#history mysteries

Voices at Whisper Bend, by Kathrine Ayres. American Girl fans might remember that Molly’s teacher was named Charlotte Campbell, so even though this is a different series, I still thought it was weird that they would reuse a name. Maybe I’m the only person who would notice, though.

Charlotte was often hypocritical and was more of a liability than an asset in solving the mystery.

Goodreads star rating: 2/5

Mystery of the Dark Tower, by Evelyn Coleman. It focuses more on the supernatural than is my taste, especially since it doesn’t exactly advance the plot. There was also excessive use of description in spots.

I found myself getting frustrated by all the lies of omission the adult characters put upon Bessie.

Goodreads star rating: 2/5

Gangsters at the Grand Atlantic, by Sarah Masters Buckey. The story contains almost all of the 1920s stereotypes and a lot of slang. The Looking Back section describes some aspects of the 20s in the context of WWI and in contrast to the Victorian era, but doesn’t mention how the decade eventually led to the Great Depression. I also felt like it could have done more to contextualize polio, but that’s just me.

Goodreads star rating: 3/5

The Night Flyers, by Elizabeth McDavid Jones. I think the story had the potential to be more interesting but setting it a month before the end of the war (WWI in this case) made the stakes seem much lower. It was pretty easy to tell that the person Pam was convinced was the culprit wasn’t it, but the revelation of the true culprit keeps you guessing.

Goodreads star rating: 3/5

Secrets on 26th Street, by Elizabeth McDavid Jones. It’s interesting to have a story about women’s suffrage that focuses more on state-by-state ratification than the federal amendment, but the Looking Back section could have done a better job explaining Alice Paul’s role in the movement.

Part of it may be that I’ve read the book before, but I found the mystery to be very obvious.

Goodreads star rating: 3/5

Under Copp’s Hill, by Katherine Ayers. Very similar to the Sofia diaries from My America.

There are some inconsistencies within the story. First, Innie acts like she doesn’t go looking for trouble, it finds her. Then she makes a big deal about being bad on purpose. Her family has been in Boston for over 12 years but at times they act like they’ve much more recently arrived. Innie is labelled as a thief with minimal evidence but when the real thief is discovered, the other girl gets a lot more sympathy than Innie was given.

Aside from my criticisms about the plot, the history of settlement houses is of great interest to me.

Goodreads star rating: 3/5

The Strange Case of Baby H, by Kathryn Reiss. This is one of those books that I really want to like, because I’ve always been interested in the Great San Francisco Earthquake. But the characters don’t handle the mystery the way I think they should have. The best part is definitely the Looking Back section.

TW: kidnapping and drowning.

Goodreads star rating: 2/5

The Minstrel’s Melody, by Eleanora E. Tate. As far as the story goes, the mystery was fairly obvious and Orphelia was the 1904 equivalent of a groupie who couldn’t understand the meaning of the word “no.”

TW: The book explains the history of minstrel shows and if that and/or frequent references to hate crimes might be troubling for you, read at your own discretion.

Goodreads star rating: 2/5

Mystery at Chilkoot Pass, by Barbara Steiner. Considering how the story is set in Alaska, they could have given Hetty a more original last name than McKinley.

The mystery aspect fell away for a while and when the culprit was confirmed, the confrontation didn’t happen when it should have.

TW: gambling addiction.

Goodreads star rating: 2/5

Ghost Light on Graveyard Shoal, by Elizabeth McDavid Jones. Some similarities to Dear America’s A Light in the Storm, with a tiny bit of Chronicles of Avonlea. Unlike most History Mysteries, this one has an epilogue.

TW: emotional abuse (at least that’s the vibe I got). Most of the adults treat Rhoda like a nuisance and the only one who listens to her has ulterior motives.

Goodreads star rating: 2/5

Danger at the Wild West Show, by Alison Hart. I think this story does a good job explaining the complicated legacy of these shows. How they provided opportunities for female performers and shaped how the East Coast and Europe view the West, but also how that view is largely inaccurate (especially with its portrayal of Native Americans). I also like how the mystery connects to the Dawes Act.

Rose herself is a bit annoying and cannot read non-verbal cues at all.

Goodreads star rating: 3/5

TW: gun violence (which you would probably expect from the subject, but I figured I’d still mention).

Riddle of the Prairie Bride, by Kathryn Reiss. First of all, I think that “riddle” wasn’t the best word to use for the title. It sounds more like they were just trying to come up with synonyms for “mystery,” but there weren’t really any riddles involved.

There’s a lot of talk about Henry Clay that did not sound accurate to me.

Spoiler that I’m not sure is also a TW: there’s catfishing but it’s not entirely, as the communications were from the genuine person. The end result was pretending to be that person. But at the same time, the two women were supposedly good friends, but the pretend one couldn’t remember important information that she should have known.

Ida Kate blames her friend for filling her head with outrageous accusations, but it was really Ida Kate who came up with them in the first place.

Goodreads star rating: 3/5

Circle of Fire, by Evelyn Coleman. The second of two History Mysteries I hadn’t previously read. When keeping the target audience of ten-year-olds in mind, it felt out of place for the series with how heavy it was.

The most interesting aspect of the story was that it was based on a true incident involving Eleanor Roosevelt. (Children were not involved IRL, that was Coleman’s invention).

TW: hate groups and animal cruelty.

Goodreads star rating: 2/5

Usually when I encounter unidentifiable animals it’s either because of physical damage to the manuscript or because something generically animal-shaped has been drawn in a location where the text doesn’t provide any clues for a more specific identification. But sometimes a genuine mystery turns up, like this 13th c. french miniature:

Key points:

• five heads
• but not where you’d expect
• two of them are birds
• confidently placed in a chapter about whales
• definitely not a a whale
• who is she
  

[BnF, Nouvelle acquisition française 13521, fol. 27]