Stacking the Shelves #74

 

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!

The Seaside Murders by Helena Dixon (The Secret Detective Agency Book Two)

Kindle Purchase: 99 cents today 

I have book one from this series but haven't started it yet. This was so cheap I went ahead and got it. It looks like a cute series and I had started her other one awhile back and liked it. This continues Jane Treen, government agent in 1940's WW II and her cat. Always a plus when you add a cat :) 

Good Man Friday by Barbara Hambly (Benjamin January Book Twelve)

Kindle Purchase: Free with points

This series is unique. I have the second book, Fever Season. The books feature a free Creole man, Benjamin January in early 1830's New Orleans who is also a physician and music teacher. I think the setting and character make it unlike any other historical mystery I've read before. It's a long running series with twenty-one books, the latest published July 2025.  I still need to get book one to see how it all begins. 

Murder at the Highland Castle by Helena Dixon (Miss Kitty Underhay Book 14)

Kindle Purchase: 99 cents

Another Helena Dixon cozy, this one is part of the series I started awhile back. I can't resist the Christmas vibes and beautiful cover. Add in the Scottish highlands and you have a fun read. Might need to start this one to review for December.

Can't Wait Wednesday: Murder at Donwell Abbey by Vanessa Kelly (An Emma Knightley Mystery Book Two)

 

For this week's Can't Wait Wednesday hosted by Tressa at the book blog, Wishful Endings, I'm featuring, Murder at Donwell Abbey, by Vanessa Kelly. It looks adorable, featuring the character Emma from the beloved Jane Austen books. Combining a classic with a beautiful cover and cozy mystery with a Christmas/winter vibe is my cup of tea. I have yet to read book one but will have to find it first. Or maybe not! I might just read this one for a December book.

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

Historical Mystery/Cozy Mystery

November 25, 2025

Book description courtesy of GoodReads

In this latest Regency era mystery, Jane Austen’s clever Emma Knightley navigates shocking changes in her family, while meeting her match in a deadly adversary.

Emma’s spirits are elevated after she and husband George Knightley host a joyful holiday celebration at the Hartfield estate. But it’s instantly a bitter January when her father makes an unexpected announcement. He and Miss Hetty Bates have decided to marry. Not only must Emma relinquish her role as mistress of the household, but she must also accept the reality that the excitable Miss Bates will become her stepmother.

More unwanted news arrives during an extravagant betrothal ball at Donwell Abbey, the grand Knightley estate where Emma and George will soon permanently reside. Nearly every villager in Highbury revels in the dazzling affair, except Emma’s hardworking lady’s maid, Prudence Parr. To Emma’s horror, Prudence is found dead, sprawled across the stones of the library terrace.

The woman’s tragic fall is quickly ruled a terrible accident and whispers circulate around personal troubles leading up to her untimely demise. But Emma’s instincts tell her that something far more sinister is at play. Now, Highbury’s matchmaker turned sleuth vows to outwit a cunning criminal before an innocent man loses his freedom, or Donwell Abbey plunges into a darker mystery.

Stacking the Shelves #73

 

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!

Lady Helena Investigates by Jane Steen (Scott DeQunicy Mysteries Book One)

Kindle Purchase: Free today (Book Bub newsletter)

I'd come across this series before and today the first was free on Kindle. In 1881 Sussex, Lady Helena mourns the death of her second husband (her first also dying under mysterious circumstances) and works with a French physician to find out if it was murder or not. In doing so she becomes more aware of her own family's secrets and realizes there is a lot she doesn't know. Looks like romance, mystery, and family drama in one novel.

Bones at the Manor House by Emma Jameson (Dr. Benjamin Bones Mysteries Book Two)

Kindle Purchase: 99 cents this week 

This one doesn't take place in a favorite era of mine (1939) but it is in a small Cornish village and involves a ghost, love triangle and a dead body. It is book two and I'm always averse to starting that way but it was cheap and I'll just look for book one eventually. It is unique and so I wanted to go ahead and grab it! As if I don't have enough cozy historical mystery series to read, lol.

Marguerite: The Story of Marguerite of Anjou by Judith Arnopp

Kindle Purchase: 99 cents this week 

I had seen this book advertised heavily lately and was intrigued. I love Marguerite as a subject of history but I admit the subtitle "Hell hath no fury!" kept me away. It just seemed a little too theatrical. But I'm going to give it a try because it may turn out to be a great. The author has written several books about other historical figures and people seem to have enjoyed them.