Rascals and Royals, Oh My!

Book-Fiction: The Devlin Diary by Christi Phillips

This book was on the shelves for some months before I picked it up. It's an historical mystery blended with a modern setting. It's about an American female history professor who takes a one year guest teaching position at Cambridge, England. While there, she researches an intriguing historical mystery.

The historical characters do the heavy-lifting in the book, with occasional look-forwards at the life of the female professor.

By the end of the book, the historical mystery is solved, and the female professor has taken a tiny step forward in her romantic relationship with an interesting and infuriating Cambridge Don.

I really liked the set up, the mystery, and the entwining of the historical and modern day stories. It's a blend of romance and mystery, with royalty and rascals in both periods, and probably a woman's book more than a man's.

Realizing The Devlin Diary was a sequel to an earlier story, I picked up the first book in the series. Titled The Rossetti Letter, it also blends historical mystery with the modern day story of the American female professor and the Cambridge Don. The story is set in Venice, Italy.

I liked it too, though I have to say, the author's story telling skill is stronger in her second book. Which means nothing but good, for her future readers.