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Historical Fiction June 2019
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| A Bend in the Stars by Rachel BarenbaumRussia, 1914: When her physicist brother, Vanya, goes missing en route to observe a solar eclipse, Jewish surgeon Miri Abramov embarks on a desperate rescue mission, accompanied by a charming army deserter.
What's at stake: Vanya believes that photographing the eclipse will verify or disprove Einstein's general theory of relativity, while Miri fears that if the coming war doesn't kill them both, the Czar's pogroms will.
Reviewers say: "exhilarating" (Publishers Weekly). |
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| The Tubman Command by Elizabeth Cobbs HoffmanWhat it's about: iconic abolitionist Harriet Tubman and her role in the 1863 Raid on Combahee Ferry, in which black soldiers from the 2nd South Carolina Infantry raided lowcountry plantations, destroying Confederate supplies and liberating 750 enslaved men and women.
What sets it apart: This well-researched novel by the author of The Hamilton Affair focuses on Tubman's lesser-known deeds as a scout and spy for the Union Army during the American Civil War.
Further reading: Catherine Clinton's biography Harriet Tubman: The Road to Freedom. |
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| The Confessions of Frannie Langton by Sara CollinsIntroducing: Frannie Langton, a Jamaican servant languishing in Newgate Prison as she awaits trial for the murders of her employers.
Why you might like it: Framed as Frannie's confession, this debut offers Gothic atmosphere, vivid recreations of both West Indian sugar plantations and Georgian London, and a penetrating exploration of Enlightenment-era scientific racism.
Want a taste? "The cold seemed to carry its own smell, like raw meat, and came on me sudden as a cutpurse.” |
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| The Widows of Malabar Hill by Sujata MasseyIntroducing: Perveen Mistry, Bombay's first woman solicitor. Despite her Oxford degree, she faces discrimination in a male-dominated profession.
What it's about: Could a strange proviso in the will of a wealthy Muslim mill owner be linked to a murder in the household of his three widows?
Why you might like it: This atmospheric series opener shifts between 1921, when Perveen conducts her investigation, and 1916, when young Perveen discovers her calling in the wake of tragic events. |
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| The Ashes of London by Andrew TaylorLondon, 1666: In the aftermath of the Great Fire, a murder victim is discovered in the ashes of St. Paul's Cathedral; reluctant government informer James Marwood, son of a traitor, is tasked with finding the killer.
Why you might like it: Marwood's adventures (which continue in The Fire Court) unfold against a richly detailed 17th-century backdrop rife with political intrigue and religious unrest.
You might also like: Susanna Calkins' Lucy Campion mysteries, also set in Restoration London and featuring a working-class sleuth. |
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The flimflam affair
by Bill Pronzini
What it's about: A case involving a con-artist medium and his swindling assistant is complicated by a stabbing and the realization that multiple cons are being played.
Why you might like it: The Carpenter and Quincannon Professional Detective Services is a fixture in San Francisco at the dawn of a new century. Sabina and John will protect their clients, doing what is necessary to run the dregs of society into the arms of the law.
Author note: By the Mystery Writers of America Grand Master-winning author of The Bags of Tricks Affair.
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The lost girls of Paris
by Pam Jenoff
What it's about: After discovering an abandoned, photograph-filled suitcase in Grand Central Station in 1946 a young widow sets out to discover who the people in the pictures are.
Author note: By the New York Times best-selling author of The Orphan's Tale.
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The vanishing man
by Charles Finch
What it's about: A second entry in a prequel trilogy to the best-selling series finds the theft of an antique painting sending a young Charles Lenox on a hunt for a criminal mastermind.
Author note: By the award-winning author of The Last Enchantments.
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Murder on Trinity Place
by Victoria Thompson
What it's about: Horrified when a neighbor they spotted behaving in uncharacteristic ways is found murdered during the 1900 New Year celebrations at Trinity Church, Frank and Sarah Malloy are prompted by scandal-fearing relatives to search for answers in the victim's past.
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Smoke and ashes : a novel
by Abir Mukherjee
What it's about: Recognizing ritualistic injuries on a murder victim from a memory compromised by his opium addiction, Captain Sam Wyndham, aided by sidekick Surrender-Not Banerjee, struggles to solve two mysteries while hiding his personal demons from the Calcutta police force.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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Central Mississippi Regional Library System
100 Tamberline Street
Brandon, Mississippi 39042
601-825-0100
http://www.cmrls.lib.ms.us
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