Mystery readers are undoubtedly familiar with Ellis Peters as the author of the excellent historical mystery series featuring Brother Cadfael, set in the twelfth century. But between 1951 and 1978, before she wrote her novels about Cadfael, Ellis Peters wrote a series of 13 contemporary classic mysteries featuring Detective Inspector George Felse. They have mostly been out of print for a while now. I reviewed one of them, Black Is the Colour of My True Love's Heart (The Felse Investigations)
So there's good news to share: the thirteen books of the Felse series - now grouped together as "The Felse Investigations" - are being re-released in e-book editions (some also in print) from the Mysterious Press and Open Road Media, who had already published the Brother Cadfael series. I have only read six of them, all of which I enjoyed, and I will be adding the others to my Kindle for future enjoyment. Here's a link to my original podcast review about Black is the Color of my True Love's Heart. The Felse family - his wife, Bunty and son, Dominic get to play some role in the later adventures - is worth meeting. Peters's writing is warm and emotional; she appears to care deeply about her characters and what happens to them. I predict that you will feel the same way. More details at the Mysterious Press website.
The Felse books seem like such a mixed bag to me, perhaps because they written over such a wide space of time?
Posted by: Curtis Evans | January 02, 2016 at 04:49 AM
Yes, although she had been writing for quite a while before even "Fallen Into the Pit" appeared - and then there was a ten year lapse before the second Felse. I've read about half of them (not recently, alas) and enjoyed them. I'm particularly fond of "Black is the Color of My True Love's Heart," which is a great title and a powerfully written book (IMHO, of course).
Posted by: Les Blatt | January 02, 2016 at 09:32 AM