Historical Fiction Part II (4.40 to 4.22 stars) 6/08/05
Explore top-rated historical fiction books with ratings from 4.40 to 4.22 stars. Discover captivating reads and timeless stories in this curated list from 6/08/05.
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The Prince of Beverly Hills
by Stuart Woods
Demoted after a run-in with a superior, Rick Barron, a detective with the Beverly Hills police force, lands a job with the security detail at Centurion Pictures, and uncovers a blackmail scheme that threatens the studio's business.
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The Slaying of the Shrew
by Simon Hawke
Shakespeare and Smythe are at it again in this entertaining sequel to A Mystery of Errors. Will Shakespeare, Symington "Tuck" Smythe, and their band of thespians are contracted to provide entertainment at a rural estate as part of a large wedding pageant. When the headstrong bride turns up dead, and overheard conversations contain conspiratorial plots against the families involved, Will and Tuck must once again pull double duty as thespians and sleuths to solve the case of The Slaying of the Shrew.
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Space
by James Albert Michener
Engineer Stanley Mott, astronomy student John Pope, naval hero Norman Grant, and rocket engineer Dieter Kolff serve as principals in the forty-year history of America's space program and share the complex drama with numerous others.
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One Corpse Too Many
by Ellis Peters
An ingenious killer disposes of a strangled corpse on a battlefield. Brother Cadfael discovers the body, and must then piece together disparate clues--including a girl in boy's clothing, a missing treasure and a single flower--to expose a murderer's black heart.
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SPQR IX: The Princess and the Pirates
by John Maddox Roberts
Dispatched to the Mediterranean to clear the sea of pirates, playboy detective Decius Caecilius Metellus is forced to humor an overenthusiastic Princess Cleopatra and decipher clues that hint at a larger conspiracy behind increasing pirate activity.
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The Judgment of Caesar
by Steven Saylor
Heading to Egypt in search of a cure for the mysterious illness of his ailing wife, Bethesda, Gordianus the Finder arrives in a country torn by war and power struggles, a situation that worsens when Bethesda vanishes.
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The False Inspector Dew
by Peter Lovesey
“Absolutely riveting . . . A masterpiece. I defy anyone to foresee the outcome.”—Ruth Rendell The year is 1921. A passionate affair between voracious romance reader Alma Webster and her dentist, Walter Baranov, has led to his wife’s murder. The lovers take flight aboard the Mauretania and the dentist takes the name of Inspector Dew, the detective who arrested the notorious wifekiller Dr. Crippen. But, in a disquieting twist, a murder occurs aboard ship and the captain invites “Inspector Dew” to investigate.
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Island of Tears
by Troy Soos
In 1892, New York dime novelist Marshall Webb finds himself embroiled in the world of corrupt government officials, ruthless sweatshop owners, and callous slumlords after an encounter with young Christina, a Dutch immigrant who vanishes before she can pursue her dream to become a singer. When he uncovers white slavery and murder, Webb is determined to prove that justice can't be bought.
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Murder on the Minnesota
by Conrad Allen
Working as private detectives on the "Minnesota, " George Porter Dillman and Genevieve Masefield are excited about a cruise to the Far East. But when a fiery Anglican missionary is murdered en route to China, Dillman and Genevieve have to use all their skills to prevent an idyllic trip from becoming a nightmare.
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SPQR VI: Nobody Loves a Centurion
by John Maddox Roberts
Like so many young men in later generations, Roman playboy/detective Decius Caecilius Metellus the Younger is faced with the necessity of serving in his country's armed forces. Since a dangerous enemy has become powerful in the politics of Rome, Decius is just as well out of the city for a while. He sets out to join Caesar in Gaul (where the general has come and seen, but has as yet not been able to conquer. The occupying Roman army is at a standstill. When Decius shows up in full parade regalia (much to the amusement of the more informally uniformed veterans) and accompanied only by his young personal slave. Caesar sets him the task of discovering who murdered one of his centurions, a cruel and unfair officer feared and hated by every man of the one hundred soldiers under him. A further prod to Decius is that the main suspect is a youth whose father is a close friend of the Metellus family. With Caesar's decree that another killer be found in a matter of hours or the young man dies, Decius has his work cut out for him. John Maddox Roberts's series set in the first century A.D. vividly brings to readers a strong sense of the everyday life of the ancient Romans in the context of our own.
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Murder on the Caronia
by Conrad Allen
Genevieve Masefield and George Porter Dillman have met all kinds of people while sailing as ship detectives for the Cunard Line. But as they prepare to embark on yet another Atlantic crossing, this time aboard the famous Caronia, they encounter an entirely new circumstance: two men brandishing shotguns herd a man and a woman aboard ship in shackles, right in front of scores of baffled passengers. Curious, the two detectives come to find out that the young couple have been captured in New York by Scotland Yard and are being transported back to England to stand trial for murder. Before long, George and Genevieve have a chance to talk to the Scotland Yard officers, and come away far less than convinced that the captured couple are the vicious criminals they’re thought to be. Of course, no matter how much they'd like to follow up on the hunch that the two may not be guilty, they've got a ship full of their standard responsibilities: purse-snatching passengers, stateroom burglars, professional poker cheats, and, of course, drug traffickers posing as high-class travelers. But the hunch just won't go away, and George knows he'll just have to find time to check into the situation. All in all, it's another hugely fun romp on the high seas for two detectives rapidly becoming fan favorites in Conrad Allen's iventive historical series.
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Autumn Bridge
by Takashi Matsuoka
In the year 1311, in the highest tower of Cloud of Sparrows Castle, a beautiful woman sits by the window, watching as enemies gather below. As she calmly awaits her fate, she begins to write, carefully setting down on a scroll the secret history of the Okumichi clan...of the gift of prophecy they share and the extraordinary destiny that awaits them. For six centuries, these writings lay hidden-until they are uncovered by an American missionary named Emily Gibson, who arrived in Edo harbor in 1861. Soon an extraordinary man would enter her life: Lord Genji of the Okumichi clan, a nobleman who must defend his embattled family-and confront forbidden feelings for an outsider in his midst. Emily soon finds a mission of her own: translating Genji's ancestral history. But as Emily sifts through the fragile scrolls, she begins to see threads of her own life woven into the ancient writings. And soon a hidden history comes to life, and with it a secret prophecy that has been shrouded for centuries, and may now finally be revealed. Book jacket.
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The Rocky Mountain Moving Picture Association
by Loren D. Estleman
Hollywood, 1913: In the dusty desert community of Los Angeles, a ragtag film company cranks out silent movies in defiance of the law. Young Dmitri Pulski works for his father's ice company in the snowy Sierra Nevadas, and is sent on a journey south to investigate an astonishing order for ten tons of ice by something called the Rocky Mountain Moving Picture Association. Almost immediately, Dmitri, an aspiring writer, finds himself writing movie scenarios. But things get rocky when the company is threatened with foreclosure by the local sheriff--they're grinding out their movies just outside the reach of the monopolistic Eastern Trust, which claims the exclusive right to make moving pictures under Thomas Edison's patent. The Rocky Mountain Moving Picture Association is the story of the frontier's last boomtown, whose cast of big guns includes D.W. Griffith, Tom Mix, Lillian Gish, and unseen villain Thomas Edison.
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The Godless Man
by P. C. Doherty
In this latest installment of the ancient mystery series featuring doctor-detective Telamon, Alexander the Great matches wits with an elusive Persian assassin after crushng the Persian army at the Battle of the Granicus.
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The Merchant of Vengeance
by Simon Hawke
Will, the fledgling playwright and poet, and Tuck, the would-be actor and rest-of-the-time ostler, have been enjoying their lives on and behind the stage...if only it wasn't for the occasional interruptions: plague, the closing of the theater for reasons of law or finance, and the occasional murder. As luck would have it, the dramatic twosome must once again play detective in a case that involves the fates of those near and dear to their hearts as well as certain hoped-to- have-been--forgotten family members . Christopher Marlowe's The Jew of Malta is all the rage on the London stage, and the young bard wishes to rise to the competition. With companion Tuck at his side, Will makes a sojourn for research purposes into the Elizabethan underworld, where contracts are blood bonds and the quality of mercy is stretched to its very limits. He becomes embroiled in a tangle of unlucky young lovers, anti-Semitism, and rogue justice.
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A Face Turned Backward
by Lauren Haney
The many and mighty deities of Egypt must be given their due. All commerce is conducted under the watchful eyes of the functionaries of the great Queen Maatkare Hatshepsut. Death faces any and all who could rob the royal hose of Kemet of its rightful share. Lieutenant Bak, commander of the Medjay police, willingly accepts his assignment to search all Nile River traffic for contraband -- for rumors are rife of valuable elephant tusks passing unlawfully from the south to the north. But greed has spawned death, hideous and unexpected, and someone who would become rich illegally is dealing in far more than precious ivory. Whoever threatens to expose a lethal cache of secrets will not live to see a new dawn -- and loyal Bak could be the next, as he heads relentlessly toward a grim confrontation, a shocking revelation, and very possible doom in the realm of the dead.
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Murder on the Mauretania
by Conrad Allen
In Liverpool to embark on the "Mauretania's" maiden voyage, George Porter Dillman and Genevieve Masefield are again working undercover as private detectives. Soon after the ship leaves port, severe weather confines passengers to their cabins. When one of them vanishes and is believed to have gone overboard in the storm, Dillman and Genevieve realize he was murdered.
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Murder on the Marmora
by Conrad Allen
George Porter Dillman and Genevieve Masefield, used to the grand opulence of the Cunard cruise line, are at first disappointed with the Marmora, a small, unimpressive ship that's part of the P&O shipping line, the company that now employs them as ship's detectives. They know that they're certain to encounter the same petty thefts and confidence tricksters they're used to dealing with, though they hope identifying the culprits among the 500 or so passengers will prove a little easier than it does aboard the great 2,000 passenger Cunard ships. Their hope is misplaced, however, and they soon settle in to the routine of taking reports from agitated passengers and doing their best to recover whatever stolen jewelry or purloined cash the unfortunate travelers are missing. The cruise is certain to be unique in at least one respect, however: the Duke and Duchess of Fife, along with their two small children, are aboard, and the detectives' secondary task is to keep an eye on the royals and do their best to ensure their security. When a dead body turns up, however, George and Genevieve know they've got their work cut out for them. Suspects abound, and on such a small ship keeping the demise of the poor victim a secret is proving tougher than they'd like. Through the eyes of Conrad Allen, a luxury cruise to Egypt in 1908 becomes a majestic voyage, albeit with murder in the mix, upon which readers will be eager to embark.
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The Right Hand of Amon
by Lauren Haney
When Kings Walked As Living Gods It is the eighteenth dynasty of Queen Maatkare Hatshepsut, divine ruler of a sun-seared realm. And blood flows as freely as the great, winding Nile that nourishes this ancient land of intrigue and danger. Lieutenant Bak is a loyal servant of the royal house of Egypt--commander of the Medjay police in the frontier fortress city of Buhen. A man of honor and ability, it is he who must oversee the corps assigned to accompany the golden idol, the god Amon, on its journey up the Nile to heal the ailing son of a powerful tribal king. But the mighty river has yielded up a sinister "treasure": the body of a brave soldier horrifically slain for reasons unknown. And only the drawings of a missing mute boy can help Bak unravel the mystery of the officer's foul death--before it leads to far greater crimes that could imperil an empire. WHEN KINGS WALKED AS LIVING GODS It is the eighteenth dynasty of Queen Maatkare Hatshepsut, divine ruler of a sun-seared realm. And blood flows as freely as the great, winding Nile that nourishes this ancient land of intrigue and danger. Lieutenant Bak is a loyal servant of the royal house of Egypt--commander of the Medjay police in the frontier fortress city of Buhen. A man of honor and ability, it is he who must oversee the corps assigned to accompany the golden idol, the god Amon, on its journey up the Nile to heal the ailing son of a powerful tribal king. But the mighty river has yielded up a sinister treasure: the body of a brave soldier horrifically slain for reasons unknown. And only the drawings of a missing mute boy can help Bak unravel the mystery of the officers foul death--before it leads to far greater crimes that could imperil an empire.
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The Last Templar
by Michael Jecks
The Knights Templar They had all joined taking three vows: poverty, chastity, and obedience…for they were monks: warrior monks, dedicated to theprotection of pilgrims in the Holy Land -- until stories spread by anavaricious king who wanted their wealth for his own destroyed the order. There was one knight, however, who escaped the stake, vowing justiceas he watched his innocent brothers die. In the Service of the Lord Simon Puttock has not been bailiff of Lydford Castle long in this year of 1316, when he is called to a nearby village to examine a burned-out cottage and the dead body within. But it is the newly arrived knight, Sir Baldwin Furnshill, who discerns the deceased was no victim of a tragic mishap; he was, in fact, murdered prior to the blaze. Simon would be well-served by accepting further assistance from this astute, though haunted and secretive stranger. For a second fatal burning indicates that some harsh evil has invaded this once-peaceful place, and its hunger has yet to be sated.
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Burning Bridges
by Troy Soos
The critically acclaimed author of "The Gilded Cage" plunges readers once again into the gritty underside of turn-of-the-century New York, as editor Marshall Webb and reformer Rebecca Davies reunite to solve a mystery that could expose a hidden world where everything has a price--and someone is guilty of murder. Original.
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Raise the Devil
by Terence Faherty
How do you stop a vicious killer whose motive is vengeance and whose prey is a movie company on an isolated California ranch? In 1962, Scott Elliott, top operative of Hollywood Security, problem solvers of last resort, travels to Las Vegas to rescue a starlet, Beverly Brooks, who has fallen afoul of a move-struck gangster. When Brooks and the producer of her current film, a cut-rate Cleopatra, are later killed in a fiery plane crash, Elliott follows a bloody trail from the ranch to Los Angeles and back again. There he must deal with a murderous evil - and the knowledge that his actions may have unleashed it. Evoking the high summer of a lost American era while exploring the weaknesses and secret sins that led to its destruction, Raise the Devil is in every way a worthy sequel to Come Back Dead, winner of the Shamus Award for Best Private Eye Novel of the Year.