"Homefront Sleuths Cozy Mysteries" - continued...

I keep finding it harder to write book reviews these days, as I mostly listen to audio books, which makes it difficult to go back and check on details. And to be honest, I also often miss bits and pieces nodding off... (mostly listening when I'm resting, or awake in the night!)

I do listen quite a lot, though - and also often re-listen to books, some of which I may already have written reviews of in the past. 

Lately I've been thinking that I should try and get back to making some monthly (or so) notes on my blog about what I've been reading/listening to recently, even if not necessarily writing detailed reviews. If nothing else, I might find it helpful for my own memory! ;)

In February I wrote about the first two books in a series called The Home Sleuth Cozy Mysteries: (1) The Blackout Murders and (2) The Spectre of Hawthorne Manor, which I found as free bonus titles with my current Audible membership. 

It turned out that I could continue to listen for free to even more titles in the same series... So I did! (...not knowing for how long I'll be having free access to them...) 

Without writing detailed reviews of my own, I'll just copy the cover images together with the introductions given on the Audible website.

 

No 3 - The Spitfire Murders

England, 1941: When a factory security guard dies under suspicious circumstances and a Spitfire test flight ends in disaster, the quiet village of Crofter’s Green is abuzz with questions. With the local police stretched thin by the war effort, it’s up to the Homefront Sleutha to uncover the truth.

Leading the charge is Evie Harris, village tea shop owner and amateur detective, who bravely goes undercover at the aircraft factory—despite a cryptic warning from a shadowy German spy. Watching out for her are:

Harry Jenkins – A retired detective with a sharp eye for trouble.
Alice Greenleaf – A no-nonsense herbalist with a knack for noticing what others miss.
Blake Collins – A clever schoolteacher who sees patterns no one else does.
Dorothy Baker – A quick-witted young mother whose instincts never fail.

As they untangle a web of sabotage and secrets, another worker turns up dead. Can they uncover the saboteur before disaster strikes again?

 

 No 4 - The Judas Monk Murders

The peaceful village of Crofter’s Green buzzes with questions when a young commando trainee is found dead at the ruins of St. Swithin’s Abbey. The military calls it an accident—but is it? And what does it have to do with the legend of the Judas Monk, a tale of betrayal that has haunted the abbey for centuries?

Harry Jenkins and the Homefront Sleuths must untangle a web of wartime deception before the truth is buried for good.

As the investigation unfolds, each of the Sleuths has their own challenges to face. Evie faces a new threat from an old enemy, while Alice must find a way to delve into a murder mystery dating back to the middle ages. Harry must press on with his investigation despite a military commander determined to stop him at all costs. Dorothy and Tom are busy with the renovations of their cottage—and Blake… well, let’s just say Blake may have the biggest adjustment of all.

Meanwhile, Bonzo the Pomeranian is about to prove that sometimes the best detective work is done on four paws.

With danger lurking in the shadows and secrets hidden beneath the ruins, Harry and his friends must navigate military red tape, hidden tunnels, and village gossip to uncover the truth—before some very, very serious damage is done.

 

 No 5 - The Murders at Clarion Castle

July, 1941. When Evie Harris vanishes after visiting her late fiancé's parents, the Homefront Sleuths of Crofter's Green vow to find her. But their investigation takes a bizarre turn when Nigel's police superiors send him to nearby Clarion Castle.

There, the first under-butler has just taken his final bow in the castle's wine cellar.

Could there be a connection with Evie's disappearance? Or with a hush-hush VIP visit to the castle?

The Sleuths must navigate a maze of deception, and nothing is easy. Harry finds the murdered butler's journal, but it's in a code, Blake knows codes, but he and Katherine are busy unlocking secrets in the castle library, hampered by her still-fragmented memory, Alice dons pilgrim garb to infiltrate suspicious travelers (her herb basket now doubling as spy gear), and Dorothy must size up mysterious tea shop visitors and give her friends at the castle a warning.

Not to mention Evie, who must discover where she is and then find a way to escape.

With time ticking louder than Harry's pocket watch, Evie and the Sleuths must reunite to unmask a master spy before a the course of the war is changed forever.

 

 

No 6 - The Harvest Festival Murders

The Homefront Sleuths thought their biggest challenge would be planning Blake and Katherine's perfect autumn wedding. But when a mysterious government inspector turns up dead at the Harvest Festival, their cozy village celebration becomes the scene of something sinister.

What starts as a puzzling murder quickly becomes a race against time. Missing microfilm, coded messages, and suspicious "diplomats" suggest this case is far more dangerous than anything the Sleuths have faced before. With potential Nazi spies lurking behind familiar faces, no one in Crofter's Green is above suspicion.

Between wedding preparations and investigating clues, the beloved team finds themselves busier than ever. Katherine balances bridal duties with mystery-solving, Dorothy's sewing circle provides the best village intelligence, and Bonzo the Pomeranian proves once again that four paws beat two feet when sniffing out trouble.

But as a second murder rocks their community and Evie's partnership with Detective Inspector Nigel grows complicated by unprofessional feelings, the stakes have never been higher.

Can the Sleuths unmask a killer before their village—and their hearts—pay the ultimate price?

No 7 - The Scrooge Conspiracy

Christmas comes early to Crofter's Green—but so does murder.

When a charming American actor arrives to direct a Christmas production of A Christmas Carol for evacuee children at a grand country manor, it seems like the perfect holiday treat. But on the very day Pearl Harbor is attacked, the actor is found murdered—and he's been carrying mysterious coded messages that suggest this "Christmas spirit" hides something far more dangerous.

As snow blankets the English countryside and Christmas approaches, the Sleuths must unravel a web of theatrical deception, wartime espionage, and long-buried secrets. With a houseful of vulnerable children and a killer still at large, can they solve the mystery before the final curtain falls?

Packed with holiday atmosphere, wartime intrigue, and all the cozy charm you love about Crofter's Green, The Scrooge Conspiracy delivers the perfect blend of Christmas magic and mystery mayhem.

- - -

While preparing this post, I discovered that yet another installment in the series has just been released, which I haven't listened to yet. But as that one too turned out to be available for me for free, I soon will - so I'll include it here with the others:

No 8 - The Valentine Cipher

Crofter’s Green is abuzz with excitement. Seven young couples are preparing to say their vows at a Valentine's Day celebration—an event made even more thrilling by the expected arrival of a very important (and very secret) guest: the most famous woman in the world.

But when the beloved village curate is found dead just days before the ceremony, Harry is called in to investigate what looks suspiciously like murder. Then, in London, Evie and Nigel intercept a Norwegian spy’s cipher—and the dead curate’s name is hidden within it.

As the Homefront Sleuths race to uncover the truth, they're forced to ask: Which of the blushing brides is hiding a deadly secret? And can they stop a plot that could change the course of history—before vows are spoken and lives are lost?

Meanwhile, as love hangs in the air, Evie and Nigel must confront a question that’s far more personal—and one only Valentine’s Day may help them answer.

 - - -

The authors behind the series are Anna Elliott and Charles Veley. When I looked them up, I learned that they are a father & daughter team - and a very productive one. (These are not the first series they've been writing.)

Another thing to be noted, which I find a bit unusual, is that events in the first seven books all take place (in chronological order) in one and the same year: 1941. With No 8, it seems we'll be moving on into 1942, though. If they intend to go on with 6-7 books per year throughout the whole WWII, it's going to be a very long series... 

So far (apart from all the unlikely mysteries concentrated to one little village) my general feeling is that the books probably do reflect a British WWII atmosphere pretty well, though. But then of course, most of my previous concepts about that have also been collected from similar books, films and TV series...

Mr Churchill's Secretary (Book Review)

 

Mr Churchill's Secretary
A Maggie Hope Mystery - Book 1  
By Susan Elia MacNeal ©2012

Audio book narrated by Donada Peters (9:45 h)

This is an audio book that I bought very cheap a couple of years ago but didn't listen to until now, as more recently I also happened to buy another book in the same series on sale - entitled Mrs. Roosevelt's Confidante (No 5). It wasn't until I had already bought that one that not only did I discover that I already had a previous title by the same author - but it was about the same character! 

Checking out the whole series, I found that there are by now no less than 11 titles about Maggie Hope - who seems to have had quite an extraordinary carreer, to say the least - even for a fictional character! ... Which in itself made me feel a bit "wary"... But as I already had No 1, I decided to start with that one. And as far as that one goes, I have to say I found myself liking it better than I had expected.

It starts in London in 1940, just after Winston Churchill has been sworn in. Maggie Hope is an intelligent and well educated young woman, but because of her gender, she has to accept just getting employed as a typist at No. 10 Downing Street. However, her real talent is in mathematics and codebreaking; and as the war progresses, she also gets opportunities to demonstrate that - which no doubt lays the foundation for future adventures in the later books, implied in titles like Princess Elizabeth's Spy, His Majesty's Hope, The Prime Minister's Secret Agent, Mrs Roosevelt's Confidante, The Queen's Accomplice... etc. 

I did quite enjoy this first book though, as it seems based on quite a bit of research into the historical setting - and also including the character of Churchill himself, comparing my impressions from other books about him that I've read. I also quite liked Maggie... Not sure how much it may have to do with having worked as a somewhat overqualified typist /secretary myself - even if my own strength was never in the field of mathematics.

As the next book I already have in my possession is No 5 in the series, I guess I'll jump forward to that one next, though; before deciding if I mignt find it worth while to later also acquire the ones in between - or not.

Two Novels set in France during WWII

 

  

The Dressmaker's Gift
by Fiona Valpy (2019)

Kindle + Audible

Audio book narrated by Anne Flosnik and Justin Eyre
9 hrs 12 min

* * *

This is a story told from a double perspective of today vs the past. A young woman, Harriet, goes to Paris and obtains a job as well as living quarters in the same building where her grandmother lived and worked as a seamstress back during WWII. She has an old photo from those days of her grandmother with two other girls. As it happens, her own roommate turns out to be the grandchild of one of the two others, and knows more about all three of them. Through her Harriet gets to know their story. They all got involved in the resistance movement in France during the war, and also had to suffer for that.

I agree with some other reviews I read of the book that the double time perspective sometimes really doesn't seem to add all that much, and that to just tell the story of the three women in WWII might have been a better choice. Listening to the audio book, I also found the voices of the two narrators too similar, which didn't help. That said, I still found the book worth reading. For one thing, while I've read many books about WWII, I think they've usually been chiefly from either Jewish or British/American perspective (or Swedish) - rather than from within occupied France and the resistance movement there. For another, it's also quite a powerful story about strong friendship between women helping each other through difficult times.

. . .

The Last Correspondent
by Soraya M. Lane (2020)

Kindle + Audible

Audio book narrated by Sarah Zimmerman
9 hrs 34 min

* * * *

This is a story of similar WWII background as the one above, also with the friendship between three women in focus, and set in France.

Quoting from the publisher's introduction:

When journalist Ella Franks is unmasked as a woman writing under a male pseudonym, she loses her job. But having risked everything to write, she refuses to be silenced and leaps at the chance to become a correspondent in war-torn France.

Already entrenched in the thoroughly male arena of war reporting is feisty American photojournalist Danni Bradford. Together with her best friend and partner, Andy, she is determined to cover the events unfolding in Normandy. And to discover the whereabouts of Andy’s flighty sister, Vogue model Chloe, who has followed a lover into the French Resistance.

When trailblazing efforts turn to tragedy, Danni, Ella and Chloe are drawn together, and soon form a formidable team. Each woman is determined to follow her dreams “no matter what,” and to make her voice heard over the noise of war.

Europe is a perilous place, with danger at every turn. They’ll need to rely on each other if they are to get their stories back, and themselves out alive. Will the adventure and love they find be worth the journey of their lives?

On the whole, I think I found this book more interesting, being told from the perspective of war correspondents, both journalists and photographers. It may have increased my interest that I happened to read this book in the early days of the current war situation in Ukraine, and parallel to hearing quite a lot on the news about the difficulty for reporters in our own time to collect correct information about what was really going on. There were parts that seemed a bit exaggerated to me, but in an afterword, the author says that while there are parts of her book that are entirely fiction, there's also a lot based on real events and people even if tweaked a bit to fit her fictional characters and story.