Tag: Blog Tour

Book Review – Viper in the Nest by Georgina Clarke @clarkegeorgina1 @Verve_Books

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Welcome to the final day of the blog tour for Viper in the Nest by Georgina Clarke, the third book in the Lizzie Hardwicke historical crime series. My thanks to Lisa at VERVE Books for inviting me to take part in the tour and for my review copy. Head over to Instagram, X or Bluesky to read the thoughts of the other readers taking part in the tour.

About the Book

London, June 1759. When a charmless civil servant takes his own life, few are interested in his death. But Lizzie Hardwicke, who plies her trade in the brothels of London whilst also working as an undercover sleuth for the magistrate, can see no reason why a man who had everything to look forward to would wish to end his life.

Lizzie’s search for answers takes her from the smoke-filled rooms of fashionable gambling houses, where politicians mix ambition with pleasure, to the violent streets of Soho, ready to erupt with riots in the sultry summer heat. All the while, she is navigating her complicated feelings for the magistrate’s trusted assistant, Will Davenport, and a disturbing situation at home.

Then a gambling house owner is brutally murdered, and Lizzie finds herself tangled in a chaos that she cannot control. The darkest of secrets threatens to turn Davenport against her forever; its exposure will send her to the gallows.

Format: Paperback (320 pages) Publisher: VERVE Books
Publication date: 24th April 2025 Genre: Historical Fiction, Crime

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My Review

I haven’t read either of the previous books in the series – Death and the Harlot and The Corpse Played Dead – which puts me in the perfect position to assure you Viper in the Nest can definitely be read as a standalone.

You can’t help but become engaged in the story from the start with the sudden and seemingly inexplicable suicide of a man who seemed to have everything. But was it all built on sand? Just how did a clerk working in a government office acquire the wealth to afford a large house and a mistress? As Lizzie observes, ‘Mr Merrick, the dullest man in London, was beginning to intrigue me.’

At one point a character says to Lizzie, ‘I think you’re like a terrier with a bone, agitating people until you find answers’ and there was never a truer word said because Lizzie can’t stop herself trying to find out the truth. She’s a brilliant character: resourceful, clever, witty and a loyal friend. She’s used to dissembling, pretending attraction where there is none. But her insatiable curiosity brings her dangerous enemies.

Always at the back of Lizzie’s mind are the circumstances that brought about such a change in her life and social status. She’s determined that will change one day but a new arrival at the Berwick Street brothel threatens her plans.

I liked the way the story demonstrated the divisions in society with many citizens of London living in abject poverty whilst the rich (mostly men) while away the hours gambling, whoring and seeking preferment in whatever way they can. The epitome of this excess is the bizarre personal bets, often involving thousands of pounds, placed on events such as what the weather will be on a particular day.

I enjoyed the simmering relationship between Lizzie and magistrate’s assistant, William Davenport. Despite signs of mutual attraction, Lizzie’s mindful that a harlot doesn’t make an ideal wife for a man in William’s position.

Viper in the Nest is a really entertaining historical mystery with a skilfully crafted plot and great period atmosphere. I hope there will be more adventures to come for Lizzie.

In three words: Engaging, suspenseful, colourful
Try something similar: Daughters of Night by Laura Shepherd-Robinson

About the Author

Georgina Clarke has a degree in theology and a PhD in history part-time, while working as a parish priest. Her love of the past is at the heart of her fiction: her Lizzie Hardwicke crime series is set in the mid-eighteenth century, and her standalone novel – The Dazzle of the Light – unfolds in 1920s London and is inspired by the real-life activities of the women-led Forty Elephants crime syndicate. Georgina is currently a tutor at the Queen’s Foundation in Birmingham. When she’s not working she enjoys dressmaking, running and mooching around old houses. She lives in Worcester with her husband, son and son, and two lively cats.

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Book Review – A Death in Berlin by Simon Scarrow #ADeathInBerlin @headlinepg

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Welcome to today’s stop on the blog tour for A Death in Berlin by Simon Scarrow, the third book in the author’s crime thriller series set in WW2 Berlin. My thanks to Sophie at Ransom PR for inviting me to take part in the tour and to Headline for my digital review copy via NetGalley. Do check out the review by my tour buddy for today, Sue at Brown Flopsy’s Book Burrow.

About the Book

Berlin. May 1940. As Hitler prepares to invade Western Europe, there is bloodshed closer to home.

CI Horst Schenke is an exceptional investigator with the Kripo unit. Powerless against the consequences of the wider war, he fights to keep criminals off his patch of Berlin. But with influential men questioning his loyalty to the Nazi regime, he is walking a tightrope. If his secret relationship with a Jewish woman is exposed, that would spell the end.

Berlin’s gangsters run their crime rings with impunity. Decadent senior Nazis are happy to protect them. Schenke is different. He refuses to turn a blind eye when innocent victims are caught in the crossfire between warring gangs. But dangerous enemies know everything about him. They will do whatever it takes to bend him to their will . . .

From the seedy wartime nightlife scene to aristocratic homes frequented by the Führer himself, against a backdrop of a war spiralling into a greater, and closer conflagration, A Death in Berlin conveys the horror and banality of evil. And the terrible danger for those who dare stand against it.

Format: Hardcover (400 pages) Publisher: Headline
Publication date: 13th March 2025 Genre: Historical Fiction, Crime, Thriller

Find A Death in Berlin on Goodreads

Purchase A Death in Berlin from Bookshop.org [Disclosure: If you buy books linked to our site, we may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookshops]

My Review

A Death in Berlin is the third book featuring Criminal Inspector Horst Schenke, the follow-up to Blackout and Dead of Night.

Horst Schenke is a brilliant character. He has a strong sense of justice and bringing criminals to book is what drives him. It enables him to temporarily put to one side his growing alarm at and distaste for what is happening to Germany under the Nazis. But that’s becoming increasingly difficult. The fact he has not yet joined the Nazi party or applied for membership of the SS and turned down a role working for Heydrich marks him out in the eyes of his new boss Oberfuhrer Radinsky as a maverick. Nazi Germany does not care for mavericks. It’s only Schenke’s excellent results that protect him. Oh, and his previous career as a famous racing driver. It turns out he has an unexpected fan too.

Schenke has an additional weak spot in the form of his relationship with Ruth, a Jewish woman. Their relationship must remain clandestine for both their sakes: snatched meetings in out of the way places organised by coded messages and constant vigilence. For Schenke, discovery would mean the end of his career, and possibly worse. For Ruth it would mean certain death. ‘Caution was not just a watchword but the essence of their survival.’

But a secret makes you vulnerable and open to manipulation, as Schenke discovers. It results in the most difficult moral dilemma he has faced in his career.

Schenke’s team return: the trusty Sergeant Hauser, handy in a brawl; and Scharfuhrer Liebwitz, seconded from the Gestapo and possessed of a remarkable memory and eye for detail. (I did love learning a little more about their personal lives.) Their investigation into forged ration coupons, a valuable commodity in a time of increasing deprivation for ordinary Germans (but not for high-ranking Nazis), takes them into the murky, dog-eat-dog, world of criminal gangs.

For Schenke, increasingly there’s little difference between the immorality of the criminal underworld and that of the Nazi regime. And sometimes – just sometimes – your enemy’s enemy is your friend and the end does justify the means. It’s the cue for some terrific action scenes, including one fuelled by revenge and a desperate attempt to save a life.

As Hitler unleashes the full might of the German army on Western Europe, Schenke can only despair at what his country has become. I’m sure we can all think of contemporary parallels.

If you’re looking for a brilliant historical thriller set against the backdrop of real events with a leading character you can’t help but root for, A Death in Berlin will not disappoint.

In three words: Dramatic, atmospheric, suspenseful
Try something similar: The Ashes of Berlin by Luke McCallin

About the Author

Author Simon Scarrow

Simon Scarrow is a Sunday Times No. 1 bestselling author. His books – which have sold over 6 million copies – include two earlier Criminal Inspector Schenke thrillers, Blackout and Dead of Night, and his Eagles of the Empire novels featuring Roman soldiers Macro and Cato, most recently Revenge of Rome, Rebellion and Death to the Emperor.

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