I heard about this book in 2020 from Books by the Cup, and it has languished on my TBR shelf since then. But I had a long flight and decided that it was time to read this… and I found myself finishing this a lot faster than expected! Jezebel’s Daughter is essentially a study in… Read More Book Review: Jezebel’s Daughter by Wilkie Collins
Here is a book that I’ve owned for a pretty long time and finally got around to reading! Perhaps now, I can make another book haul (or maybe not, I have been so good in not buying more books or teacups). Frankenstein Dreams is a collection of Victorian science fiction stories, some excerpted from longer… Read More Book Review: Frankenstein Dreams edited by Michael Sims
As much as I enjoyed The Corset, this was not a binge-able book. Also, I need to be able to vaguely talk about the ending; I won’t give concrete spoilers but if you’re determined not to know anything, please click away now! The Corset is a novel set in Victorian England, centred around the question… Read More Book Review: The Corset by Laura Purcell
I bought this at the Church fair (along with 5 other books, because it was a buy 5 get 1 free type of deal) because it sounded vaguely familiar and I figured it was one of the books that I’ve always said I wanted to read. But after I started reading it, I found the… Read More Rereading: Lady Audley’s Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon (Spoiler Alert)
I got this book for a few reasons: 1) the cover is cool, 2) it’s a true crime unsolved mystery, and 3) the words “The Case Conan Doyle Couldn’t Solve” was printed prominently on the cover. Put all three together and I basically had to read the book. The Mile End Murder covers the murder… Read More Book Review: The Mile End Murder by Sinclair McKay
(A digression before I start the review: has anyone had book review drafts just disappear on them? I could have sworn I typed out the draft for the review of this book but it’s… just gone) The Five has had a lot of hype and all of it was deserved. It’s a portrait of five… Read More Book Review: The Five by Hallie Rubenhold
It feels a bit weird to be calling a Victorian-era book a page turner, but The Woman in White is definitely one. I got this partly because it was cheap and partly because it was famous, so I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. The Woman in White starts with Walter Hartright, getting… Read More Book Review: The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
I reviewed Murder by the Book a little while back, but to be honest, I only stumbled upon it because I was looking for this – The Inheritor’s Powder. In The Inheritor’s Powder, Sandra Hempel takes us through the murder of George Bodle, and through that murder, the history of arsenic as a poison and… Read More The Inheritor’s Powder by Sandra Hempel
I couldn’t resist picking this up when I found this in the library (found it while looking for The Inheritor’s Poison). Murder by the Book is not only about the murder of Lord William Russel, which is more complicated than the trial might suggest, but also looks at one of the most popular books of… Read More Murder by the Book by Claire Harman
When I was in Secondary school, I went through a period where I binged lots of true crime books. Even though I don’t read as much of the genre now, I still enjoy them. Unlike many true crime mysteries, which focus on famous cases, Pretty Jane and the Viper of Kidbrooke Lane is about the… Read More Pretty Jane and the Viper of Kidbrooke Lane by Paul Thomas Murphy