Deanna Raybourne - Silent in the Sancuary - Silent on the Moor

I thoroughly enjoyed the first title in this trilogy Silent in the Grave, see below. These are just as good.
In Silent in the Sanctuary we are introduced to the family home of the March's, they are snowed in, particularly relevant with our current weather. What then ensues are ghosts, murder by strangulation, attempted murder through poison , oh, and an jewel robbery. There is of course a limited number of guests from which to choose to solve the crimes and it is great fun. they are advertised as witty and they are. A very amusing romp!

This is the final book in the trilogy. Her we have our intrepid heroine pursuing her love up to Yorkshire to try and resolve their relationship once and for all. There are some very witty nods to Wuthering heights here and I really loved it.
Once again of course, we have attempted murder by poison, murder by drowning, death, madness and romance. A heady blend and thoroughly entertaining!

I also enjoyed the gypsy thread that ran through these books, and very much the highlighting of the plight of women from all classes in society of the time.

Incidentally her next book is about vampires, can't wait!

Anna Davis - The Jewel Box

Looking back I can see I was rather sniffy about Anna's previous title The Shoe Queen. I am glad I persevered as this book is excellent. It really is very funny. This book is about an 'it' girl of the 1920's and she writes a weekly newspaper column. It is these columns that litter the book that really make it, they are so amusing. This is basically a historical romance but as a light enjoyable read it was great, just what I needed to amuse me over the Christmas period.

Jacqueline Winspear - Among the Mad

This is another Maisie Dobbs mystery. I once again really enjoyed it. These now are less murder mysteries but more mysteries solved by psychology. Interestingly there is a very similar plot in this novel to Anne Perry's WW1 series, terrorism with a political motive. The book also addresses the terrible plight of old and disabled soldiers from the trenches, particularly those that are psychological damaged. So there are lots of modern parallels. It is these themes that would make this a very interesting reading group read.