First Chapter: Enter Pale Death by Barbara Cleverly

First Chapter, First Paragraph is hosted weekly by Bibliophile by the Sea. Share the first paragraph of your current read.

My current read is a book from the library by an historical mystery novelist whose books I've enjoyed before.This one doesn't disappoint either.

Published December 2, 2014 by Soho Crime.

First paragraph:

Prologue

England, April 1933 

"Gingerbread? You're sure it was gingerbread she asked for, Gracie?" 

The odd request was the very last thing a housekeeper wanted to hear at this moment. Mrs. Bolton stood in the center of the heaving kitchen overseeing her troops with a discipline firm enough to have impressed the Duke of Wellington himself. But, ever alert, the Iron Duke would, like her, have had his attention snagged by an unexpected detail. 

Book description: One morning before dawn in the stables of her country estate, Lady Truelove meets a violent death in an encounter with a dangerous horse. Classified as “death by misadventure,” this appears a gruesome accident. But Scotland Yard Detective Joe Sandilands suspects foul play

Would you continue reading?

Book Teaser: Not My Blood by Barbara Cleverly

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by MizB; choose sentences at random from your current read. Identify author and title for readers. 

 "I'm not absolutely certain, Lydia, but there's trouble with a runaway boy. At Victoria Station. They're holding him until I can get there." (ch. 2)

Not My Blood: A Joe Sandilands Murder Mystery by Barbara Cleverly
Published August 21, 2012; Soho Crime
Setting: England, 1933
Source: publisher

Scotland Yard Detective Joe Sandilands gets a phone call from a distressed boy named Jackie Drummond, who just might be Joe's illegitimate son. Jackie is in trouble at his Sussex boarding school, where a teacher has been murdered. A frightening number of boys, all from wealthy families, have gone missing over the school’s history, but by a strange coincidence none of the families have followed up on their sons' whereabouts. (Book description)

Book Review: A Darker God by Barbara Cleverly

A Darker God: A Laetitia Talbot Mystery (Mortalis) by Barbara Cleverly, 2010.

Reality mimics an ancient Greek tragedy on the stage of an ancient Theater of Dionysius, Athens, Greece in 1928. Archaeologist Laetitia Talbot is caught up in the drama and the unraveling of shocking and mysterious deaths.

The book cleverly combines Greek drama with political, historical and personal drama in 1920s Europe and Greece. With excellent storytelling and a strong sense of place, you get caught up as part of the audience in this extended Greek play and watch with pity and fear as events unfold. Laetitia (Letty) helps a British inspector and the Greek police to sort out the facts while risking her life for the sake of friends and a former lover.

Recommended for those who enjoy mystery, history, Greek drama, and archaeology. In other words, The Darker God (a reference to Dionysius), should have a wide appeal.

Title: A Darker God: A Laetitia Talbot Mystery (Mortalis)
Author: Barbara Cleverly
Paperback: 416 pages
Publisher: Bantam; Original edition (March 23, 2010)
Genre: Archaeological mystery, historical mystery
Source: Library
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Book Review: The Tomb of Zeus by Barbara Cleverly

The Tomb of Zeus

The Tomb of Zeus by Barbara Cleverly is an archaeology mystery published in 2007.

Those who love Greece, the Greek Isles, and Greek mythology will have little problem with the archaeological setting - the island of Crete in the late 1920s.

Laetitia Talbot, a student from Cambridge, is sent by her professor to work on the island with British archaeologist Theodore Russell. Russell has invited her to stay with him and his wife and two other students at his Villa Europa.

When she arrives, Laetitia is disturbed by an air of menace at the villa. When one of the occupants dies, Laetitia's discomfort definitely increases. Was the death a murder or a suicide? She is determined to find out, even if she has to unearth all the secrets surrounding the villa.

Interestingly, the characters in the story parallel the characters in Greek mythology. Theseus of Greek myth arrives in Crete to find and slay the half-man, half-bull Minotaur hidden in a labyrinth underground. Theodore Russell is in Crete at a much later date to unearth ancient Greek statues and temples in archaeological digs. Theodore's complicated family and love life also parallels that of Theseus.

Laetitia is aware of this as she searches for clues to solve the murder. She is helped by a former lover, William Gunning, who is working with her in Crete. Together they uncover an ancient tomb at their work site that only creates a second mystery. Have they found the long-sought tomb of the Greek god, Zeus?

A very enjoyable book that deals with a murder mystery and an archaeological mystery. The plot revolves around Cretan culture, history, mythology, and religion, and also around Laetita's attempts to solve a present day murder in a very exotic locale.

Book provided by the publisher for my objective review.

More on antiquities on Crete.