Category: historical-fiction
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Here is the sixth and second-to-last book in C. J. Sansom’s Shardlake mystery series. Although this novel is starting to show some weakness, as one would likely expect when a series has gone well past the typical trilogy, I found Lamentation to be just as enjoyable as the previous books. With Master Shardlake once again…
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The King’s Justice by E.M. Powell is a nice start to her Stanton and Barling medieval mystery novel series. I’m having a fun time finishing the Shardlake series, with just two more to go in the collection. The King’s Justice is on a similar type of footing but much shorter and a little bit more…
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This novel is a true national treasure for those in the know. Set in the early 1930s in a small town in Mississippi, the brilliant and smooth storytelling, along with the wonderful characters you’ll meet—especially little Meg and Birdie—will have you turning chapter after chapter until you’ve lost all track of time. It may be…
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It seems like I can always count on Ken Follett’s Kingsbridge series if I want a good story where the line between good and evil is clearly drawn. We have the guys and gals to root for and the villains who drive our blood pressure and anxiety levels to dangerous heights. The Evening and the…
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This one came as a surprise to me, as I had just found out it won both the Bram Stoker Award and the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 2025. I read a quick summary and was immediately sold on it. The last good novel I read that involved creepy vampires and the like was…
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The fifth book in the Matthew Shardlake series by C.J. Sansom, and it’s one of the best so far. It is likely one of the longest books in the series so far, if memory serves me correctly. In truly spectacular fashion, the author seems to have drawn me into Tudor London yet again. I believe…
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Here in the fourth book of the series, I find myself continuing to enjoy the Matthew Shardlake series. With Revelation, author CJ Sansom has crafted another historical fiction mystery novel that kept me reading nonstop. And yes, there was a lot of reading to be done, with the book clocking in at almost 600 pages.…
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Of the many historical fiction novels I’ve read, I don’t believe I’ve read one set during WWII in Malaya. The Storm We Made by Vanessa Chan piqued my interest with its positive reviews, beautiful cover, along with it being a literary novel based on espionage and how it can tear a normal family apart. Upon…
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The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson is a literary historical fiction romance that immediately captured my attention once I discovered it by accident. While I rarely read romance, the premise of the story in which a woman claims to be a severely burnt victim of a car crash that she has lived for hundreds of years…
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The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova is a refreshing new twist on the popular tale of Vlad Tepes, aka Dracula. It’s hard to believe that The Historian is the author’s debut novel, published in 2005. Right at around 700 pages, we can clearly see that she had huge ambitions for this project. Fortunately for us readers,…
