The Anatomist’s Apprentice by Tessa Harris

Lord Crick has died. While convulsing. And turning yellow. And providing his family with a gruesome corpse. Although young Lord Crick had some health issues (i.e. the pox) and a rather nasty disposition, it really was a ghastly and horrific death. Welcome to the world of The Anatomist’s Apprentice by Tessa Harris.

His sister Lady Lydia decides that there must be a further investigation. The gossip against her husband Captain Flynn, who is her brother’s heir, is becoming scandalous. On the advice of her cousin Francis, she travels to London to meet with Dr. Thomas Silkstone, an American physician who is working, studying and teaching with British anatomist Dr. Carruthers. Silkstone, who is quite taken with Lady Lydia, agrees reluctantly to exhume and examine the corpse and answer questions at the inquest.

When he is at the estate, he finds not just a house in mourning, but a household full of secrets. Silkstone uses his primitive forensic and toxicology skills to study the remains, but he finds more questions than answers, and his list of suspects in the household grows.  The tension swells, and the plot twists,  but will Silkstone (with some help from Carruthers) find the answers with his scientific methods before there is another body found on the estate? Harris writes a layered tale of forensic mystery using engaging characters who struggle with the conventions of their time. Silkstone is wonderful as the outsider looking into their society. Can't wait to read the next one in the series!

Blind Justice & the Sir John Fielding Mystery Series

Sir John Fielding was famous in eighteen century England as a co-founder of London's first police force - the Bow Street Runners. He was also a magistrate who was known for his intellect and fairness. His half brother was the novelist Henry Fielding. And the most remarkable part of his career was that he did all this and he was blind since the age of 19.

Bruce Alexander has created this mystery series around the great "Blind Beak" as he was known. Blind Justice is the first in the series. The narrator of the stories is a thirteen year old, Jeremy, who Fielding saves from jail. Jeremy becomes Sir John's "eyes" and helps him on his missions of justice.

Alexander has a great feel for the historical period and this will be a grittier read of the Georgian/Regency period than some readers will be used to. This is not the beautiful and fancy Regency of romances novels and the Ton. This world is filled with corruption and villains. Some of them get their comeuppance and some get away because of family connections or wealth. Hmm, kind of sounds familiar.

Join Fielding as he deals out justice - one case at a time. I have enjoyed the first three books in the series and looking forward to reading more. A very fun read.

Blind Justice (1994)
Murder in Grub Street (1995)
Watery Grave (1996)

Jane's World - Everything You Wanted to Know About Jane Austen's Books But Were Too Busy to Ask

Are you a Janite? Do Jane Austen's novels rock your world? Can't get enough of Mr. Darcy and Anne Elliot? I have the book for you. Deirdre Le Faye's book Jane Austen: The World of Her Novels is a great study of Austen's works. And she goes in depth and manages to be entertaining in the process.

Even if you only have one favorite Austen novel, you can go into this book and see the detail about the time period of the book, where it might have been set - what were the styles of houses, clothes and people during that time. It gives the average reader an peak into Jane's influences while writing and what references her readers of her time would have caught and appreciated. And Le Faye does this all in an engaging but serious style.

This may not be for everyone - she does go into enormous detail, book by book, but it is a must for the Austen fan. A great compact book to add to your literary reference shelf. I'm going to have to get this keeper.

Austenland

Austenland: a Novel by Shannon Hale is a great book for anyone who has daydreamed for their own Mr. Darcy. In fact that seems to be the problem for the lead character Jane. Colin Firth's BBC version of Jane Austen's Mr. Darcy has ruined her relationships. Every guy she meets just doesn't measure up. When she admits this to her elderly aunt, she receives a strange bequest. Her aunt leaves her an all expenses paid holiday to Pembrook Park in England for an exclusive three week regency vacation. Jane feels like an addict who just got a hit. Should she go? Will this cure her fascination with a literary character?

Guest at Pembrook Park have to dress, dance, walk and talk in the regency style. Jane receives a briefing before she actually makes it to the grand estate that will be her home for the next three weeks. And the others who are there? Is this their vacation too? Is this real? Perhaps it is a bad TV reality show and no one told Jane? And what about these men who are here? After swearing off of guys, the ones here look pretty yummy... But the restrictions of the time period are still restrictions here - will Jane ever find some one real or it will it be just pretty conversation and polite enquiries about the weather? Will she leave the Mr. Darcy dream behind?

Hale has a great character in Jane - the reader wants to cheer her successes and moans at her past romantic failures. The author draws us in to this surreal world and we understand Jane's confusion over what is real and what - and who, is pretend. This is the ultimate fun and frothy novel and it is a great read. Enjoy!