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Newest Crime (Historical) Reviews (view source)
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[[Category:Crime (Historical)|*]]
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{{Frontpage
|isbn=0571370977
|title=The Lock-Up
|author=John Banville
|rating=4
|genre=Crime (Historical)
|summary=It's six months since the dramatic events which we read about in [[April in Spain by John Banville|April in Spain]] and Dr Quirke is now back in Dublin and living (if somewhat uneasily) with his daughter, Phoebe. The worst of his grief is over but he irrationally blames DI St John Strafford for what happened and this has made the already strained relationship between them more difficult. They're brought together by Chief Inspector Hackett when the body of a young, Jewish scholar, Rosa Jacobs, is found in a lock-up. At first, it looked as though she'd gassed herself but Quirke is convinced that it was murder rather than suicide.
}}
{{Frontpage
|isbn=1529337968
|title=In Place of Fear
|author=Catriona McPherson
|rating=5
|genre=Crime (Historical)
|summary=It's July 1948 and Helen Crowther is due to start work as a qualified medical almoner the following morning - on the day that the NHS is born. She'll be working for Dr Deuchar and Dr Strasser in their GP surgery and her job will be to help patients with those non-medical problems which affect their health. The hardest part of the job will be to persuade people that the services she offers really are free and that they don't have to do anything to qualify for them. Some of the problems will require delicate handling but Helen has a problem of her own which might give her some insight. Her marriage has never been consummated.
}}
{{Frontpage
|isbn=057136358X
|title=April in Spain
|author=John Banville
|rating=5
|genre=Crime (Historical)
|summary=Terry Tice was a hitman, although he didn't think of himself in those terms. He saw what he did as ''a matter of making things tidy''. I couldn't resist the thought that he was an extreme version of Marie Kondo. He enjoyed his job, something which occurred to him when he was in Burma with the army ''where he got the chance to kill a lot of the little yellow fellows and had a fine old time''. He was spending a lot of time with Percy Antrobus - who couldn't understand why Terry didn't know the purpose of a swizzle stick - surely he wouldn't drink champagne with bubbles in the ''morning''? It was after Percy's death that he saw the benefits of taking up a job in Spain.
}}
{{Frontpage
|isbn=B08Z8BMZ7H
|title=The Mystery of Healing
|author=A P McGrath
|rating=4
|genre=Crime (Historical)
|summary=We meet Solon in Pergamon in the second century of the common era and he's the physician on duty at the munus - the games put on for the amusement of the populace. The remuneration isn't high but the work gives the doctor a feeling of virtue and hones his skills: Solon ''wants'' the warriors to live. It's quite a spectacle: the magistri are the charge hands and when we first see them, they're sprinkling gold dust onto the lions' manes to make them look more impressive. The sagitarii are the archers and the beastiarii are the condemned criminals who are going to fight for their lives with the wild animals. Today, it's the crocodiles.
}}
{{Frontpage
|isbn=1529337925
|title=The Mirror Dance (Dandy Gilver)
|author=Catriona McPherson
|rating=4.5
|genre=Crime (Historical)
|summary=It was the August Bank Holiday weekend and, as so often happened, it was cold enough to have the fire lit and Bunty the Dalmation wasn't inclined to leave it to keep Dandy Gilver warm on the sofa. The thought of work was almost cheering when Dandy took the call from Sandy Bissett in Dundee. She was the publisher of a magazine and had been told that the man running the Punch and Judy show in the local park had used copies of two of her cartoon characters - Rosie Cheek and her sister Freckle - to drum up some local interest in his show. Sandy Bissett's request was simple: she wanted Gilver and Osborne to warn the man about infringement of copyright - and Dandy and Alex would be cheaper than employing a solicitor to do the same job.
}}
{{Frontpage
|isbn=B08LKT7HSR
|title=Murder in the Belltower (A Miss Underhay Mystery)
|author=Helena Dixon
|rating=3.5
|genre=Crime (Historical)
|summary=In December 1933 the remains of Elowed Underhay were discovered in the cellar of the Glass Bottle Public House. Ezekiel Hamett was sought in connection with the murder of Elowed and his half-brother, Denzil Hammett, whose body was also discovered. Kitty Underhay's long search for her mother, who disappeared in June 1916 was over. Now she's determined that the man responsible for her murder will be brought to justice.
}}
{{Frontpage
|author=Stephen Clarke
|title=The Spy Who Inspired Me
|rating=4
|genre=General Fiction
|summary=This is a spoof spy story, that isn't about James Bond. Or Ian Fleming. But it features a man called Ian Lemming, who dresses well and 'likes the ladies' and who works for the secret service, but in the planning side of things more than the active service. Lemming finds himself put on a mission with a female spy called Margaux, and the pair end up stranded in Normandy, with Margaux on a desperate mission to unearth traitors in the resistance network, and Lemming desperately trying to keep up with her!
|isbn=2952163855
}}
{{Frontpage
|isbn=0349423083
|title=Death and the Brewery Queen (Kate Shackleton Mysteries)
|author=Frances Brody
|rating=4.5
|genre=Crime (Historical)
|summary=Kate Shackleton runs her investigation agency from Batswing Cottage, ably assisted by Jim Sykes, who lives in Woodhouse and her housekeeper, Mrs Sugden. She's been approached by William Lofthouse of the Barleycorn Brewery in Masham. Something is going wrong with his business and he'd like Kate to look into it discreetly: he's hoping that his nephew and right-hand man, James Lofthouse, will be back from a trip to Germany before long. James went to see what the continental brewers were doing and what changes Barleycorn might need to make. William is worried that James is perhaps enjoying himself a little bit ''too'' much or is going to bring back a German bride but he'd like the business to be ship-shape before his nephew returns.
}}
{{Frontpage
|isbn=0241433568
}}
{{Frontpage|class-"wikitable" cellpaddingisbn="15" 1472127110<!-- |title=Indian Summer: a Mirabelle Bevan Mystery|author=Sara Sheridan -->|-rating=4.5| stylegenre="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|Crime (Historical)[[image:1472127110.jpg|linksummary=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1472127110/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Indian Summer: a Mirabelle Bevan Mystery by Sara Sheridan]]=== [[image:4Life has changed dramatically for Mirabelle, our favourite fifties sleuth, since the war, and not always for the better. When she first settled in Brighton she was alone, rudderless and secretly grieving for Jack, the lover who died before he could leave his wife.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime (Historical)|Crime (Historical)]] Life has changed dramatically for MirabelleAs time went by she found in herself an ability to solve crimes, our favourite fifties sleuth, since the warmade friends including an ebullient and determined young woman called Vesta who refused to let a little thing like racial prejudice stop her doing what she wanted, and not always for even found consolation in the betterarms of a rather charming policeman. When she first settled in Brighton she was alone, rudderless and secretly grieving for Jack, the lover who died before he could leave his wife}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1912374439|title=The Courier|author=Kjell Ola Dahl and Don Bartlett (translator)|rating=3. As time went by she found in herself an ability to solve crimes, made friends including an ebullient and determined young woman called Vesta who refused to let a little thing like racial prejudice stop her doing what she wanted, and even found consolation 5|genre=Crime (Historical)|summary=Nazi-occupied Oslo, 1942. There, I've given the game away. For in the arms of a rather charming policeman. [[Indian Summer: book that centres around a Mirabelle Bevan Mystery by Sara Sheridan|Full Review]] <!-- Dahl -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1912374439.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1912374439/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Courier by Kjell Ola Dahl murder, I've told you who did it – the Nazis, surely? Well, that certainly has to remain to be seen in this volume, which splits its time between one of war, when a young woman sees her father arrested, and Don Bartlett (translator)]]=== [[image:3.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime (Historical)|Crime (Historical)]] Nazi-occupied Oslo, 1942their store condemned as Jewish and rushes to her best friend to help – not knowing she will never see her alive again, and the late 1960s, when great consternation is being felt. ThereIn this timeline, I've given the game away. For a maverick agent is back in a book that centres around a murdertown, I've told you one who did it – the Nazismight have been fingered for murdering that female victim, surely? Welleven though she and he lived together with their baby as a young family, that certainly has except he was thought by all to remain to be seen have died in this volume, which splits its time between one of war, when a young woman sees her father arrested, the War…}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1786075431|title=Mrs Mohr Goes Missing|author=Maryla Szymiczkova and their store condemned as Jewish and rushes to her best friend to help – not knowing she will never see her alive againAntonia Lloyd-Jones (translator)|rating=3.5|genre=Crime (Historical)|summary=Meet Zofia. A socially climbing wife of a medical professor, and the late 1960s, when great consternation is being feltshe's intent on making herself known as a charitable lady, and keen on her husband progressing yet through his esteemed career. In this timeline1890s Cracow, a maverick agent life is back in townpretty good, one who might have been fingered for murdering that female victim, even though but she and he lived together with their baby as a young familyknows it could always be better. Meanwhile, except he was thought by all to have died in other people's life could certainly be better – cholera is nearing the War… [[The Courier by Kjell Ola Dahl city due to lack of hygiene, and Don Bartlett (translator)|Full Review]] <!-- many people have to fall on charity and almshouses to keep a roof over their heads. Szymiczkova -->|-| style=One such was Mrs Mohr, although she was rich enough to keep private lodgings and staff in her charitable home. I say ''width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;was''|[[image:1786075431, for she has vanished.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1786075431/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] | style= Only due to Zofia''verticals help does she get found, dead and in a place the near-align: top; text-align: left;''|===[[Mrs Mohr Goes Missing by Maryla Szymiczkova lame woman could never reach by herself. Just who could be killing people in a charity home, and Antonia Lloyd-Jones (translator)]]===to what end? And why does Zofia feel the need to make a name for herself by answering those questions?}}{{Frontpage[[image:3.5star.jpg|linkisbn=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime (Historical)1786893762|Crime (Historical)]]title=Things in Jars Meet Zofia|author=Jess Kidd|rating=4. 5|genre=Crime (Historical)|summary=A socially climbing wife of a medical professor, she's intent child has gone missing. The detective asked to take on making herself known as the case is still struggling with the shame and frustration left by a charitable ladyprevious case, and keen on her husband progressing yet through his esteemed careerwhere the child was not found in time. In 1890s CracowHardly original themes for a private eye thriller. And yet . . . take another look. This detective is a woman, life and the setting is pretty goodVictorian London, but she knows it could always be better. Meanwhile, other people's life could certainly be better – cholera is nearing with all the city due to lack rich and colourful paradoxes of hygiene, that era: technical and many people have to fall on charity scientific progress jostling for space beside superstition and almshouses to keep a roof over their headsfascination with the bizarre and the downright hideous. One such was Mrs MohrAnd before you're more than a couple of pages in, although she was rich enough to keep private lodgings and staff you realise just how much more unusual our heroine is than you expected. Bridie Devine may dress in her charitable home. I say ''was''half-mourning, for she has vanished. Only due to Zofiawith a widow's help does she get foundcap and stout, dead and shiny boots, but the tobacco she smokes in her pipe (my dear, what an utterly ''fast'' thing for a place the near-lame woman could never reach by herself. Just who could be killing people in lady to do!) is mixed with a charity homenugget of something, and well, let's say recreational, created by her chemist friend Prudhoe. The fact that it's actually meant to what end? And why does Zofia feel cure bronchial problems is by the need to make a name for herself by answering those questions? [[Mrs Mohr Goes Missing by Maryla Szymiczkova and Antonia Lloyd. Her housemaid, being seven-foot-tall, is also somewhat remarkable. And then, of course, there's the ghost. Ruby Doyle, world-Jones famous tattooed boxer (translatordeceased)|Full Review]] <!-- Kidd -->|-accompanies Bridie all through her investigation, and it's clear he has a soft spot for the determined young woman. If he really exists, that is.}}{{Frontpage| styleisbn="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"0349414327|title=A Snapshot of Murder (Kate Shackleton Mysteries)|author=Frances Brody[[image:1786893762.jpg|linkrating=http://www4.amazon.co.uk/dp/1786893762/ref5|genre=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] Crime (Historical)| stylesummary="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Things in Jars by Jess Kidd]]=== [[image:4Even detectives need a break and for Kate Shackleton, photography gives her the mental relaxation which she needs.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime (Historical)|Crime (Historical)]] A child has gone missing. The detective asked to take on When the local Photographic Society proposed an outing, Kate was keen to take the opportunity to visit Haworth and Stanbury, not least because the case is still struggling with deeds of the shame Brontë Parsonage are being handed over so that it can become a museum and frustration left by a previous case, where her parents will be there for the child was not found in time. Hardly original themes for event. What could be better than seeing her family, witnessing a private eye thriller. And yet . . . momentous event and having the opportunity to take another look. This detective is a woman, and photographs of the setting is Victorian London, with all the rich and colourful paradoxes of that era: technical and scientific progress jostling for space beside superstition and a fascination with the bizarre and the downright hideous. And before you're more than a couple of pages in, you realise just how much more unusual our heroine is than you expected. Bridie Devine may dress in half-mourning, with a widow's cap and stout, shiny boots, but the tobacco she smokes in her pipe (my dear, what an utterly ''fast'' thing for a lady to do!) is mixed with a nugget of something, well, let's say recreational, created by her chemist friend Prudhoe. The fact that it's actually meant to cure bronchial problems is by the by. Her housemaid, being seven-foot-tall, is also somewhat remarkable. And then, of course, there's the ghost. Ruby Doyle, world-famous tattooed boxer (deceased) accompanies Bridie all through her investigation, and it's clear he has a soft spot for the determined young woman. If he really exists, that is. [[Things in Jars by Jess Kidd|Full Review]] <!-- Frances Brody -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:0349414327.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0349414327/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[A Snapshot of Murder (Kate Shackleton Mysteries) by Frances Brody]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime (Historical)|Crime (Historical)]] Even detectives need a break and for Kate Shackleton, photography gives her the mental relaxation which she needs. When the local Photographic Society proposed an outing, Kate was keen to take the opportunity to visit Haworth and Stanbury, not least because the deeds of the Brontë Parsonage are being handed over so that it can become a museum and her parents will be there for the event. What could be better than seeing her family, witnessing a momentous event and having the opportunity to take photographs of the setting for ''Wuthering Heights''? Nothing could go wrong. Or could it? [[A Snapshot of Murder (Kate Shackleton Mysteries) by Frances Brody|Full Review]] <!-- von Doviak -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1785657178.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1785657178/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Charlesgate Confidential by Scott Von Doviak]]=== [[image:3star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]], [[:Category:Crime (Historical)|Crime (Historical)]] In 1946 a gang of criminals pull off an audacious art heist, making off with priceless works of art from a Boston Museum. These missing artworks are never found. In 1988, a student finds himself caught up in the mystery of the missing art and hot on the trail of the multi-million-dollar reward. In 2014, the art is still missing and now dead bodies are turning up at the eponymous Charlesgate, filled with alumni celebrating their 25th reunion. As the body count rises, will we discover the truth behind the art theft decades earlier? [[Charlesgate Confidential by Scott Von Doviak|Full Review]] <!-- Catriona McPherson -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1473682355.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1473682355/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[A Step So Grave (Dandy Gilver) by Catriona McPherson]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime (Historical)|Crime (Historical)]] Dandy Gilver and family had made the arduous journey to Wester Ross, but Dandy had mixed feelings even when they arrived. They were there to meet the family of Mallory, her son Donald's fiancee. It wasn't that Dandy thought Donald to be rather ''young'' at twenty-three to be contemplating matrimony, but that Mallory was rather ''old'' for him at thirty. There was also a niggling worry because Donald wasn't the sharpest pin in the cushion. All the doubts had faded into insignificance though when they arrived at Applecross: they might have come to celebrate the fiftieth birthday of Lady Lavinia, Mallory's mother, but it soon became obvious that Donald was smitten by the mother rather than the daughter. Dandy and Hugh were considering whether or not they should try to put an end to the engagement when the news arrived that Lady Lavinia had been found dead. [[A Step So Grave (Dandy Gilver) by Catriona McPherson|Full Review]] <!-- Hall -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1785656880.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1785656880/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[So Many Doors by Oakley Hall]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]], [[:Category:Crime (Historical)|Crime (Historical)]], [[:Category:Thrillers|Thrillers]] Vassilia Caroline Baird, known to all as V, is dead. Jack sits in his cell refusing to talk to the lawyer tasked with his defence. Starting at the murderous finale, Hall skillfully weaves together the stories of his key players, in a tale of love spanning decades and states, marriages and tragedies. By the time the truth is revealed, V will be dead but who else will lose their life? [[So Many Doors by Oakley Hall|Full Review]] <!-- Tjia -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1787198790.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1787198790/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[A Necessary Murder by M J Tjia]]=== [[image:3.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime (Historical)|Crime (Historical)]] It's 1863 and a little girl has been found murdered at the family home in Stoke Newington. A few days later and a few miles across London, a man is found dead in a similar way outside the opulent townhouse of Heloise Chancey, courtesan and part-time detective. Could they be connected? And what, if anything, does either of them have to do with Heloise's maid, Amah Li Leen, and the troubling events in her past which are threatening to resurface?[[A Necessary Murder by M J Tjia|Full Review]] <!-- Sheridan -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1472122372.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1472122372/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Russian Roulette by Sara Sheridan]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime (Historical)|Crime (Historical)]] It makes a pleasant change to have a female detective who isn't a slightly eccentric grandma, a world-weary cop with as many hang-ups, bad habits and family traumas as her male colleagues, or a slick, skinny, sharp-shooting type who lives in a loft and works out in the gym after work, boxing with (and trouncing) every big burly bloke they can throw at her. Mirabelle may have somehow got herself involved in crime-fighting, with all the requisite tropes of climbing through unguarded windows, contacts who are not one hundred per cent on the right side of the law, and a refusal to faint at the sight of blood, but she is, as everyone around her will attest, first and foremost a lady. Indeed, the first encounter we have with her in this, the sixth book in this excellent series, sees her giving a police superintendent an icy stare for his lack of manners. No matter what the life-and-death crisis, there's no reason not to be polite, is there? [[Russian Roulette by Sara Sheridan|Full Review]] <!-- Elizabeth Haynes -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:191240804X.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/191240804X/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Murder of Harriet Monkton by Elizabeth Haynes]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime (Historical)|Crime (Historical)]], [[:Category:True Crime|True Crime]] ''But that's just it'', she said. ''It's ''not'' Harriet, is it? Not our Harriet. It's some manufactured creature, that exists only for this blessed inquest: something to be summed up like a spirit, to be examined and pored over, to be sneered at and judged. Harriet deserves to be remembered as she was to us, not picked at like carrion.'' And that was the problem: it seemed that there were two Harriets. There was the one her friends - a fellow teacher, her would-be lover, her seducer and the man who was her landlord who was also her lover - knew. Some spoke of her as kindly, virtuous and pious, but that was before her body was found behind the chapel which she regularly attended in Bromley. She'd been poisoned - or had taken her own life. After the inquest was opened another Harriet would emerge, one who was about six months pregnant and who had obviously not been living the chaste life expected of a young, unmarried woman in 1843. [[The Murder of Harriet Monkton by Elizabeth Haynes|Full Review]] <!-- Kerr -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:178429652X.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/178429652X/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Greeks Bearing Gifts: Bernie Gunther Thriller 13 by Philip Kerr]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime (Historical)|Crime (Historical)]], [[:Category:Thrillers|Thrillers]] Set in Germany in 1957, ''Greeks Bearing Gifts'' is a historical crime thriller with everything from dodgy Nazi past histories to insurance fraud. Bernie Gunther is a Berliner, who was a serjeant during the second world war and now, in this novel, is working in the morgue of a hospital. He finds himself embroiled in a mystery, taking on a new role as an insurance claims investigator. The investigation takes him to Greece, and back into the dark times of the war. With layered plots and double-crossing left, right and centre, there's lots to keep you guessing throughout this story. [[Greeks Bearing Gifts: Bernie Gunther Thriller 13 by Philip Kerr|Full Review]] <!-- Davis -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Davis_Pandora.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1473658632/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Pandora's Boy by Lindsey Davis]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime (Historical)|Crime (Historical)]] Relax, die-hard fans of Falco and his spirited British daughter Albia. Rome continues to be as splendid and as sordid as it ever was, the crimes committed are as complex and intriguing, and our heroine just as determined and cynical, with that light dusting of humour which made tales of her father's exploits so engaging. Newcomers to the series need not fear, by the way: each book contains just enough background detail to make you feel immediately at home. This time, despite some serious misgivings, Albia is investigating the sudden death of a fifteen-year-old girl, described as bright, affectionate and popularfor ''Wuthering Heights''? Nothing could go wrong. Was she poisoned by an illegal love-potion, or did she die of a broken heart Or could it? [[Pandora's Boy by Lindsey Davis|Full Review]] [[Pandora's Boy by Lindsey Davis|Full Review]]}}