The Murder of the Century by Paul Collins

The Murder of the Century: The Gilded Age Crime That Scandalized a City & Sparked the Tabloid Wars 

 

“No writer better articulates ourinterest in the confluence of hope, eccentricity, and the timelessness of the bold and strange than Paul Collins.”—DAVE EGGERS

On Long Island, a farmer finds a duck pond turned red with blood. On the Lower East Side, two boys playing at a pier discover a floating human torso wrapped tightly in oilcloth. Blueberry pickers near Harlem stumble upon neatly severed limbs in an overgrown ditch. Clues to a horrifying crime are turning up all over New York, but the police are baffled: There are no witnesses, no motives, no suspects.

The grisly finds that began on the afternoon of June 26, 1897, plunged detectives
headlong into the era’s most baffling murder mystery. Seized upon by battling media moguls Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst, the case became a publicity circus. Reenactments of the murder were staged in Times Square, armed reporters lurked in the streets of Hell’s Kitchen in pursuit of suspects, and an unlikely trio—a hard-luck cop, a cub reporter, and an eccentric professor—all raced to solve the crime.

What emerged was a sensational love triangle and an even more sensational trial: an unprecedented capital case hinging on circumstantial evidence around a victim whom the police couldn’t identify with certainty, and who the defense claimed wasn’t even dead. The Murder of the Century is a rollicking tale—a rich evocation of America during the Gilded Age and a colorful re-creation of the tabloid wars that have dominated media to this day.

 

I'm not always a huge fan of true crime as a lot of it seems to simply be sensationalist rubbish. By contrast this book details the story of not only a horrific murder but how it came to be sensationalised and how the tabloids' fascination with murder and murderers was born in the supposedly more genteel era of 19th century America. 20th century sensationalist reporting started here, at the behest of Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst.

 

My Dearest Holmes by Rohase Piercy

My Dearest Holmes

"... The accounts of these cases are too bound up with events in my personal life which, although they may provide a plausible commentary to much of my dealings with Mr Sherlock Holmes, can never be made public while he or I remain alive ..."

Although Dr Watson is known for recording some sixty of his adventures with the celebrated Sherlock Holmes, he also wrote other reminiscences of their long friendship which were never intended for publication during their lifetimes. Rescued from oblivion by Rohase Piercy, here are two previously unknown stories about the great detective and his companion, throwing a fresh light upon their famous partnership, and helping to explain much which has puzzled their devotees.

Together, Holmes and Watson face disturbing revelations as they investigate the case of the Queen Bee; and we finally learn what actually happened at the Reichenbach Falls and the real reasons which lay behind Holmes' faked death and his subsequent return.

This is pretty much Harlequin Romance meets Sherlock Holmes, recorded in Doctor Watson's voice as so many of the original cases were. The book is divided into two halves. The first, a mystery worthy of Conan Doyle himself, in my opinion, but interwoven with an insight into the relationship, or lack thereof, between Holmes and Watson, and set shortly before the events of The Sign of the Four, which, devoted readers will know, is the case in which Watson meets the woman he will marry. The second half is set during and after the events of The Final Problem and detail the emotions and actions of Watson, Holmes, and his distressingly cold and calculating older brother, Mycroft, as Holmes 'dies' and is resurrected.

A Study in Lavender: Queering Sherlock Holmes

A Study in Lavender: Queering Sherlock Holmes

What other characters from English literature have captivated hearts and minds as thoroughly as Sherlock Holmes and his loyal companion John Watson? Many fans imagine the relationship between these men is deep and more than platonic. In A Study in Lavender, the Holmes universe is queered and ten authors have devised stories in which Holmes and Watson are lovers, or investigate mysteries of inverts hidden from the laws and cultures of the Victorian era; even the indomitable Lestrade has his turn at love; and famous actors who helped put Holmes on the silver screen face trysts they never dared to film.

I was hoping this would be good and not just an attempt to cash in in the sudden mainstream awareness of the homosexual subtext that can be seen in the Holmes stories (thank you Robert Downey Jr!). And luckily I was proved right!

A Test of Wills by Charles Todd

A Test of Wills: Inspector Ian Rutledge Mystery Series, Book 1 (Inspector Ian Rutledge Mysteries)

In 1919, Scotland Yard Inspector Ian Rutledge remains haunted by World War I, where he was forced to have a soldier executed for refusing to fight. When Rutledge is assigned to investigate a murder involving the military, his emotional war wounds flare. It is a case that strikes dangerously close to home--one that will test Rutledge's precarious grip on his own sanity.

I cannot express how much I loved this book! Rutledge is a detective from Scotland Yard who has just returned to work after recovering from the injuries he sustained in the First World War. Although he has kept the fact from almost everyone what he is really recovering from is shell shock. He hears voices. One voice in particular - that of one of his men. I won't tell you why it is this voice in particular that haunts him since we don't discover that til about halfway through the book.

Other Earths Anthology

Other Earths

one world among many... eleven stories about them all

What if Lincoln never became president, and the Civil War never took place? What if Columbus never discovered America, and the Inca developed a massive, technologicallyadvanced empire? What if magic was real and a half-faerie queen ruled England? What if an author discovered a book written by an alternate version of himself?

These are just some of the possible pathways that readers can take to explore the Other Earths that may be waiting just one page away.

This is an anthology of alternative history stories and it's one of my favourite genres so I was excited about reading it. Sadly, that didn't last...

There are only eleven stories in the book so I'll discuss each one individually.

Auctioned Virgin to Seduced Bride by Louise Allen

Auctioned Virgin to Seduced Bride

London, 1814 Innocent Laurel Vernon is living a nightmare after being kidnapped and put up for auction in one of London's most notorious brothels. 


Only the memory of private enquiry agent Patrick Jago gives her strength. Even though she only knew him for a few days, Patrick made her feel both protected and weak with desire.When Laurel sees Patrick among the brothel's clientele, she isn't sure if he has come to rescue her or to satisfy his own lust. But she is certain that he intends to bid on her!

This is basically a side story to the author's series The Transformation of the Shelley Sisters, which I haven't read. Honestly for someone who is so insistent on reading things in order this is becoming a theme in my reviews! Anyway it doesn't really matter much as you can understand what has gone before from the story itself. I love the way the author explains why she wrote the story - in one of her books Patrick explained to the heroine that he had been delayed in London for a few days and so she, the author, wanted to find out why. She wasn't expecting to find her hero at a high class brothel!

Love Under Two Gunslingers by Cara Covington

Love Under Two Gunslingers [The Lost Collection] (Siren Publishing Menage Everlasting)

[#179: Siren Menage Everlasting: Erotic Western Menage a Trois Romance, M/F/M] Sold into marriage by her father, Sarah discovers she’s drawn to the two gunslingers escorting her to her new home. Caleb and Joshua Benedict look nothing alike, yet these twins both make Sarah’s body shiver, and her heart quiver. When danger threatens, her protectors lead Sarah into the untamed wilderness of Indian Territory. Terrified and torn, Sarah offers herself to the brothers—seizing her only chance to taste love before she begins her sentence of a loveless marriage. Caleb and Joshua Benedict are twins who’ve always agreed on the most important things in life, and one thing they agree on is they both want Sarah. When they discover someone’s trying to kill her, they know they’ll move heaven and hell to keep her safe. And when she comes to them to offer all she is, they know they’ll do anything--anything at all--to keep her. **A Siren Erotic Romance

The Last Chance Ranch by D G Parker

Last Chance Ranch by D G Parker

In the rough desert country of New Mexico, Ben Johnson runs a horse ranch called the Bar J. More than a business, the ranch is home to a collection of drifters, gamblers, drunks, and gunslingers, all of whom have found a second chance at life. What’s more, the ranch is a haven for men who prefer the company of other men, like Ben himself. He and his young lover, Obie, deal with the everyday running of the Bar J and try to keep their ranch hands out of trouble. But when the arrival of strangers brings threats from without and within, Obie and Ben find out who their friends truly are and whether the strength of their love can see them through.

I should start with a confession - this is the second in a series but since the first part is in an anthology that I don't own I haven't read it. Maybe this book would have been better if I had but I don't think the things I had a problem with are related to that.

Dealing Straight by Emily Veinglory

Dealing Straight by Emily Veinglory

Richard is worn out, used up, and just plain cynical. Son of a wealthy Bostonian banker, he came west to gamble and carouse when his life fell apart. Though a sensitive and moral man, he finds a reckless life easier to bear—since he has no one to care about and no real hopes for his future.


Brave, beautiful U.S. Marshall Wayne Sneddon wants to change all that. He enlists Richard to help him find and take down a bigwig out to get water rights for himself, regardless of the settlers in the way. In part, Wayne needs help, but more, he wants Richard’s company.


In between the shooting, fighting and intrigue, Richard comes to share Wayne’s feelings…but after he finds the courage to share Wayne’s bed, will he find the courage to share his feelings?


Sometimes just about anything is easier than Dealing Straight.


I have no idea where to start with this...

Desire, Oklahoma, The Founding Fathers - Untamed Desire by Lana Dare

Desire, Oklahoma - The Founding Fathers 01 - Untamed Desire

by Lana Dare

[Siren Menage Everlasting: Erotic Western Menage a Trois Romance, M/F/M] Desire, Oklahoma: The Founding Fathers...and the courageous women who dare to love them. Here is how it all begins...When Eb and Jeremiah Tyler left their father's ranch five years ago, Maggie Simms thought she'd never see them again. But now they're back. But different. In the years they've been gone, they've become strangers--hard, cold men she barely recognizes. Dangerous men. But her heart knows them. And knows she'd never survive watching them walk away again, even though they see her as nothing more than the woman they'd helped raise, one who understands ranch life. Knowing she could never let them suspect that she loves them both, she dreams of marrying one of them and living happily ever after on their father's ranch. But she's stunned to learn they have plans of their own--plans to share her. To take her away from the only home she'd ever known. To a ranch in Oklahoma, called the Circle T. In a town they call Desire. A Siren Erotic Romance

It sounded so promising ... I quite like the idea of communities with their own rules and since it's a common trope in this kind of book I get to indulge my tastes quite regularly and the idea of seeing one from the start really made me happy because I absolutely love historical romances. And cowboys! Who doesn't love cowboys?