I think I"ll give the Jacqueline Kirbys another go - as I recall I picked one up in a used book store and it didn't grab me, but it wasn't bad or anything and it sounds like, in theory, something I might like. And god knows I am ripping through series of books I don't love right now in my general attempt to escape into fiction whenever possible, maybe I'll like them better at this point

My all time favorite remains "The Murders of Richard III" but then I love the whole argument over whether RIII really killed the princes in the Tower.

FYI, the Barbara Michaels books often have a supernatural element - ghosts, hauntings, etc.

Which is why they're excellent!

I've read most of the Amelia Peabody books and thought they were a lot of fun, but I dropped off after The Dramatic Reveal about Sethos.

I stopped reading the Amelia Peabody books after her son was born. I found him overly precocious and tiresome. But first ones in that series were a lot of fun. The Murders of Richard III was great fun. I liked Jacqueline Kirby and the take on an English house party murder mystery.

Huh. I apparently bought The Murders of Richard III in 2017. Good lord, I own all 4 of them? I really don't think I read these. Well, giving them another shot will certainly be easy. This is definitely an advantage of e-books over physical, I don't have to find them on my shelf to know I already have a copy...

I liked very young Ramses. He was annoying while growing up, but later allowed Peters to play with the politics of the colonial middle east - there's one book set in Palestine - which I found interesting. Also his kids allow Amelia to get her own back. I think the books are all on Overdrive if your library makes them available.

I am still mildly and irrationally miffed that Night of the Four Hundred Rabbits didn't actually include occult bunnies. I knew it wouldn't, because that's not Barbara Michaels' style, but I feel every book could be improved with occult bunnies.

I see what you did there, Gud. *g*

The first Michaels I read was Ammie Come Home, and I *loved* it because I was familiar with the setting. Got me hooked on her. And I remember reading The Crying Child late at night when the kids were in bed and H was late getting home from work--no lights on except the bedside lamp and I was totally freaked out. I kind of stopped and took a breath and realized it had been a long time since a writer--book or tv--had actually scared me that much. I loved the first Bliss book I read because set in Garmish-Partenkirchen, which I also knew and had spent time there, so it was kind of neat. But the ones after that seemed rather too arch to really enjoy. I did like the Jaqueline books I read, but I sort of fell away after the first one or two. And the Peters books lost me somewhere along the way, third or fourth book. Like The Mummy movies, the tale lost its sparkle with added kid.

Shattered Silk was the Barbara Michaels that I loved best. Have not read The Crying Child but it sounds like it might be too scary for me...

You know what, Atropa, I don't think that is an irrational miff. Occult bunnies would have helped a lot! Kind of interesting as a now period piece but not my kind of mystery, on the whole, and I kind of disliked all the characters.

I think I might take it as an excuse to leap sideways to Mexican Gothic, actually.

I really liked Michaels/Peters but I too got tired of the Ramses show after a bit. But I appreciated that her female characters always had a lot of agency and strong opinions. And a sex drive!