Kitty Ives has fallen on hard times; from a respectable family to a whore in London’s Convent Garden in 1769.  Due to Kitty’s breeding and education, she is well sought out and has climbed the ranks within her house.  One particular night, her company is sought by a man who has given the name of Sir William Westman.  In the morning, Kitty wakes up to her client dead beside her.  With no suspect but herself, Kitty begins a detective mission to clear her name and keep her place in the house that will take her from London’s underbelly to its aristocracy to see how it is all connected to the poor man who was unfortunate enough to be murdered in her bed.
​
This is a historical murder mystery set in 18th century London with an educated prostitute for a sleuth.  At the beginning I was taken in by the mystery of who could have killed the man in Kitty’s bed while she was there sleeping.  Kitty’s detective skills began in earnest as she tried to keep her place in the house.  The setting was also done well and I enjoyed being taken to different places within Convent Garden and seeing how things worked at the time.  The book is written as Kitty’s memoir in telling the strange tale and its outcome.  However, the writing seemed to be a little too detailed, I think that Kitty’s inner monologue got in the way at points and muddled some of the clues and plot points to the point that I forgot what was really going on. Also, while I was truly interested in the mystery at first, it seemed to devolve for me with a few too many twists and turns and Kitty believing one minute that William Westman himself is the murderer and then having sex with him the next.  Of course, being a book with a prostitute as the main character, there are several sex scenes, which is fine with me, but might bother some.  The conclusion of the whole mess brought a little more excitement back and re-sparked my interest a bit.  Overall, for me this one was just ok.
 

This book was received for free in return for an honest review. 

During World War I, an English Bishop, Anthony Shacklock is buried near the field hospital in France where he helped to comfort soldiers.  The beloved Bishop is soon exhumed to be brought back home to England.  However, when the Bishop is dug up another body is found with him.  The bones of a young woman remain a mystery through present day.  Professor Waller has made finding out the identity of the young women his life’s work; however, he gives most of the actual research work to archivist Jess Morris who must toil away in dark libraries and go chasing leads all over England on weekends.  Doing all of Waller’s work has placed a strain on Jess’ husband and children.  Just when Jess seems to find a significant and exciting lead on her mystery woman, she begins to make some risky decisions with her personal life.
​
This was a very intriguing historical mystery.  I was thrown into the story from the very beginning when the unexpected bones were found.  First of all, I love dual-time stories and this story went back and forth between the present and 1899-1918.  I also like giving a story to those who were forgotten and nameless, even though this story is completely fictional it gives a small taste of the work that researchers do in order to solve mysteries of the past.  This story did have a bit of a slow start for me, while I do find research interesting; there was perhaps a bit too much in the beginning.  However, as the clues began to come forward and we got a look back into Shacklock’s time period, the story became better paced.  There was definitely a lot going on with Bishop Shacklock and the story of his time in Greece and in the French Hospital were very involved and intriguing. The conditions of the field hospital were particularly well done and I could imagine it very well. Jess’ story slightly mirrored what the Bishop was going through, however some of her issues paled in comparison to the Bishop and the mystery woman. When the identity of the mystery woman is revealed, I felt relief of her identity and sadness over her story.   Overall, an absorbing historical mystery and a wonderful look into historical research.
 
This book was received for free in return for an honest review.