Mysterious Firsts- Inspector Ian Rutledge Mysteries

A Test of Wills is the first mystery in the Inspector Ian Rutledge series. Set in England immediately after WWI, Inspector Rutledge has returned from the war with a severe case of shell shock. These books are well written, giving a realistic feel to the characters and the period in which they are set. I feel I should confess I have only read the first six books in this series, but that was in large part due to the fact that every mystery I picked up in a 2 year period seemed to be set immediately prior to, during, or just after World War I, and I was getting tired of reading about war, and that war in particular.

1) A Test of Wills

2) Wings of Fire

3) Search the Dark

4) Legacy of the Dead

5)Watchers of Time
6) A Fearsome Doubt

7) A Cold Treachery

8)A Long Shadow

9) A False Mirror

10) A Pale Horse

11) A Matter of Justice

Mysterious Firsts- Thomas & Charlotte Pitt

The Cater Street Hangman is the first mystery to feature Thomas Pitt, an English police Inspector, and Charlotte Ellison, a young society lady who meets Pitt when a serving girl living in her family's house is murdered in their neighborhood. The books in this series are set in Victorian England and offer glimpses of life at that time in all levels of society, from those with nothing to those in the highest echelons of power.

1) The Cater Street Hangman

2) Callander Square

3)Paragon Walk

4)Resurrection Row


5)Bluegate Fields

6) Rutland Place

7)Death in the Devil's Acre

8) Cardington Crescent

9) Silence in Hanover Close

10) Bethlehem Road

11) Highgate Rise

12) Belgrave Square

13) Farriers' Lane

14)The Hyde Park Headsman

15) Traitors Gate

16) Pentecost Alley

17) Ashworth Hall

18) Brunswick Gardens

19)Bedford Square

20) Half Moon Street

21) The Whitechapel Conspiracy

22) Southampton Row

23) Seven Dials

24) Long Spoon Lane

25) Buckingham Palace Gardens

Mack Bolan: Stony Man, Executioner

I recommend this book series for all who are interested in adventure and drama. This is another action packed thriller by Don Pendleton. It will keep you on the edge of your seat. Don has a way with words. His descriptions are vivid and make you feel like you are actually holding the pistol grip or flying in the front seat of a war bird. His experience is exhaustive when it comes to military terminology. I am truly impressed when I read his books. The attitudes of the characters are right on target with what you would expect from a war story. As he describes each gunfight, readers can imagine the hollow points zinging across the room in slow motion as they strike their targets. Whether you are looking for a romance novel, pulp fiction, adventure, a fantasy, or a mystery, you will find it in this book. Another hit from the father of action adventure!

Mysterious Firsts- Lord Peter Wimsey

Whose Body is the first book in the Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries, another British mystery series set in the post World War I years. Lord Peter served in the War and came home suffering from a rather severe case of shell shock. On the surface, he is the quintessential British aristocrat, and yet there is nothing cliche about him. These books are classics. Although these reviews usually only discuss the first book in the series, I must also point out another first, in Strong Poison, Harriet Vane makes her first appearance, and the rather unusual courtship between her and Lord Peter continues in Have his Carcase and Gaudy Night.

1) Whose Body? (this is the new cover- I must admit I prefer the older version)

2) Clouds of Witness

3) Unnatural Death
4) Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club
5) Strong Poison
6)The Five Red Herrings
7) Have His Carcase
8) Murder Must Advertise
9) The Nine Tailors
10) Gaudy Night
11) Busman's Honeymoon
12) Thrones, Dominations

Beware of Drood!

Following up his 2007 hit novel The Terror, author Dan Simmons once again has mixed historical fact with fantastic/horror fiction. Turning his attention away from doomed Artctic explorers, this time he has focused on the literary world, specifically the final years of Charles Dickens. The book is told from the perspective of Wilkie Collins, a colleague and personal friend of Dickens, who relates the mysterious adventure following a near fatal accident experienced by the legendary writer. After a disastrous train wreck, Dickens encounters a ghastly man named Drood who seems to be preying on the injured survivors. When the apparition disappears Dickens sets off on an obsessive quest beneath the streets of London to track down the ghoul and discover his secret. Simmons has again masterfully woven truth and fiction together for an absorbing read that should satisfy fans of suspense and horror. Read it with the lights off if you dare!

Mysterious Firsts- William Monk

Set in England towards the end of the Crimean War, The Face of the Stranger is the first of Anne Perry's William Monk mysteries. William Monk is an Inspector with Scotland Yard who wakes from a coma in a hospital with no memory of who he was or how he came to be in the hospital. His first case upon returning to work is the murder of a war hero, and although his memories are only slowly returning, he nonetheless knows how to do his job, and also that his supervisor wants him to fail. In the course of his investigation, Monk meets Hester Latterly, a woman who had served in the Crimea as one of Florence Nightingale's nurses (at a time when nurses were thought of as no better than prostitutes). The two match wits, and ultimately must cooperate to solve the mystery.

1) The Face of a Stranger

2) A Dangerous Mourning

3) Defend and Betray

4) A Sudden, Fearful Death

5) The Sins of the Wolf

6) Cain His Brother

7) Weighed in the Balance

8) The Silent Cry

9) A Breach of Promise

10) The Twisted Root

11) Slaves of Obsession

12) Funeral in Blue

13) Death of a Stranger

14) The Shifting Tide

15)Dark Assassin

16) Execution Dock

This is who I want to be when I grow up.

Title: The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax
Series: Mrs. Pollifax series
Author: Dorothy Gilman
Call Number: F Gilman

In the first volume of the Mrs. Pollifax series, Emily Pollifax, a New Jersey widow with grown children, decides to leave charity work and her geraniums behind to pursue her lifelong dream of becoming a spy. Luck is with her when she walks into CIA offices to offer her services, at the exact time that they need a courier to portray “an innocent tourist” in Mexico City, Mexico. So how did a simple task of meeting someone in a book store, result in Mrs. Pollifax ending up in a prison in Albania? Read the book and find out.