14 November, 2014

Book Tour Review: The Ripper's Wife by Brandy Purdy


The Ripper's Wife 


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A suspenseful, spellbinding novel of love, jealousy, and murder, The Ripper's Wife re-imagines the most notorious serial killer in history through the eyes of the woman who sealed his fate.

"Love makes sane men mad and can turn a gentle man into a fiend."

It begins as a fairytale romance--a shipboard meeting in 1880 between vivacious Southern belle Florence Chandler and handsome English cotton broker James Maybrick. Courtship and a lavish wedding soon follow, and the couple settles into an affluent Liverpool suburb.

From the first, their marriage is doomed by lies. Florie, hardly the heiress her scheming mother portrayed, is treated as an outsider by fashionable English society. James's secrets are infinitely darker--he has a mistress, an arsenic addiction, and a vicious temper. But Florie has no inkling of her husband's depravity until she discovers his diary--and in it, a litany of bloody deeds...

Praise for the Novels of Brandy Purdy

"Recommended for readers who can't get enough of the Tudors and have devoured all of Philippa Gregory's books." ?Library Journal on The Boleyn Wife

"Purdy wonderfully reimagines the behind-the-scenes lives of the two sisters." ?Historical Novel Reviews on The Tudor Throne

"I love Brandy Purdy's books, she does thorough research into the lives of the people in the Tudor era and it shows in her writing style. Very descriptive, engaging characters makes The Queen's Rivals a page turning novel. If you are a fan of the Tudor era like I am, then this book is a must." -CelticLady's Reviews on The Queen's Rivals

"The writing is inviting, intense and flawless, rich with the flavor of English country life as well as court life. The political machinations, the tragedy to befall the Dudley family and the mystery surrounding Amy's death were weaved to captivating detail and the end result is a mesmerizing work of historical fiction that puts Brandy Purdy on my "must read" list." -Psychotic State Book Reviews on The Queen's Pleasures

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About the Author
Brandy Purdy is the author of several historical novels. When she's not writing, she's either reading or watching classic movies. She currently lives in Beaumont, TX. Visit her website at http://www.brandypurdy.com for more information about her books. You can also follow her via her blog at http://brandypurdy.blogspot.com/ where she posts updates about her work and reviews of what she has been reading.

Review

05 November, 2014

Book Blast: John Chase Regency Mystery Series by S.K. Rizzolo

The Rose in the Wheel (Book One)

01_The Rose WheelPublication Date: January 1, 2002
Poisoned Pen Press
Formats: Hardcover, Paperback, eBook

Series: John Chase Mystery Series (Book One)
Genre: Historical Mystery/Regency

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This well imagined, carefully detailed, and cleverly plotted debut draws on actual historical events of 1811 London.

Regency London knows Constance Tyrone as the conspicuously celibate founder of the St. Catherine Society, dedicated to helping poor women. One wet November evening a carriage mows down Constance outside her office. Curiously, while her corpse's one foot is bare, the other is shod in a clean satin slipper despite the muddy road. Why was a gentlewoman abroad in the night? And if she died under the wheel, whose hands bruised her neck and stole her monogrammed crucifix?

Dismissing the idea of an accident, Bow Street Runner John Chase forms an unlikely alliance with Penelope Wolfe, wife of the chief suspect. A young mother paying the price for an imprudent marriage, Penelope is eager to clear her husband Jeremy, a feckless portrait painter whose salacious drawings of the victim suggest an erotic interest. Chase's first task is to learn the identity of the mysterious benefactor who goes bail for Wolfe while Penelope traces the victim's last movements. Barrister Edward Buckler, intrigued, shakes off his habitual lethargy and joins their investigation.

As horrifying murders on the Ratcliffe Highway claim all London's attention, the trio discovers that it won't be easy to unravel the enigma of Constance Tyrone, a woman who revives the legend of martyred St. Catherine.

Blood for Blood (Book Two)

02_Blood for BloodPublication Date: April 15, 2003
Poisoned Pen Press
Formats: Hardcover, Paperback, eBook

Series: John Chase Mystery Series (Book Two)
Genre: Historical Mystery/Regency

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In the spring of 1812, the Luddites are on the march, Lord Byron is taking London drawing rooms by storm, and Penelope Wolfe has become a lady's companion. When one of the footmen turns up dead with a knife to the heart, Penelope and Bow Street Runner John Chase are entangled in a web of family secrets and political conspiracy that stretches far beyond luxurious St. James's Square.

With the help of barrister Edward Buckler, Chase follows the trail of a mysterious mad woman caught peeping in the window at the corpse. Penelope struggles to fit into the fashionable world, encountering people who hide resentment and deceit under smooth smiles.

Set against a backdrop of millennial fervor with thousands awaiting the end of the world, BLOOD FOR BLOOD explores the simple truth that every drop of blood spilled will be avenged.

Die I Will Not (Book Three)

Die I Will NotPublication Date: November 4, 2014
Poisoned Pen Press
Formats: Hardcover, Paperback

Series: John Chase Mystery Series (Book Three)
Genre: Historical Mystery/Regency

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Unhappy wife and young mother Penelope Wolfe fears scandal for her family and worse. A Tory newspaper editor has been stabbed while writing a reply to the latest round of letters penned by a firebrand calling himself Collatinus. Twenty years before, her father, the radical Eustace Sandford, wrote as Collatinus before he fled London just ahead of accusations of treason and murder. A mysterious beauty closely connected to Sandford and known only as N.D. had been brutally slain, her killer never punished. The seditious new Collatinus letters that attack the Prince Regent in the press also seek to avenge N.D.?s death and unmask her murderer. What did the journalist know that provoked his death?

Her artist husband Jeremy is no reliable ally, so Penelope turns anew to lawyer Edward Buckler and Bow Street Runner John Chase. As she battles public notoriety, Buckler and Chase put their careers at risk to stand behind her while pursuing various lines of inquiry aimed at N.D.?s murderer, a missing memoir, Royal scandal, and the dead editor?s missing wife. As they navigate the dark underbelly of Regency London among a cast driven by dirty politics and dark passions, as well as by decency and a desire for justice, past secrets and present criminals are exposed, upending Penelope?s life and the lives of others.

Buy the Books

Amazon US
Amazon UK
Barnes & Noble
Book Depository

About the AuthorSK Rizzolo

S.K. Rizzolo is a longtime Anglophile and history enthusiast. Set in Regency England, The Rose in the Wheel and Blood for Blood are the first two novels in her series about a Bow Street Runner, an unconventional lady, and a melancholic barrister. An English teacher, Rizzolo has earned an M.A. in literature and lives in Los Angeles with her husband and daughter.

For more information please visit S.K. Rizzolo's website. You can also find her on Facebook and Goodreads.

John Chase Mystery Series Book Blast Schedule

Monday, November 3
Bookish
Unshelfish
Back Porchervations

Tuesday, November 4
Reading Lark
Rainy Day Reviews

Wednesday, November 5
CelticLady's Reviews
A Bibliotaph's Reviews

Thursday, November 6
The Lit Bitch
Historical Tapestry

Friday, November 7
Passages to the Past
Caroline Wilson Writes

Saturday, November 8
The Maiden's Court
The True Book Addict

Sunday, November 9
Brooke Blogs
Let Them Read Books

Monday, November 10
Layered Pages
With Her Nose Stuck in a Book

Tuesday, November 11
To Read or Not to Read

Wednesday, November 12
Just One More Chapter

Thursday, November 13
A Book Geek
100 Pages a Day

Friday, November 14
Peeking Between the Pages

Saturday, November 15
Mel's Shelves
Historical Fiction Connection

Sunday, November 16
Book Nerd

Giveaway

To win all three books in S.K. Rizzolo's John Chase Regency Mystery Series please complete the Rafflecopter giveaway form below. Giveaway is open internationally.

Giveaway ends at 11:59pm on November 16th. You must be 18 or older to enter.
Winner will be chosen via Rafflecopter on November 17th and notified via email.
Winner have 48 hours to claim prize or new winner is chosen.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

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03 November, 2014

Guest Book Tour: “The Serpent’s Tooth” trilogy by Kathy Fischer-Brown



In Courting the Devil and The Partisan’s Wife (Books 2 & 3 of “The Serpent’s Tooth” trilogy), a major plot thread involves espionage during the American Revolution. One of the oldest occupations, spying on an organized level has been around for as long as men have waged wars. While in no way possessing the skills and training of a modern-day spy, covert agents played a vital role on both sides of the conflict. 



George Washington relied heavily on gathering and exchanging information about enemy strengths, movements, and supply lines. He also expended time and resources in disseminating misleading information. But during the first few years of the war, American intelligence efforts were no match for their British counterparts. 



Under the auspices of The Committee of Secret Correspondence, created during the Second Continental Congress in November of 1775, Washington availed himself of an assortment of alpha-numeric codes—with several kinds of secret ink and several ways to employ them—as well as novel methods of transporting and exchanging these communiqués. In addition to hiding messages in canteens and false heels of shoes, another clever method was to tear the message into narrow strips, roll them up small, and stuff the slivers into the hollow stem of a goose quill pen.



The accompanying photographs (of a dispatch from General Sir Henry Clinton to General John Burgoyne) present an example of one of the coding methods employed by the British. The “Code Mask” was placed over a seemingly innocent letter—or one filled with misinformation, such as the one to the right. The words revealed (below) contained the message.



People from all walks of life served as eyes and ears for their respective causes. Among their numbers were women. Although a few names have come down to us through history—Lydia Darragh, Anna Strong, Ann Bates, to name but a few—no one knows exactly how many women worked behind the lines, selling food and other necessaries in the camps and meeting places frequented by Rebels, British, and Tories. In many cases, such as that of Agent 355 of the “Culper Ring,” we don’t even know their real names. It’s safe to assume we may never know.



In the Courting the Devil, the treatment of my protagonist Anne by Loyalists who have been misled to think she’s a spy is in no way far-fetched. In fact, I saved her from a far worse fate—that suffered by the Canadian Tory, “Miss Jenny,” at the hands of French soldiers serving under Lafayette in 1778. Under the pretense of seeking her father in their camp, she aroused suspicions and was arrested. Not only did her captors try to beat the truth out of her, they raped her. If that wasn’t despicable enough, they cut off her hair—an act considered the height of humiliation at the time. (Miss Jenny, however, did not relent and successfully completed her mission. After returning to the British camp with her intelligence, she vanished from history.) It is also interesting to note that women, in general, were considered too “simple” to understand the complexities of a military campaign, and for the most part, were not taken seriously by either side.



Excerpt from Courting the Devil