Suspense – More Mystery Please

Abigail Harcourt and Jacob Standish are tasked with their biggest challenge yet — protecting the Crown Jewels at the Tower of London on behalf of the king in Ellis Blackwood’s The Crown Jewel Murders.

So well plotted, in this eighth installment of the Samuel Pepys Mystery series, Blackwood artfully shows that everything we thought we knew is not necessarily so, keeping readers guessing until the very end.

The entire series leading up to and including The Crown Jewel Murders has taken place in less than six months from September, 1666 to January 1667. Each book, each adventure leading to the next for Abby, Pepys’ housemaid turned inquisitor and Jacob, who became Pepys’ inquisitor as a deathbed promise to Jacob’s father. With each mystery the pair became more confident in their skills and in each other.

Blackwood’s masterful skill in 17th century world-building only gets better as he takes readers along through the Tower of London, deftly bringing costumes, architecture, the infamous jewels and even the lion statues today’s visitors see to life.

I love historical fiction. Each of Blackwood’s mysteries had me wanting to learn more, wanting to find out what story may have been the inspiration behind it. For The Crown Jewels Murders, it may have been Thomas Blood, a real man, who is not only behind the fictional plot to thieve the exquisite jewels in this mystery but also for his own attempt at a Crown Jewels heist in 1671.

I highly recommend The Crown Jewel Murders to lovers of historical fiction, suspense, mysteries and British mystery series, in particular. I can hardly wait to read the series finale in April. I received an advance reader’s copy from Vintage Mystery Press, courtesy of the author.

Order online or buy now at your favorite independent bookstore. Mine is Sellers Books and Art in Jim Thorpe, PA.

By Di Prokop

All the world’s a stage and some of them are deadly.

The most suspenseful Samuel Pepys Mystery yet, The Drury Lane Murders finds Pepys’ inquisitors working to discover not only the source of financial irregularities in the King’s Theatre Company but solve the murder of a lead actress at the Theatre Royale, as well.

With suspects aplenty to keep you guessing, in this sixth book of the series, author Ellis Blackwood masterfully weaves together not only delicious mystery and intrigue but a dash of comedy as well — much of it at poor Jacob Standish’s expense. Blackwood’s exceptional talent for world building also gives readers a rich taste of 17th Century British theatre life in what is now known as London’s famed West End.

When Jacob is barred from the theatre, Abigail Harcourt, his fellow inquisitor, must follow leads in the theatre solo and becomes one, as she replaces the murdered actress onstage. While performing for the King himself, her life may hang in the balance.

I loved the tying in of characters we’ve met earlier in the series coming back to stir the pot, tying up of plot points from previous books, as well as the laying of strings to pull in future marvelous mysteries.

Tip: If you are near the end of this book, do not read it if you wake in the middle of the night, as your adrenalin will rush and despite the most satisfying of endings, you’ll never fall back to sleep.

I highly recommend The Drury Lane Murders for anyone interested in historical cozy mysteries, suspense thrillers, and 17th century London. I received this advanced reader copy of The Drury Lane Murders from Vintage Mystery Press, courtesy of the author.

Order online or buy now at your favorite independent bookstore. Mine is Sellers Books and Art in Jim Thorpe, PA.

Review by Di Prokop, More Mystery Please

Tag: Suspense

The Crown Jewels Murders

Bravo, Blackwood!