Category Archives: Historical

Fox Spirit on a Distant Cloud by Lee Murray – 2024

Posted on February 19, 2025 by alysonebaker

“You will give these women voice and nourish them with hope … You will give them flesh and make them real” – Lee Murray, a “New Zealand-born Chinese Pākehā”, tells nine tales of women of the Chinese diaspora, women who … Continue reading →

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A Divine Fury by D.V. Bishop – 2024

Posted on January 19, 2025 by alysonebaker

“Investigating a murder that involves the Church never ends well in Florence.” Cesare Aldo and Carlo Strocchi are back pounding the beat in 1539 Florence. Literally pounding the beat for Aldo, who has been assigned to months of night-patrolling the … Continue reading →

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A Better Place by Stephen Daisley – 2023

Posted on September 4, 2024 by alysonebaker

A Better Place, is a relentless, ghastly depiction of warfare: “Have you ever seen what a grenade can do to someone? What they reveal?” Young boys constantly witnessing the gruesome deaths of their colleagues, affecting an immunity to the nightmare … Continue reading →

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Black Silk & Sympathy by Deborah Challinor – 2024

Posted on April 2, 2024 by alysonebaker

Black Silk & Sympathy is the first in a new series from Deborah Challinor, set in the second half of the 18th Century in stinky vibrant Sydney. Tatty Crowe is a woman in a profession regarded as male – she … Continue reading →

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Chasing the Dragon by Mark Wightman – 2023

Posted on March 24, 2024 by alysonebaker

Inspector Maximo Betancourt is back solving crimes in sweaty bustling 1940 Singapore. Like his first outing, Waking the Tiger, Chasing the Dragon is full of colourful characters, lots of action, and an intriguing crime to solve. In Waking the Tiger, … Continue reading →

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Take Two by Caroline Thonger & Vivian Thonger, illustrated by Alan Thomas – 2023

Posted on March 13, 2024 by alysonebaker

Take two is a random collection of incidents from the U.K. childhoods of two sisters, Caroline and Vivian Thonger. Vivian now lives in Aotearoa, New Zealand. Take two is like a catalogue of memories, complete with illustrations of remembered artefacts. … Continue reading →

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Queen, King, Ace by Olivia Hayfield – 2024

Posted on January 31, 2024 by alysonebaker

“Britain needs someone to believe in right now” – its citizens still reeling from the aftermath of Brexit and the badly managed Covid-19 pandemic. Ace Penhalagon, who has risen to Wimbledon and Olympic glory, appears to be their knight in … Continue reading →

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Taken by Alex Stone – 2023

Posted on November 4, 2023 by alysonebaker

Four stories narrated by four individuals, each on a continent far away from their homeland. Each story from a different time and place. The narrators are all forced to endure life rather than enjoy it. Three of the stories appear … Continue reading →

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Ritual of Fire by D.V. Bishop – 2023

Posted on August 18, 2023 by alysonebaker

Ritual of Fire continues the exploits of Cesare Aldo, an officer of the Otto, a criminal court in 16th Century Florence. The stench of the city and the corruption of the wealthy have followed Aldo out to the nearby Tuscan … Continue reading →

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A Respectable Veneer by Rachel Doré – 2023

Posted on March 11, 2023 by alysonebaker

“When she and Edie had stepped out of the railway station, she’d stepped into a different country. Palmerston North seemed an innocent, shallow place.” Ruby has fled Auckland with her ten-year-old daughter, hoping to start afresh. But with little money … Continue reading →

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