Tag: historical

A Death on Corfu by Emily Sullivan

Cover of Death on Corfu shows a white house surrounded by flowers and lemon trees. Kensington
Published April 29, 2025
Reviewed by Meredith Frazier

A Death on Corfu is award-winning romance writer Emily Sullivan’s first foray into mysteries, and, as you might expect, that means her mystery will include at least a dash of romantic intrigue.

Four years after the death of her husband, Minnie Harper is raising her children on the island of Corfu and leading a fairly quiet life, socializing a bit with the other English ex-pats on the island, taking the donkey cart into town from time to time, and fostering friendships with a few locals. Then, in the spring of 1898, mystery writer Stephen Dorian moves in next door, escaping from the wild rumors of his scandalous divorce in London so that he can finish his latest novel. He hires Minnie to transform his scribbled notebooks into a typed manuscript, and Minnie’s life suddenly changes on a number of levels. When Minnie discovers the body of a young maid who has been murdered, the action ramps up even further, especially when the police seem uninterested in investigating. Stephen and Minnie join forces to find the killer, putting their own lives in danger and—here’s where the potential love story comes in—navigating what could be a budding romance, if they’ll both just stop resisting the inevitable.

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A Slash of Emerald by Patrice McDonough

Cover of A Slash of Emerald shows a woman in Victorian dress facing a window beside a painting defaced with streaks of green paint.Kensington
Published February 25, 2025
Reviewed by Meredith Frazier

The second book in Patrice McDonough’s Dr. Julia Lewis series explores the art world of Victorian London, particularly the challenges faced by the “lady painters” who are beginning to—at least on occasion—be taken seriously as artists. But not everyone is supportive of these women artists, and when one of their models turns up dead, Dr. Lewis finds herself in the midst of a Scotland Yard investigation that involves the disappearance of shop girls, break-ins at artists’ studios, threatening poison-pen letters, and, ultimately, a series of murders. Inspector Richard Tennant suspects that the events surrounding the artists may be connected to darker elements of London society. McDonough skillfully weaves together multiple plot lines while raising questions about human trafficking and human rights that are still with us today.

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