Can't Wait Wednesday: A Tarnished Canvas by Anna Lee Huber (A Lady Darby Mystery Book 13)

 

For this week's Can't Wait Wednesday hosted by Tressa at the book blog, Wishful Endings, I'm featuring, A Tarnished Canvas, by Anna Lee Huber. This is the latest book in the series and although I haven't read it yet, I have read one from her other series, Verity Kent, and thought it was unique and well written. I have the first book from this Lady Darby series so I probably should start it soon. It's called, The Anatomist's Wife. Set in Scotland it is a series that interests me even more. 

I hope you've found something you can't wait to read this week. Happy reading ya'll!

Cozy Mystery

Historical Mystery

 June 24, 2025

Book description courtesy of Goodreads

Lady Kiera Darby had planned to spend the winter practicing her painting, but instead, she must find the flaw in a killer’s masterpiece when an art auction results in one participant’s final bid.…

March 1833. Kiera and her husband, Sebastian Gage, have decided to settle in Edinburgh for the winter with their infant daughter. This also allows Kiera to enjoy long hours painting in her studio, making progress on the portraits she soon hopes to unveil in her own exhibit. She’s thrilled when she receives an invitation to the auction of the late Lord Eldin’s coveted art collection, and she and Gage eagerly accept. When the floor collapses beneath the gathering, killing one of their fellow bidders, Kiera and Gage are lucky to escape with their lives.

Within days it becomes apparent that what at first seemed to be a terrible accident is actually something far more nefarious. Someone deliberately compromised the integrity of the structure, though the police are unsure of the culprit’s aim. Sergeant Maclean requests Kiera and Gage’s assistance in figuring out who would wish to harm the bidders. As they dig deeper, it becomes increasingly apparent that the victim was not the killer’s intended target . . . and that Kiera was lured to the auction deliberately. Kiera and Gage must utilize all their resources to unveil a monster willing to risk the lives of dozens of bystanders to achieve their ends. But they’re on the verge of making a dire miscalculation. For one of the cleverest tricks in a painter’s repertoire is the art of misdirection, and their eyes have been drawn far from the gravest danger.

Can't Wait Wednesday: The Rose Apple Tree Mystery by Ovidia Yu (Su Lin Series Book 9)

 

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For this week's Can't Wait Wednesday, I'm featuring, The Rose Apple Tree Mystery, by Ovidia Yu. I was drawn in by the cover and the title. All nine books have a tree name for the title which I thought was fun. And it just looked interesting to me! I downloaded the sample of the first book in the series and read it so quickly I knew I wanted to continue with this series. This is the author's latest book and I want to start at the beginning first. But it is so unique that I am already hooked.

The books are set in 1940's Singapore, and this story is in a place there called the Cameron Highlands. The author really knows her sense of setting as she is from the area. I know almost nothing about the country so I'm looking forward to learning new things. The reviews are good for this series and although you might not have heard of this author, she is well known in her native country for being a great writer. 

I hope you've found something you can't wait to read this week! Happy reading ya'll!

Cozy Mystery

Historical Mystery

 June 5, 2025

Book description courtesy of Goodreads

'Til death do us part...

Singapore, 1947. Newlyweds Su Lin and LeFroy are in the Cameron Highlands, an idyllic pocket of countryside on the tropical Malay Peninsula. But this is no honeymoon ... LeFroy is on a protection assignment for powerful businessman Max Moreno and his wife Elfrieda, whose associates have been brutally murdered.

But the hideaway cannot protect the Morenos from vicious threats and ghostly sightings, and when Elfrieda vanishes with a stash of precious emeralds, Su Lin and LeFroy fear the worst. The only clue to Elfrieda's disappearance is rotting fruit from a rose apple tree, piled outside her lodge.

When monsoon floods make escape from the Highlands impossible, Su Lin is determined to find Elfrieda with time to spare to get to know her new husband. But when Max's body is discovered surrounded by rose apples, Su Lin and LeFroy must work together try to prevent further deaths, including their own.

Stacking the Shelves #57

 

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. Enjoy your reading this week!

Richard Duke of York, King By Right by Matthew Lewis

(Kindle purchase)

One of the only books I've come across to tackle only Richard Duke of York's life. Matthew Lewis is a great storyteller too. I have several of his books and love his podcast. If you love learning about the Wars of the Roses like I do this is a good author to read. He's factual but not overly wordy and definitely not boring! So many books discuss the family but this one focuses on the role of Richard and I am interested to learn more about him. 

The Forbidden Queen by Anne O'Brien

(Kindle purchase)

I haven't read anything by this author and that's tragic because I own several of her books and have promoted them in the past. I know she's a great author. It's hard to get her books for an inexpensive price. That says a lot about her work though. I have read Jean Plaidy's book about Katherine of Valois, wife of Henry V and it was great. This one looks good and I love her story. It's so tragic and romantic! I hope to read and review this one in 2025. 

Murder in an Italian Castle by Benedict Brown

(Kindle purchase)

I am so excited for this one!  Lord Edgington and his grandson Christopher are traveling abroad. This is book one of Lord Edgington Investigates Abroad and they go to Italy for a European holiday. Of course a murder occurs and they must put on their sleuthing hats once again. 

I have read the Christmas book in the previous series. It was well written and witty and I really like the author's newsletter and updates he sends in my email. His name is Benedict Brown and he has two other cozy mystery series as well. I prefer cozies that take place in fun, exotic locations and he says he visited the castle he features and has a lot of details and history about it to share in the book. I love that!

Death at the Highland Loch by Lydia Travers (Lady Poppy Proudfoot Book One)

 

Publication Date:

May 19, 2025

Genre:

Cozy Mystery

Length: 350 pages

Series: Lady Poppy Proudfoot

Book description courtesy of Goodreads

Scotland, 1924: When Lady Poppy Proudfoot travels to the Highlands for a midsummer party, the last thing she and her fellow guests expect is for a body to wash up beside the loch.

Despite protests that it could have been an accident, Poppy is convinced it’s murder and decides to dust off her law degree and hunt for clues. But when the police arrive, the grumpy Inspector MacKenzie dismisses her evidence, insisting a crime scene is no place for a Lady. The nerve!

With the help of her trusted Labrador, Major, Poppy begins to unpick the case. But she soon has two mysteries to solve, as her host Lady Constance Balfour claims a diamond and emerald bracelet has been stolen. Could the two cases be linked? Was it Freddy the footman, a favorite of her ladyship? Or American actress Miss Cornett, with a keen eye for jewels? Or with such a dazzling guest list, was someone from the local village tempted into the grounds by the party?

When a woman bearing an uncanny resemblance to Poppy is attacked, she realizes that someone wants her off the case. Someone connected to Balfour House is a murderer and a thief, but who? And can Poppy solve the mystery before she, too, washes up beside the loch?

My Thoughts:

This is the first book in the series and I'm grateful Net Galley let me read it early. I am always excited to get ARC's approved. It's the first in her new series so I wanted to read it to be in on it from the beginning. I've read some of her other one called The Scottish Ladies' Detective Agency, and it was cute. 

This story picks up with new characters, Lady Poppy and her love interest, Inspector MacKenzie. Poppy is attending a get together in the Highlands and of course encounters a murder. They don't even know who it is at first and when Inspector MacKenzie arrives on the scene sparks fly between them in many ways. He considers her to be an interfering busybody who has no business involving herself in crime detection and she considers him to be an insufferable know it all. You can guess where this goes as the book moves on....predictable, tried and true plot but cute nonetheless.

Can't Wait Wednesday: The Queen's Cousin: A Novel of Queen Anne of Scotland by Raymond Wemmlinger (Tudor Royal Series Book 3)

For this week's Can't Wait Wednesday, I'm featuring, The Queen's Cousin: A Novel of Queen Anne of Scotland, by Raymond Wemmlinger. This is one of four books so far in this series. The next one is due out later this year. He picks subjects that are not as well known in the Tudor era and that isn't easy to do. I know nothing much about Queen Anne of Denmark and Scotland and wife of King James VI (son of Mary Queen of Scots) so it should be interesting.

They aren't long epics but this is how I love to learn history....through character studies of real people of the time. I hope to start the series soon. I hope you've found something you can't wait to read. Happy reading ya'll!

British Historical Fiction

 May 16, 2025

Book description courtesy of Goodreads

With an aging childless queen on England’s throne, the search for an heir intensifies…

Scotland, 1594

Nineteen-year-old Anne of Denmark, Queen of Scotland, is thrilled and triumphant at the birth of a healthy baby boy, destined to reign as King of Scotland and, possibly, England. But Anne’s enjoyment of maternal glory quickly fades as her husband King James, fearing his son will be politically manipulated against him as he was against his mother, the deceased Mary Queen of Scots, removes the child permanently from her care. Outraged, Anne tries to regain control of her son, initiating a bitter marital struggle which sours what had been a loving and harmonious marriage.

Anne is haunted by the giant legacies of Mary Stuart and Elizabeth Tudor on the thrones of Scotland and England, and is determined to make her own mark. And central to that ambition is securing the succession to the English throne from her husband’s cousin, the elderly and childless Queen Elizabeth.

Can Anne regain favour with the Scottish King? Will they join forces to secure the English throne?

Or will this daring Queen of Scotland fade into obscurity…?

THE QUEEN’S COUSIN is a biographical historical novel of Anne of Denmark, wife of King James and Queen of Scotland during the Tudor era of Elizabeth I’s reign.