared her own grief and the overuse of laudanum, prescribed by a respected doctor in Boston, had killed the child from her previous marriage to Jack Davenport. Poor dead Jack.

***

Author Bio

Jan Matthews is an American expat living in the sunshine in Portugal.

She is (finally) retired from HIM and writes historical mysteries from the Middle Ages to World War I. When not writing or drinking coffee and wine in nearby cafes, she knits and crochets for charity and reviews books on her blog.

Social Media Links

coffeeandinkbooks.wordpress.com
Amazon Author Profile
Goodreads – @coffeeink
BookBub – @coffeeandink1
Instagram – @coffeeandink197
BlueSky – @coffeeandink2.bsky.social

Purchase Links

Amazon – https://pictbooks.tours/54WPvubH

BN – https://pictbooks.tours/3AOgpGPn

BookShop.org – https://pictbooks.tours/34sUBx6S

Goodreads – https://pictbooks.tours/pFVXjbRQ

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PICT GIVEAWAY

https://pictbooks.tours/NAUIwZ7q

Book Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: Cat & Mouse: A Parker City Mystery by Justin M. Kiska

CAT & MOUSE

by Justin M. Kiska

March 30 – May 1, 2026

Virtual Book Tour

Hi, everyone!

Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for CAT & MOUSE: A Parker City Mystery by Justin M. Kiska on this Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tour.

Below you will find a book description, my book review, an excerpt from the book, the author’s bio and social media links, and a PICT giveaway. Enjoy!

***

Book Description

Twenty years ago, Elizabeth Blakely was the target of a relentless stalker—someone who sent threatening letters, invaded her life, and left her living in fear. The case made headlines. The threats were chilling. And then… it all stopped.

Now, in the summer of 1985, Elizabeth’s past has come roaring back. A new letter appears—eerily familiar and signed just like the ones before. Then her husband is stabbed in their home.

Parker City Police Detectives Ben Winters and Tommy Mason are handed the case and quickly find themselves trapped in a decades-old maze of obsession, secrets, and psychological scars. As they peel back the layers of the original investigation, they begin to suspect the truth was never what it seemed—and the stalker may have never left.

With pressure mounting, the detectives must solve a mystery rooted in the past to prevent another tragedy in the present. But what they uncover will challenge everything they thought they knew about guilt, innocence, and what it means to be a victim.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/249061798-cat-mouse?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=cLAC9MOban&rank=1

Cat & Mouse: A Parker City Mystery

Genre: Traditional Police Procedural with a Dual Timeline element
Published by: Level Best Books
Publication Date: March 31, 2026
Number of Pages: 320
ISBN: 979-8898202118
Series: A Parker City Mystery, Book 6

***

My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

CAT & MOUSE: A Parker City Mystery (Book #6) by Justin M. Kiska is another intricately plotted and intriguing dual timeline classic detective mystery. The Parker City Mysteries feature two recurring main detective protagonists in the mid 1980’s and two historic crime fighters in the past, but also always in Parker City. Despite spanning various decades or centuries, these crimes consistently exhibit a common theme, clue, or character. You get two exciting well plotted mysteries in one book which can easily be read as a standalone, but I have enjoyed reading all the books in the series.

Parker City 1965. Elizabeth Blakely is one of many women in Parker City receiving menacing letters from an unknown stalker, but her letters are handwritten and very personal. While the women of the town are all terrified only Elizabeth is singled out with escalating crimes. The police in 1965 have little to go on and no clues that help them find Elizabeth’s stalker.

Parker City 1985. After twenty years, Elizabeth and her husband returned to Parker City. She gets another chilling letter which is identical to the threatening letters from before. She and her husband bring the letter to the current police department, and Detectives Ben Winters and Tommy Mason are on the case now. With alternating decade narratives, can Winters and Mason solve this twenty-year mystery?

I always enjoy getting into a new book in the Parker City mystery series. The recurring detective protagonists in 1985, Ben and Tommy, are a smart, memorable, and enjoyable duo that I enjoy returning to in each book. The second past mystery in this book was interesting with the same cast of characters and continuation of the crime in 1965 and 1985. This story pulls you in with the police procedurals in both timelines and the differences in the handling of the case. I was engrossed in both and while not surprised at the conclusion, it was plotted well throughout both timelines. I always find it entertaining that 1985 is classified as historical, but it makes me think about the clues more, which the author is always fair on, because you do not have all the scientific expertise of present-day crime fighting.

I highly recommend this dual timeline historical traditional detective mystery in the Parker City series. I also recommend the entire series which are all worth reading.

***

Excerpt

June 1985 . . .

“All I’m saying,” Detective Tommy Mason said to his partner as they walked down the sidewalk, “is that this was the craziest thing I’ve ever seen. And I’ve seen crazy. You know I’ve seen crazy. But this…this was crazy.”

“I don’t see why a trip to the vet has gotten you so worked up,” Ben Winters, Tommy’s partner, friend, and commanding officer of the Parker City Police Department’s Detective Squad said, shaking his head.

“I’m getting to it. I’m trying to set the mood. Let me tell it, will you?”

Ben rolled his eyes and chuckled but let him continue. He should have known. This was just how Tommy was. The two men had known each other since they were kids. They’d grown up together, gone to school together, joined the academy together, and put on the uniform together. They weren’t just friends; they were more like brothers. Which is why Ben was well aware of Tommy’s penchant for storytelling. The trick was to only believe about half of what he said. Tommy had a flair for the dramatic.

“Just hear me out,” Tommy pleaded, stopping under an awning to get out of the warm sun for a moment. “So, I’m spending the day with Christine, right? And she tells me her cat has a vet appointment. Okay, I mean, I’m not a fan of her cat. Truth is, I hate the thing. It’s pure evil wrapped in fur. But, as the good boyfriend that I am, I said I’d tag along. You know, trying to be sensitive and show an interest in things she cares about blah, blah, blah.”

“You’re terrible,” Ben interrupted.

“Hey! That cat cornered me one morning and tried to kill me.”

“Is this the time you hid in the bathroom like a five-year-old?”

“Really? You’re going to take the cat’s side when I’ve saved your life how many times now?”

“You’re a trained police officer. You shouldn’t be afraid of a little cat. And don’t even try to say you’ve saved my life more than I’ve saved yours.”  

Anyone who spent any amount of time around the two detectives, whether on duty or off, knew this is how they talked to one another. They were like an old married couple. Constantly taking shots at each other and making wisecracks. It was their friendly jibes that helped to keep them grounded. Especially when they were working a particularly difficult case. And after only four years as detectives, they’d already seen more than their fair share of tough cases. 

“Anyway,” Tommy said. “We take Satan’s pussy cat to this little townhouse out there on 9th. I swear, the sign in the window was written on cardboard, which made me start to question this vet’s credentials. Turns out, she’s some sort of all natural astrological pet healer. I didn’t even know that was a thing. But this vet—and I use that term loosely because she looked more like a gypsy fortune teller—comes out and takes the demon cat—”

“Satan’s pussy cat,” Ben reminded with a smirk.

“Satan’s pussy cat—and puts it on this card table to examine it.”

“Is the cat male or female?”

“I don’t know.”

“What’s its name?”

“Hellraiser…it doesn’t matter.”

“I’m just trying to get all the facts,” Ben said, knowing he was getting under Tommy’s skin. “It’s kind of what we do.”

Ignoring him, Tommy continued. “So, Lucifur is on the table, doing everything possible to get away and this voodoo priestess pulls out a tuning fork. She puts her hand on the cat’s back, then she whacks the back of her own hand with the tuning fork and listens. She does it a second time and turns to Christine and says the cat hasn’t been eating because it’s unhappy with where she moved the food bowl.”

Ben stared at him. “You’re kidding me.”

“I shit-you-not. And the worst part is, Christine then paid this hippie. Paid her!”

“I’m really not sure what to say. But I do have a question. Did Christine move the bowl back to wherever it was before?”

“Yes.”

“And?” Ben found himself surprisingly eager to hear the answer.

Tommy looked away, clearly annoyed. “Damn cat ate the whole bowl of food.”

Ben burst out laughing. He couldn’t help it. The whole story was so ridiculous. Absolutely absurd yet fitting somehow. Leave it to Tommy to find himself in a situation like that. But he was happy to see his friend getting so serious with someone. He and Christine weren’t just going out on wild dates anymore. They were doing the more mundane things couples did together. This was the longest relationship Ben could remember Tommy ever being in. Long enough that Christine was going to be Tommy’s date at his and Natalie’s wedding. Nat was thrilled. Not just because she liked Chistine, but she didn’t have to worry about Tommy sleeping with one of the bridesmaids now. And with the wedding only a matter of weeks away, it was nice to have one less thing to fret about.

Taking a final sip of the soda he was carrying, Ben tossed the empty cup in the trashcan next to the curb as the two continued walking down Commerce Street.

Today was a special day in Parker City. Six blocks of downtown had been shut down for the Summer in the Streets festival. Shops and restaurants had set up booths, offering local goods, special menus, and giveaways. The sidewalks were packed with residents and visitors. As music from local bands and church choirs echoed through the air.

An event like this would have been unthinkable just a few years ago. In 1978, Parker was devastated by a terrible flood that destroyed the city’s business district, leaving the once thriving commercial corridor in ruins. The damage had been so extensive, most business owners simply boarded up the windows and walked away, leaving empty, derelict buildings sitting for years. Right in the heart of the city.

The economics of the ‘70s had already taken its toll on Parker City to begin with, so the flood was the final nail in the coffin. A once bustling city practically turned into a ghost town in the span of three days as the rain fell and the murky waters surged through the streets. Once it was all over, the destruction was so severe, no one could see a clear path to restore the area. No one except the city’s young, energetic mayor. He made it his mission to return the downtown to its former glory. And though it had been slow going, the fruits of his labor were beginning to show. The abandoned buildings were being cleaned up, renovated, and leased, welcoming new shops and restaurants, and even a small art gallery. There was still a long way to go, but this outdoor market was a chance to show that the city was coming back to life.

As Ben looked around at the crowded festival, he figured at least half the city had shown up, not to mention the out-of-town visitors. Ben wasn’t sure who’d be happier with the turnout, the president of the Chamber of Commerce or the mayor. Regardless, it looked like the first Summer in the Streets was a huge success. 

As members of the Parker City Police Department’s Detective Squad—albeit the only members of the Parker City Police Department’s Detective Squad—Ben and Tommy would not usually be on the street like this. But with an event of this nature, they’d been asked to lend a helping hand. Both were happy to do so, though Tommy made it very clear he would not be putting on his old uniform. Not on a hot June day in Maryland. Instead, the detectives were comfortably patrolling while wearing simple white polo shirts with the word POLICE emblazoned on the back and their badges hanging around their necks on silver chains.    

If it were up to Tommy, that’s how they’d dress every day. But Ben insisted that they wear full suits and that only the police detectives on television and in the movies wore T-shirts, leather jackets, and jeans. Though he grumbled about it every chance he got, Tommy begrudgingly listened to his supervisor, Detective Sergeant Winters, and put on a suit in the mornings. 

As they reached the corner of Commerce and 1st, Tommy glanced up the block. With wooden barricades set up at every intersection, there was no vehicular traffic, leaving cross streets virtually empty. Halfway up that particular block, next to a sandwich shop Tommy frequented, was a Maryland United Bank branch. Looking at his watch, seeing that it was one o’clock, he was just about to suggest they grab a bite to eat when something caught his eye.

A flash of red.

Doing a double take to make sure his eyes weren’t playing tricks on him, he turned to Ben and asked, “It’s still June, right?”

Ben gave him a puzzled look. “Yeah. Still June. Why?”

“And it’s pretty warm out here today? About eighty-five degrees or so?”

“Right…” Ben nodded.

“Then seeing a guy dressed as Santa Claus would be considered suspicious,” Tommy said pointing up the street toward the bank.

Following his finger, sure enough, Ben saw a man in full Santa gear pacing around outside the bank, shifting his weight nervously, swinging a sack from shoulder to shoulder.

Unhooking the walkie-talkie from his belt, Ben keyed the button on the side and said, “Dispatch, this is PC-12. Come in.”

“Hey, Ben. How’s it goin’ out there, sugar,” the voice crackled over the radio.

“It’s a beautiful day and there’s a big crowd,” Ben answered. “So, Shirley, Tommy and I are looking at a suspicious person outside the Maryland United Bank on 1st. We’re going to check him out.”

There was a momentary pause before she came back with, “I show Spurrier on patrol in that area. I’ll send him your way. Do you have a description for me?”

Ben hesitated. “Um…yeah. It’s Santa Claus.”

“Come again?” she asked, her surprise coming over the radio loud and clear. “I don’t think I heard you right, puddin.’”

“No. You heard me. The guy’s dressed as Santa Claus. Full suit. Sack and all.”

“Well, ho, ho, ho,” Shirley said before sighing off.

Tommy looked at Ben. “So…think we’re looking at a robbery, or just a nutjob?”

Ben shrugged. “Either way, it’s going to be interesting.”

***

Author Bio

Justin is a theatre producer, director, and mystery writer who can usually be found sitting in his library devising new and clever ways to kill people (for his mysteries). In addition to writing the Parker City Mysteries Series, which includes Now & Then, Vice & Virtue, Fact & Fiction, Black & White, and Cops & Robbers, he is also the mastermind behind Marquee Mysteries, a series of interactive mystery events he has been writing and producing for nearly twenty years. Justin and his wife, Jessica, live along Lake Linganore outside of Frederick, Maryland with their pups Brownie and Cocoa.

Social Media Links

JustinKiska.com
Amazon Author Profile
Goodreads – @JustinKiska
BookBub – @JMKiska
Instagram – @JMKiska
Facebook – @JMKiska

Purchase Links

Amazon – https://pictbooks.tours/0TX1Laq3

Kindle – https://pictbooks.tours/RX5nvBBy

Goodreads – https://pictbooks.tours/uZXhOaoO

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PICT GIVEAWAY

https://pictbooks.tours/fDCUcN8A

ARC Feature Post and Book Review: In the Spirit of French Murder by Colleen Cambridge

Book Description

Tabitha has enjoyed an entertaining afternoon in Julia’s kitchen, but her return home is a bit jarring. As she arrives at her grandfather’s rue de l’Université mansion, a woman bursts out the door babbling about messages from spirits and a warning Grand-père must heed. Oncle Rafe angrily sends the woman on her way, and neither man will answer Tabitha’s questions.

It’s not the last she sees of the mysterious visitor. While she’s on a date that evening, she’s accosted by her again—and learns that Madame Vierca is a medium who claims to have visions of a dark fate that awaits Grand-père and Oncle Rafe. The very next night, Tabitha’s messieurs host a soiree at their new restaurant, inviting fellow Resistance fighters from the war known as the Nine Bluets. To commemorate the work of the Resistance network, the vase on the dinner table sports nine of the pretty blue flowers.

But shortly after the revelers leave the restaurant, one of Grand-père’s old friends is found dead on the street . . . and one of the nine flowers is missing from the vase. When a second member of the Nine Bluets is found poisoned the next day, and a bluet flower is left with the body, Tabitha cannot ignore Madame Vierca’s frightening predictions about her dear messieurs. She has no choice but to share her suspicions and fears with the enigmatic and unruffled Inspecteur Merveille.

Tabitha soon finds herself caught up in an investigation that takes her and Merveille to the seediest, most dangerous parts of the Left Bank—home of strange, fantastical legends, disquieting events, and unusual people. As she and Merveille desperately try to find a killer, they know they don’t have much time before the rest of the Nine Bluets are targeted . . . including Grand-père and Oncle Rafe.

***

My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

IN THE SPIRIT OF FRENCH MURDER (An American in Paris Book #4) by Colleen Cambridge is another wonderful addition to this entertaining, intriguing, and informative historical mystery series featuring Tabitha Knight, an American in Paris and her best friend and fellow ex-pat, Julia Child. While the main cast of characters continue to evolve in their relationships, each book contains a complete mystery, so these books can be read as standalone books. I have read them all in order and loved every single one.

Tabitha is excited about the opening night party of her Grand-pere and Oncle Rafe’s new restaurant. While she still has questions regarding an old medium, Madame Vierca, who visited the pair yesterday and warned her of danger as she left, she is fascinated by the Resistance group that her Grand-pere and Oncle reunited. Called the Nine Bluets, Tabitha is told tales of the group as they worked against the Nazis.

As the revelers depart the restaurant, one of the group of fighters is found dead on the street with his throat slit. Another is found the next day poisoned in an old home previously used as a safe house by the group. Tabitha is extremely worried about her messieurs as the predictions from the old medium appear to be coming true with a wilted bluet found by each dead body. Once again, she is caught up in a murder investigation with Inspecteur Merveille.

As Tabitha and Merveille investigate the murders, Tabitha is especially frantic when her Grand-pere and Oncle are kidnapped. Can she follow to clues to discover the killer in time to save those she loves?

I always look forward to getting a new book in this series. Tabitha is a wonderful protagonist who just seems to have dead people fall at her feet to the eternal consternation of Inspecteur Merveille. These two follow the clues with plenty of twists and surprises along the way to an always satisfactory resolution. Having Julia Child as Tabitha’s best friend sets the stage for wonderful, mouthwatering descriptions of recipes and cooking, as well as a sounding board for Tabitha’s adventures. The descriptions of Paris and its inhabitants in 1950 demonstrate the author’s obvious research and add to the richness of the story. This time period and location is especially intriguing because while Paris is free and rebuilding, it has only been five years since the war and the atrocities of the Nazi occupation.

I highly recommend this engaging historical mystery and encourage you to try all the books in this series.

***

About the Author

Colleen Cambridge is the pen name for an award-winning, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author. From a young age, Colleen has loved reading mysteries and now she couldn’t be happier that she is able to write them.

Under several pseudonyms, she has written more than 36 books in a variety of genres and is always plotting her next murder—er, book.

Social Media Links

Website: https://www.colleengleason.com/colleen-cambridge/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ColleenGleason.Author

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/colleengleason.bsky.social

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/books/in-the-spirit-of-french-murder-an-american-in-paris-mystery-book-4-by-colleen-cambridge

Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: Vanished in the Crowd by Rhys Bowen & Clare Broyles

Book Description

New York is busier than ever as two million visitors come to the city to witness the Hudson-Fulton celebration in 1909, marking the 300th anniversary of Henry Hudson’s discovery of the Hudson River. Parades, exhibitions, carnivals, and a marvelous display of the wonders of the latest invention–electricity–across the city make for two straight weeks of celebrations, which Molly and her family, along with their friends Sid and Gus, are excited to enjoy. But Molly is secretly dealing with financial troubles. She is too proud to ask her friends for a loan, but when they want to hire her as a detective she jumps at the chance.

Sid and Gus are hosting fellow Vassar graduates to take part in one of the parades but one of the women, a brilliant scientist, never shows up. It seems nobody knows where she is, including her husband. Is she trying to run away from her life or is it something more sinister? Why have the Vassar women really come to New York City? When Daniel asks Molly to spy on her friends and find out just what they are planning she finds her loyalties horribly divided. Then the parade turns deadly and only Molly has the tools to find out the truth.

***

Elise’s Thoughts

Vanished in the Crowd by Rhys Bowen and Clare Broyles per usual has characters and settings that quickly capture the reader’s imagination and interest.

The catalyst for this story is the 1909 New York Hudson-Fulton celebration because the suffragettes have plans of having a float in the parade. Molly’s husband Daniel was put in charge of the new FBI, now tasked with making sure everything goes smoothly with all the foreign and US dignitaries attending. He asks Molly to spy on her friends and neighbors Elena “Sid” Goldfarb and Augusta “Gus” Walcott who happen to be huge suffragettes.

They invited the scientist Willa Parker to stay with them and attend the parade. But she never showed up and now her husband has hired a Pinkerton agent to find her. They offer Molly a job to find her before the Pinkerton agent.

Molly jumps at the chance because the family’s finances are very scarce. She is upset with Daniel for not telling her that he used their savings to pay his men.  Plus, he seems to be doing nothing to force his employer to send him a paycheck.

This mystery is based on historical events that focuses on the status of women and the suffragist movement. Molly Murphy fans should be excited that she is back at her profession of being a detective.

***

Author Interview

Elise Cooper: Idea for the story?

Rhys Bowen: The intent for this book was to have Molly going back to detective work.  As for women suffrage, we have been leaning toward it as the series has gone along. We played on the injustices to women. Sid and Gus are passionate suffrages.

Clare Broyles: I looked in September 1909, and this Hudson-Fulton Celebration kept coming up in my research. Two million people came in for the parade. I came up with this picture of women on this float dressed up as Greek Goddesses, all collapsing in a die-in.  One of them never gets up.

EC: Is Molly wavering in her support of the women suffrage movement?

RB: She is put in an untenable position after her husband, an FBI Agent, Daniel asks her to spy on her friends.  She has full sympathy with the suffrage movement but is not political about it.  She wants women to have freedom of expression.

CB: She is going on a trajectory.  Molly as an immigrant did not want to rock the boat. The one time she did something she ended up in jail with the other suffrages. Now she is much more comfortable in New York and has found her place there, so she is more likely to be on the front lines.

EC: Did you want readers to have mixed emotions about Daniel?

RB: He is a man of his times. He did not consult Molly with money matters and thinks that her job is to make the home a happy place as a wife and mother. At times, he does not listen to Molly’s thoughts, while at other times thinks of her as an equal. He is quite forward thinking and liberal. He has not forbidden her to have a profession outside the home even though he could. A husband at that time had complete control over his wife. Once married she becomes his complete property. The fact that Daniel allows her to go back to work and does not forbid her is quite forward thinking.

CB: We cannot go back and make men from that time the same as men from this time. Daniel did not inform Molly about the family’s money problems because in his mind he would think of it as inappropriate to put any worry on Molly’s shoulder. We see how false that is because she does not have enough grocery money and was having a hard time to make ends meet.

EC: There is a scene in the book where Molly and Daniel are arguing about having the government pay him.  Did you get that today with the government shutdown where so many employees are not getting a paycheck?

RB:  As we know Congress even then did not do anything sensible. He is waiting for the stupid approval of getting paid and having the FBI as a government agency. Molly is furious of course. He is working without pay.

CB: Daniel has just joined a brand-new government department, the FBI. In my mind if that is true then what else is true? We know the government is very slow to fund money and asks people to work without money. This gave us the opportunity to provoke Molly to go and earn money on her own.

EC: What is the theme?

RB:  Women were not included in planning for the celebration. We like to highlight how half the population, women, had no voice. Women were arrested for supporting suffrage. We included Mrs. Belmont who was a real person, one of the richest women of the day, married to Vanderbilt. She inherited this vast fortune. She is a paramount society woman who became a driving force in the suffrage movement behind the scenes.

CB: Maud Malone is also a real person. She would infiltrate political meetings and ask if the men would support women voting.

EC: What do you want to say about Dr. Willa Parker?

RB: She is the brilliant scientist who could not publish papers under her own name, but she had to publish them under her husband’s name. Even Marie Curie had to do it. When readers meet her, she is not a typical woman since her son and marriage are not paramount in her life. She is an obsessed and a passionate scientist. She is so passionate because the virus she was working on, polio, caused her mother’s death, the death of her friend’s son, and her sister’s illness.

CB:  For a lot of the book, she is sought after, the heart of the mystery. Why has she disappeared?

EC: Next book?

RB/CB:  It will take place right where this one leaves off, with the investigation of Sid and Gus. We took three separate investigations that Molly takes and tie together at the end. Gus has written a play that shows how women throughout the centuries stood up to men. The person who is leading this suppression of vice wants to shut it down. The tension with Daniel will continue as Molly is taking more cases she wants to investigate. He questions if she can be a detective and do her primary role well as wife and mother.  It is titled A Whiff of Scandal, coming out this time next year.

RB:  Coming out in August will be my historical novel, titled The Castle and the Glen, taking place in Scotland. The plot has a very famous author who cannot finish her novel because of dementia and hires a young and upcoming writer to finish it for her. While doing her research she starts to believe it is not fiction, but real.

THANK YOU!!

***

BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.

Book Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: Winter’s Season by R.J. Koreto

WINTER’S SEASON

by R.J. Koreto



January 26 – February 20, 2026 Virtual Book Tour

Hi, everyone!

Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for WINTER’S SEASON by R.J. Koreto on this Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tour.

Below you will find a book description, my book review, an excerpt from the book, the author’s bio, the author’s social media links, and a Promoamp giveaway sponsored by Partners In Crime. Enjoy!

***

Book Description

In 1817 London, Before the Police, There Was Captain Winter.

London, 1817. A city teeming with life, yet lacking a professional police force. When a wealthy young woman is brutally murdered in an alley frequented by prostitutes, a shadowy government bureau in Whitehall dispatches its “special emissary”―Captain Winter. A veteran of the Napoleonic Wars and a gentleman forged by chance and conflict, Winter is uniquely equipped to navigate the treacherous currents of London society, from aristocratic drawing rooms to the city’s grimmest taverns.

Without an army of officers or the aid of forensic science, Winter must rely on his wits and a network of unconventional allies. His childhood friend, a nobleman, opens doors in high society, while a wise Jewish physician uncovers secrets the dead cannot hide.

But Winter’s most intriguing, and potentially dangerous, asset is Barbara Lightwood. Shrewd, beautiful, and operating as a discreet intermediary among the elite, Barbara shares a past with Winter from the war years. Their rekindled affair is fraught with wariness; she offers intimate information crucial to his investigation, but guards her own secrets fiercely. Like Winter, she is both cunning and capable of danger.

From grand houses to dimly lit streets, death stalks Captain Winter. He must tread carefully to unmask a killer, navigate a web of secrets and lies, and perhaps, in the process, save his own soul.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/235788930-winter-s-season?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=QD0blWBgcc&rank=1

Winter’s Season

Genre: Thriller, Historical, Romance, Political, Crime
Published by: Histria Books
Publication Date: February 17, 2026
Number of Pages: 300
ISBN: 9781592116898 (ISBN10: 1592116892)

***

My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

WINTER’S SEASON by R.J. Koreto is a new Regency mystery with an exciting cast of characters from all levels of Regency society, an intriguing murder mystery, and a well-paced investigative procedural led by retired military Captain Edmund Winter who now works for the Home Office. While this is a standalone book at this time, I would love to see it become a series because I did not want it to end.

The Napoleonic war ended two years ago and now in 1817, after his return from a deployment to India, Captain Edmund Winter finds himself working for the Home Office. With the successful capture of a murderer targeting prostitutes, Winter and the Bow Street Runners he is assisting find an unrelated corpse at the scene. It turns out to be a young Society woman who the family assumed had returned to their country home.

Winter must use his wits to navigate Society ballrooms and the shadowy secrets they keep with the help of unconventional friends. His childhood friend, now a nobleman, a Jewish physician from the Army who now performs autopsies, and a secretive woman from Winter’s past who is more than an entrée into society families. While Winter is dangerous to all those who cross him or threaten those he cares for, he must be careful because someone has already tried to kill him before he can unravel the secrets and lies to discover a murderer.

This is one of those books that I just fell into and could not put down. Capt. Winter is a compelling protagonist with so many facets. The main characters are all fascinating and fully developed, and the mystery is well plotted with plenty of twists and surprises, and well-paced to keep me reading. The author’s research is evident from the descriptions of the multiple levels of society, from nobility to servants, and the required or proper access to them and how to talk with them.

I highly recommend this thrilling Regency mystery and hope I get to read more about Capt. Winter’s investigations in the future.

***

Excerpt

CHAPTER I

It was the custom of Colonel Sir Joshua Williams to invite his veteran officers to his house each Season to commemorate the Battle of San Stefano. After dinner, the closing ceremony was invariable: First, the ladies rose, the young in their pale blues and pinks and the more matronly in their deeper reds and purples. They smiled and departed, leaving the table surrounded by men in their scarlet coats, adorned with medals glittering by the light of dozens of beeswax candles in their silver holders. The liveried footmen filled the port glasses and left as well, closing the doors behind them.

One former company captain looked around, taking note that he was the youngest battle veteran there—the toast would fall to him. Others had moved on or died. He had himself missed last year’s dinner, spending it on the Afghan border, dressed like a Saracen and getting his skin burned black while trying to uncover the secrets of that land’s sullen and violent inhabitants. Even the task he had to complete after leaving tonight, difficult as it seemed, was nothing compared with that.

The colonel caught his eye, and so the captain stood. Every man stopped talking as the captain raised his glass, and then they stood at attention. He remembered the words easily, and in a strong voice he said, “Did our battle line ever break?”

“No!” shouted the company.

“Why did it not break?”

“We are the hard men,” they replied in unison.

“Gentlemen, to our departed brothers of the First Northumberland Foot,” called the captain. They drained their glasses and slammed them down, then burst into applause. The dinner was over.

The captain—indeed, he suspected, the other officers as well—was reflecting on how this dinner came about in a year of peace. The English and their allies had defeated Napoleon for the final time at Waterloo two years past now in 1815 and life was moving on—the best people were all in London this time of year, with no war to talk about, just fashions and parties and theater and how good it was to be able to import from France the best claret again.

They rejoined the ladies in the drawing room, and the captain sought out Lady Williams, the colonel’s wife.

“My Lady, thank you for your invitation.”

“It is I who should thank you, captain. These dinners mean so much to the colonel as he ages, having all his officers around.”

“And he means so much to us, Lady Williams, the pleasure and honor are ours. I am only glad I am back in London so I can attend.”

“Yes, he mentioned you found a position in the Home Office?” She showed as much surprise and curiosity as a lady of her breeding dared reveal. The captain knew the look—how did a man of his obscure background land what appeared to be a distinguished government position? Despite its simple name, the Home Office had become, since its founding some 25 years before, one of the most powerful and overarching government ministries, with responsibility for security and safety within the British Isles. The Home Secretary was one of the most influential men in England. How Winter had advanced his career in that august body was beyond reckoning.

“Yes, my lady. The work is interesting, but at times onerous, I’m afraid. Indeed, my masters call me even now.”

“At this hour, captain? How tedious for you. But again, I am pleased you could come. Give my warmest regards to the Earl and Countess.” 

The captain said goodbye to his colonel and a few other officers, and the butler saw him out. He walked to the nearest stand and engaged a hackney cab to Bow Street Court. A few heads turned as he entered the building, but no one accosted him. A clerk gave him the barest nod but said nothing as he entered a room. 

A few minutes later, the captain came out. He was no longer in his regimentals, but in rather shabby outfit, almost rural, with a slouch hat. Down the hall, he entered another room, where a squad of Bow Street Runners awaited—constables, employed by the local court at Bow Street, to keep order and seize felons. Winter suppressed a grimace. They were poorly trained and poorly paid, but it was pretty much all London had for law enforcement. Many still thought the idea of a formal professional constabulary too much government interference—too un-English. So, the Runners would have to do. At least they were willing and obedient. 

“We have already gone over where you should be standing,” said the captain. “You know how important it is you aren’t seen.” There was more than instruction in his voice–there was menace.

“Yes, sir,” said the most senior constable present. 

“Then take your places. I’ll be along shortly.”

Moving quickly, he left the building and walked along dark streets that became progressively dirtier and more dangerous. He saw men hiding in the shadows, those who preyed on the weak and unaware, but nothing happened to him.

Eventually he came to a building that was well-lit, at least by the neighborhood standards. It was certainly the noisiest venue in the street. The cracked and faded sign marked it as The Three Bells.

The Captain entered—a few were eating off dirty plates, and almost everyone was drinking beer, or something stronger. Slatternly women laughed and tried to slip away from the half-drunk men who loudly pursued them. Some allowed themselves to be caught, and there was more laughter and then a talk of money. The whole room smelled of smoke and grease, and the floor was sticky from weeks of spilled ale.

Few paid attention to the captain, but a fat man walked up to him surprisingly quickly for someone of his bulk.

“Oh captain, I am so pleased, do you think—”

“Shut up. Where’s Sally? She was suitable last night, and she’ll be suitable tonight.”

“Sally—oh there she is.” He pointed to a tallish girl wearing more makeup than an actress. A large man in worker’s clothes, probably a stevedore, thought the captain, had grabbed her and placed her on his lap. She didn’t seem to mind.

The captain strode over, grabbed the woman by her wrist, and pulled her off the man’s lap. 

“Come, my girl, we have an appointment as you well know.” 

She yelped with surprise, then gave a shrug and followed. The large man stood up.

“See here—I saw her first,” he said. His accent wasn’t London, which explained everything.

“Good for you,” said the Captain, and pulled the girl across the room. The big man started to follow, but two of his friends grabbed him.

“Now Jake, no need to cause trouble,” said the first, who was clearly local.

“Cause trouble? I’ll flatten him—”

“No, you won’t. You don’t know, you’re new here. For God’s sake, that’s the Captain, a soldier, they say he was, and you don’t want to start something with him—I’ve seen what happens to those who do—”

“That’s right,” chimed in the other friend, also a Londoner. “Remember Big Nick—used to be here, no one stood up to him, but he challenged the Captain…” he shuddered.

“And what happened?” asked a skeptical Jake. Both men look their heads.

“We never saw him again. He wasn’t arrested. They didn’t find his body—he was just…gone. So just stop thinking about it. There are plenty of other girls.”

But Jake still felt he had to make a show of standing up for himself. 

“So, you’re telling me it would be a mistake to call him out?”

“Your last mistake,” said the first man. Then very softly, as if he was afraid of his words, he said, “He’s called Winter. If you’re thinking of staying in this part of London, you would do well to remember that name.”

***

Author Bio

R.J. Koreto is the author of the Historic Home mystery series, set in modern New York City; 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, as well as various anthologies.

Most recently, he is the author of “Winter’s Season,” which takes place on the dark streets and glittering ballrooms of Regency-era London.

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.

He and his wife have two grown daughters, and divide their time between Paris and Martha’s Vineyard.

Social Media Links

www.RJKoreto.com
Amazon Author Profile
Goodreads
BookBub
Instagram – @rjkoreto
Facebook – @rjkoreto

Purchase Links

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PROMOAMP GIVEAWAY

https://pictbooks.tours/mTgK1prm

Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: The Queen Who Came In From the Cold by S.J. Bennett

Book Description

1961, England.
The Queen is spending a night on board the royal train with her entourage and her sister, Princess Margaret. But before they reach their destination, an unreliable witness claims to have seen a brutal murder from one of the carriages.

The Queen and her assistant private secretary, Joan McGraw, get to work on their second joint investigation. No one else saw the crime. If there is a victim, could he be the missing photographer friend of Margaret’s new husband, Tony Armstrong Jones?

This time, the Cold War threatens to undermine the Queen’s upcoming visit to Italy. She and Joan must tackle dark forces that follow them all the way, in a tale of spies, lies, and treachery.

***

Elise’s Thoughts

The Queen Who Came in From the Cold by S. J. Bennett features Queen Elizabeth II as the protagonist and her private secretary Joan McGraw. Fans of Peter James, who’s latest The Hawk Is Dead, involves the current Queen Camilla and King Charles might also like to read this story.

This plot has Queen Elizabeth II and her personal secretary Joan involved with spies, lies, and treachery involving the KGB. The Queen, Prince Philip, and Princess Margaret are planning on taking the royal yacht to Italy.  But the temporary lady-in-waiting claims she saw through the train window a dead man being tossed into a lake. The Queen and Joan decide to investigate. They discover a plot to smuggle a Russian defector aboard the Britannia while the Queen and Prince Philip are visiting Italy.

This is a cozy mystery that has intrigue and humor along with historical figures that readers get to know better.

***

Author Interview

Elise Cooper: Idea for the series?

S. J. Bennett: I was shifting from writing children’s books to crime.  My father was in the army and spent a lot of time with the Queen. I ended up thinking she would make a great detective because of her curiosity about people.  She had access to any expert. I decided to write a series where Queen Elizabeth II is the detective behind the scenes and lets someone else take the credit, a man who is her nemesis.

EC: Idea for this book?

SJB: This is the fifth one in the series, all written to be read as a stand-alone. I went back in time to 1961, the height of the Cold War and the Space Race.  It was all very dangerous and a great time to set a mystery novel.  This book starts on the royal train.  An unreliable witness thinks she saw something from the train window. Later, I move to the royal yacht, the Britannia.  This one is a story of spies with the Queen caught up in international intrigue and takes on the KGB.

EC: Did the title come from the James Bond movie?

SJB: John le Carre wrote The Spy Who Came in From the Cold that came out in 1963.  His first book came out in 1961 and in the final pages of this book I have Prince Philip reading the book by a new author.  He cannot remember the name but indeed it was John le Carre. I also have some characters reading James Bond books.  President Kennedy enjoyed reading Ian Fleming so I had Prince Philip keen to read Fleming so he can chat with him when he comes over.

EC:  How would you describe Queen Elizabeth II?

SJB:  She was intelligent, funny, witty, curious, very warm and self-contained. She was an empathetic person.

EC: How did you get the dialogue for the Queen?

SJB: She did not talk that much conversationally in public and did not give interviews.  My parents did meet her but overall, I had to imagine it.  There was a time period to get her voice right. What I did do is watch old videos of the family and saw the little asides, like when she made a joke to someone. In the early books of the series I imagined her and Philip as an older couple.

EC: How would you describe Joan, the Queen’s Assistant Private Secretary?

SJB: She is an outsider who is not part of the Royal machine and has not grown up within the Royal family. She is a working-class person. She grew up in the 1930s and enjoyed working crossword puzzles with her father.  She was recruited to Bletchley Park to be a code breaker. She gave a lot and was hugely instrumental in helping us win WWII.  When it was over the code breaking effort was ignored and her contribution to it was also ignored. She found herself in the typing pool at Buckingham Palace. The Queen found her there.  Joan has a great memory, is a linguist, and keeps a secret. She is curious, no nonsense, analytical, and courageous.

EC:  Was she based on anyone?

SJB: My grandmother. She was clever, hardworking, and multitalented. She was largely underestimated growing up in the 1930s, 40s, and 50s.

EC: Since the story is based on historical figures what do you want readers to get out of the story?

SJB: Of course, entertainment.  But also, a sense of reassurance. The world we live in is stressful. My books allow readers to retreat for a bit. I write in the Golden Age tradition where the Queen sets the tone of being moral, serious, with a sense of justice. I like to live in a world where the people in charge are like that.

EC: The next book?

SJB: The next book is set in 1966. It is titled Deck on The Royal Yacht and will be published in October 2026. It was a big year for Britian.  We had the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and was popular. The Queen has set off on a five-week tour of the Caribbean. The plot has somebody who has helped Joan out in the private office found dead of a drug overdose. Joan is a suspect because she does not like this woman very much.

THANK YOU!!

***

BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.