Tag: Downton Abbey

• Book Review: Daughter of Egypt by Marie Benedict

  Daughter of Egypt (St. Martin’s Press, March of 2026, 352 pages) by Marie Benedict is my 9th or 10th book by this former lawyer from Pittsburgh whose given name is Heather Terrell. Benedict takes a woman from history and brings her to life like no one else can. When I saw this work of historical…

  michardillo

  January 17, 2026

  books

  archeological digs, book-review, books, British, Carnegie’s Maid, Daughter of Egypt, Downton Abbey, dual narrative, Egyptology, England, fiction, Hatshepsut, Highclere Castle, historical fiction, Lady Clementine, Lady Evelyn Herbert, literature, Lord Carnavon, Marie Benedict, NetGalley, New Orleans Museum of Art, novel, pharaoh, reading, Senenmut, Sir Brograve Beauchamp, St. Martin’s Press, The Personal Librarian, Thutmose, Tutankhamen, writing

• Book Review: Death on the Marlow Belle by Robert Thorogood

  In Death on the Marlow Belle (Poisoned Pen Press, September, 2025) this fourth installment of The Marlow Murder Club, a cozy murder mystery series, author Robert Thorogood has returned us to Marlow, a very real town located on the Thames River thirty miles from London. This is brilliant news for all of Thorogood’s fans, as…

  michardillo

  June 16, 2025

  books

  Agatha Christie, And Then There Were None, book-review, books, British, Columbia Theatre Players, community theatre, cozy mystery, death, Death Comes to Marlow, Death in Paradise, Death on the Marlow Belle, Downton Abbey, England, English, fiction, Goodreads, James Bond, Kindle, Lady Rosalind, London, Lord Grantham, Marlow, Miss Moneypenny, mystery, NetGalley, novel, Oscar Wilde, PBS Masterpiece, Poisoned Pen Press, reading, Richard Osman, River Thames, Samantha Bond, Ten Little Indians, The Importance of Being Earnest, The Marlow Murder Club, The Queen of Poisons, The Thursday Murder Club, theater, theatre, writer, writing

• Book Review: The Lost Passenger by Frances Quinn

  One of my husband’s nicknames for me is “dolphin girl.” I love the water. I love being in the water swimming laps or just relaxing. I love being on the water in a boat, a ship, a ferry, a cruiseliner, anything. And, somewhat contrary to all of that, I also have a slight obsession with…

  michardillo

  December 1, 2024

  books, Essay

  book-review, books, British, Downton Abbey, England, estate, fiction, Frances Quinn, literature, Lord Storton, NetGalley, new money, novel, Random House, reading, The Lost Passenger, Titanic, titled heir

• Book Review: A Lady’s Guide to Etiquette and Murder by Dianne Freeman (Book #1 in the Countess of Harleigh Mystery Series)

  I recently grabbed a book off of the new mysteries shelf at my local library and knew almost immediately that I was missing quite a bit of backstory, only to realize I was starting with book #7 of a series. I enjoyed An Art Lover’s Guide to Paris and Murder – albeit without the backstory…

  michardillo

  November 5, 2024

  books, Essay

  A Lady’s Guide to Etiquette and Murder, An Art Lover’s Guide to Paris and Murder, book-review, books, British, Countess of Harleigh, cozy mystery, death, Dianne Freeman, Downton Abbey, England, English, family, fiction, Libby, library, literature, MCPL, mystery, novel, parenting, reading, social media, vacation, Victorian Era

• Girl Power

  It’s mid-third quarter of this school year and I am knee-deep teaching two novels set in England nearly six hundred years apart. The 7th grade is reading Catherine, Called Birdy by Karen Cushman, the diary of a girl in medieval times during the reign of Edward I, covering the span of one year of her…

  michardillo

  February 28, 2016

  Essay

  Britain, Catherine Called Birdy, Downton Abbey, Edward I, election year, England, girl power, Great Rebellion, Hillary Clinton, Karen Cushman, Lady Mary, law school, Lord Grantham, LSU, medieval times, middle ages, Newberry Honor, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, teaching, The Hound of the Baskervilles, Victorian Era

• Together Forever

  Happy Valentine’s Day! Today is the 28th Valentine’s Day my husband and I have celebrated together and we graced it with a nice day at home and then dinner out at a local French bistro. As usual, our gifts to one another were small tokens marking the day. I received a lovely bouquet of flowers…

  michardillo

  February 14, 2016

  Essay

  Downton Abbey, Highclere Castle, Julian Fellowes, Lady Mary, Lord Grantham, Valentine’s Day

• The Art of Creating

  One week ago today I posted my last essay in my “essay a week for one year” project that I started on New Year’s Eve 2014. At the time of posting my last essay “More Questions than Answers”, I was unsure of my next step for my Cajun Girl in a Kilt website. Shortly after…

  michardillo

  January 3, 2016

  Essay

  creating, Downton Abbey, Josh Whedon, Julian Fellowes, Monarch of the Glen, teacher, writing

• Obsession: Calvin Klein Has Nothing on Me

  Obsession: ob·ses·sion (əbˈseSHən) noun; plural noun: obsessions; (1) the state of being obsessed with someone or something. Ex: “she cared for him with a devotion bordering on obsession”; (2) an idea or thought that continually preoccupies or intrudes on a person’s mind. Ex: “he was in the grip of an obsession he was powerless to resist”.…

  michardillo

  July 5, 2015

  Essay

  Anastasia, Aristotle Onassis, British Royal Family, Calvin Klein, Christina O, Downton Abbey, Faberge, Faberge eggs, Jeopardy, JFK, Kathleen Kennedy, Kennedy family, Lord Grantham, Obsession, Peter Carl Faberge, Prince Philip, Romanovs, Rosemary Kennedy, Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Trivial Pursuit, Victorian Era