Book Review: The First Ladies by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray

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The First Ladies by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray is a historical fiction novel that spans many years and tells of the friendship between former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt and civil rights activist Mary McLeod Bethune. I don't know if I would have picked up this book if it hadn't been the August selection for one of the book clubs I belong to in my area because I don't read a lot of historical fiction. However, I am so glad that I read it and was able to learn many things I hadn't learned about in any of my history classes.  I don't recall learning anything about Mary McLeod Bethune, and she is an important part of American history. The things she helped spearhead to provide African American people equal rights is quite impressive. One of the things I was horrified to learn about is Franklin D. Roosevelt's resistance to stop lynchings because he was afraid of losing the Southern Democrats backing for his New Deal Bill. Another thing that I fo...

Book Review: Death in Paris (Màiri Maguire, #1) by Kate Darroch

Death in Paris (Màiri Maguire, #1) by Kate Darroch is a story of a teacher named Màiri Maguire who is vacationing in Paris when her accompanying friend, Lianne, is accused of murder. Working with Major Ellis Peverel, together they try to prove Lianne's innocence.

A big thank you goes out to NetGalley and Kate Darroch for the Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) of  Death in Paris (Màiri Maguire, #1). It's an honor to be able to be selected to read this book.

This fast paced cozy mystery was a fun, entertaining read that would translate well into a film. I loved that there wasn't anything too gory in the story and that there wasn't any cursing for the sake of cursing. 

At first, the novel was a bit slow, and I had a bit of trouble of wrapping my head around the characters and their relationships to each other. However, the book picked up quickly, and I was able to sort out the relationships after a couple of chapters. There were some slang words I wasn't familiar with, but it didn't detract from the story too much.

I'll definitely give the second book in this series a go because I enjoyed Death in Paris (Màiri Maguire, #1) well enough to continue reading the next book. I also liked reading about so many of the places in Paris, France that I visited when I was there many years ago. Three out of five stars is what I give Death in Paris (Màiri Maguire, #1) by Kate Darroch.

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