Beth Camp Historical Fiction

Wednesday, July 27, 2022

And what are you reading?

Summer turned hot suddenly, so what's better than cuddling next to the air conditioning and reading a good book?

Last week's author interview is this week's book highlight! 

Kathleen Kaska's Murder at the Menger is Book 5 of the Sydney Lockhart Mystery Series, and is a delightful stand-alone read. 

From the opening sentence, we are immersed into Sydney's world. Sydney, a feisty private investigator, discovers a dead body at the Menger Hotel in San Antonio. The story quickly spirals into a series of twists, adventures, and, of course, more dead bodies. Is it easy to be a female investigator in the murky underworld of the 1950s? Not at all, but Sydney packs a gun and takes no guff. Well, except from her cousin, a sharp contrast to Sydney with her love of shopping, and yet who gladly follows Sydney's cases with her own brand of feistiness.

Kathleen has a real gift for telling a compelling story. She also brings the settings and characters to very vivid life! Here, just one example as a minor character complains about a suspect:  "That woman spins lies better than a tarantula." The reader is pulled along Sydney's investigations and greatly entertained along the way.

Here's a little more about Kathleen Kaska: 

She is the author of the awarding-winning mystery series: the Sydney Lockhart Mystery Series set in the 1950s. Each of these five mysteries is set in a different historic hotel. Her first two Lockhart mysteries, Murder at the Arlington and Murder at the Luther, were selected as bonus books for the Pulpwood Queen Book Group, the country’s largest book group. 

Her Kate Caraway Animal-Rights Mystery Series, which includes Run Dog Run, and A Two Horse Town. A third book in this series, Eagle Crossing, will be released later this summer.

Kathleen also writes mystery trivia, including The Sherlock Holmes Quiz Book. Her Holmes short story, “The Adventure at Old Basingstoke,” appears in Sherlock Holmes of Baking Street. She is the founder of The Dogs in the Nighttime, the Sherlock Holmes Society of Anacortes, Washington, and is a scion of The Baker Street Irregulars. She is also a member of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America.

Find out more about Kathleen at:

You might just want to read a little more about the Menger Hotel which just happens to be on the Ghost Tours of San Antonio, Texas

The Menger Hotel, 1865 (Source: Wikipedia)


May you enjoy some fine summer reading and stay cool! 






3 comments:

  1. Anonymous5:52 AM

    Hi Beth, Thank you for having me as a guest on your blog. Murder a the Menger was fun to write. Sydney has a mind of her own and all I have to do is listen to her tell me her story.

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  2. Wonderful review. I love Murder at the Menger, too!

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  3. I love a good mystery. I'll make a note of this one. Thanks.

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