#SpooktasticReads Book Review | “This Side of Murder” (#VerityKent Mysteries, No.1) by Anna Lee Huber Celebrating All Saint’s Day with a delightfully sophisticated Cosy Historical Mystery!

Posted Wednesday, 1 November, 2017 by jorielov , , , , 0 Comments

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Borrowed Book By: I have been an appreciator of Ms Huber’s novels ever since I first read “The Antaomist’s Wife” being the first Lady Darby Mystery – which set the course for my heart to fall in love with the relationship building between Lady Darby and Mr Gage! As you can follow my readerly musings and ruminations throughout the length of the series, save the fifth book which I am in the process of reading right now. I was delayed initially from consuming the fifth Lady Darby (which I shall explain when I post my review), however, I’ve been proactively requesting Ms Huber’s novels via my local library!

As I knew I couldn’t purchase copies for myself per each release, I decided to ‘introduce’ the novels to other patrons whilst selecting them for my own reading benefit. Blessedly, my library has been continuously adding the novels of Ms Huber to our card catalogue and I must say, they are regularly finding new ‘readers’ who appreciate her collective works! When it came time for her new series ‘The Verity Kent Mysteries’ and the ‘Gothic Myths’, I knew I wanted to submit these for purchase requests as well. I was overjoyed when they initially arrived, however, I had to ‘let them go’ to re-request lateron. This October, whilst planning my #SpooktasticReads readathon of lovelies, I put the books back into ‘queue’ to be savoured now. Ergo, I was not obliged to post this review – I am sharing it for my own edification and to help those who follow my literary adventures seek out a new author they might not have stumbled across themselves. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

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Why I asked my library to purchase more Huber novels:

When you find a writer who can transport you so wholly true into the historic past with convicting narrative clarity such as Ms Huber has established, you simply want to follow their writerly careers. If I had been in the position to purchase the novels as they released, I would have – however, I did something to help others in my area learn of her novels: I submitted purchase requests for her stories! I’ve been doing this since the beginning – encouraging my library to continue to seek out and purchase her next releases as new stories emerge to be read.

As October christianed a new Season, I decided to have a bit of ‘fun’ this year, by spending the weeks leading up to Halloween reading Mysteries, Suspense & Thriller stories in anticipation of a holiday I truly have loved since I was a child! Halloween is a beloved tradition – the stories which leave you thirsty for more which give you a bit of a girth of excitement to read make it even more enjoyable! I couldn’t pick out as many Cosy Horror titles as I would have preferred – I’ll save those for next year’s follies, but this year, the callings of my heart led me back into Ms Huber’ s novels!

Whilst planning to finish my readings of the latest #LadyDarby – I happily re-requested to read her latest: ‘This Side of Murder’ being the first #VerityKent Mystery and ‘Secrets of the Mist’ being a decidedly Gothic tale which was sure to haunt me a wee bit! I hadn’t realised she was publishing through different publishers – as I was focusing more on the ‘stories’ rather than their route to publication. I thought it was quite lovely each of her stories have found wings and a home to fly – as I know this is sometimes a tricky part of a writer’s life – finding how to publish the stories which step outside one of your main veins of interest – in this case, the Lady Darby series.

Equally to why I love Lady Darby, I am finding Verity Kent has a refreshing new ‘interest’ for me to latch onto as she’s set this delightful series between the World Wars – an era I readily explore through war dramas and the odd Cosy Historical Mystery (the category of genre I rightly place her Lady Darby Mysteries) – a definitive term I use for those writers who are so hugged centre into the ‘history’ of their timescapes – they are creating a lovely hybrid new genre which merges & blends everything I love between the ‘Historical Fiction novel’ and the ‘Cosy Mystery’; it’s an elevated sophistication in literature which I wholeheartedly am giddy about exploring!

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Notation on the : Poole harbour – where Lord Ryde & Verity Kent were arriving gives out a certain layer of insight into where this ‘story’ is both set and placed into our view. It also allows the reader to see Mrs Kent from a different perspective than straight-on whilst gaining a bit about how ‘put together’ she is and how she strives to make do with what she has left to give. She’s a curious woman – by all counts – as she is both conflicted and eludes great confidence in not only who she is but where she is in her life. The confliction of course is due to the nature of how she lost her husband and the ‘after effects’ of the war which affected them all.

#SpooktasticReads Book Review | “This Side of Murder” (#VerityKent Mysteries, No.1) by Anna Lee Huber Celebrating All Saint’s Day with a delightfully sophisticated Cosy Historical Mystery!This Side of Murder
Subtitle: A Verity Kent Mystery

England, 1919. Verity Kent's grief over the loss of her husband pierces anew when she receives a cryptic letter, suggesting her beloved Sidney may have committed treason before his untimely death. Determined to dull her pain with revelry, Verity's first impulse is to dismiss the derogatory claim. But the mystery sender knows too much—including the fact that during the war, Verity worked for the Secret Service, something not even Sidney knew.

Lured to Umbersea Island to attend the engagement party of one of Sidney's fellow officers, Verity mingles among the men her husband once fought beside, and discovers dark secrets—along with a murder clearly meant to conceal them. Relying on little more than a coded letter, the help of a dashing stranger, and her own sharp instincts, Verity is forced down a path she never imagined—and comes face to face with the shattering possibility that her husband may not have been the man she thought he was. It's a truth that could set her free—or draw her ever deeper into his deception. . .


Places to find the book:

Add to LibraryThing

Find on Book Browse

ISBN: 9781496713155

on 26th September, 2017

Pages: 304

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The Verity Kent Mysteries:

This Side of Murder | No.1 | Read the 1st Chapter via annaleehuber.com

Treacherous is the Night | No.2 | (Pub Date: October, 2018)

Published By: Kensington Publishing Corp. ()
Available Formats: Trade Paperback, Audiobook & Ebook

About Anna Lee Huber

Anna Lee Huber

Anna Lee Huber is the Award-Winning and National Bestselling Author of the Lady Darby Mystery Series. She was born and raised in a small town in Ohio. From a young age, her imagination was boundless. She spent her summers with her brothers and sister playing Star Wars, wearing snow boots and her mother's old nightgowns while swinging plastic bats as light-sabers, and The A-Team hanging off the riding lawn mower (what else were they supposed to use for the van?). In the fourth grade, she penned her first story, and she’s been writing ever since.

Anna attended college in Music City USA-Nashville, Tennessee, where she met her husband while acting in a school production of Our Town. They married just before she graduated summa cum laude from Lipscomb University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music and a minor in Psychology. She now pens the award-winning Lady Darby historical mystery series for Berkley Publishing. Her debut novel, The Anatomist’s Wife, has won and been nominated for numerous awards, including a Daphne du Maurier Award and two 2013 RITA® Awards.

Anna is a member of Mystery Writers of America, the Historical Novel Society, International Thriller Writers, and Romance Writers of America. She currently lives in Indiana with her family, and when not hard at work on her next novel, she enjoys reading, singing, travel, and spending time with her family.

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Verity Kent: a new voice and sleuth in Cosy Historical Mysteries:

There was a moment – a small one, where I felt Lord Ryde and Mrs Kent might have a future together – it was a small gesture, one which could barely be considered ‘noticeable’ but after coming through the first four novels of the Lady Darby series – on the fringe of reading the fifth, I have become attached to how Ms Huber reveals her characters’ to us. She has her own signature style – one which you can appreciate for its continual fierce focus for giving you a reading of joyfulness in watching how she develops her historic world-building, but also, for one which steps through the character’s heart, mind and spirit. She writes dimensional mysteries – where it’s not solely about the ‘crime’ nor is it entirely about the ‘anesthetics’ either.

Part of me hoped Mrs Kent could remain single for a spell – similar to how Ms Alexander kept Lady Emily Ashton single for a few installments of her series. There is something for it – some women not only need breathing space between marriages, but sometimes, it is a fitting way of personal growth to see how they’d fair alone in the social circles they reside. There is a curiosity there – one which could play out to be quite stimulating and then, if per chance the bloke of their heart is still waiting for her hand to turn willing to union, then perchance a wedding is merited.

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My Review of this side of murder:

I must say, I love the spunk of Verity Kent! She’s her own woman – daringly not succumbing to the role she should have been gratified to fill as a war widow; seeking instead to find her own dish of fun out of a tragic circumstance! How she’s claimed her late husband’s sports car (a Pierce Arrow) is delightful – I could nearly ‘see’ her Mum’s alarmed reaction realising her daughter was not going to relinquish her mode of ‘freedom’ anytime soon! Laughs. Verity is not seeking sympathies for her loss, rather she’s keen on ‘getting on’ with life – as we find her enjoying her leisurely jaunt through the countryside (at speeds which most would flinch to see) to rendezvous with a caravan of party-goers to an island estate.

The pallor of war hangs heavy over Verity and those of whom she encounters – such as Lord Ryde whose still dealing with his own ‘ghosts of war’ having served with her late husband, Sidney Kent. You can surely see how even in 1919 there was a bittersweet somberness thickening round the edges of resuming the ‘normalcy’ of life after war. It is here, we start to entreat on where Verity stands as a newly independent woman in an age where independence was not commonplace; nor was a person of her peerage generally able to keep their status as being unattached.

Verity allows you into her thoughts as if we might entreat into her interior world to provide solace or at the least, a measure of empathy for how she, as a war widow, is betwixt understanding if her instincts whilst her husband were alive were correct in allowing him to have his ‘space’ on leave before returning to the front or if, by chance, she overlooked something quite keen – something which now seems plausible but previously, wouldn’t have been entertained? She’s wrestling with her thoughts regarding Sidney – how she could relate to the men who returnt with the invisible wounds of war but also, how there were matters left unsaid and unresolved between her and her husband. The kind of matters which can nettle at a person long after time has passed which would warrant a recheck of one’s thoughts and beliefs.

As we pull closer – to feeling how Verity feels about the loss of her husband – we find a woman nearly undone by grief. Of finding herself unable to ‘move’ past the suddenness of his absence – for she and he were not soon wed before the war marched havoc into their lives. His absence now, a firm reminder they barely had a marriage – but her heart could not unclench the feeling he was simply ‘absent’ rather than ‘gone’. The heart and mind play their toils on our resolve – we are but human after all, but in the reasoning of understanding this plight, we still must find peace in the midst of great loss. It is a hard road but one Verity approaches with resilience even if she hardly ever feels she has the courage to embrace the life still ahead of her to live.

A slight twist of fate I hadn’t foreseen is how Verity was tied into the war service and how such years served might be proving a bit complicated now – in regards, to how sometimes your associations can follow you after you’ve retired. There were episodes of ‘Foyle’s War’ which dealt with the secreted services during the last war, wherein Foyle himself had become entangled into a world he barely understood but had respect for all the same. It wasn’t his place to question certain things, nor do I feel Verity felt herself able to either. You can see how frustrated she is to find the reason behind this secluded party and the goings-on behind it – wherein, her services of the past are interceding into her present.

I think the most tiresome she had felt is trying to put on a good mask of fortitude in front of others who knew of her husband – of not letting out too much information in regards to how she’s handling his death. His war buddies are hiding their own secrets from her – as apparently, everyone at this party knew each other, but how they knew other and why that has any bearing now is what keeps Verity’s mind sharp and active.

I was quite charmed by the words and phrases used throughout the narrative – Ms Huber happily peppered in slogans of yesteryear throughout Verity’s adventure at the island estate – you get to hear different words used for such ordinary things, like when someone has had a bit past their limit of alcohol! In this way, it’s easier to alight into Verity’s life – you get the full-on flavour of how women and men spoke during this time in History but also, what they felt was most important to keep current in their minds.

There was a distrustful unease threading through – a note towards where the world stood in regards to newfound peace and how, there was still so much uncertainty ebbing out of the war itself. Little nudges then, of phrases not oft heard nowadays helps us ease back our minds into a ‘different portal’ of how life and living was set to a different rhythm – this is one blessing for Historical writers who get giddy in love with etymological research! They give us a happy felicity of insight into how language continues to evolve and how sometimes, we can retreat and bring back the words which are all but forgotten.

It’s the twofold focus of how Verity and Max (Lord Ryde; it didn’t take long for me to feel formalities were not necessary between these two!) are setting their sights on why they were sent to this esteemed party and why the key focus of their presence is not entirely being disclosed in short order. These were the two, from the outset who knew more through observing the party-goers than the rest of the lot – except a limited few who were clued in all along – as per disclosures along the way. It was like looking in from the outside – seeing the ripples in the lies or the shadowed truths, as perhaps the lies were not fully formed as yet – whilst seeing things you weren’t expecting to be in ‘play’ at a supposed engagement party for a comrade of your husband’s.

I admit, ciphers and codes is an interest of mine – mostly as I love puzzles – either direct ones you assemble piece by piece or the complicated ones – found in Solitaire card games or other intellectual games where you have to use your wits and sleuthing skills to seek out the tangents which either lead you through or around the solution. I think this is one reason I love reading Mysteries as much as I do – they are a curious lot in literature. Each one measured against the legacy of the genre (in some regards) but overall, it’s a way of ‘twisting reality’ against what is known or thought to known against the truths of where the mystery writer elects to take us – either psychologically, emotionally, physically or intellectually. I tend to lean on the quad collective of all four being musefully employed – hence why I am attached as readily as I am to Ms Huber’s novels.

In this story, watching Mrs Kent tackle an unsolicited cipher was wicked folly – as Ms Huber walked us through the complicated web of ciphering – especially during this timescape – where solutions were not solely restricted to ‘one language’ of origin nor were they easily cracked due to the complications of keeping them ‘hidden’ from those who intercepted them. You can tell Ms Huber enjoyed this part of Mrs Kent’s back-story – it is where whispers of the past fused into the bones of Mrs Kent – giving us a new appreciation for those who felt a calling to serve during a most difficult time in history.

Sometimes I wondered if ciphers would have been my Achilles heel or something I could sort out – mostly as ‘anything alphanumeric’ had the tendency to forestall my joy, as I never did understand the ‘order’ of such things – herein, my Dyslexia rages its lovely bit of angst. Yet, when it comes to puzzles and rooting out sequences and patterns – this is something I do enjoy; especially the layers in which attempt to block the order of what is being patterned. I suppose for every misstep, we are given an advantage in a different way. Perhaps, then, despite the cavernous loss of her husband, Mrs Kent’s advantage is for pushing herself to see the truth when there are no leads to follow towards that end. For believing something is remiss even if others seem to be full of the gaiety of the moment and are clueless to the actual reality surrounding them.

From ciphers to murderous secrets, we entreat further into the deception of what prompted everyone to be at Umbersea Island. As Mrs Kent implores herself to nettle out details she suspects might draw a connection to her husband Sidney, there are other elements in play she isn’t yet aware of – by continuing to follow her instincts, she is finding there are far more questions than resolved answers. One thing she cannot sort out to her liking is why there is such a large collection of soldiers from her husband’s unit in attendance – an observation which even in my mind, felt like it had an ‘intention’ behind it rather than the joys of celebrating a new marriage where the unit could put some distance between the war and their memories. Generally, bringing together everyone who shared such an experience would not necessarily be warranted as Mrs Kent clearly acknowledges – thus ebbing out theories of why this could have been – giving her little chance of feeling ‘rested’ during her stay. It is also the cipher which beckons her to solve its contents – for Mrs Kent has far too much anguish now than what one widow ought to tackle.

It is Max ,of whom Mrs Kent and we, the reader, latch onto as the most reliable person to befriend and trust throughout the length of the assembly here on the island – from one half-lively moment of spirited fun to a nauseating contempt of ill-fate, Mrs Kent and Lord Ryde have their fair share of ill to sort through! Max has an unwavering ability to seek out the riddles of hidden truths whilst owning to the desperate disparities surrounding him – he, like her husband had served in similar circles and knew of the circumstances which were resurfacing here on the island which were acting as a bridge back into the recent past. It was those secrets which someone is suspected of trying to ‘erase’ from living memory – of keeping them firmly in the past without being understood fuller in the present.

As we learn more about the war – of how Sidney’s regiment moved in and out of dangers thus far unknown to Mrs Kent, the more we pull forward into where the deceptions began – of whom was involved and why there was a plausible reasoning attached to the deceptions being restored even now; long after the key players involved were dead. We move forward and backwards through trench warfare memories and flashbacks – of drawing closer to what the men in her husband’s unit faced. It is here, where the narrative shifts easily into a war drama – and rightly so, as so much of Mrs Kent’s life was anchoured to the war. She barely had any personal time ‘outside’ of the service she chose to participate and her husband, never saw an hour outside the war where he could feel ‘settled’ against the tides of what he was facing in her absence. Each of them carried the weight of their service and thereby, were removed from their general peerage for having lived enough to be permanently altered by their experiences. Even know, Mrs Kent finds it hard to resume her life – of finding ordinary things easy to become attached inside; knowing the heavier emotional quell of harder truths is never far out of reach.

Ms Huber has re-visited two settings between ‘An Anatomist’s Wife’ and ‘This Side of Murder’ – for there is a critical scene in an unused sanctuary (within a church) in both stories. It is a defining moment for Lady Darby and her future husband, Sebastian. For Mrs Kent and Max, it’s a turning point – where their suspicions and their earnest will to uncover the truth takes on a more imperative drive towards unmasking the secrets they are seeking to find. The second one, I shall keep Mum about as it’s just as insightful towards a particular ‘end game’.

My goodness! There were quite a few angles I had rooted out for myself, but there is one particular twist in the pudding I hadn’t quite foreseen – I think my attentions were being spent elsewhere – so much so, I missed quite a critical piece of the puzzle! I don’t mind – sometimes, in regards to how mysteries go, I like to remain surprised rather than deduce out the resolutions! It’s part of the fodder of loving mysteries and of seeing how writers can entice us with their ingenuity! Anyone whose read my ruminative thoughts about Lady Darby know what I was smitten about in this first installment of the Verity Kent Mysteries!

What truly held my heart in the text though – is how honest this was from the standpoint of being one part war drama against the high drama of being a Cosy Historical Mystery! The sleuthing bits were held against an esteemed estate – whose descriptions of luxury were quite the treat for my eyes, but it was how humbling Mrs Kent was to her station and her ‘present circumstances’ which gave me the most joy to read. Her, and Lord Ryde (Max) are a winning twosome – they endear you to their adventures and even, with the ‘twist of surprise’ emerging out of the shadows of where this mystery resided – call it fanciful hope on my part, but I daresay, this isn’t the end of Mrs Kent and Lord Ryde being placed together! I do itch to see the next story published post-haste, as all serial fiction readers will attest – but similar to Lady Darby, I am a patient soul, indeed! I’d rather let Ms Huber fully flex and fuse her muse into this series – than opt to see it rushed to print!

One note of Fault in Character Direction:

I don’t want to spoilt what gave me a particular flinching of ‘character direction’ however, I must admit, there is a ‘twisting’ of fates in the latter half of the novel. A twisting, I admit, I was not entirely keen on seeing – as honestly, I felt there was such a strong foundation to ‘go the other way’, to where this particular ‘path being forged’ I hoped would soon find closure in the second installment of the series or shortly thereafter. To me, there is a fork in the road here – where there are two variables to be explored but I hope even if the road is longer to ‘loop back round’ to where I hope the two paths ‘verge back together’ – it shall be seen eventually. Honestly, I had such a repulsively strong reaction to the ending, I surprised myself – because I guess, in my heart, I had already felt so deeply connected to another pairing – which this in itself, lends a deeper clue of a hint towards what affected me directly. Still. I shall not be saying ‘more’ than this… as I know the route taken now is more dramatic but is it ‘right’?

Bravo to Ms Huber for the villain:

It isn’t oft, I find myself applauding a writer’s capacity to create a villain who left me dearly curious to go back and ‘re-read’ their portions of the story – to see if I had missed anything important which would have led me to settle my own mind on their notoriously vile intentions – however, in this story-line, I have a feeling Ms Huber kept it closer to the breast so to speak. Meaning, I don’t foresee I will find anything untoward on a second reading – there wasn’t anything quite profound sticking to mind this first go-round in other words. To such an extent, it was happy folly being foiled by such a character as the one Ms Huber placed as the most villainous of villains! How she foiled ‘their’ plans was equally cheeky and well done!

On the Cosy Historical Mystery styling of Ms Huber:

I love championing writers who have such a keen sense of ‘transporting us into a characters’ sensibility’ as if to curate a willingness to forget we’ve ‘left ourselves’ for the mainstay of our visit inside their lives; this is readily truth of Ms Huber’s approach to her Cosy Historical Mysteries. She finds turns of phrase and delightful individual quirks of expression which hint towards the personality and heart of her characters – etching out a ready portrait of who they are whilst granting us a more grounded approach into their lives. It is within the earliest chapters of this first Verity Kent Mystery where I breathed in the essence of this new ‘character’ and felt as if I had truly known ‘her’ long before I met her; which is exactly how I felt about Lady Darby! Ms Huber is well on her way to perfecting how to pen serial mysteries which delight the historical reader with a cosied approach to crime and sleuthing!

One thing which struck me – is how clever it is to be inserted into two heroines whose husbands are absent from their lives – giving them unheard of opportunities to ‘carry on’ with their lives when society dictated otherwise – this was true of Lady Darby and it is true for Mrs Kent! The curious bit is how wholly unique both characters are constructed – they each have their own strengths, weaknesses and faults – they don’t feel too identical (as such) to each other, even if they have a few attributes in common. The joy for me was identifying how each woman separated herself from her peers, truly believed it possible to live an independent life from their peerage and seeing how they leveraged themselves for a future they would determine was best for them. In this, Ms Huber has my heart and attention on her heroines – seeking their next adventures with curious anticipation!

The little touches of historical reference and the nuanced way in which her pen flickers into our focus a rounded insight into the ‘time & setting’ of her stories is what gives her series layered depth and truism. I like how she pulls back her lens – alighting us first and foremost through her lead characters, secondly through their settings & locales and thirdly, through the human condition of what psychologically affects her characters lives – either through what they uncover as they sleuth or their general conscience of the shifts in society – from what causes such grief to land on their path and the motivations of those who seek a more sinister path than their own.

In short, Ms Huber is curating her own niche out of a sub-genre of Historical Fiction I happily applaud seeing developed because of her purposeful dedication to writing the stories which not only give us an emotional repose from our lives (because of how deft they’re written) but they give us a chance to re-step through history through a portal of folly similar to why the Dame of the Cosy was as well loved as she has become all these years lateron. They give us something to chew on and something to consider – whilst the mystery lover in all of us gets to play ‘sleuth’ and stay on the tip of our toes awaiting the outcomes!

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special gratitude extended to:

Anna Lee Huber

of whom is graciously available to readers & book bloggers giving us both her time and assistance when we want to talk about her stories as we read them.

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This book review is part of my #SpooktasticReads showcases:

Spooktastic Fortnight banner created by Jorie in Canva.This was meant to be shared on *Halloween!* as a SURPRISE for the author – as I wanted her to know how much I loved reading Verity’s first entrance into the series – this was the first novel I attempted to read coming out of my latest migraine – it was a ‘cosy comfort’ reading an author I already admire and seeking out a new setting and fiercely strong heronine whose giving me a giddy joy reading about as she’s secured a happy spot in my ‘Cosy Historical Mystery’ wanderings!

As soon as I could, I knew I wanted to share my thoughts – as I only found one fault (per se) with how this lovely series begins (which I hinted towards) – despite this one reservation, and my rather blunt personal reaction to it (which I didn’t share! Mum and Dad have those details! lol) – I am wicked enthused for next October’s second installment release! Eek. Eleven long months til Verity comes back into our lives — pray tell, how dare I keep those hours? With patience and mirth of stories,… Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

Previously I disclosed my admiration on behalf of each book in sequential order for the Lady Darby series – be sure to visit my musings ahead of my revelations about No.5 ‘As Death Draws Near’ whilst seeing first-hand why I am in love with Ms Huber’s story-telling!

The Anatomist’s Wife (see Review)

Mortal Arts (see Review)

A Grave Matter (see Review)

A Study in Death (see Review)

Whilst compiling my reflections during the #LadyDarby Book Blast for ‘As Death Draws Near’!

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Reader Interactive Question:

What draws your eye into a Cosy Historical Mystery with a fiercely independent heroine such as Lady Darby or Verity Kent at the helm of the series!? I look forward to reading your thoughts & commentary! Especially if you read the novel or were thinking you might be inclined to read it. I appreciate hearing different points of view especially amongst readers & bloggers who picked up the same novel to read.

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Visit my Story Vault by Genres | Visit my Bookish Events

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{SOURCES: Author photograph of Anna Lee Huber, Book Cover of “This Side of Murder” and the synopsis for “This Side of Murder” as well as the Author Biography were provided by the author Anna Lee Huber and used by permission. Post dividers badge by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination. Tweets were embedded due to codes provided by Twitter. Blog graphics created by Jorie via Canva: #SpooktasticReads badge, Book Review Banner using Unsplash.com (Creative Commons Zero) Photography by Frank McKenna and the Comment Box Banner.}

Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2017.

I’m a social reader | I love to tweet my reading life

I wasn’t able to add a lot of readerly tweets specifically to ‘This Side of Murder’, however, when I was referencing what I was reading per the genres of interest this October, I was technically referring to this novel because it was the one I was reading leading up til my migraine and the first one I was able to finish outside of it. These are also a bit of the tweets interconnected to Ms Huber regards to news or announcements regarding her series overall. Whilst noting why I love listening to Pandora at the moment whilst blogging my ruminations.

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

  • 2017 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge

About jorielov

I am self-educated through local libraries and alternative education opportunities. I am a writer by trade and I cured a ten-year writer’s block by the discovery of Nanowrimo in November 2008. The event changed my life by re-establishing my muse and solidifying my path. Five years later whilst exploring the bookish blogosphere I decided to become a book blogger. I am a champion of wordsmiths who evoke a visceral experience in narrative. I write comprehensive book showcases electing to get into the heart of my reading observations. I dance through genres seeking literary enlightenment and enchantment. Starting in Autumn 2013 I became a blog book tour hostess featuring books and authors. I joined The Classics Club in January 2014 to seek out appreciators of the timeless works of literature whose breadth of scope and voice resonate with us all.

"I write my heart out and own my writing after it has spilt out of the pen." - self quote (Jorie of Jorie Loves A Story)

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Posted Wednesday, 1 November, 2017 by jorielov in 20th Century, Amateur Detective, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, Castles & Estates, Cosy Historical Mystery, Cosy Mystery, Crime Fiction, Death, Sorrow, and Loss, Historical Fiction, Historical Mystery, Historical Romance, Historical Thriller Suspense, Lady Detective Fiction, Library Catalogues & Databases, Library Find, Library Love, Local Libraries | Research Libraries, Psychological Suspense, the Nineteen Hundreds, The World Wars




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