Category Archives: Mysteries

The Relentless Moon

Posted on 6 November 2021 by Barbara Howe

In my last post, I wrote about The Calculating Stars, the first book in the Lady Astronaut series by Mary Robinette Kowal. That book had its good points, but I had some reservations about it. I liked The Relentless Moon, … Continue reading →

Posted in Alternate History, Mysteries, Science Fiction | Leave a comment

The Stranger House

Posted on 24 July 2021 by Barbara Howe

Young Australian mathematician Sam (Samantha) Flood comes to the small Cumbrian village of Illthwaite looking for information about her grandmother, also known as Sam Flood. The older Sam emigrated from the U.K. in 1960 and died in childbirth only a … Continue reading →

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My Brother Michael

Posted on 11 July 2021 by Barbara Howe

Nothing ever happens to me. That is the opening line of My Brother Michael. A young Englishwoman—the narrator, Camilla Haven, on holiday in Greece—is sitting in a cafe in Athens, writing a letter back home, and feeling a bit sorry … Continue reading →

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The Bookman’s Tale

Posted on 13 June 2021 by Barbara Howe

When grieving widower Peter Byerly pulls an old book off a shelf in a secondhand bookstore, he discovers a loose sheet of paper, four inches square, tucked into its pages. He turns the paper over, and nearly collapses in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Historical Fiction, Mysteries | Leave a comment

Trixie Belden

Posted on 7 November 2020 by Barbara Howe

With all of my psychic energy tied up in the U.S. election for the past few weeks, I just haven’t had the time or attention for anything new or challenging. I’m going on a nostalgia trip today; hope you don’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Children's Fiction, Mysteries | 2 Comments

Snow Falling on Cedars

Posted on 1 February 2020 by Barbara Howe

The time: December 1954. The place: a courtroom in a small town on an island in Puget Sound. Kabuo Miaymoto, the American-born son of Japanese immigrants, is on trial for the murder of Carl Heine, an American of European descent. … Continue reading →

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The Case of the Missing Kitchen

Posted on 19 October 2019 by Barbara Howe

Suzie Emmett is having a bad week. It starts when she puts her hand through a window and needs stitches. It gets worse when her detective boyfriend takes her to a place she refuses to name, but that starts with … Continue reading →

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Before the Fall

Posted on 15 September 2019 by Barbara Howe

One summer evening a private jet takes off from Martha’s Vineyard, en route to New York City. There are ten people aboard: seven passengers and three crew. Among the passengers are the Bateman family: father David, mother Maggie, daughter Sarah, … Continue reading →

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Fallen Into the Pit

Posted on 6 April 2019 by Barbara Howe

Before there was Brother Cadfael, there was Inspector Felse. Ellis Peters is well known for her series of historical mysteries featuring the Welsh monk, Brother Cadfael. She began writing those in the late 1970s, but she honed her skills on … Continue reading →

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Witch

Posted on 1 February 2019 by Barbara Howe

The old house is perfect. Ellen March falls in love on first sight with the pre-Revolution farmhouse, sitting in a clearing surrounded by lilacs, apple trees, dogwoods, oaks, and maples. It doesn’t matter to her that the locals say the … Continue reading →

Posted in Romantic suspense | 2 Comments