Barbara Hamilton (1)Reseñas

I wasn't sure what I thought of the idea of the 1st lady as a detective, but I love the Adams family so I gave it a try.
The only irritating part was the attribution of modern ideas about crime to people living in the 1700's.
Understanding the psychology of the serial killer and the importance of chain of evidence, felt it a bit far fetched.

Killer was certainly no surprise, but that was because author played fair

I didn’t expect to enjoy this book as much as I would! It was a great mystery with a hefty set of characters (historical and otherwise) with an underlying theme of political tension playing throughout the plot.

I think that’s what made the book enjoyable, was despite the mystery being the main hook, the political tension and bickering between the patriots and the British was always in the forefront and mentioned when need be as it was central to the story. Every so often you had mention of Abigail’s refusal to drink tea for example, or minor scuffles happening between citizens and the Redcoats.

Despite the tensions however, Abigail puts her ideas and beliefs aside and works alongside the British to solve this mystery. I enjoyed reading her character. She’s strong willed and has a good retort every so often when she needs to speak out, which shocks other characters as it wasn’t considered “proper”. I enjoy Abigail’s unorthodox behavior and it may seem as if she gives an air of an annoying stubborn woman, but it’s because of her personality that things get done no matter whose side you’re on or who you support.

John and Abigail’s relationship was also nice to read. They’re both equals and you can see a subtle quiet strength between them and they compliment each other perfectly. There’s a mutual respect between the two and if they were alive now, they would probably be a political supercouple ;)

The mystery aspect of the book was good and the intrigue is definitely noted. The setting is superbly done and very descriptive. The list of suspects was substantial and revelation of the culprit isn’t much of a surprise but the execution of obtaining the criminal and his background story was excellent to read , and was very satisfying to see the bad guys get their dues. The supporting characters are also well done - although I have to admit, there are just a little too many for me. Even minor characters have their personality and details and although it’s good and makes the world building more detailed and rich, sometimes it’s a bit hard to follow as to who’s who. (Perhaps a section of cast of characters would help in this case - especially when some characters share the same last name)

I’ll be picking up the next book to read. It’s definitely worth looking into for those that love historical fiction mysteries. The tea has been dumped!!! So you have to figure out what sort of chaos is going to happen and what mystery Abigail will solve next.

This third Abigail Adams mystery is set against the tense times after the Boston Tea Party that winter. It's May and the colonies are expecting a reply from the King any day now and it may just mean war, so the Sons of Liberty are stockpiling arms and making preparations. Abigail receives an odd letter from her nephew, Horace, who is a freshman at Harvard and very astute in many languages, also serves as a "fag" (an underclassman who does odd jobs for an upperclassman) for George Fairfield, an upperclassman who is from Virginia and came with his, as he calls him, "gentlemanly" slave, Diomede. Horace writes that a Mrs. Lake came with letters of recommendation from John and a judge and had her carriage take him out into the country to a deserted house to translate some Arabic papers. Most of them are of a rather intimate recounting of an affair the pirate John Morgan had.

An old widow woman, whose ancestor was a pirate, found his old books and sold them off after the odd death of her husband. She sold some Arabic books to Horace, some chemistry and astrology books to the Indian [yes, it took me a good third of the way into the book to discover he was a Native American] Weymouth, and over fifty to someone else. It seems that her ancestor may have a treasure supply somewhere, perhaps where he lived in the forests when he stayed amongst the Indians for a while before coming to spend his last days with his son.

Mr. Ryland, the head of the hall where Fairfield and Horace live, puts it about that Horace ate something disagreeable, which wouldn't be suspicious since he has a delicate stomach and cannot even drink tea or eat wheat bread. Mr. Ryland served under Fairfield in the King's Volunteers a while back. Both of them, as are half of the county, are after the hand of a rich landowner's daughter. Mr. Ryland, however, is at Harvard on a scholarship from the Governor of Massachusetts.

On the day that Abigail arrives, she, Weymouth, Horace, George, and Diomede, go to the local tavern for dinner to discuss the situation. The next morning, George is found stabbed to death, his slave Diomede, drunk, and drugged, with a bloody letter opener next to his body. The two books that George bought from the widow are missing. Abigail goes back to Boston with the rest of the books and hides them at Sam Adams' house because they may be of value to someone enough to kill. Sam, of course, when he hears of the treasure, is less interested in helping to get Diomede cleared from murder and out of jail than he is the treasure that could buy gunpowder and weapons.

As usual, Abigail worries, in the back of her mind about taking care of the home and leaving it all to their relative/servant girl. She receives help from an unexpected source. It turns out that George, married months before he died to a tavern owner's daughter, named Katy, who is pregnant, but really full of spirit and on the side of the colonists, even if her husband was a Loyalist.

Then tragedy strikes and Abigail begins to question her doing "men's work" and not staying at home and taking care of the kids, her husband, and the house. She knows God made her do more than just be a mother and housewife, but by doing so, she has put her family in danger and all over something that may not be what the average person thinks of as treasure but is none-the-less quite priceless in its own way.

This book keeps you on pins and needles as the looming threat of the King's wrath sweeps into everything and the reality of war begins to hit the colonists, who are now realizing they are going to have to pick a side. Also, you see a woman who is quite beyond her time. If she would have been allowed, she would have aced her way through Harvard, and quite possibly become a lawyer like her husband, or something equally demanding of her high intellect. Instead, she is forced to live in a world devalues women as only good for child rearing. John, to his credit, never treats her this way, nor do the other members of the Sons of Liberty. This is a trying mystery in that it is quite possible someone killed Fairfield not because of a bizarre treasure, but because of his leadership skills in the King's Volunteers that will be rather valuable in these trying times. This is the last, so far, published mystery from this series. I wait with baited breath for the next one.

You'll never guess the ending.

http://nicolewbrown.blogspot.com/2014/12/a-marked-man-by-barbra-hamilton.html

Honestly, I understand why ladies are never the heroines of anything, they simply cannot get away from their kitchens long enough to rescue anyone.
--Barbara Hamilton (A Marked Man p 281)

Abagail Adams helps a British officer solve a murder in 1773 Boston right before the Boston Tea Party. I couldn't put it down.

http://nicolewbrown.blogspot.com/2014/10/the-ninth-daughter-by-barbara-hamilton....

Well, we have it on the authority of Scripture that the Lord shall avenge the stripes of the righteous, and uphold the children against those who slander them…Though sometimes I wish Scripture were a little more specific about when, exactly, these events will take place.
---Barbara Hamilton (The Ninth Daughter p 95)

The Ninth Daughter was a very well written historical mystery. The plot was very well thought out and well executed. For me, however, it lost a star due to the violence against animals, something I never want to read about, no matter how much it adds to a story. I'd recommend this book to anyone who likes true and accurate historical novels.

Do I believe Abigail Adams was a sleuth? No.

Is this still a fascinating mystery series? Oh, yes!

I love the historical context. It brings the Revolutionary War period to life like nothing else I've ever read- and I've read a number of novels set in that period.

Here, the plot is complex, with political overtones, though it did not seem to be politically motivated. I did find the end-game a bit implausible... but everything else was so grounded that I didn't mind.

America, in that era, was a VERY different place than we realize, and this series brings home a lot of that. The basic pragmatics of life are so foreign to our experiences!

I'm a great fan of historical cookbooks, because they give me a look into how people actually lived in earlier ages. This series is similar, plus the whole mystery element is enticing.

Highly recommended, and if you haven't read the first, you can start here.

What I remember most about this book is the relationship between Abigail and her husband, John. I should remember the clues to the murder or the details surrounding the various events in the story, but there were so many times when I felt as if I'd skipped pages or missed parts of the plot that I'm not at all certain about the actual murder itself. It felt to me as if there weren't any real clues as to what was happening and why, only more events piled on top of each other that gave an illusion of complication. I enjoyed the time period the book is set in and I enjoyed seeing events in Boston overlap with the events of the murder. Some of the characters were very well written, but most sort of ran together in my mind until I wasn't quite sure who was who. Overall, it wasn't a bad book and it was entertaining, but I don't know if I am going to hunt after the rest of the series or not. It is average enough in writing and level of mystery that it doesn't really stand out as a must have, but is an enjoyable enough read to pass the time.

I do love this series. Not only is Abigail Adams ("Consider the ladies...") the main character, but it sheds a light on pre-Revolutionary Boston, and the various sets of interests and beliefs that led to the Revolutionary War.

Not that Abigail- and her husband John- are not the dedicated patriots that his cousin Sam Adams is.

In these books Abigail probably does act with more autonomy and support than would likely have been allowed, no matter how supportive her husband... but it works anyway.

I especially liked the conflicts that people in Colonial times were facing as to whether to join up with the "patriots' or the Tories. It was a lot more complicated than the history books say.

The characters were well-drawn and complex. The plot was nicely twisty. Abigail was a great protag! Still- for me, the best part of this book was enriching the context in which the Revolution happened.

While it might help to have read the previous 2 books, this one works fine on its own.½

Tension is high between British soldiers and the citizens of Boston, many of whom are affiliated with the Sons of Liberty and the patriot cause. When Abigail Adams discovers a murdered woman inside a missing friend's house, she forms an uneasy alliance with a British lieutenant in order to find her friend. For some reason, the lieutenant suspects John Adams of the murder, and Abigail is as anxious to clear him of suspicion as she is to find her friend. She has to cooperate with the lieutenant without revealing the secrets of the Sons of Liberty, who are presently preoccupied with preventing a ship from unloading its cargo of tea...

The gruesome details of the murder and the edge of suspense mark the book as more historical thriller than historical cozy. I don't quite buy Abigail Adams' character in the book. Whatever her views on slavery and servitude, I somehow doubt that she would treat slaves and servants as social equals. She seems to be written to appeal to our 21st century sensibilities. The book didn't flow well, and I found myself re-reading many passages in order to make sense of them. Many sentences are poorly constructed, which is surprising from an experienced author. I struggled enough with the writing to make me think twice about continuing with this series.

Substance: The murder comes too soon, for my taste, without building up any sense of who people are and what their relationships portend. The solution comes from fortuitous revelations rather than shrewd ratiocination, which was disappointing, given the protagonists.
(Hamilton is not the only current mystery writer with this problem).

Portrays a fairly shallow sense of the period and the historical characters, but suffices for what it is (a condition endemic to this genre, which is basically a Romance-with-a murder-in). Tries to give a balanced viewpoint on the political situation; a little less balanced on the religious aspects.
The title phrase is "explained" late in the story, but is an interesting conceit for the book.

Style: Some of the plot contrivances are annoying, and others are lame. Too much reminiscing (e.g., "as Abigail served John his morning porridge, she reflected on what she had learned the night before" sort of thing); I much prefer linear action. Other than some general PC stereotyping, the characters were okay. I liked the British officers (which was intended).

NOTES: (beware of spoilers)
p. 201 - "And the reason we seek to retain our liberties, is so that the life of a single individual -- even if she is a mere woman -- does not get snuffed out or thrust aside because it isn't expedient for those in charge to take the time to save her."
p. 240 - "We will all be cheated of our rights, unless we take a stand against the Crown while yet we have a little freedom to do so."
p. 296 - "Then is this not in fact putting our own cause above the law?" - "Were we in England, and did (he) happen to be a friend of the King’s, or a member of the nobility, I doubt he would even be prosecuted."
p. 304 - (on Salem Village) "When people found they could accuse their personal enemies of sending out their spirits to do evil, when the accused themselves were demonstrably elsewhere, a great many found they knew people who must be witches."
p. 305 - "Being unable to see beyond his own vanity, to the point of madness, himself, I'm sure it never crossed his mind that a man who is mad cannot control the shape his madness takes, nor when it will seize on him."
p. 333 - (on the question of when following a charismatic leader is blinkered fanaticism, and when it is a rational stand for principles of justice).
p. 333 - "Every man in the militia whined like a school boy about drill --'How many times we got to show them we know how to load our bloody guns?' - It wasn't until she heard (him) loading his rifle in seconds, by touch, in the dark, with the torchlight coming toward them, that she understood why British foot soldiers had to drill for hours. So that you load your rifle -- cartridge, ball, powder, patch, ram -- with no more hesitation than you bring your spoon to your mouth; the way she, or her mother, could knit in the dark."
p. 358 - (the best clue to the murderer is on the penultimate page of the book - after everyone knows who did it; why don't these "mystery" authors at least TRY to have their "detectives" actually SOLVE the crime???)½

Sup with the Devil is the third in the Abigail Adams Mysteries set in Boston in the 1770s. In this installment, one of Mrs. Adams' nephews, a student at nearby Harvard, has requested her help as he fears someone has tried to kill him. While she is visiting him in Cambridge, one of Horace's fellow students and friends is killed. Naturally, she gets involved in the investigation of both. But the events are overshadowed by the political situation - the aftermath of the Boston Tea Party.

I think what I appreciate most about this book (and the series in general) is that it seems true to period in a way that most historical mysteries aren't. Abigail Adams is an intelligent woman, educated and curious about the world around her, but her mindset is that of a late 18th Century woman. She is busy with keeping the house, including churning butter, marketing, cooking and mending, as well as looking after the children. She also feels guilty for not leaving work undone while she is trying to discover more about the incidents.

Definitely recommended to anyone who likes intelligent historical mysteries.

Why I picked it up: I think I can blame a tor.com post on me reading The Ninth Daughter and read the latter two as a result.

"Sup with the Devil" is the 3rd book in the Abigail Adams Mysteries written by Barbara Hamilton. I love this series and hope that it will continue. A summary of the plot from the blurb:

"After an attempt on the life of her young nephew Horace, Abigail Adams, wife of attorney John Adams, travels to Harvard to investigate. A mysterious woman hired Horace to translate some Arabic, then left him at the mercy of her henchmen. He survived-with a tale of pirate treasure...

Meanwhile one of Horace's fellow students-loyal to the King-is murdered. The Sons of Liberty are desperate to find the rumored gold, but Abigail wants the truth. For the Devil's treasure comes with a curse that could bring down anyone, regardless of where their allegiance lies."

This novel is the best of the 3 in the series. The author has met her stride with Sup and I hope that there are more books coming. Not that the author, Barbara Hamilton, doesn't know how to write a great mystery. She has written most of her books as Barbara Hambly.

Ms. Hamilton has stayed true to character in her depiction of Abigail Adams. Mrs. Adams was a highly intelligent and well read woman whose advice was sought by not only her husband, but other high ranking men of the era. She basically raised her kids by herself as John was gone for years in Paris, Amsterdam and London where he lobbied for the new nation. She ran their farm and for the most part was the only farmer in the family. I love that Ms. Hamilton did not make her a ridiculous figure as Elliott Roosevelt did with his mother. Maintaining some of the language of the colonial era makes Sup a great historical mystery.

The Ninth Daughter is the first book in Barbara Hamilton's Abigail Adams Mystery Series. I read the second book "A Marked Man" last year and am hoping to read the 3rd and latest book "Sup with the Devil" soon. The author's knowledge of the culture of 1770s Massachusetts is evident. She has written an excellent historical mystery with Abigail Adams as the amateur sleuth and with authentic characters. Some are Tories. Some are hell bent on revolution and others are Loyalists.

The story takes place during the week before the Boston Tea Party. It opens with Mrs. Adams visiting a friend, Rebecca Malvern, at her home. Upon arrival she finds a dead woman in the kitchen. It is not Rebecca Malvern. She has disappeared. The dead women is Perdita Pentyre, the mistress of a British Colonel and the wife of a Loyalist. Mrs. Adams finds a piece of paper at the scene with names of the Sons of Liberty handwritten on it and puts it in her pocket so the police won't find it. She is soon joined by Sam Adams, Paul Revere, and Dr. Warren. Together they mop up the pool of blood on the floor and remove other Sons of Liberty (SOL) items in the home. A day later she learns about 2 similar murders in the previous year and that her husband John is suspected to be the murderer of Mrs. Pentyre. Mrs. Adams uses her keen observation powers and her new friendship with a Redcoat officer to solve the crimes. With her husband being the main suspect Abigail is determined to find the whodunit in order to clear her husband's name.

The setting is also a character here. The backdrop of pre-Revolutionary era reflects what each character thinks and how they react toward a Redcoat investigating a crime on their shores. Also, housing in the 18th century Boston had areas for the public on the first floor and bedrooms on the second or top floor for family members only. This is why the victim is found dead on the first floor of the home. It also explains why the author had her heroine walk about the town accompanied by a Son of Liberty for protection.

The Ninth Daughter is a fabulous beginning to a new cozy mystery series. Highly recommended.

Pseudonym for Barbara Hambly.

Abigail is asked for help by Lucy Fleckner. A good friend of Lucy's, Harry Knox, who prints pamphlets for the Sons of Liberty, has been arrested for the murder of Sir Joseph Cottrell, Lucy's fiancé. Lucy insists that the victim, a notorious womanizer, was not her fiancé, her heart all too clearly belonging to the accused. Abigail and her husband, John, resolve to prove Harry's innocence. The disappearance of a servant woman from the house of Lucy's Loyalist parents adds to the mystery. I enjoy Ms Hamilton's way of telling the story. She brings you to the brink of revolution, portraying such noted patriots as Sam Adams, Paul Revere, and Dr. Joseph Warren. The action builds to a very predictable but satisfying ending.

One of my favorites of the newer series, this third one finds Abigail Adams trying to solve the murder of a student at Harvard College. Love Hamilton's descriptions of daily life in Colonial America, domestic and political, the characters prominent at that time such as The Sons of Liberty and Paul Revere.Very well done historical mysteries.

Wonderful sequel to the first Abigail Adams mystery. And a real linguistic treat in terms of the festering, witch-frigging psalm-singing Tory bastards who occasionally appear in the book. I really feel like I'm getting to know Abigail personally and have a better understanding of her environment.½

As always, Barbara Hamilton provides unique insight into historical figures and into life in and around Boston just before the American Revolution.½

I have mixed feelings when it comes to making historical figures stars of serial fiction. On the one hand, I love the visit with that time period in a more readable fashion. On the other, I have a problem when it comes to placing the historical figure in situations in which they probably never were. Such is the case with this first installment in a series of mysteries featuring Abigail Adams, wife of later-to-be president John Adams. In this installment, one woman is dead and another is missing. It appears that a member of the Sons of Liberty, perhaps even her husband, may be responsible or have been framed. She is determined to find the real person before the English officials arrest her husband. I loved the references to historical persons. I am familiar enough with Boston and its streets and neighborhoods to have visualized and placed the geographic references. What I couldn't quite believe were the activities in which Abigail Adams engaged in the novel for a woman in that time period. In spite of my problem with the believability of the novel, it was an enjoyable read.½

Mystery lovers, historical fiction lovers, and admirers of anything Barbara Hambly writes, rejoice! The resourceful and indomitable Abigail Adams is at it again, tracking down the solution to yet another murderous mystery. In an uneasy partnership with British Provost Marshall, she treads the delicate line between a search for the truth and the need to protect the Sons of Liberty from increasing British persecution. This tale involves not only murder and espionage but long-simmered revenge, mistaken identities, forensic pathology, star-crossed lovers, a land grab and a secretive tenant, all while Abigail keeps up a lively household when woman's work ran dawn to dusk.

I loved Barbara Hambly's historical novels, The Emancipator's Wife (about Mary Todd Lincoln) and Patriot Hearts, which was in many ways a seduction into the life of Abigail Adams. I'd read some of Adams's letters to her children, full of wit and wisdom, not to mention compassion and an intriguing perspective on the events surrounding the American Revolution and establishment of the United States. The Ninth Daughter, under the guise of a fictional murder mystery, offers as well a beautifully wrought, richly detailed vision of life in Colonial Boston. The plot itself involves not only the expected crime and politically motivated cover-up, spies and counter-spies, the legacy of Puritanism (the reference to the nine daughter of Eve, each more sinful than the first), the Sons of Liberty and the run-up to the Boston Tea Party, but the details of daily life and personal relationships that make the characters and their times truly come alive.

Second in the Abigail Adams series of mysteries. 1774, Boston. Ten days after the events of the Boston Tea Party, a representative of the British court is found murdered. Once again Abigail Adams must untangle a mare's nest of motives, personal and political, to reveal the murderer...

A cracking mystery, with interesting background detail about the everyday household life and customs of Eighteenth century America.

I enjoyed Hamilton's first book in her Abigail Adams mysteries series, "The Ninth Daughter," and was again charmed by the idea of Adams as a sleuth in this, her second in the series. Hamilton combines a good, old-fashioned mystery with a great deal of information on life in Boston in the late 18th century, as well as the relationship between Abigail and John Adams. I hope there is a third!