A murder mystery written in a dual timeline, one part during the period just before the Great Fire of London in 1666, and another timeline in the present day. That piqued my interest and I was ready to go for a good time.
Alas, after a few chapters it became apparent that the chapters that were written about the 17th century were very confusing and complicated and were very heavy on the romance between Etienne and Margaret, something I wasn't interested in. Therefor, I started to skip those chapters and I read only the current day ones.

That was perfectly doable, one more reason to conclude that that dual timeline was superfluous. But there, again a lot of romance between a very annoying DI Nigella Parker, her toyboy James, and her counterpart of Scotland Yard. The character of Nigella was off-putting: she is selfish, annoying and condescending. In her dialogues she is always trying to be funny, but she is not.

I'm sure there a lot of readers who will enjoy this story, but unfortunately it wasn't a good read for me.

Really good sorry. This was the interesting story that I just really wanted to keep reading and reading I know you will enjoy it

A dual timeline book, I loved both stories. I especially enjoyed Parker and O'Leary and their interactions and crime solving techniques. The spreading of the Fire in London was deftly written and suspenseful. I did not see the twist at the end of the historical time line coming. Well done! Hopefully there will be more books featuring Parker and O'Leary.

Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me the chance to read an early edition of this book.

AND BY FIRE
BY EVIE HAWTREY
Interview/Review

What fun it was to interview Evie Hawtrey on her crime fiction/mystery debut, AND BY FIRE, out May 10.

NEW DIRECTION
Already the famed histfic writer known as Sophie Perinot, she decided to take a new turn after hearing an NPR story on The Great Fire of London in 1666.

VOICES
Sophie began to hear clear voices in her imagination of the characters who would inhabit AND BY FIRE. So insistent, they led her to a new genre and nom de plume. "I created Evie because I felt one crazy person wasn't enough," she laughs.

FIERCE
The author is anything but crazy as she exudes fierce intelligence and vision. A former litigator, she's done big transitions before, leaving law to pen four fine histfic books.

AKIN
But there is something about her new novel's protagonist, Nigella Parker, Detective Inspector, London City Police, to which she resonates. "The story has a very British flavor, and while I studied French abroad, I've also spent a lot of time in England," she explains. "In fact, my husband and I have talked about living part-time in the York area."

SYNOPSIS
Nigella, an arson expert with a fear of fire in present day London, teams up with former lover Colm O'Leary of Scotland Yard. They investigate the case of a sculpture made of burning flesh found beside Christopher Wren's Monument to the Great Fire. Inside the corpse's seared hand is an antique nail that leads the pair back to the 17th century event.

A bookseller went missing then, and when a lady-in-waiting to the Queen and a royal fireworks maker try to find him, they uncover foul play behind the ruin through fire of St. Paul’s Cathedral. A thrilling connection ties the two centuries together.

MY THOUGHTS
I loved AND BY FIRE, with its gripping narrative, flawed but good characters, and its suggestion of who actually caused the Great Fire. Highly recommended for crime fiction, mystery, and histfic fans, as well as lovers of electric tales.

Grateful to Evie for the fab interview, and Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for the ARC; opinions are mine.

#AndByFire #EvieHawtrey #crookedlanebooks #NetGalley #crimefictionnovel #mysterynovel #sophieperinot #changinggenres

Nigella Parker, Detective Inspector with the City Police, has a deeply rooted fear of fire and a talent for solving deadly arson cases. When a charred figure is found curled beside Sir Christopher Wren’s Monument to the Great Fire of London, Nigella is dragged into a case pitting her against a murderous artist creating sculptures using burnt flesh.

Nigella partners with Colm O’Leary of Scotland Yard to track the arsonist across greater London. The pair are more than colleagues—they were lovers until O’Leary made the mistake of uttering three little words. Their past isn’t the only buried history as they race to connect the dots between an antique nail pulled from a dead man’s hands and a long-forgotten architect dwarfed by the life’s work of Sir Christopher Wren.

Wren, one of London’s most famous architects, is everywhere the pair turn. Digging into his legacy leads the DCIs into the coldest of cold cases: a search for a bookseller gone missing during the Great Fire of London. More than 350 years earlier, while looking for their friend, a second pair of detectives—a lady-in-waiting to the Queen and a royal fireworks maker—discovered foul play in the supposedly accidental destruction of St. Paul’s Cathedral…but did that same devilry lead to murder? And can these centuries-old crimes help catch a modern-day murderer? Giving this one 3 ⭐️⭐️⭐️

<i>I have received this book in exchange for an honest review, thank you Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for the opportunity.</i>

I have my own blog now (http://www.daysinotherworlds.com) now, so please do pay it a visit if you're interested in my other reviews :)

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Books are fairly easy to get a feel of, in the first few pages. Sometimes, that changes the longer I read, sometimes not. Which is why I tend to put any new book through the 25% test. Until that point, at the very least, I should have become attached to something.

That's unfortunately, not what happened with And By Fire.

The core of the problem for me, is that this was a romance book first (attachment, pining, past lovers) and the mystery was second. And that's not what I was hoping to read about. Especially after reading that it's for fans of Sarah Penner, who wrote one of my 2021 favourites.

Police procedures and the like were interesting, the investigation part of it was fun. However, there must be a way to showcase longing, hidden-but-not-so-hidden feelings multiple times in each chapter and that took me way outside of the story. I may have been able to get through that, maybe, but the writing wasn't as engaging either for me, and I wanted to start skipping pages.

Which is never something I want to do in a new-to-me book.

DNF 25%.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of And By Fire.

And By Fire is partly inspired by the Great Fire of London in 1666 and told in dual timeline perspectives; in the present day, Nigella Parker, Detective Inspector with the City Police, and her partner, Colm O'Leary of Scotland Yard are partnered to track an arsonist obsessed with a dead, obscure architect from 300 years ago.

Eventually, Parker and O'Leary discover the arsonist's obsession is tied to Christopher Wren, one of London's most famous architects and who rebuilt St. Paul's Cathedral after the terrible fire that ravaged the city over three centuries ago.

At the same time, more than 350 years ago, while looking for their friend, —Margaret, a lady-in-waiting to the Queen and Eitenne, a royal fireworks maker—discover a dear friend's death was a murder. How does this crime from the past relate to Parker and O'Leary's case in the present?

First, it's not easy writing dual timelines, much less one in the modern age and another in the past.

I found the past timeline interesting when it described the fire sweeping through London, but not as suspenseful as I had imagined.

I was also turned off by the forbidden love story because I was interested in a mystery, not a romance.

The current timeline didn't help either, when it mimicked the past forbidden love story to the simmering sexual tension between Parker and O'Leary and a love triangle in the form of Parker's boy toy.

Personal issues aside, the murders are gruesome and gory, and the investigation does take on a typical police procedural as Parker and O'Leary follow up with witnesses and potential suspects, speak with the M.E. and discuss the case with their superior and colleagues, which I enjoyed.

But the narrative dragged, especially at the end when the bad guy targets Parker and makes the case very personal when someone she cares about is kidnapped.

I also felt let down when the identity of the bad guy is revealed, who is neither interesting or formidable.

The wrap up of both timelines is satisfactory but I never really liked Parker or Margaret.

A richly detailed and complex dual period novel framed by a modern procedural mystery thriller that reminded me a little of Robert Galbraith. The author has clearly done some amazing research to bring 17th century London to life. A great book for those who want some grit in their hist fic.

DI team Nigella Parker and Colm O’Leary are tested to the limit when a killer is on the loose and seems to be one step ahead of them as people die. Great investigators and former lovers the team works with little sleep trying to stop more deaths. The story is told in two time periods present-day London and 1666 London before the great fire that destroyed so much of London. The 1666 era laid the history for present-day events.
I enjoyed the dynamic between the two DI”s and the romantic story from 1666. All of the characters were enjoyable.
I do recommend this read I felt it got better and better as it progressed, there was plenty of emotion, some insanity, love, and danger. Then I you NetGalley, publishers Crooked Lane and author Evie Hawtrey.

The historical aspects of this book felt very dense and hard to engage with at times, but overall the mystery presented in the story was interesting. I was motivated to find the connections between the two timelines and found some of those threads quite engaging as a reader

I got a mini history lesson reading this book. London is divided into two - the Metropolitan London and then the
old City of London established by the Romans (?) and governed by the London Police Force.

Nigella Parker is the Detective on the scene when a charred body is found beside one of the famed Wren monuments.
Closer inspection reveals that it is a sculpture made of wood and Nigella realises that they are dealing with a
person who will increase the tension of the case becoming more and more daring till he actually starts burning
bodies. She is not far wrong and the cases escalate.

No clues left behind other than the fact that the person is an artist of high skills and little by little it points
out that he has a hatred of anything that Wren built.

Detectives have to go back in history to the 17th century - to the Great Fire of London and its widespread destruction
with the huge loss of life and then to the rebuilding of it under the supervision of Wren and this is where the first
clues emerge.

Spanning the centuries, the story is similar and parallels are drawn. The present day murders however have to be
solved as quickly as possible since the escalation begins at a rapid pace.

Very unusual story in a beautiful backdrop.

Maybe actually 3.5 stars, but rounded up.
I really liked the present day storyline better than the one set in 1666. I have read little about the Great Fire and was intrigued by this dual timeline mystery/thriller/crime novel. The present day crimes with gory but fascinating. I was quickly engrossed in the plot and police investigation. Just as things were getting good, the author switched to the 17th century. There was no meaningful connection between these two narratives until about 40% into the book. Maybe the author intended for readers to be intrigued by discovering the connection, and I was, at least at first. However, the disconnect continued too long, and I began to lose interest. I wanted to skim this part of the book. I found myself being disappointed when the author switched timelines to the one that did not interest me. I did not care about the historical characters even though some of them were based on real people. The author did successful convey the atmosphere of London burning, which was initially very interesting. Unfortunately, that wore thin too.
Once the connection was revealed, I became somewhat more interested in where the author would take the 1666 story, but it just never engaged me. The ending to this plot was a pleasant surprise, but too little too late.
On the other hand, the present day murder investigation and its conclusion kept me turning pages. I also appreciated that the obligatory romantic element was not overdone. The romance was unconventional, which I found refreshing. I would definitely read another novel about this police team.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I am a sucker for London detective procedurals, which I tend to seek out to both read and watch on television. And By Fire, by Evie Hawtrey, did not disappoint me, an admitted addict with this genre. The mystery was well crafted and the characters were nicely defined, and although they were sometimes irritating, or maybe I am just impatient and a romantic at heart, the characters helped to move this plot along nicely. These occasional character flaws made the characters even more interesting. I worked hard to solve the mystery and to ignore a red herring or two. I really enjoyed this book and could easily imagine these characters in a BBC series. A huge thank you to the publisher and author and to NetGalley for making this ARC available for me to read and review.

I'm in the vast minority here, but I simply could not find my way into this story... I usually enjoy the dual timelines construct, but for some reason they felt discordant in this book and the historical storyline was even more difficult for me to engage with than the contemporary one. I had a hard time relating to or feeling empathy for the characters, and despite the topics of a serial arsonist and the Great Fire being fascinating, I just never felt compelled to keep turning pages in the way that I'd hoped... Everyone else seems to love it, but this one just wasn't for me.

3.5 stars

The Great Fire of London in 1666 is the key to the dual timeline 'And By Fire' by Evie Hawtrey.

Part historical fiction (Hawtrey playing loose with history) and part police procedural, the book alternates between present day London and 17th century London.

In present day London, DI Nigella Parker from London city police, and her ex-lover DI Colm O'Leary from the Met police are teamed to investigate a serial arsonist turned killer whose crimes skirt between both jurisdictions.

Meanwhile the Queen's lady-in-waiting Margaret Dove, and the king's fireworks master Etienne are embroiled in uncovering the truth of who caused the Great Fire of London.

While it's a clever juxtaposition of timelines to employ dual timelines, I found myself skipping the 17th century chapters to get back to the present day chapters. I was more gripped by discovering who the killer was (and there's a huge indication Parker knows the culprit). For me, the historical chapters slowed down the tension. I would've much preferred if the historical chapters were employed minimally.

At times I also wondered why Hawtrey wrote Parker and O'Leary as former lovers as both characters don't seem to have much personality apart from Parker's prickliness and O'Leary's easy-going nature. While there is nice banter it comes off as stilted. We're given no sense of how old they are, let alone much about them apart from being a bit of a caricature. The only time it made sense was towards the end when danger appears.

Having said all of that, I would love to read more of Parker and O'Leary as part of a series (though perhaps leave out the dual timeliness unless its used minimally). There is a lot of promise for these two as partners.

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the ARC

Nigella Parker, Detective Inspector with the City Police and Colm O’Leary of Scotland Yard have been assigned to work on an arson / murder investigation in London that is in both of their jurisdictions. They used to be lovers, but now are strictly platonic. They know the suspect is an artist and they believe this all has something to do with Sir Christopher Wren’s work and other architects from 1666 after the Great Fire. There are many twists and turns here and the story goes back and forth between London in 1666 and London in present day. There is a lot of interesting history here. And, for my taste there is too much illicit sex.

I have voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book that I received from NetGalley. All views expressed are only my honest opinion.

I received an advanced reader copy of And By Fire by Evie Hawtrey in exchange for an honest review.

And By Fire is my first time reading Hawtrey. It is her first novel under this name, however she has written other historical fiction under the name Sophie Perinot. And By Fire is historical fiction meets detective thriller. It has two timelines; the first follows Detective Inspector Nigella Parker as she tries to find a serial arsonist turned killer, the second follows the romance of Margaret Dove when she and her beloved uncover a mystery surrounding the Great Fire of London in 1666.

This book was excellent. I particularly loved the historical timeline. Margaret and Etienne are star-crossed lovers, and their relationship is really sweet. I loved watching their characters develop. In the beginning, Etienne asks if Margaret is a “woman of science,” to which Margaret responds “there are no women of science,” because women were not permitted in scientific practice or discussion. Etienne however encourages her love of science and together they use their scientific knowledge to investigate a crime committed while the city was ablaze.

The modern-day timeline was very good as well. DI Parker and her ex-lover from Scotland Yard O’Leary are teaming up to track down an “artist” whose medium is wood, human flesh, and fire. Parker also has a new man, an artist whose work she has never seen. As the case progresses she has to come to terms with the possibility that she may be dating a monster. Of the two timelines, I preferred the historical one, but they were both strong and entertaining.

There isn’t a whole lot of mystery to this thriller. Yes, they’re concerned with whodunnit, but the greater concern of the novel is how will they catch him. The biggest surprise for me, however, was the way the timelines intersected. The book’s description implied that there was a connection between the two narratives, but I couldn’t fathom how they were related until it happened.

This book was longer than most books I read, but I didn’t mind one bit. I enjoyed every page of this novel and struggled to put it down! And By Fire comes out in May of next year, and I could already see it being one of the best new thrillers of 2022. Add this to your TBR if you’re interested in thrillers, detective fiction, serial killers, London, historical fiction, the Great Fire, or architecture. If you like any of these individual elements then this book has a lot to offer you. This is a great success for Evie Hawtrey, and I’m definitely going to watch out for her future releases.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy.

Now this is not my typical fare, but I LOVE history and couldn't resist a novel of the Great London fire. The switches between timeframes was flawless, I learned some new things (because yes, I'm that person that says "did that really happen" then google's it...) and thoroughly enjoyed myself!

Handselling this will be a snap!

Excellent story about both police procedural and a love story, one set in present time, the other set in 17th century. Both involved tracking down a murderer, and the older, telling of the Great Fire of London was fascinating. The present involves D.I. Nigella Parker and O’Leary from Scotland Yard hoping to find a killer artist who is into 3D performance art involving human life and fire. The past was a fireworks expert and a Maid of Honor to the Queen. Both couples try to stay one step ahead of the killer with varying success.
If the book was long, I didn’t notice. The timelines were seamlessly woven together, and I had no trouble discerning one from the other. Enjoyed the well-written characters and clear, concise writing. 5 stars, and highly recommend for mystery/thriller readers, and those who enjoy history.
Thank you to Netgalley, the author, and Crooked Lane Books for an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the ARC. The author is a friend of mine and I was delighted to read it. And By Fire has two timelines, one in present day London and the other in the 17th century. In present day, we have Scotland Yard's O'Leary and Detective Inspector Nigella Parker working together. They are called upon to solve a string of murders involving fire and sculptures. In 17th century, lady-in-waiting to the Queen and the King's fireworks master team up to help find a missing friend during the siege of The Great Fire of London. They discover not only the missing friend but also the one who started the fire at St Paul's Cathedral. In present day, the pages detailing their discovery is found by accident by DI Nigella. This ties the timelines together by fire and artistry. The professional relationship between O'Leary and Nigella was fun to see. Who committed the crimes and why in present day and in the 17th century was wholly engrossing. I was hooked and guessing until the end. The characters were well developed and likeable. The book was exciting and a pleasure to read! I hope to read more of DI Parker and O'Leary.