To continue our monthly series of book lists, the Washington Talking Book & Braille Library would like to recommend the following mysteries set in past times.
Murphy's Law by Rhys Bowen. Ireland, 1901. Molly Murphy flees to New York City after killing a would-be rapist in her home village. She assumes an alias for passage aboard ship, but at Ellis Island she is once again accused of murder. Handsome NYPD Captain Daniel Sullivan is willing to help her prove her innocence. First in the Molly Murphy series. Braille book BR 14095. Large Print book LP 20999.
The Alienist by Caleb Carr. New York City, March 1896. John Moore, news reporter, is awakened at 2:00 A.M. with a request to report to the murder scene of a boy prostitute. Awaiting him is psychologist Dr. Laszlo Kreizler. They have been asked by Police Commissioner Theodore Roosevelt to create a psychological profile – unheard of in their day – of the killer. They will soon become haunted by the underworld and stalked by the murderer. Strong language and violence. Bestseller. Cassette book RC 38121.
The Silver Pigs by Lindsey Davis. Imperial Rome, A.D. 70. In the first book in the series, private investigator Marcus Didius Falco assists Sosia Camillina, a senator's sixteen-year-old niece, whose uncle has hidden in her bank box a stash of valuable lead ingots from Britain. Prequel to Shadows in Bronze (RC 36464). Cassette book RC 58069.
Good Night, Mr. Holmes by Carole Nelson Douglas. Nell Huxleigh, a parson’s daughter, relates this tale of Irene Adler – opera singer and detective. Miss Adler, who has the uncanny ability to outsmart even Sherlock Holmes, became a detective in the early days of her operatic career. Her sleuthing results in encounters with Victorian personages such as Charles Lewis Tiffany, Oscar Wilde, and Anton Dvorak, and with the mysterious Godfrey Norton, who aids her in her search for a skein of diamonds. Braille book BR 09382. Cassette book RC 40584.
An Instance Of The Fingerpost by Iain Pears. In 1663 Dr. Robert Grove, a fellow at New College, Oxford, dies of arsenic poisoning. His former servant, Sarah Blundy, is hanged for his murder. But some say Sarah is innocent. Four men offer their views on Grove's death and Sarah's innocence during this period of religious, scientific, and political upheaval in England. Some violence. Bestseller. Cassette book RC 47002. Large Print Book LP 15189.
The Face Of A Stranger by Anne Perry. London 1856. After an accident, Detective William Monk awakens with no memory. Returning to work, he is assigned to investigate the murder of Crimean War hero the Honorable Joscelin Grey – a precarious job for someone who has forgotten his professional skills. To add to his woes, Monk thinks that his superior wants him to fail and a young woman reappears to remind him of unfinished business. First in the Inspector William Monk series. Cassette book RC 32732.
Crocodile On The Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters. In 1880 spinster Amelia Peabody is in Rome en route to Egypt when she befriends a young noblewoman, Evelyn Barton-Forbes, who has been seduced and abandoned by her drawing master. Evelyn agrees to accompany Amelia and soon unaccountable things begin to happen, climaxing when a tomb is discovered and its inhabitant disappears in the night. First in the Amelia Peabody series. Braille book BR 04728. Cassette book RC 28834. Large Print book LP 00604.
A Morbid Taste For Bones by Ellis Peters. Detective Brother Cadfael, in charge of the herb gardens in the Benedictine monastery of Shrewsbury, has to deal with his superiors when they become obsessed with the notion of acquiring the bones of an obscure saint from a Welsh village. First in the Brother Cadfael series. Braille book BR 03876. Cassette book RC 28174. Large Print book LP 03069.
The Secret Adventures of Charlotte Brontë by Laura Joh Rowland. Charlotte Brontë and her sister Anne travel to London in 1848 to meet with Charlotte's publisher. On the train they meet Isabel White, a mysterious young woman who is later murdered. Drawn into the intrigue, Charlotte attempts to solve the crime. Some violence and some descriptions of sex. Cassette book RC 67111.
Roman Blood by Steven Saylor. In Ancient Rome, Cicero, a young advocate, prepares to argue his first important case in defense of Sextus Roscius, a well-to-do farmer accused of patricide. Giordianus, Cicero's legal assistant, gathers evidence, finds witnesses, and uncovers a conspiracy suggesting the involvement of no less than Sulla, the dictator. It seems that Sulla's estranged son found a way to end the threat to his inheritance. First in the Giordianus the Finder series. Cassette book RC 36648.
Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear. Thirteen-year-old Maisie is lucky to be a maid in the home of a wealthy London suffragette who sees to her education. Maisie becomes a private investigator in 1929 after serving as a nurse during the Great War. Her first case involves a shelter for wounded veterans. First in the Maisie Dobbs series. Braille book BR 15352. Cassette book RC 67808.