Charles Lenox Mysteries, by Charles Finch

I absolutely love this series. Charles Lenox is an aristocrat who loves to solve mysteries as an amateur detective and longs to join Parliament and take up the family duty of serving his country in the House of Commons. He is in love with his best friend from Childhood, Lady Jane Grey who lives next door in their gorgeous Mayfair neighborhood. Lenox's butler is a great help to him and, as he travels around London and Oxford solving mysteries, the reader has the pleasure of learning the history and lore of everything from the House of Commons, to running for Parliament, to Oxford's historic neighborhoods and pubs to the rough streets of the Seven Dials. All in all, I feel like I learn something new about British history every time I read on of these mysteries. Ultimately, it's hard not to fall in love with Charles and Lady Jane! In order, the novels are: A Beautiful Blue Death, The September Society, The Fleet Street Murders, A Stranger in Mayfair, A Burial at Sea and the upcoming A Death in the Small Hours.

Lord and Lady Heathridge Series by Emma Jameson

Detective Kate Wakefield had me at "plonker", the only word she writes on an incident report to her superiors explaining a fight she got into with an older male officer. Thus begins a relationship between a young East End detective and Lord Heathridge, her just turned sixty "gov" and eventually her love interest. The characters are in these novels are fantastic, deeply formed and hilarious and the story moves along with a brisk pace with a lovely modern but charming plot. In the series, Ice Blue is first and then Blue Murder. I can't wait for the third installment to come out in January 2013.

The Rook by Daniel O'Mally

This novel begins, "The body you are wearing used to be mine." These are the first words of a letter Myfanwy Thomas finds in her pocket when she wakes up in a park in the middle of the night surrounded by dead assailants. With Myfanwy, the reader is taken into a world where there is a "ministry of magic" in Britain along the lines of MI-5. Myfanwy is a Rook, in charge of the running of national operations against supernatural enemies. The characters are great. The magic is realistic and fun and the plot is a delight. I really enjoyed this book. I read it in three days!

Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks

While The People of the Book is a big story in that it tells the tale of various characters over four hundred years, Caleb's Crossing in the small piece that focuses solely on the family of a young woman named Bethia Mayfield who is based on Bethia Mayhew one of the founding families of Martha's Vineyard. From childhood to adulthood we follow Bethia as she struggles with her role in the Puritanical world of 1660's Massachusetts both on and off the island. Along with Bethia's development, we also see the progression of Caleb, the first Wampanoag to graduate from Harvard in 1664. By the end of the novel, I was deeply connected to the characters and relished Brooks' majestic description of the island I have loved all my life.

The People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks

My father gave me this book ages ago telling me that I simply had to read it. He was right, this novel is a masterpiece. Spanning centuries, Brooks tells the story of the Sarajevo Haggadah, that managed to survive the expulsion of the Jews from Spain, the Inquisition in Venice, racism in Vienna and the Nazis in Sarajevo. The novel is punctuated with the story of Hanna who restores books and has a troubled relationship with her mother and her lovers. Throughout the story, we get to travel with the book and Hanna throughout time which allows us to explore and better understand the fraught but resilient Jewish experience over the last four hundred years Europe. When I finished reading, I felt very proud of my Jewish heritage and wanted to be a book restorer.

Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch

Ben Aaronovitch writes for the television series Dr. Who and it shows! In this marvelous series about a Ministry in the British Crime Division called the Folly we get to go along for the ride and solve supernatural crimes because, apparently, they happen too. Our main character learns a little magic, gets to know the River Gods (both African and Celtic) of all the London rivers and basically has a jolly old time teaching the reader about the history of London and balancing policing with his personal life (his partner Lesley goes through a lot of changes in this first book) and his parents (Nigerian born mother and jazz playing druggy father). I love this series. So far, there are three novels (Midnight Riot, Moon Over Soho and Whispers Underground) and I think a fourth is in the works.

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

You may not think you like witches and vampires, but when you read this book you will think again. SUCH an excellent series! A vampire interested in genetics and a reluctant witch historian with a background in alchemy make for a marvelous duo who work together to figure out the origins of witches, vampires and demons as well as the mystery of a magical document called Ashmole 782.

I got to see Harkness speak in Portsmouth this summer. She told us that she got the idea for the book after seeing so many vampire books in the airport one day and thought to herself: what would a vampire really be like if they lived in this world? She decided they would be friends with super famous people, but always be on the periphery so as not to draw attention to themselves. Thus, the character of Matthew Roydon was created based on a real Matthew Roydon who lived in Shakespeare's time and also lived just outside the limelight.

The second book in the series is called Shadow of Night where the characters travel back to Shakespeare's England and the plot thickens. The third book will have a scientific bent. All in all I can't say enough about this series. I love it!

The Hangman's Daughter Series by Oliver Pötzsch

The Hangman's Daughter, The Dark Monk and then The Beggar King (I haven't read the last one yet) by Oliver Pötzsch. This series is a little pop-fictionish, but is satisfying none the less. Set in 17th century Germany the resigned but generous and lovely hangman, Jacob Kusil, and his daughter Magdalena solve crimes with the help of Simon, the silly doctor to be who has a relationship with Magdalena (though she is waaaay too good for him). The historical elements are fun and being in Germany at such a time and learning about the job of life of a hangman is oddly enjoyable. Magdalena is a gem and she and her father bring their own unique spirits to crime solving.

Wolf Hall & Bring Up The Bodies by Hilary Mantel

Wolf Hall comes first and then Bring Up The Bodies. Excellent look at Henry VIII and Thomas Cromwell as told through the mind of Thomas Cromwell. The narration is distinct, as though you were having a conversation with Cromwell. Very intelligent, revealing and clever. You can fall into these books and not come up for weeks. When they are over, you miss your friend. There is a third installment coming next year, I believe.