Anne Perry

I don't know how she does it. I read her two mystery series about Thomas Monk and  Charlotte and Thomas Pitt, and learned a lot about 19th Century London. Then she came out with the World War I novels, also containing a mystery, as well as devastating descriptions of the war itself.
Now she's taken us back to 13th Century Constantinople in a stand alone novel, The Sheen of the Silk.  I'm not far into it-it's a long one, a little over 500 pages, but I'm captivated.
A young woman,Anna, trained as a doctor by her father, disguises herself as a eunuch, Anastasius, and comes to find her twin brother Justinian, who has disappeared after  being accused of killing a nobleman.
She gets involved in court and religious intrigue as nobles and church hierarchy use her rmedical skills. This is a time when the Church of Rome and the Orthodox Church are battling over the meanings of true  Christianity.
More on this as I read the book. But check out Anne Perry-she's so skilled at setting up suspense.

Other news: Whidbey Writers Group has published its new book, Whidbey Writes Again.  As always, the cover is beautiful, and the stories and poems are worth reading.