"Bones Buried Deep" by Emma Jameson

It’s June of 1940. Dunkirk has happened. France had surrendered. The day of the formal surrender – June 22, 1940 – is approaching. And in Britain, there’s a collective holding of breath. What happens now? 

For Dr. Benjamin Bones, working in the village of Birdswing in Cornwall, what happens is another murder. A body is found in a stream nearby. It’s finally identified as that of a young man from Plymouth, and he’s been kicked and beaten to death. The case takes on a different overtone when the body is identified – a young Jewish man, the sole support of his young brothers and sisters.

 

The discovery brings out the best and the worst in the local residents. Dr. Bones, and his great love Lady Juliet Linton, are surprised by the depth of anti-Semitic feeling from the people they like and thought they knew. It seems particularly virulent among the more upper-class crowd who gather at the Duke of Cornwall Hotel in Plymouth, already infiltrated by Lady Juliet’s errant husband working undercover for the British government. But what happened to the young man?

 

Emma Jameson

Bones is joined by the official investigator, a detective from Plymouth who himself is Jewish and knows firsthand what discrimination is like in the police department. Lady Juliet is not to be left out, and she finds innovative ways to investigate on her own.

 

Bones Buried Deep  is the fourth of four Dr. Benjamin Bones mysteries by British mystery author Emma Jameson, who’s also written the Lord and Lady Hetheridge mystery series (all set in London and have something to do with the word “blue”). 

 

This installment in the Dr. Bones series, like its predecessors, is leavened by humor (Jameson has created a great comic detective with Lady Juliet). And humor is definitely needed in what would be a dark tale indeed without it, a tale of vicious discrimination, death, black marketing, and the overhand of war.

 

Related:

Blue Murder by Emma Jameson.

 Something Blue by Emma Jameson.

 Black & Blue by Emma Jameson.

 Blue Blooded by Emma Jameson.

 Blue Christmas by Emma Jameson.

 Untrue Blue by Emma Jameson. 

 London Blue by Emma Jameson.

 Bones in the Blackout by Emma Jameson.

 Bones at the Manor House by Emma Jameson.

 

Some Monday Readings

 

Technological Poverty – Matthew Walther at The Lamp.

 

A Quiet Refusal to Compromise – Elizabeth Corey at Law & Liberty.

 

The Novel That Kept a British Prime Minister Up All Night – Joel Miller at Miller’s Book Review.

 

Art is the Signature of Man – Joseph Pearce at The Imaginative Conservative.

 

Why Essex is Britain’s most right-wing county – Daniel Dieppe at the Critic Magazine.

“Bones at the Manor House” by Emma Jameson

Dr. Benjamin Bones, assigned at the beginning of World War II to be the resident physician for the village of Birdswing in Cornwall and nearby environs, finds himself in a second murder investigation. The first (Bones in the Blackout) was been that of his wife on the evening they first arrived in the village. This time, he’s called to examine a body at Belsham Manor, which looks like suicide. Or, as Dr. Bones soon realizes, a murder designed by the manor’s servants to look like suicide.  

Lady Juliet, who lives in Birdswing in her own manor with her mother, has discovered she’s attracted to the doctor and had assisted him in helping solve the first murder. She has her own problems, however, having been deserted by a worthless cad of a husband who married her for her money and then promptly disappeared. Everyone gets surprised, however, when the husband unexpectedly shows up, and Lady Juliet learns she must continue the pretense of a happy marriage for wartime security purposes.

 

Emma Jameson

The murder victim has had a reputation of being something of a ladies’ man, except no one knows in this case if the lady in question is a servant or the lady of the manor. The local air raid warden is doubling as a police detective (there’s a manpower shortage, after all) and is ready to arrest the man’s wife, who aids in the investigation by confessing. Dr. Bones is convinced the confession is designed to protect her own family. 

 

Bones at the Manor House is the second of four Dr. Benjamin Bones mysteries by British mystery author Emma Jameson, who’s also written the Lord and Lady Hetheridge mystery series (all set in London and have something to do with the word “blue”). This second novel in the series is fast-paced and highly readable, with something of a “locked room” air about it, but I found credulity stretched a bit when the scientific Dr. Bones seems to rather eagerly join into a séance and using a Ouija Board.

 

But the story is fun and officially a “cozy” read, with virtually no violence (other than the finding of the dead man). But a fan of the Lord and Lady Hetheridge mysteries, I’m looking forward to the next two in the Dr. Bones series.

 

Related:

Ice Blue by Emma Jameson.

 

Blue Murder by Emma Jameson.

 

Something Blue by Emma Jameson.

 

Black & Blue by Emma Jameson.

 

Blue Blooded by Emma Jameson.

 

Blue Christmas by Emma Jameson.

 

Untrue Blue by Emma Jameson. 

 

London Blue by Emma Jameson.

 

Bones in the Blackout by Emma Jameson.

 

Some Monday Readings

 

Mr. Twiddle goes west – Jeffrey Streeter at English Republic of Letters.

 

Brits have not lost their appetite for freedom – Emma Schubart at The Critic Magazine.

“Bones in the Blackout” by Emma Jameson

Dr. Benjamin Bones is a young, married physician who volunteers for active duty when Germany invades Poland in September 1939. He expects to be assigned to the medical crops. Instead, his occupation is deemed critical, and he’s sent to the small village of Birdswing in Cornwall. Coincidentally, it’s the same town his wife left some years before – and never returned. She’s also leaving behind in London the man she’d been having an affair with – and it looks like this assignment will be make-it-or-break-it for their marriage. 

Except events never proceed that far. As soon as they arrive in the town that first evening, when everything is blacked out because of the war, a hit-and-run lorry seemingly comes from nowhere and plows into the couple, jilling here and shattering the young doctor’s leg.  

 

It looked like an accident, but Ben has his doubts. As he recovers, he finds an anonymous note left on his pillow at the pub where’s staying. The writer is apologizing for Ben’s injury; the only target had been his wife.

 

Ben begins to look into his wife’s death and the death of another young woman, whose death also appeared to be an accident involving leaking gas in her home. He’s assisted by Lady Juliet, who lives in the local manor, who develops a crush on the young doctor without him realizing it. As he gets deeper into recent local history and the secrets lying buried, he finds that his dead wife had plenty of enemies in the village. And the danger may not be over.

 

Bones in the Blackout is the first of four Dr. Benjamin Bones mysteries by British mystery author Emma Jameson, who’s also written the Lord and Lady Hetheridge mystery series (all set in London and have something to do with the word “blue”). I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the “Blue” series, and I thought I’d try her other detective series. I’m glad I did – Jameson seems to catch the early years of World War II on the home front exactly right and Dr. Bones is just as engaging as her contemporary London police detectives.

 

Bones in the Blackout is a thoroughly enjoyable story, full of unexpected twists and turns and highlighted by a thriller of an ending. I’m looking forward to reading the next three in the series.

 

Related:

Ice Blue by Emma Jameson.

 

Blue Murder by Emma Jameson.

 

Something Blue by Emma Jameson.

 

Black & Blue by Emma Jameson.

 

Blue Blooded by Emma Jameson.

 

Blue Christmas by Emma Jameson.

 

Untrue Blue by Emma Jameson. 

 

London Blue by Emma Jameson.

 

Some Monday Readings

 

Don’t trust the BBC on America – Chris Bayliss at The Critic Magazine.

 

Liberalism Without Illusions – William Galston at Democracy.

 

When the Internet Was a Place – Raleigh Adams at Front Porch Republic.

 

An American Greatness: Willa Cather’s “O, Pioneers!” –Bradley Birzer at The Imaginative Conservative.

The Loyalist Who Gave Birth to His Nightmare – Richard Briles Moriarty at Journal of the American Revolution. 

The Bookshops of Old London – Spitalfields Life.

 

Long-Forgotten Rubens Found in Paris Mansion – Jo Lawson-Tancred at Artnet.

"London Blue" by Emma Jameson

Tony Hetheridge, retired Scotland Yard detective and aka Lord Anthony Hetheridge, is recovering from knee replacement surgery and watching over his infant son. His wife, Kate, is back at her job as a detective inspector, after her pregnancy leave. Both Hethridges will soon be awash in new crimes. 

Kate and her team are called to the home of a seemingly well-to-do woman, whose body has been discovered by the cleaning lady. The death appears to be of natural causes; the dead woman was in her 70s, there no sign of violence on the body, and the house itself shows no signs of a break-in or theft. But something doesn’t sit right with Kate, and the autopsy will show that it is murder.

 

Tony is visited by a friend who asks him to investigate a strange series of coincidences involving a three-woman singing group. One was kidnapped and murdered; another was attacked by what appeared to be a mugger; and one is convinced she’s being stalked. Plus their manager had been killed in an explosion on their tour bus. Tony takes on the case, even though he’s confined to home during his recovery and physical therapy.

 

The two cases will, inevitably, come together; it turns out that the connecting link is, of all things, a young woman’s finishing school. It may be the last of its kind, but it seems to be full of politics, intrigue, and now possibly even murder.

 

Emma Jameson

London Blue is the eighth installment of the Lord and Lady Hetheridge crime series by British author Emma Jameson, and it’s a welcome addition. It’s been three years since the last novel, Untrue Blue, giving rise to speculation that Jameson might have ended the series. That, fortunately, has turned out not to be the case, and she’s said in a mystery newsletter that she’s working on Hetheridge No. 9. It’s a solid series, with one of the key features being how Jameson plays off the upper-class Tony against the working class (London East End) Kate. And she includes a worrisome side story about Kate’s colleague and Tony’s former subordinate Paul Bhar, who has a new baby girl who might have developmental disabilities.

 

In addition to the Hetheridge series, Jameson has a second series of novels featuring the amateur detective Dr. Benjamin Bones. The series begins in Cornwall during World War II, and it has a companion series called “The Magic of Cornwall.” 

 

London Blue is a class Hetheridge story – cases that merge, suspects and witnesses who all seem to avoid telling the truth or omitting key details, and the ongoing clash of classes. And Jameson adds exactly the right amount of humor to relieve the tension.

 

Related:

Ice Blue by Emma Jameson.

 

Blue Murder by Emma Jameson.

 

Something Blue by Emma Jameson.

 

Black & Blue by Emma Jameson.

 

Blue Blooded by Emma Jameson.

 

Blue Christmas by Emma Jameson.

 

Untrue Blue by Emma Jameson. 

 

Some Monday Readings

 

“Whoever looks upon them as an irregular mob…” – Phill Greenwalt at Emerging Revolutionary War Era.

 

Felixstowe Martello Towers, Bawdsey Radar and Sutton Hoo – A London Inheritance.

 

A mission of guilt: On the West’s latest self-flagellation – The New Criterion.

Things Worth Remembering: One Easter Night in Europe - Rod Dreher at The Free Press.

The Patriot Martyrs of April 19, 1775 - Mark Maloy at Emerging Revolutionary War Era.

"Untrue Blue" by Emma Jameson

The Hetheridges – husband and wife – are back. 

Detective Inspector Kate Hetheridge is on doctor-ordered bedrest during her final four weeks of pregnancy. Her husband Tony, also known as Lord Anthony Hetheridge, continues to work as a private investigator and police consultant. Far too competent for his own good, Tony “retired” from Scotland Yard, retired as in forced out. Kate’s colleague – and Tony’s former subordinate – Paul Bhar is the father of a brand-new baby girl, so he’s not been visiting too much and trying to find time to get some sleep.

 

The Hetheridges and Paul are drawn into another murder investigation – the strangulation of a young member of Kate’s and Paul’s police team, killed in her flat. Kate can only participate via computer and phone, but Paul and other police officers are fully investigating. The victim’s boyfriend, also a police officer, is implicated. But as they begin to look at the cases she was investigating, they discover threads to the solution that might reach into very high levels of Scotland Yard.

 

Emma Jameson

Untrue Blue is the seventh mystery novel in the Lord and Lady Hetheridge series, and it’s every bit as good as its predecessors. The marriage of Mayfair (Tony) and London’s East End (Kate) is a fun sub-theme of the story. Tony, in his early 60s, had been a long-time bachelor, with one -out-of-wedlock child, and he can trace his lineage back several hundred years. Kate brings with her an older disabled brother, a nephew for whom she’s the guardian, a sister who’s usually in addiction recovery somewhere, and a mother no one has seen for some time. It’s a mix Jameson uses to keep the home front constantly bubbling. 

 

And now the baby is due. It’s a great mystery and a fun story.

 

In addition to the Hetheridge series, Jameson has a second series of novels featuring the amateur detective Dr. Benjamin Bones. The series begins in Cornwall during World War II, and it has a companion series called “The Magic of Cornwall.” Jameson is currently working on another Dr. Bones mystery, and she says there will be more Lord and Lady Hetheridge novels.

 

Related:

Ice Blue by Emma Jameson.

 

Blue Murder by Emma Jameson.

 

Something Blue by Emma Jameson.

 

Black & Blue by Emma Jameson.

 

Blue Blooded by Emma Jameson.

 

Blue Christmas by Emma Jameson.

"Blue Christmas" by Emma Jameson

Kate and Tony Hetheridge are taking very tentative steps to recover from their near-death experience in their last police investigation. Kate, a police officer for the Metropolitan Police, has been on extended leave, and she’s still suffering signs of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder from their last case. Tony, her former boss at the Met and now a private detective, desperately wants back into the world of investigations in London. They’ve been living with Kate’s brother, sister, and adopted son at the Hethridge estate in Devon.  

Paul Bhar, their colleague at the Met, can barely wait for their return. His division is seriously understaffed, and he needs all the help he can get. Like with this brand-new case – a reclusive, aging billionaire has been literally scared to death in bed with a contraption that resembles something out of a B-grade horror movie. And suspects abound, from a 12-year-old boy to the neighbors in the billionaire’s posh neighborhood. 

 

Blue Christmas by Emma Jameson, the sixth in the Lord & Lady Hetheridge mystery series by Emma Jameson, has somewhat of a (planned) connection to A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Except someone has murdered Uncle Scrooge. And there’s even a Bob Cratchit-type character.

 

Emma Jameson

In addition to the Hetheridge series, Jameson has a second series of novels featuring the amateur detective Dr. Benjamin Bones. The series begins in Cornwall during World War II, and it has a companion series called “The Magic of Cornwall.” Jameson is currently working on the third Dr. Bones mystery, and she says there will be more Lord and Lady Hetheridge novels.

 

Blue Christmas is several stories wrapped neatly together into one narrative. There’s the police investigation of the murder. There’s the story of Kate’s recovery and hoped-for return to full-time police work. And there’s a mystery around Paul Bhar, and why he won’t let his mother know his new address (and the character of the mother is rather Dickensian, too). It’s a story full of possibilities, and Jameson delivers. 

 

Related:

 

My review of Ice Blue by Emma Jameson.

 

My review of Blue Murder by Emma Jameson.

 

My review of Something Blue by Emma Jameson.

 

My review of Black & Blue by Emma Jameson.

 

My review of Blue Blooded by Emma Jameson.

“Blue Blooded” by Emma Jameson

Lord and Lady Hetheridge have temporarily moved out of their home in London’s Mayfair. The house was heavily damaged when Kate Hetheridge’s autistic brother tried to light a Lego block with a lighter. No one was hurt, but Tony Hetheridge, Kate, Richie the 27-year-old brother and Kate’s nine-year-old nephew Henry are temporarily living in a rather posh condo at 101 Leadenhall, in Westminster not far from Victoria Station. 

Tony and Kate met on the job at Scotland Yard, when he was her boss. He’s also old enough to be her father.

He’s gotten his private investigator license, and is looking for a young man who’s disappeared, following the death of his twin sister from a fall from 101 Leadenhall when it was under construction. Kate, at the moment a detective sergeant in Scotland Yard, is investigating a car bombing (via hacked computer) that killed a fringe candidate for Parliament. Richie’s mourning the loss of his Batman Lego set. Henry’s developing his own detective skills by investigating the condominium building.

Emma Jameson

And then who should surface in Tony’s and Kate’s investigations but Sir Duncan Godington, sociopath, psychopath, and killer who’s gotten away with murder several times. He loves to play and toy with his victims. This time it looks like he’s playing for keeps, and Tony and Kate are the prime targets.

Blue Blooded by Emma Jameson is the fifth (and, so far, last) in the Lord and Lady Hetheridge series. It’s the best in the series yet, with action popping on almost every page and a wild climax at the end.

In addition to the Hetheridge series, Jameson has a second series of novels featuring the amateur detective Dr. Benjamin Bones. The series begins in Cornwall during World War II, and it has a companion series called “The Magic of Cornwall.” Jameson is currently working on the third Dr. Bones mystery, and she says there will be more Lord and Lady Hetheridge novels.

Related:

My review of Ice Blue by Emma Jameson.

My review of Blue Murder by Emma Jameson.

My review of Something Blue by Emma Jameson.

My review of Black & Blueby Emma Jameson.

"Black & Blue" by Emma Jameson

One thing you can say about the Lord and Lady Hetheridge mystery series by Emma Jameson is that they are never dull. Things happen. Lots of things. On almost every page. 

Black & Blue, the fourth in the series, starts with a murder of an art dealer, who lives right around the corner from the Hetheridges in London’s Mayfair. Lord Hetheridge is Chief Superitendent Anthony Hetheridge of Scotland Yard, aka the ninth Baron of Wellegrave. Lady Hetheridge is the former Kate Wakefield, a detective sergeant woeking with Hetheridge as part of the murder investigation squad. The third member of the team is Detective Sergeant Deepal Bhar, who has the unfortunate habit of always stepping into things when he shouldn’t.

The art dealer was a nasty bit of goods, irrespective of his Euston Square address. He liked poaching the married wives of well-known men who didn’t take kindly to his poaching. He liked dumping his new girlfriends almost as soon as he had them. He offended neighbors on both accounts, not to mention the awful modern art eyesore he’d turned his house into. And then there’s the drug smuggling business that the art dealing covered for. 

Emma Jameson

Right at the start of the investigation, Hetherbridge is booted from his position, or “allowed to retire.” He takes steps to set up his own private investigations business, although he’s wealthy enough not to have worry about income. Kate and Deepal find themselves reporting to a new boss – Vic Jackson, known for his alcoholism, sexual harassment, and racist comments. Except Jackson seems to have undergone a transformation.

Murder suspects abound, including the woman found in the wardrobe in the dead man’s house (supposedly looking for Narnia) and the Texas boyfriend of Bhar’s mother, who comes close to steal the show for the entire novel. She’s a great comic character. And the Hetheridges have family problems, specifically Kate’s family, her recently-released-from-the-mental-home sister and her former prostitute mother (Kate and Tony were born and reared in very different circumstances).

In addition to the Hetheridge series, Jameson has a second series of novels featuring the amateur detective Dr. Benjamin Bones. The series begins in Cornwall during World War II, and it has a companion series called “The Magic of Cornwall.” Jameson is currently working on the third Dr. Bones mystery.

So much happens in Black & Blue that you’ll feel rather breathless and checking back every few pages to make sure you caught everything that was happening. And you’ll also be highly entertained.

Related:

My review of Ice Blue by Emma Jameson.

My review of Blue Murder by Emma Jameson.

My review of Something Blueby Emma Jameson.

“Something Blue” by Emma Jameson

A gala at a posh London hotel leaves the host, an oil tycoon with a recent environmental disaster on his hands, murdered in his suite. Chief Superintendent Anthony Hetheridge of Scotland Yard, aka the Baron of Wellgrave, is called in to investigate. His team includes Detective Sergeants Deepal Bhar and Kate Wakefield. Kate, born and raised in London’s East End, is shortly to become Mrs. Hetheridge, aka the Baroness of Wellgrave.

The gala has attracted a host of interesting types – and a host of suspects: the tycoon’s estranged wife and son, his current fiancée, and the American psychic he’s been having a fling with; Hetheridge’s own daughter, whom he didn’t know existed until investigating a previous case; the hotel manager and security man; IT people who may (or may not) have tampered with the hotel’s CCTV; and Sir Duncan Godington, the Scotland Yard team’s nemesis from an earlier murder. 

Something Blue is the third in the Lord and Lady Hetheridge mystery series by Emma Jameson. Like its predecessors, it’s a conscious blend of mystery and comedy, with several minor characters as well drawn and convincing as the main characters. And like its predecessors, Hethridge has to battle Scotland Yard politics, scurrilous reports in the tabloids about Kate and the wedding, and well-placed and well-titled suspects who are always prepared to pull strings. 

Related:

My review of Ice Blue by Emma Jameson.

My review of Blue Murder by Emma Jameson.

Top photograph by Mavis CW via Unsplash. Used with permission.

“Blue Murder” by Emma Jameson

Mayfair meets East End London, to solve a double-ax murder in Chelsea. Welcome to Blue Murder by Emma Jameson.

Chief Superintendent Anthony Hetheridge happens to have a title – the Baron of Wellgrave. He’s also 60, unmarried, and faces the possibility of his title passing to a rather obnoxious cousin. He’s been content with that, until he meets Detective Sergeant Kate Wakefield, born and raised in the East End, with a prostitute for a mother and a sister confined to a mental institution. That’s about as far as one can get from DeBrett’s Peerage.

He’s very close to proposing marriage, including toting around an heirloom family ring. Kate is part of his team, as is Detective Sergeant Paul Bhar. As Hetherdige is considering his marital options, he and his team are called to a townhome in Chelsea. What had been something of a Halloween party for university students while the homeowners are out of town has become something else entirely. 

A party-trashed home, considerable damage to the contents, and two students dead – both killed with an ax to the head. One victim is a captain of the university rugby team; the other is something of a nondescript character whom everyone knew, nobody liked, and wasn’t invited to the party in the first place. And complicating everything is the house next door – the home of a titled gentleman who had been arrested, tried, and acquitted for killing his father, brother, and the family butler.

Emma Jameson

As Hetheridge, Wakefield, and Bhar investigate the murders, they find themselves caught up in cases from the past, family problems, and the relationship between Hetheridge and Wakefield erupting into full-blown passion. 

In addition to five novels in the Hetheridge series, Jameson has a second series of novels featuring the amateur detective Dr. Benjamin Bones. The series begins in Cornwall during World War II, and it has a companion series called “The Magic of Cornwall.” Jameson is currently working on the third Dr. Bones mystery.

Blue Murder is full of back stories, a raft of suspects (including the next-door neighbor), comic relief with Bhar’s mother’s tribulations as a romantic suspense novelist, and the Hetherridge-Wakefield romance. It’s a fast-paced, fun read, or at least as fun as a double-ax murder can be.

Related:

My review of Ice Blue by Emma Jameson.

Top photograph: a townhome in Chelsea, London.

“Ice Blue” by Emma Jameson

Chief Superintendent Anthony Hetheridge of Scotland Yard, aka the Baron of Wellgrave, has barely recovered from a close personal brush with death. But he’s gotten through it. He arrives one morning at the Yard to find two officers involved in a very loud and very public argument over the conduct of an investigation. One of them is Detective Sergeant Kate Wakefield, who was born and raised in London’s East End, about as far from the privileged life of Hetheridge as you can find. 

Hetheridge has Wakefield join his investigative team. Over time he learns that she has a mentally disabled brother and a nephew living at home with her, the nephew a gift from a sister serving jail time. 

The team is called to investigate a particularly gruesome murder in very upscale Belgravia. A man has been beaten to death with a fireplace poker, his face almost obliterated. Complicating the investigation is the man’s wife, a former romantic interest of Hetheridge’s. The victim was a rather nasty piece of bad news, hated by almost everyone who knew him. The investigation has no lack of suspects.

Ice Blue by Emma Jameson is the first of five “blue” murder stories in the Lord and Lady Hetheridge detective series. It superficially resembles the Thomas Lynley and Barbara Havers detective series of Elizabeth George, but the resemblance is only that – superficial. Hethbridge and Wakefield have very different characters than those in the Inspector Lynley series.

Emma Jameson

In addition to the Hetheridge series, Jameson has a second series of novels featuring the amateur detective Dr. Benjamin Bones. The series begins in Cornwall during World War II, and it has a companion series called “The Magic of Cornwall.” Jameson is currently working on the third Dr. Bones mystery.

The highlight of Ice Blue is watching the unfolding relationship between Hetheridge and Wakefield as they go about their investigation. They’re attracted to each other but maintain a professional working relationship, with only an occasional slip that surprises them both. 

It’s an entertaining read, and I’m looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

Top photograph: Homes in Belgravia by Paul Farmer via Wikimedia Commons.