Stacking the Shelves #75

 

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!

Shades of Death: Murder at the Court of Elizabeth I by Angela Ranson

Kindle Purchase: 99 cents with points

I'm normally really burnt out on anything related to the Tudors but this mystery focuses on the death of Lord Dudley's wife Amy and the scandal involving the queen, which does interest me. I don't know the story at all but I really should! This historical fiction mystery setting might explain it in an entertaining way. Two of the queen's ladies-in-waiting investigate at Amy's home and try to find Lord Dudley innocent. 

The Forest Laird: A Tale of William Wallace by Jack Whyte

Kindle Purchase: Free with points

You don't find too many good books about Scottish heroes. William Wallace is probably written about more than others but this book just really caught my eye. Reading the author's note at the beginning hooked me too because he seems so heartfelt to tell the story accurately. I want to get around to this one soon.

Pilfered Promises: A Victorian San Francisco Mystery by M. Louisa Locke

Kindle Purchase: 99 cents

I remembered I have book one of this series already but haven't read it. I don't know why, they look interesting enough. I just have so many series already to get through. These are set during a time and place I'm not as eager to read about but I still think they are worth a shot. In this one, book 5, it is Thanksgiving and Christmas time so I really like to read those in season.

Cat Among the Pigeons by Agatha Christie (Read Christie November 2025 Selection) Hercule Poirot Book 36

 

Publication Date:

November 2, 1959

Genre:  

Cozy Mystery/Historical Mystery

Length:   

352 pages

Series: 

Hercule Poirot

Book description courtesy of Goodreads

Late one night, two teachers investigate a mysterious light in the school Sports Pavilion. Among the tennis racquets and lacrosse sticks, they find the body of the unpopular games mistress – shot through the heart. Schoolgirl Julia Upjohn knows too much, and begins to worry that she might be the next victim. Can detective Hercule Poirot find the killer before the ‘cat’ strikes again?

My Thoughts:

I was intrigued by the title of this book before I even started reading it. It sounded sinister and a good title for a mystery. The first part concerns a fictional Middle Eastern city, Ramut, in which there is a revolution going on. Two men end up dying in a plane crash and one of them decides to hide a stash of gems in a place only very few would know to look. It makes for a cliffhanger beginning and I definitely wanted to continue. I like novels and mysteries that make you a bit confused in the beginning as then there's much to figure out as you go.

The story then shifts to three months later at an English boarding school where we become involved in the day to day lives of student Jennifer and her friend Julia, as well as the staff. There are a vast array of characters so I won't list them all but I did have to work hard to keep everyone straight. This was complicated at times.

Can't Wait Wednesday: Murder at Midwinter Farm by Helena Dixon (A Kitty Underhay Mystery Book 22)

 

For this week's Can't Wait Wednesday hosted by Tressa at the book blog, Wishful Endings, I'm featuring, Murder at Midwinter Farm, by Helena Dixon. Such a gorgeous cover and it has all that winter vibe going for it. I think it will be a great addition for a December/holiday read. 

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

Cozy Mystery/Historical Mystery

November 24, 2025

Book description courtesy of GoodReads

A frosty country lane, snow dusted Devon hills as far as the eye can see… and a local farmer vanished without trace. Can Kitty Underhay solve this chilling mystery?

Devon, 1937. Kitty Underhay is enjoying a crisp winter morning walk with her best friend, Alice, and her fiancé, Robert, who have recently bought the mysterious Midwinter Farm. The previous owner vanished one night, his dinner still on the table and the front door left wide open. But as work is carried out on the farm, a body is found on the grounds. How was the man murdered? And who is responsible?

Robert trusts the local police even less than Kitty does, so she is immediately on the case, with her husband Matt by her side. As the pair take the bull by the horns and begin to gather clues, several suspects emerge. Though he seems gentle as a lamb, is the victim’s son as innocent as he appears? Why does the local pub landlord have an axe to grind, and does his daughter seem suspicious?

The waters become muddied by a robbery, with valuable jewels stolen at neighbouring Seacliffe Hall. Is the thief also the murderer Kitty is looking for? Or are the two crimes entirely unconnected?

With the weak winter sun setting over the fields and danger mounting fast, Kitty and Matt need to find the killer, before they meet their own icy end in the dead of winter.

Murder Among the Pyramids by Sara Rosett (Lady Traveler in Egypt Book One)

 

Publication Date:

October 16, 2024

Genre:  

Cozy Mystery/Historical Mystery

Length:   

316 pages

Series: 

Lady Traveler in Egypt 

Book description courtesy of Goodreads

Escape on an Egyptian excursion to the land of the Pyramids.
Tour highlights include Hieroglyphics and high tea in the desert, followed by murder after sunset.

It’s 1924 and Blix Windway has made a career out of her wanderlust, giving lectures to ladies’ groups about everything from the flora of the American desert to the beauty of the Swiss Alps, but she needs new material for her talks.

She strikes what seems to be an ideal agreement with an eccentric older lady. Blix will be her travel companion during a journey to Egypt, helping to smooth the way through customs and coordinate sightseeing tours. The arrangement will provide Blix with the perfect opportunity to photograph the pyramids and gather material for her next lecture series.

But they’ve barely left England before the trouble begins; rough seas and an attempted robbery. Then a murder occurs during a tour of the pyramids.

Despite the attempts of the British officials to sweep the death under the rug, Blix becomes increasingly convinced that one of their tour party is a murderer.

Blix’s search for the truth takes her from the posh sporting clubs and lavish gardens of Cairo to the narrow, twisting lanes of the city’s centuries-old bazaar and the vast desert around the Giza Plateau. Can Blix unearth the truth before the killer makes this journey her last?

Join Blix on this classic murder mystery from Sara Rosett, author of the beloved High Society Lady Detective series.

My Thoughts:

I had not read any Sara Rosett books before this one but have several of her samples in my Kindle. This one was available on Libby. It was cute. Very similar to some Agatha Christie type books and the author says Elizabeth Peters was an inspiration for the Egyptian setting.

The main character, Blix is smart and resourceful and brave in her quest to find the killer of one of the tourists she is involved with, Vita Duncan.  With her travel companion and the woman funding her vacation, Hildy Honeyworth, and others, she works the clues including a mysterious package she was asked to deliver to someone in Egypt. 

Can't Wait Wednesday: Queens at War: England's Medieval Queens by Alison Weir (Book Four)

 

For this week's Can't Wait Wednesday hosted by Tressa at the book blog, Wishful Endings, I'm featuring, Queens at War: England's Medieval Queens, by Alison Weir. I have read the first two books in this series. Weir is a superb historian and storyteller. This book features the queens from the 1400's who found themselves caught up in the Hundred Years War and the Wars of the Roses. This includes Joan of Navarre, Katherine of Valois, Margaret of Anjou, Elizabeth Woodville, and Anne Neville. I can’t wait to read it. 

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

History/Medieval History

December 2, 2025

Book description courtesy of GoodReads

Triumph and tragedy, love and loss, murder and malice in the lives of five fifteenth-century queens. The fifteenth century was a turbulent the Hundred Years War between England and France, and the Wars of the Roses dominated the lives of people both inside and out of the royal courts.

Joan of Navarre, Katherine of Valois, Margaret of Anjou, Elizabeth Wydeville and Anne Neville were the queens who stood by England's sovereigns, caught up in wars that changed the course of their lives, and the course of history. They were also formidable women who defied the limitations of their times, often living out the brutal consequences of their determination.

Alison Weir uncovers their stories in this final volume of her ground-breaking series on the queens of medieval England. Queens at War is a stunning culmination of research by a historian at the full extent of her powers and gripping account of five women on the throne.