Elizabeth (The Queene’s Christmas, 2003, etc.) makes an appealingly courageous detective if you can swallow Harper’s...
As she asserts absolute control over her image and most parts of English government, Queen Elizabeth I decrees a competition for a royal portrait. Political, yes, competitive, certainly, but it also proves unexpectedly dangerous.
Moving her court from London to Nonesuch Palace, her father’s whimsical architectural masterpiece in the country—where she can keep a close eye on her elderly companion, Lady Katherine Ashley, who’s being cared for by nursemaid Floris Minton—the queen sits for portraits by three painters: Lavinia Teerlinc, Will Kendale, and Henry Heatherly. Much to the artists’ displeasure, Elizabeth’s protégé, young painter Gilbert Sharp, joins the competition upon returning from an Italian apprenticeship. When Kendale’s tent in the encampment outside Nonesuch goes up in flames, killing the painter and his boy-toy, Elizabeth commands the skills of scientist John Dee, who notices an unusual burn pattern and a trussed-up exit, clues that point to arson and murder courtesy of an exotic incendiary device. Elizabeth, haunted by memories of a fire in her youth, resumes her unlikely and anachronistic role as detective, worrying as signs point in turn to Gil, to Dee’s pretty second wife, and even back to injustices perpetrated by her father, Henry VIII.
Elizabeth (The Queene’s Christmas, 2003, etc.) makes an appealingly courageous detective if you can swallow Harper’s anachronistic portrait of the monarch as action hero.Pub Date: Feb. 10, 2005
ISBN: 0-312-32692-0
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Dunne/Minotaur
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2005
A comic-book thrill ride with the added appeal of bear shifters falling in love.
Bear shifters battle their attraction and awkward flirtations while trying to stop a criminal focused on terrorizing young shifters.
Annette Garsea is one of the hardest and most dedicated caseworkers at the Interspecies Placement Agency of Minnesota, a foster care system for shifter species. It’s her job to find homes and resources for at-risk shifter youth and children. At times, her work brings her within close proximity of private investigator David Auberon. Both are bear shifters with an obvious connection, but Annette thinks she’s too busy for a relationship, and David can’t seem to say more than five words to Annette before getting tongue-tied. It takes a shifter baby in grave danger to give the two bears the nudge they need to graduate from strictly business to something way more than friends. Davidson’s (Deja New, 2017, etc.) trademark goofiness, over-the-top action scenes, and fierce heroines are all accounted for along with a memorable cast of characters, though her books can be an acquired taste for readers who prefer their shifters growly and full of angst. David is a sweetheart with a long-standing crush on Annette; in his mind, she’s way out of his league. He’s also supportive and completely comfortable letting Annette shine as the fearsome mama bear. The pair are wonderfully matched, whether they’re watching each other’s backs in the midst of danger or being two utter cornballs once they let their feelings show. There's some of the cadence of old Hollywood banter in how they speak and what they say—except they can both shift into huge bears. Despite more serious themes like homelessness, kidnapping, and violence, it’s very much a Marvel movie–type paranormal romance with all the action and none of the detailed, gruesome bloodshed.
A comic-book thrill ride with the added appeal of bear shifters falling in love.Pub Date: March 31, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4926-9701-5
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
Carefully researched and meticulously crafted historical fiction fused with ho-hum horror.
Demons both literal and figurative torment a Titanic stewardess in this supernatural-tinged suspense novel.
After scandal causes 18-year-old Annie Hebbley to flee her family’s home in Northern Ireland, she decamps to Southampton, England, and takes a job aboard the Titanic. The ship contains every imaginable luxury, but when an otherworldly voice nearly lures the Astors’ young servant over the railing, Annie and several others become convinced that the vessel also harbors evil spirits. Four years later, in 1916, Annie is at Morninggate Asylum, convalescing from a head injury sustained in the Titanic’s sinking, when she receives a letter from fellow former White Star Line employee Violet Jessop. Now a nurse, Violet is about to set sail on the Britannic—a hospital ship that is the Titanic’s twin—and she wants Annie to join her. Annie has misgivings, but her doctor strongly endorses the plan, so despite having no medical training, she signs on. The hope is that the experience will help Annie heal; instead, it unearths painful memories that provide shocking clarity regarding what actually transpired during the Titanic’s fateful crossing. Atmospheric prose and exquisite attention to detail distinguish Katsu’s follow-up to The Hunger (2018). Regrettably, though, while crosscuts between the voyages add tension and a kaleidoscopic narrative adds color and depth, the book ultimately founders beneath the weight of glacial pacing, paltry plotting, and sketchily conceived paranormal elements.
Carefully researched and meticulously crafted historical fiction fused with ho-hum horror.Pub Date: March 10, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-525-53790-8
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Dec. 8, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2020
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
