Review: The Twilight Queen by Jeri Westerson

The Twilight Queen (King's Fool Mystery, Book #2)

by Jeri Westerson

Release Date: January 2, 2024

2024 Severn House

Hardcover Edition; 224 Pages

ISBN: 978-1448310906

ASIN: B0CBBXMTNK

Audiobook: B0D1D1RFKN

Genre: Fiction / Historical / Tudor / Mystery

Source: Review copy from publisher

 

3 / 5 Stars

 

Summary

Greenwich, Palace of Placentia, April 1536. Queen Anne is in peril. In the mid of night, court jester Will Somers is summoned to an urgent assignation when she discovers a body in her chamber. The queen wants Will to find out who the man is and how he ended up there. 

Anne has many enemies at court, and to make matters worse, Henry VIII is lining up his next conquest and suspects her of treason. Has the formidable Oliver Cromwell been whispering vile lies in the king's ears, and could Anne be the target of a Catholic conspiracy? As further attacks plague the court, Will is determined to uncover the truth behind the plotting and devilry, but he will need to keep hold of all his wits to do so!

 

My Thoughts

The Twilight Queen is the second book in the King's Fool Mystery series, and I really enjoy this series as it features a prominent person at court about whom we actually know little so the author can take liberties within the historical context. I thought the mystery was clever, but did feel like the ending was rushed; I would have liked to have read more about the fallout that happened afterwards.

 

I really enjoyed Will Somers as a main character as he is complex with many layers, but is absolutely loyal to King and throne. Manoeuvring the complexities of King Henry's court would have been very difficult during this period and I appreciated reading about the relationships of the various characters, most of whom are people who actually lived during this time period. Will himself struggles with his sexuality and while I have seen comments that suggest his wife would not have condoned this during this time period, if you have a history background you know the opposite is actually true as a wife would not have said much about her husband's proclivities considering women didn't have too many rights. The exploration of Henry's The Buggery Act of 1933 was just another facet of this novel and how men needed to be very careful when dealing with the king and his advisors. The struggles Will and his wife faced were raw and honest and I really enjoyed the scenes in which they were together.  

The plot moved along rather quickly, but the mystery was often shuffled to the background when something else occurred. That was fine, but suddenly Will would start doing his investigation again and I did find the shift somewhat jarring as I had to remind myself I was reading a mystery novel and not simply a historical fiction one.  There were a lot of great ideas in this novel, and I have always enjoyed this author's writing style, but I did think they were somewhat rushed.  

Verdict

The Twilight Queen was an entertaining, interesting book focusing on King Henry's fool as a main character.  Will Somers is very much unconventional, in an unconventional relationship, and has an unconventional relationship with the king, something which allowed the author to give a different perspective to what is happening at court.  I definitely appreciated the research that went into this, but did feel the overall mystery was a bit flat.

 

Review: The Family Inside by Katie Garner

The Family Inside

by Katie Garner

Release Date: January 28, 2025

2025 MIRA

Ebook ARC; 384 Pages

ISBN: 978-0778334460

ASIN: B0D1F7W12N

Audiobook: B0D3RVF8RM

Genre: Fiction / Suspense

Source: Review copy from publisher

2.5 / 5 Stars

Summary

Since her husband’s unsolved murder three years ago, Iris Blodgett’s life has unraveled. Awash in grief and buried in debt, she can’t pay her mortgage.

Facing eviction, Iris turns to her new beau, prominent architect Hugh Smoll, for a shoulder to cry on. But the seemingly perfect Hugh offers her something more in an invitation to move into his mother’s centuries-old mansion while he renovates the property.

With repairs underway, the house gives up its dark secrets one by one. Before long, Iris unearths a chilling family history—and the terrifying reason she and Ellory were invited in the first place…

 

My Thoughts

The Family Inside actually had an intriguing premise and contained a lot of things that I like in a suspense novel. However, the author tried to include way too much and as a result, the overall story was a mishmash of concepts and ideas which didn't flow very well. When you try to throw too many red herrings in a pot, the pot overboils and you end up with a hot mess everywhere.

 

The plot itself moved along rather quickly, but while it had an interesting start, it quickly degenerated into one that was a bit of a mess as the author tried to incorporate too many things.  I really wish the focus had been on one or two themes rather than a bunch of them as this could have been quite fascinating. I also can't stand it when you are in the middle of chapter and realize the POV you thought you were reading was someone completely different and not even from the present time period. This kind of mind f&%$ doesn't sit well with me and I was swearing at the book quite a bit on top of raising my eyebrows. To be honest, I almost DNF it at that point.  I get that it was done on purpose to play with your mind, but it definitely didn't work for me, all it did was piss me off. And while I don't mind a lot of twists and turns, they do need to be believable and I just didn't find a lot of them plausible; personally, I thought a lot of them were just there to have twists and turns in the book. There is a case for fewer twists and more development in a book.

 

With all of those twists and turns, there was little time for character development and it showed. I just couldn't develop empathy for the main characters and wondered how many terrible decisions a person could make in one book.  Apparently, it's a lot.  I don't necessarily have to like a character, but I do have to believe in their motives, in the reasons for what they do. This one didn't convince me at all.  And I don't know about you, but if my kid goes missing, I would tear every wall down I could looking for her. Iris' behaviour just didn't make sense, and it was these types of things that lessened my enjoyment of this book.

Verdict

The Family Inside had a lot of interesting ideas and honestly, with more focus on character development and less focus on shock value through the sheer number of twists and turns, this book would have been so much more intriguing. Unfortunately, I just couldn't connect with the characters and the plot inconsistencies were too much.

 

Review: The Brothers York: A Royal Tragedy by Thomas Penn

The Brothers York: A Royal Tragedy

by Thomas Penn

Release Date: June 16,  2020

2020 Simon Schuster

Hardcover & Ebook Editions; 688 Pages

ISBN: 978-1451694192

ASIN: B07Z44P4KC

Audiobook: B07RWDSJ6W

Genre: Non-Fiction / Historical / Medieval

Source: Review copy from publisher

4 / 5 Stars

Summary

n 15th-century England, two royal families, the House of York and the House of Lancaster, fought a bitter, decades-long civil war for the English throne. As their symbols were a red rose for Lancaster and a white rose for York, the conflict became known as the Wars of the Roses.

During this time, the house of York came to dominate England. At its heart were three charismatic brothers—King Edward IV, and his two younger siblings George and Richard—who became the figureheads of a spectacular ruling dynasty. Together, they looked invincible.

But with Edward’s ascendancy the brothers began to turn on one another, unleashing a catastrophic chain of rebellion, vendetta, fratricide, usurpation, and regicide. 

 

My Thoughts

The Brothers York was a fascinating look at the relationship between the King Edward IV, George, and King Richard III during one of the most bitter wars for the English throne.  And while I thoroughly enjoyed the way the author presented his information, and the descriptions of the battles and other scenes were very well done, I still felt like there was something missing throughout that took me quite a while to figure out.

 

Honestly, the story of Lancaster and York has more treachery, deceit, backstabbing, and secrets than anything you would find in a fiction novel which is why I think the lives of these men have fascinated historians and readers alike for centuries. Even though I have been reading about this time period for years, every new telling still makes me squirm when I read about the horrors that men will do to others all in the quest of a throne and power.  There were a lot of changes happening in Europe during this time period, with the emergence of a rather stronger France, difficulties with Burgundy and Scotland, new technologies in a lot of areas including warfare, and a lot of disputes over trade.  With a weak king in England, the time was ripe for some sort of rebellion to occur.

 

I did think the author wrote about the events concisely and with interesting detail. To be fair, I soak these types of books up as I have a huge interest in this time period and the more I learn, the more I am fascinated.  At the same time, I did feel like there was something lacking and it took a bit of reflection to figure out exactly what it was as the details and descriptions of the time period were quite good.  What was missing was the passion and the drive behind all of these actions. I just felt like the deeper insight into what really drove the people involved was missing and how the actions influenced each other into doing what they did.  While the author did a really great job analyzing the events, there was little to no discussing analyzing people's emotions and the effect they would have had on each other. With such a tightly knit group, all actions would have had consequences on everybody else.  For example, how such men involved actually gained their power and influence was not really discussed, you just had to accept it as it was, but in this world, men didn't just rise to be powerful, they had to have done something, or cemented alliances that would enable this.  These were passionate men who risked everything so a little bit more insight into their motives would have been nice.  I also felt the author didn't do Richard III justice, but focused more on the negative things during his reign rather than on his legacy, most of which was ignored in the book. Although he only reigned for two years, he definitely implemented a lot of changes that were beneficial to the people. Yes, he had his issues, and I don't agree with what he did to Edward V, but I did feel the author was less forthcoming with his part of the story. 

 

Verdict

The Brothers York was definitely gripping and worth the read. Edward, Clarence, and Richard had a complicated relationship bred during difficult times and had known little other than war and stress.  However, the story did lack deeper understanding and analysis of the motivations behind the actions and I would have liked to have seen more development of the relationships between the people and how they influenced each other into making the choices they did.  A bit more depth would have made this book amazing. 

 

Review: What the Woods Took by Courtney Gould

What the Woods Took

by Courtney Gould

Release Date: December 10, 2024

2024 Wednesday Books

Ebook ARC; 336 Pages

ISBN: 978-1250340672

ASIN: B0CQHL4YGV

Audiobook: B0CR6R77TJ

Genre: Fiction / YA / Thriller / Horror

Source: Review copy from publisher

3.5 / 5 Stars

Summary

Devin Green wakes in the middle of the night to find two men in her bedroom. No stranger to a fight, she calls to her foster parents for help, but it soon becomes clear this is a planned abduction—one everyone but Devin signed up for. She’s shoved in a van and driven deep into the Idaho woods, where she’s dropped off with a cohort of equally confused teens. Finally, two camp counselors inform them that they've all been enrolled in an experimental therapy program. If the campers can learn to change their self-destructive ways—and survive a fifty-days hike through the wilderness—they’ll come out the other side as better versions of themselves. Or so the counselors say.

 

My Thoughts

What the Woods Took was a wild ride, a book about loyalty, friendship, self-discovery, survival, and dealing with personal issues, but a horror novel? Not really.  I thought the author did a great job at describing the scenes in the wilderness and the difficulties of surviving when left alone as well as the trauma with which these teens were dealing. There were a lot of sensitive topics that were discussed and they were dealt with sensitivity and care. However well done the character development and growth though, I did think the actual horror element wasn't quite as developed.

 

First, the characters. Sheridan was actually my favourite character and I thought her development arc was the strongest of all of them. She grew from this petulant, angry person to someone who cared deeply about others and who was willing to look within herself and understand why she was behaving the way she was. The other characters had similar growth and honestly, I was impressed with the character development. I was personally invested in all their journeys and looked forward to learning more about their lives. I will admit to some frustration as I didn't learn as much as I would have liked about Ollie's relationship with his father or about Aidan's relationship with his mother and why exactly why the two of them were there.  When I discussed this book with a couple of friends who had read it, I was amazed at who we all connected with as everyone thought a different character had better character development. This just shows the scope of the author's skill that she can reach different people with her book.

 

I did enjoy the story and wondered what would happen to the teens when they were left stranded. Honestly, getting lost in forest settings comes second to haunted houses for me in the horror genre as there is so much possibility for awful things to happen. And while we have some monsters, I don't think the author took the story far enough as there was a lot of focus on personal growth and trauma over the monster story line.  Things could have been so much worse, but somehow they were able to read maps, get food, etc... and survive quite well.  This coming from a bunch of teens who have barely set foot in a wilderness setting, well, as someone who has trekked a lot of wilderness, this doesn't come off that well. The author did try to show the teens were out of their league in one sense, but in the other they were splitting up and finding each other, no problem, in dense forest, with little experience. Um, no.

Verdict

What the Woods Took did surprise me with its insightful treatment of trauma and the growth of the characters what really fascinating. I truly appreciated the author's way of handling a lot of the situations that arose and thought they were done very well. I didn't think the horror element of the book was that strong, and I certainly didn't believe that five teens who had no experience with backpacking through rough terrain would survive the way they did in this book. Too many liberties with survival skills that are not learned that easily, from someone who has backpacked many wilderness areas.  I will definitely read another book by this author as I enjoyed the writing style and liked the overall story.

 

Review: The Dead Hand by Judith Cutler

The Dead Hand (The Harriet & Matthew Rowsley Victorian Mysteries, Book #5)

by Judith Cutler

Release Date: November 26, 2024

2024 Severn House

Paperback ARC; 240 Pages

ISBN: 978-1448314607

ASIN: B0C5JW99HC

Genre: Fiction / Mystery / Historical

Source: Review copy from publisher

3 / 5 Stars

Summary

June 1861, Victorian England. A house full of academics should imply calm and quiet, but much to housekeeper Harriet Rowsley's dismay some of the guests seem to have problems with the estate's unconventional practices and aren't afraid of voicing their concerns. Having Harriet and her husband and interim estate manager Matthew as the hosts of Thorncroft House, while his lordship is ill and the trustees are seeking for his heir, is obviously not to everyone's taste!

But Harriet won't let their patronising opinions get in the way of running the household as it was entrusted to her. She and her husband seem to have things under control until a series of unusual accidents occur around them. To make matters worse and more pressing, one of these accidents proves fatal . . .

 

My Thoughts

The Dead Hand is the next entry in the Harriet & Matthew Rowsley Victorian Murder mysteries and I thought it was a solid entry in the series.  Archaeologists have arrived in force to work the Roman ruins found on the grounds of the manor and Harriet & Matthew have their hands full managing all of them as well doing their normal day-to-day jobs. To make matters more interesting, Harriet has lost her full-time housekeeper and must now interview a new one by giving the person a one-month trial to see if she will fit into the household. 

First of all, while I enjoyed the mystery, I do find this author's writing hard to follow. It's not that her writing style is difficult once you are immersed in the chapter, but POV changes from chapter to chapter, all written in first person, and you have no idea from whose perspective you are reading which is quite confusing. You have to really work to understand the characters and the plot at times, and while this type of writing style is meant to confuse the reader so you are not sure what is happening, it actually just made me frustrated. And for the record, it didn't work as I figured out who the culprit was almost from the beginning; I just found it really obvious.  Oh, and using dialogue and inner monologue for rhetorical questions that aren't answered just seems like lazy writing to me.  There are other ways to add twists and turns to a plot without the reader knowing who is actually speaking or in whose head we are in at the moment.  

The plot itself was fairly predictable, despite the use of rhetorical questions and switching POVs to try and confuse the reader. I did enjoy the addition of the archaeological 'experts' in this book and how they actually worked during this time period, some being more exploitive in nature rather than the historical value. The historical details were nicely woven into the story, and I appreciated the research that went into the story. However, some of the actions from some of the characters did not necessarily make sense or ring true to the time period, so I just had to go along with it.  

Verdict

The Dead Hand had many things going for it, and I did enjoy the descriptions of the time period as well as the goings-on of a great house during harvest season. I did think the mystery was fairly predictable, and some actions were not questioned or just ignored which didn't make sense to me as this was a fairly clue-driven story.  As I've mentioned in previous reviews and which continues in this book, I am not crazy about the writing style. However, I will read the next book in this series only to find out what happens due to the ending of this book.

 

Review: Oathbreakers: The War of Brothers that Shattered an Empire and Made Medieval Europe by M. Gabriele & D.M. Perry

Oathbreakers: The War of Brothers that Shattered an Empire and Made Medieval Europe

by Matthew Gabriele & David M. Perry

Release Date: December 10, 2024

2024 Harper

Ebook ARC; 304 Pages

ISBN: 978-0063336674

ASIN: B0CZ798FMJ

Audiobook: B0CYHZTW4W

Genre: Non-Fiction / Historical / Medieval

Source: Review copy from publisher

 

4 / 5 Stars

 

Summary

By the early ninth century, the Carolingian empire was at the height of its power. The Franks, led by Charlemagne, had built the largest European domain since Rome in its heyday. Though they jockeyed for power, prestige, and profit, the Frankish elites enjoyed political and cultural consensus. But just two generations later, their world was in shambles. Civil war, once an unthinkable threat, had erupted after Louis the Pious’s sons overthrew him—and then placed their knives at the other’s neck. Families who had once charged into battle together now drew each other’s blood.

The Carolingian Civil War would rage for years as kings fought kings, brother faced off against brother, and sons challenged fathers. Oathbreakers is the dramatic history of this brutal, turbulent time.

My Thoughts

Oathbreakers is the second book I've read by these authors and I enjoyed the intricate writing and detailed descriptions of the time period.  Although I am very familiar with Charlemagne and the havoc his sons and grandsons set in motion after his death, the authors did a great job at bringing a fresh perspective to the details of the time period.  For anyone familiar with the time period, I don't think this book offers anything new, but it does offer a clear insight into the causes and consequences of what happened. I definitely liked the more human perspective; it's always easy to say in hindsight that such and such should have been done, but the authors did a great job to show the humanness of the actions and choices that people made, not realizing until much later the impact those choices would have on future events and people. 

This book is definitely written for those who don't have a lot of knowledge about the time period, so the authors take a different approach in their writing than is usual in non-fiction history books, more of a chatty approach, one meant to feel as if they are talking to you or lecturing you.  For the most part this didn't bother me, but there were times when it drove me crazy, especially during the more serious parts of the book when I felt like the subject material was too serious for this 'chattiness'.  Maybe having a history background kind of affected my feelings about this as I am used to a more serious approach, but there were times when I just wanted the authors to go much more in-depth and talk about how serious the situation actually was as those moments definitely impacted those places for generations to come.  The lighter tone just didn't always match the situation.

That being said however, the authors did do a great job of outlining the Carolingians and the impact they had on the time period. This is definitely not an easy story to tell and outline so I appreciated the cohesiveness of what was done in this book.  And trying to keep all the names straight is no easy feat when half of them are names Louis or Charles or Pepin or something similar.  I also liked how the authors mentioned a bit about the societal structure and the impact the wars would have had on starvation and disease over the years, although little is known about the farmers and other people who did not serve at court. Unless there is  stash of papers hidden somewhere, there is a lot we will never know and the authors constantly mention the sources from which they gain their information as well as the reliability of those sources.  In some instances, we just don't know why some people were at odd with each other and can only speculate based on future actions. 

Verdict

Oathbreakers provided a fascinating look into this medieval time period. I was particularly fascinated by the relationships, especially those of the daughters who spent their entire life at court, had affairs and children out of wedlock, but influenced a lot of wealthy people nonetheless yet paid the consequences for those relationships. And what happened to Judith of Bavaria as well as Dhuoda just made the reader realize how much women sacrificed for their children or were victims of the political struggles. The authors did a great job bringing this time period to life and provided perspective for actions and decisions that were made, but there is no question the idiocy of the nobility were responsible for a lot of death and destruction that very much impacted the development of Europe. I know people like to ascribe certain people as being 'heroes', but I liked how the authors showed a different side to that perception and really make you think about who you venerate. 

Review: Murder's Snare by Paul Doherty

Murder's Snare (A brother Athelstan Mystery, Book #23)

by Paul Doherty

Release Date: December 3, 2024

2024 Severn House

Ebook ARC; 224 Pages

ISBN: 978-1448313105

ASIN: B0D6YYBCHD

Genre: Fiction / Historical / Mystery

Source: Review copy from publisher

4 / 5 Stars

Summary

Normandy, 1358: The Free Company of the 'Via Crucis - the Way of the Cross' sweeps into the peaceful village of Avranches, like the riders from the Apocalypse, leaving nothing but death and hellish destruction in their wake.

London, 1382: Brother Athelstan is summoned to unpick the ugly truth behind a number of killings afflicting the great city. Some carried out like clean, efficient assassinations, all bearing the message 'Justitia Fiat - let there be justice', others inflicting torture and humiliation upon the bodies. But the victims all have one thing in common - they were all once members of Via Crucis.

With every new gruesome discovery, Brother Athelstan, with the help of Coroner Cranston, uncovers more clues which make up a most complicated riddle - but can he put together the last piece before the fate of the whole country is decided?

 

My Thoughts

Murder's Snare is the next book in the long-running Brother Athelstan mystery series and I impressed with the way the author can still come up with a mesmerizing mystery that really embodies the time period.  This is actually a multi-layered story with several solutions to different plots all leading to the main plot at the end of the book, but in which all the plots are interconnected.  Just when you think you have things figured out, the author throws in some twists and turns that make you question your thinking. And even though I did figure out who the culprit was pretty early on, there were times I was questioning my main choice although I did not quite figure out some of the secondary plots. 

Brother Athelstan is the priest of St. Erconwald's, a church located in the more salubrious section of London, and his constituents tend to largely flirt with the law. Brother Athelstan is quite aware of the activities of his flock, but manages to reign in their activities as much as possible and the humour that is exhibited through these tales is quite interesting and the author manages to describe quite a bit of life during this time period through these characters.  Athelstan also works for coroner Sir John Cranston, so when there is a crime to investigate, he is often caught up in those circumstances as well. Because this the twenty-third book of this series, I don't think there is a lot of character development for these characters, so a lot of the attention was on the secondary characters which suited me just fine.  

For a shorter book, the mystery itself was actually quite complex and rather interesting. I had just finished a non-fiction book about this time period, so it was fascinating to follow that book with this one and immerse myself in the time period through the eyes of the characters. To say ti was a brutal time period doesn't go far enough, but there was also warmth and loyalty as well. All the plot threads do interconnect so you have to pay attention to everything that is discussed, and there is even some deeper political intrigue happening below the actual murder mysteries, something I was expecting to happen at some point considering the political climate of the time period.  There is a wide array of characters and the author doesn't waste time reacquainting readers with familiar ones, so I was glad I had read all the previous books in the series.  I did find the mystery itself quite fascinating as I love it when there are consequences for actions that happen in one's past that impact one's present and you can't just brush it off with 'it was war'. 

Verdict

Murder's Snare was a fairly fast-moving mystery that had layers upon layers of mysteries within it.  Part of this could be frustrating, but in a good way, as you had no idea which thread the main characters were following or solving, and the author was great at including twists and turns that made you keep guessing. I loved the descriptions of the time period and often felt like I was walking beside Brother Athelstan as he was walking down the streets and seeing what he was seeing, reminding me of how comfortable we are in this modern world.  I highly recommend this series if you love historical mysteries and want to immerse yourself in world full of strife and political intrigue.

 

Review: The Wild Coast by Lin Anderson

The Wild Coast (Rhona MacLeod, Book #17)

by Lin Anderson

Release Date: December 3, 2024

2024 Pan

Ebook ARC; 464 Pages

ISBN: 978-1529084573

ASIN: B0BTDF5VG8

Audiobook: B0C24MGQNP

Genre: Fiction / Mystery

Source: Review copy from publisher

4 / 5 Stars

Summary

The height of summer in Scotland. Small west-coast campsites are the go-to for wild campers and campervans. Remote, loch or beach-side, most occupy a field on a highland croft.

Until a lone camper disappears. Then another. It appears that a killer has found the perfect way to operate. Remote, unnoted and lethal.

Meanwhile in Glasgow , Police Scotland is facing allegations of sexual assault by its male officers. In that list is one DS Michael McNab.
Did McNab overstep the mark, or is the accusation against him a way of putting him
out of action forever?

 

 

My Thoughts

The Wild Coast is the next entry in the long-running Rhona MacLeod mystery series, and this one explores the challenges women face while traveling alone as well as how easily someone's reputation an be destroyed through allegations. I absolutely loved the setting of the book as the wild coast of Scotland's northwest seemed to contrast beautifully with the difficult case and subject matter of the book. It made me yearn to get on a bike and do a road trip.

 

Because this is the seventeenth entry in this series, I don't really feel like there was much character development especially if you have read the previous installments.  As a result, I was much more interested in the secondary characters that populated this book, the family members, the ones involved with the victims and the reasons for their choices and actions.  While I wasn't completely satisfied with the characters and didn't emphasize with all of them, I was still invested in what was happening in their lives.  Rhona and Chrissie were quite active in the investigation, but they come across as old acquaintances. I always love when Pike makes an appearance as his psychological insights are always fascinating, and McNab is always three steps away from falling off a cliff, if in a literal sense. I keep waiting for the book when he finally ends up over the edge.

 

The plot moved along rather quickly as the team investigated missing women as well as a couple of bodies that were discovered. The plot focused on women and the difficulties they have when traveling and escaping abusive relationships, and many important issues were discussed including sexual assault and mistreatment of women.  McNab finds himself caught in the middle of a possible sexual assault case due to choices he makes, and the team has to work hard to figure out if he is guilty or innocent. This secondary plot line poses the question about how well you actually know someone even after having worked with them for years and how easily someone's reputation can be ruined.  One of the things I have always liked about this author is the way all the threads are wrapped up in the end, and this one satisfies on all counts as well.  

Verdict

The Wild Coast was an interesting read and I liked how the author contrasted the difficult themes of the book with the beautiful setting. The plot moved rather quickly and while the character development wasn't a focus of the book, for long-time readers, being familiar with the characters and their lives definitely helped. While this could be read as a standalone, I do think it reads better if you have read the previous entries in the series as the author doesn't explain the relationships, assumptions are made that you are already familiar with them.  As a woman, I appreciated the subject matter and the difficulties and dangers of traveling alone. And if you like forensic work, that is a main part of this series as the main character is a forensic scientist.