Well, it looks like this is the last one, as this is already seven years old, though it ends on the potential of another case to come. I could have kept reading these gentle mysteries where historical artifacts that I know little about play an important role in our charming couple's adventures. I was so happy with the last book that I tried to get this on my list for audio books, but my store did not have it, so I had to renew my long unused local public library card and check it out there. Read it over Thanksgiving weekend, so a few chores did not get done.
Penny and Jeremy got married in the last book and promised to not take on any cases involving family members, but when H.R.H. asks them to look into Penny's grandmother's cottage in Cornwall (I had to look it up and now know where it is), they could not resist. It was the place they met as children and both have fond memories of this house on the cliffs overlooking the sea. (I just recently finished the Library at the Edge of the World, which is on the coast of Ireland, but faced similar developer issues.) A historical society had tried maintaining the house, and should have first dibs on purchasing it, but developers have convinced the council that the cottage should be torn down and developed into a huge resort for tourists, so they have made life hard for the historical society. They turn to Penny and Jeremy to find some reason not to overdevelop the place. For a while they think Shakespeare might have lived there for a while, as no one knows where he was for certain years. I loved following Penny in her research through archives and old records, though some fell into her hands way too easily. When that didn't pan out, they followed other leads that took them to Madeira and a few other interesting places, but mostly they explored Cornwall, with its rich history. (I had to look up Madeira - had hear of the wine, but not of the island way off the coast of Morocco, but belonging to Portugal. Not exactly for my main bucket list, but if my health and money hold out, this would not be a bad place to check out.) In the process of saving the cottage, and the livelihoods and lifestyles of many of the townsfolk, they discover a notes from Great-Aunt Penelope's childhood that reflect her adventurous spirit even back then, and rescue Simon Thorne, a friend of Aunt Penelope we met in the first book, from a squalid nursing home. Rollo gets kidnapped while helping them, but all turns out well for everyone, except the bad guys. As a friend said, must be getting sentimental as we age.
Another enjoyable Penny Nichols story. They are getting ready for their wedding and there are factions of Jeremy's family - his grandmother - and Penny's French side of the family vying for their attention and wanting to control the wedding. The French family offers a tapestry of a wedding for the ceremony and that sets off a hunt into the past of both the family and French royalty. So Penny's historical knowledge and sleuthing come into play again. We see some of the family members from the previous books and are introduced to new ones. I liked Honorine, who wants to get away from her family and the perfume business, so she knocks on Penny and Jeremy's door in London and ends up being their assistant for a while. When she goes on to her own life at the end of the book, I realize how much they need an assistant. Looks like there is one more book in this series.
Obviously I chose this book because it was about libraries. This is about Hanna, whose marriage in London did not work out and she returns back home to Crossarra and works as a librarian in Lissbeg. These are small towns on the fictional Finfarran Peninsula, though there are plenty of peninsula's on the western coast of Ireland, with names very similar to the ones mentioned in the book. I of course like any librarian, especially those that work with under-served populations, so I love reading about her weekly trips into the countryside with her mobile library van. Unfortunately she seems not to have heard the current day library conversation about libraries being more than sources of books, but become community centers. I have seen that in my travels across the country. Her enthusiastic assistant Conor seems to realize this instinctively.
The story is about the usual developers wanting to develop a beautiful area to line their own pockets, but don't think about population it will affect. In helping her community unite to fight the developers, Hanna finds her own center and where she belongs. Her mother Mary Casey in her neon pink bungalow drives her nuts. Her daughter Jazz comes home occasionally and that is good while it lasts. Her ex-husband Malcolm still upsets her. One thing that helps is an old cabin left to her by aunt Maggie and Fury, the builder with his dog Divil, who helps her restore it. Conor and his friends, Sister Michael, Brian from the planning office - all help.
Maybe worth looking up some more books by Feliciey Hayes-McCoy.
Being an Account of the Further Adventures of Jacky Faber, in Love and War (Bloody Jack Adventures Book 6)
Another fun series of adventures in the life of Jacky Faber. This time she supposedly gets beheaded by the French, but is actually forced to be a spy, first as a dancer who entertains gentlemen, which leads her to be a messenger in the French army, where she follows Napoleon to a great battle in the east. She again shows her smarts and leadership talent and I get a glimpse into the workings of moving a huge army over long distances. The logistics of feeding, clothing, housing and entertaining armies has fascinated me for a long time, and this was a great description. Jacky's motley crew of farm boys joining the army was an interesting example. The set of skills she learns in each adventure come in handy in the next - like her riding a horse skills were useful here. Though staying technically true to Jaimey - and it is a constant challenge to maintain her maidenhood in these times and in the roles she ends up playing - she always finds someone to be sweet on and who comes to her rescue when needed.
