Can't Wait Wednesday: Grave Merriment by Angela Ranson (Catrin Surovell Tudor Mysteries Book Four)

 

For this week's Can't Wait Wednesday hosted by Tressa at the book blog, Wishful Endings, I'm featuring, Grave Merriment by Angela Ranson. I featured the first book in the series in another post, Shades of Death. The books take place at the Elizabethan court and Lady Catrin is asked to investigate a brutal man trying to exhort money from the wealthy. It is set at Christmas time so it would be a good one to save for next year at this time.

Hope you have found something you can't wait for! Happy reading ya'll!

Historical Mystery/Renaissance Mystery

March 13, 2026

Book description courtesy of Goodreads

Christmas, 1561

Queen Elizabeth’s courtiers are decorating Whitehall Palace and preparing for twelve days of festive food, masques and revelry. But Lady Catrin Surovell, Countess of Ashbourne, cannot find her celebratory spirit. The queen has asked her to stop a brute who has forced the waifs of London to work for him. The boys are being beaten or killed if they don’t help him extort money from the wealthy. And it seems the brute may be someone at Court. 

But Catrin’s attempt to find him are disturbed by a mischief-maker who is taking every opportunity to ruin the Christmas festivities, leaving the queen in great distress. At each scene of chaos Catrin finds a perfume bottle, all with their own unique scent. Is the disruption linked to the brute at court? Or is someone else hell-bent on destroying the queen’s festivities? And can Catrin solve both mysteries before someone ends up in grave danger…? 

GRAVE MERRIMENT is the fourth book in the Catrin Surovell Tudor Mystery Series. It is an exciting historical thriller set at the court of Elizabeth I.

Stacking the Shelves #77

 

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Reading Reality. It's a place to showcase any books I have purchased, borrowed, or been lucky enough to have been given an advance copy of. 

Hope you find something that looks interesting to you or that makes you remember a favorite book you need to finish. Happy reading ya'll!

Feud by Derek Birks (The Wars of the Roses Book One)

Kindle Purchase: Kindle Unlimited Free Trial

The author of this book hosts one of my favorite podcasts, A Slice of Medieval. He is a former history teacher who is especially knowledgeable about The Wars of the Roses. This is book one in his historical fiction series about that time period and begins in the year 1459 with the growing conflict between a knight and a local, rival Lord. We see history unfold alongside the knight, Ned and his family, who of course become involved. I think it will be a great series and there are nine books taking it all the way to 1485.

Talleyman by John James (Victorian Maritime Adventures Book One)

Kindle Purchase: Kindle Unlimited Free Trial

I don't know anything about these books but I do love the mystery and nautical feel from the cover and description. It is set in Ireland in the 1840's during the Irish potato famine and concerns a seaman from the British Royal Navy who is trying to help distribute food to the desperate, starving people of Cork County. He becomes involved in a brewing rebellion and must decide which side to take. I think it sounds like an action filled amazing read!

The author lived and wrote during the mid 20th Century. He was from Wales. These books are considered classics now.

No Dark Place by Joan Wolf  (Medieval Mysteries Book One)

Kindle Purchase: Kindle Unlimited Free Trial

This is the first of a two book series from 1999 by an author new to me. But I'm a sucker for good medieval mysteries so it looked worth trying. This author has written mostly best selling romance books, which I'm not a big fan of but this one looks more mystery based. 

It is set during Norman England. A nobleman has just lost his adoptive father, the Sheriff of Lincoln, and finds out his real childhood may have been more dangerous than he remembers. He sets out to solve the mystery of his past and finds danger along the way.

Murder in An Irish Castle by Verity Bright (Lady Eleanor Swift Book Twelve)

 

Publication Date:

November 28, 2022

Genre: 

Cozy Mystery/Historical Mystery

Length:   

320 pages

Series: 

Lady Eleanor Swift Mysteries

Book description courtesy of Goodreads

Irish whiskey, rolling green hills, a traditional Christmas feast and… a murder? Lady Swift will need the luck of the Irish to survive this holiday season!

Christmas, 1924. Lady Eleanor Swift has received a rather unexpected invitation to the village Christmas party in the tiny, rural hamlet of Derrydee in the west of Ireland. Eleanor is thrilled about exploring her ancestral roots at her late uncle’s estate and spending the festive season in a castle. Packing Gladstone the bulldog’s coziest Christmas jumper, they set off to the Emerald Isle with her butler Clifford in tow.

Arriving late at night, Eleanor and Clifford are shocked when they find a body sprawled in the snow on the winding country lane outside the estate. The local constable is immediately suspicious and all but accuses the pair of murder. This isn’t the warm Irish welcome Eleanor imagined.

Clifford is certain he recognises the poor fellow from the funeral of Eleanor’s uncle – but what was their connection? Undeterred by the villagers’ lack of gossip on the matter, Eleanor is determined to get justice for the victim. The man’s pockets are suspiciously empty of personal effects, but closer inspection reveals an old key hidden in the heel of his boot. Could this unlock more than one mystery for Eleanor?

But when a fire breaks out at the castle on Christmas Eve, an even bigger question looms: is someone out to ensure the family line dies with Lady Swift? And will Eleanor’s first Irish Christmas be her last?

My Thoughts:

This was a perfect November/December book to get me into the Christmas spirit. The descriptions of the Irish castles and surroundings, traditional food, and the local, quirky townspeople all made it feel authentic and I appreciated the author's research and interesting details. 

Eleanor, Clifford, and the dog, Gladstone really had a baffling mysyery to solve in this story. From the minute they find the nearly dead man in the road it seems no one wants them involved in questioning anything much less investigating suspicious clues. Of course this doesn’t stop them and after taking the man to a local convent and witnessing odd behavior by the nun and doctor there, they feel obligated to find out why. 

Can't Wait Wednesday: At Morning's Light (Home To Green Creek Book Two)

For this week's Can't Wait Wednesday hosted by Tressa at the book blog, Wishful Endings, I'm featuring, At Morning's Light by Lauraine Snelling. I am familiar with her other series set in the early Dakota territories and she is a wonderful storyteller of early pioneers coming over from Scandinavian/Norwegian countries. These are clean, Christian books that aren't cheesy and really pack in a lot of great history. This book takes place in Iowa during the 1800's.

Hope you have found something you can't wait for! Happy reading ya'll!

Christian Fiction/Historical Fiction

December 4, 2025

Book description courtesy of Goodreads

Newlywed Maya Bredesen and her husband plan their trek as immigrants from Norway to a new life at her cousin's boardinghouse in America, but on one last fateful fishing trip, a fierce winter storm steals away her husband. With her dreams for the future crushed, Maya is left grieving on the voyage to Iowa, accompanied instead by her brother, who plans to move in with the local magistrate and finish his seminary degree.
 
Arriving at a boardinghouse spilling over with orphans and a newly-married couple, Maya seeks to find her place amid the chaos. A new friendship develops between her and Eben Miller, the reserved, kind neighboring farmer. Just as Maya begins to recover from her wounded heart, more tragedy engulfs her. As she and Eben weather trials together, can they overcome the difficulties this new land holds when it seems so far from becoming home?
 
Lauraine Snelling creates a heartwarming picture of overcoming grief and embracing love on the Midwestern frontier.

Top Ten Tuesday: 10 Beautiful Winter/Holiday Book Covers

 

This week's theme for Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, is a December free choice. I decided to display ten beautiful winter/holiday book covers. The beautiful artwork in the book world is amazing and puts me in the spirit of the season. Being from Texas we don't get much of a winter, much less snow very often so these covers make me feel cozy and like I'm in a snowy, wintery setting. 

Click on the picture to go to Goodreads for more on each book.

What are your favorite types of book covers that really catch your eye?