Wilde Child by Eloisa James

Two sisters. Thaddeus Erskine Shaw, heir to a dukedom, has been interested in two sisters. But both have married other people. He certainly isn't interested in the third. Lady Joan Wilde is most certainly not a biological Wilde. She has the blond hair and features of the man her mother had a wild affair with (and eventually ran away with him.) Lady Joan is a living scandal. And that's even before she decides to don breeches and play Hamlet. Thaddeus can't believe that her father would allow it. Actually, no one in the family seems to have minded Joan's earlier brushes with scandal so maybe they won't care about this one. But Thaddeus will certainly make it his business to stop her.

And that is mostly covers the blurb on the cover. Quite frankly, I was trying to figure out how that would fill a whole book because an uptight man berating the woman he eventually falls in love with isn't a book that I particularly wanted to read. But, of course, there is more to the story and a lot if it has to do with why Thaddeus is so rigid and seeing him relax a bit. Also getting to see Joan, who starts off pretty awesome and sure of herself, really get to stretch her wings and then find her place. 

Four stars

Wildes of Lindow Castle #6
Follows Say Yes to the Duke
This book comes out March 30th
ARC kindly provided by HarperCollins Publishers and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Reread as hard copy from the library June 2024

Whose Body? by Dorothy L. Sayers

A body has turned up in the bathtub of a house that he didn't belong to. This is at the same time that a prominent financier has disappeared. Lord Peter Wimsey is called in to help when the man who owned the bathtub is accused of the murder. He is thrown into a mystery that comes down to the underpinnings of one man's ego.

Great instance of Peter having PTSD which, of course, wasn't talked about at the time so, I think, a wonderful addition to the story. Disappointingly casual racism in the book especially towards Jewish people.

Four stars

Followed by Clouds of Witness

This book came out in 1923

Audiobook from Audible Plus Catalog

Opinions are my own

Moonshadow by Thea Harrison

I had heard about this book on a podcast and was pleasantly surprised that it is as good as it was advertised to be. Yes, there were some issues with it (I was confused for some portions and Nikolas was often an asshat) but I really liked the world building and am really looking forward to the other books in this series.
Sophie Ross is a witch. Most recently she's been working for the LAPD. But she's surprised to hear that she might have an inheritance. This is surprising since Sophie was an orphan. But the man who placed her has left a rather interesting will. One wherein he has left money for the children he placed with supernatural families would have a chance to inherit a house if they can find a way inside. So Sophie  flies to the UK, figuring she'd at least have a chance to heal from the wounds that took her off the force.
First thing, she finds a stray dog that seems to have been abused horribly. Then she narrowly misses a man who has a great deal of magic. She runs into the man again at the same time werewolf-like creatures attack the inn she's staying at. It turns out he's a mystical warrior working to stop Isabeau, wake up Oberon, and return to his homeland. I didn't really get a ton of connection other than sexual between Sophie and Nikolas but I'm hoping there's more further into the series.

Four stars

Followed by Spellbinder

This book came out December 13th, 2016

Ebook from Kindle

Opinions are my own

Devil May Care by Elizabeth Peters

I love the cover description of this book. Accurate but misleading... in the best possible way. Not unlike Elizabeth Peters. Who created a fun book. Not necessarily haute literature but definitely worth a read nevertheless; it ages remarkably well and the narrator is fantastic.
Ellie is on her way up to house sit for her rich, eccentric aunt. Also in the car, her asshat fiance, Henry. The vivid description of Henry's thoughts perfectly describe his character. He starts out seeming like an all-American and, well, we also see the flip side of getting that dream. 
We get great descriptions of all of the characters but not as much insight as we get into both Henry and Ellie. We learn that Ellie's aunt is going on vacation and Ellie is staying to watch the many, many animals. Except that she also sees something else. Of the six prominent families in the area, Ellie sees ghosts related to five of them. And starts wondering why. Thankfully, the lawnboy, and a descendant of one of the families, Donald, is there  to help.

Three and a half stars
This book came out in 1977
Audible book
Opinions are my own

Legend in Green Velvet by Elizabeth Peters

I have been ripping through audiobooks of Elizabeth Peters' standalones. Most of them hold up really well with humor and awesome, feminist heroines. This is not one of the better ones but it did have the rampant history involved and echoes of the other books that have held up better to the inevitable tramp of time.
We are following along with Susan, an archeological student who has gotten the lifelong opportunity of being able to go on a Pictish dig in Scotland. She's just arrived in the country when she meets a busker/doomsday prophet/revolutionary who gives her a coded note and then ends up dead. Luckily, she runs into Jamie Erskine, a laird who takes her under his wing. And it's a good thing they are together because someone is looking for a treasure and they are not above framing Susan and Jamie for murder in order to get what they want.
The sexism of the time that Peters usually avoids is pervasive in this book (though not as bad as the Jackal's Head which I couldn't even finish) I did enjoy Grace Conlin as the narrator. Two and a half stars rounded up.

Three stars

This book came out March 1st, 1976

Borrowed as audiobook from Audible Premium Plus

Opinions are my own

Slight Mourning by Catherine Aird

Usually the admonition is not to have thirteen people sit down to dinner because one will die. In this case, it was only twelve but one is still dead. In fact, the host was killed by a large overdose of drugs. Then another guest, the amiable but fat (like seriously, her weight is mentioned a LOT) Mrs. Marchmont is killed as well. It is up to Inspector Sloan to come in and figure out what is going on.  
There were a lot of characters and it was sometimes hard to keep track of who was who. And, to be honest, the solution seemed to come a little bit out of nowhere, even with the explanation at the end. But I still enjoyed the character development as well as the ride to get to the end.

Three stars

Follows His Burial Too

Followed by Parting Breath

This book came out in 1975

Ebook borrowed from Audible

Opinions are my own

Mystery at the Masquerade (, #3) by Josh Lanyon

Ellery Page is settling into his new home town and running the local bookstore. He might be a little disappointed that the romance he thought he had going with Police Chief Jack Carson seems to have cooled into a friendship but this small town has been welcoming. He's got a Scrabble night, a book club, and an invitation to the yearly Marauder's Masquerade. The party is thrown by a local founding family who still wield a lot of influence and money, the Bloodworths. There is mother, Marguerite, her younger (and philandering) husband Brett, and son Julian.
Not sure why he was invited, Ellery soon discovers that Julian has a massive crush on him, based on Ellery's past as a movie star. Ellery is bemused by his overtures but not as amused when the two stumble across a body in the family crypt. When Julian is arrested for the crime, Ellery is conscripted to help find the truth.
I hadn't read the other two books in this series but didn't feel like I had missed very much. The mystery in this story is given some short shrift with a B plot feeling a little underdeveloped. The flow of the story was also sometimes stilted but this was overall a light story with engaging characters (I was invested in Jellery (is that a thing?) from their first scene together.

Three stars

Follows Secret at Skull House

This book came out February 28th, 2021

ARC kindly provided by JustJoshin Publishing, Inc. and NetGalley

Opinions are my own