Read Cara Black's Newest Mystery – Then Join Her on a Trip to Paris

By SHARON BADER

Guest contributor

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Bonjour, fans of Cara Black!

Her 15th mystery, MURDER ON THE CHAMP DE MARS, pits protagonist Aimée Leduc's new maternal instincts against her determination to finally solve the mystery surrounding her father's murder. The story unfolds in 1999 in the seventh arrondissement or neighborhood, of Paris, home to the elite of the city.

The spark that enflames the investigation is the appearance of Nicu, a French gypsy boy (manouche). He convinces Aimée to go with him to see his dying mother, who wants to undo a past injustice by revealing a secret that involves Aimée's father's death.

But, when Aimée and Nicu arrive at the hospital, the boy's mother has vanished and cannot survive for long without the medicines and procedures necessary to keep her alive. When Nicu is killed, Aimée

Beauty and truth of language elevate Anya Seton's historical fiction classic, Katherine

By CAROL PHILLIPS

Guest Contributor

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Katherine Swynford (née de Root), orphaned daughter of a favored knight, arrives at Queen Phillippa’s court on an ancient, balking horse, excited and hoping for a good marriage. The prioress whose poor priory has cared for Katherine hopes to receive compensation for that care. Neither is satisfied. The Queen is ill and has no thoughts for either the priory or Katherine.

But the coarse Sir Hugh Swynford has had thoughts since first seeing Katherine. Finding her alone, he forces himself on her, only to be stopped by his lord, John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, and future king of Castile. John is repulsed by Katherine’s grey eyes and happy to approve Swynford’s face-saving request to marry Katherine. Only later does John remember the grey eyes he loved as a boy, those of the woman who raised him and died of the plague.

So begins the love affair between John and Katherine that spanned thirty-five years. Their four children, legitimized by both king and pope after their marriage three years before John’s death in 1399, were the ancestors of the Stuarts and the Tudors—the royal line of England.

Ann Seton, writing under the pen name Anya Seton wrote a definitive story of their relationship in KATHERINE. In continual print since it