One of the aspects of writing, and reading, historical fiction that I enjoy is learning about customs from different parts of the world in different time periods. In my own Victorian San Francisco Mystery series, I’ve been able to explore some of the late 19th century rituals associated with Halloween, Valentine’s Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years. So I thought this year I would also list some of the works of my fellow historical fiction authors that have set at least some part of a story around the winter holidays. I hope this inspires you to try some of them, as you celebrate winter in your own fashion.
Viking: The Greenland by Katie Aiken Ritter (Winter Solstice)
ICELAND, 982 A.D. A SHIP OF OUTLAWS. A WOMAN, ALONE. Dangerous seas…and even more dangerous secrets on board. Iceland’s powerful Althing Council has convicted seafarer Tiller Thorvaldsson of murder – to force him on a ship for a perilous quest in search of a legendary land, said to lie in uncharted western seas. Who is the mysterious, beautiful woman aboard, called Fishgirl? A skilled liar, she tells Tiller that her life is in danger and that she is in desperate need of an ally…but do they dare trust one other?
Based on the Saga of Erik the Red and evocative of Jean Auel’s CLAN OF THE CAVE BEAR, THE GREEN LAND is a sweeping epic novel of murder, passion, love, and courage in a battle for survival between the dark forces of intrigue and the redemptive power of the human spirit.
Available on Kindle
The Hell Screen by I. J. Parker (Japanese New Year)
The Hell Screen, set in eleventh century Japan, is the fifth novel in the series featuring government official Sugawara Akitada. Akitada, on his way to the bedside of his dying mother, spends the night in a temple whose great treasure is a brilliantly painted hell screen. Its violent imagery causes him to dream until he wakes to a scream that may have been part of the nightmare. Only after Akitada returns home to deal with his mother’s hatred and his sisters’ scandals does he realize that a woman was murdered while he slept and that he must find her killer to save his family.
Available on Kindle Nook iTunes Kobo
Guardians of Time by Sarah Woodbury (Christmas in Medieval Wales)
Christmas 1292.
Time travel has meant many things to Meg, David, and Anna over the years. But regardless of the circumstances, it has always been about saving lives: their own, their family members’, their friends’.
This time, it’s a combination of all three.
Guardians of Time is the ninth novel in the After Cilmeri series.
Available on Kindle Nook iTunes Kobo
Murder by Misrule by Anna Castle (Christmas in Elizabethan England)
Thomas Clarady, son of a privateer, is a law student at Gray’s Inn, seeking to climb the Elizabethan social ladder by any means necessary. When his tutor is murdered during the Queen’s Day pageant, he hires Francis Bacon to replace him. Francis is requested by his uncle, the Lord Treasurer, to investigate the murder. Eager to curry favor with his powerful relation, he agrees, even though he rarely leaves his chambers and mislikes anything that takes time away from reading. Far better to send Tom out to find the clues and talk to the witnesses.
At first, Francis suspects Catholic conspirators murdered the lawyer to keep him from exposing their plot, but other motives quickly emerge. Renowned beauty Lady Penelope Rich fears the scandal of being dragged into court. High-tempered Sir Avery Fogg will stop at nothing to achieve a judgeship. Other barristers contend hotly for the murdered man’s legal honors, fine chambers, and wealthy clients.
Francis and Tom embark on an investigation that reaches from Whitehall to the London streets. Francis does the thinking; Tom does the fencing. Barristers fall down stairs – or are they pushed? Tom falls in love with a key witness and then can’t find her anywhere. Everyone has something up his pinked and padded sleeve. Even the brilliant Francis Bacon is at a loss – and in danger – until he sees through the disguises of the season of Misrule.
Available in Kindle Nook iTunes Kobo
The Melancholy Menorah by Libi Astaire (Chanukah in Regency London)
It’s a miracle! Or is it? When the members of London’s Great Synagogue decide to replace their old and battered menorah with one that’s newer and more elegant, the old menorah refuses to leave its spot on the Eastern Wall. But is this really a sign from Heaven, or a sign that some nefarious plot is afoot? It’s up to wealthy-widower-turned-sleuth Mr. Ezra Melamed to solve the mystery—and solve it before Chanukah begins.
Available on Kindle
Pilfered Promises by M. Louisa Locke (Thanksgiving and Christmas in Victorian San Francisco)
It is November of 1880, and the future looks promising for Annie and Nate Dawson. Nate’s law practice is taking off. Annie has made the transition from pretend clairvoyant to a successful financial consultant, and as a couple, they are looking forward to spending their first Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays together.
For Robert Livingston, the owner San Francisco’s newest grand emporium, the holidays are shaping up to be a dismal failure if he can’t figure out how to stop whoever is stealing from his department store, the Silver Strike Bazaar. When he hires the Dawsons to investigate, Annie and Nate discover that behind the doors of Livingston’s “Palace of Plenty,” nothing is quite what it seems.
Available on Kindle Nook iTunes Kobo
Moriarty Brings Down the House by Anna Castle (Christmas in Victorian London)
An old friend brings a strange problem to Professor and Mrs. Moriarty: either his theater is being haunted by an angry ghost or someone is trying to drive him into bankruptcy. That would shut down his Christmas pantomime before it opens, throwing two hundred people out of work. The Moriartys can’t let that happen! Besides, Angelina is longing to play the lead in a West End show and James needs a bigger challenge than yet another high-stakes game of whist.
But the day they move into the theater, the stage manager dies. It wasn’t an accident; it also was most definitely not a ghost. While Angelina works backstage turning up secrets and old grudges, James follows the money in search of a motive. The pranks grow deadlier and more frequent. Then someone sets Sherlock Holmes on the trail, trying to catch our sleuths crossing the line into crime. How far will Moriarty have to go to keep the show afloat? And will they all make it to opening night in one piece?
Available on Kindle
Maximum Moxie by M. Ruth Myers (Christmas in WWII Dayton, Ohio)
ays before the Pearl Harbor attack plunges the U.S. into World War II, private eye Maggie Sullivan is hired to find a missing engineer in Dayton, Ohio. Has Gil Tremain been kidnapped, or has he turned traitor — to his employer and maybe his country?
As Maggie pieces together his last movements, she finds there are secrets the man’s ex-wife and his employers don’t want uncovered. Maggie herself is attacked and an innocent witness is murdered. The ruthlessness of her opponent — or opponents — becomes even clearer when there’s an attempt to abduct Tremain’s young daughter. Still more chilling, Maggie’s investigation suddenly attracts the attention of a local crime kingpin.
The attack on Pearl Harbor presses every cop in the city into service protecting manufacturing and research facilities. Stunned by the knowledge their nation will soon be at war, even fearful the mainland itself will be bombed, people cling to family and friends. Schedules and routines shatter. Amid the disruption, alone and aware she can’t count on help from the police, Maggie races to save a man who has now become a liability to his captors.
Available on Kindle Nook iTunes Kobo
Happy Holidays,
M. Louisa Locke, December 17. 2018
