About C. P. Lesley

C. P. Lesley is the author of two historical fiction series set during the childhood of Ivan the Terrible and four other novels. Her latest novel, The Merchant's Tale, co-written with P.K. Adams, appeared in November 2023.

C. P. Lesley is the author of two historical fiction series set during the childhood of Ivan the Terrible and four other novels. Her latest book, The Merchant's Tale, co-written with P.K. Adams, appeared in November 2023.

C. P.'s website

NBN Episodes hosted by C. P.:

Kate Quinn and Janie Chang, "The Phoenix Crown" (William Morrow, 2024)

February 25, 2024

The Phoenix Crown

Kate Quinn and Janie Chang
Hosted by C. P. Lesley

Kate Quinn and Janie Chang are independently acclaimed authors of historical fiction, both of whom have previously appeared on this podcast channel. H…

Teresa H. Janssen, "The Ways of Water" (She Writes Press, 2023)

February 6, 2024

The Ways of Water

Teresa H. Janssen
Hosted by C. P. Lesley

Josie Belle Gore is only six years old when we meet her in 1908, yet her father has tied a rope around her waist and is lowering her into a dark well …

Andrea Penrose, "The Diamond of London" (Kensington Books, 2024)

January 23, 2024

The Diamond of London

Andrea Penrose
Hosted by C. P. Lesley

I’ve interviewed Andrea Penrose before about her mysteries set in the Regency period—most notably, her ongoing series starring the Earl of Wrexford an…

Isa Arsén, "Shoot the Moon" (G. P. Putnam's Sons, 2023)

December 11, 2023

Shoot the Moon

Isa Arsén
Hosted by C. P. Lesley

Annie Fisk—an only child in Los Alamos, New Mexico—spends a lot of time investigating the treasure trove of objects at the back of her garden. Her fat…

Alice Simpson, "The Winthrop Agreement: A Novel" (Harper Paperbacks, 2023)

November 21, 2023

The Winthrop Agreement

Alice Simpson
Hosted by C. P. Lesley

Rivkah Milman is just one of the thousands of young women who fled their homes in Eastern Europe in the late nineteenth century, looking for better pr…

Stephanie Cowell, "The Boy in the Rain" (Regal House Publishing, 2023)

October 19, 2023

The Boy in the Rain

Stephanie Cowell
Hosted by C. P. Lesley
Listen:

Robert Stillman, an eighteen-year-old Londoner, has few expectations when he travels to Nottingham to study with the Reverend George Langstaff. Life h…

Louise Hare, "Harlem After Midnight" (Berkley Books, 2023)

September 18, 2023

Harlem After Midnight

Louise Hare
Hosted by C. P. Lesley
Listen:

After a tumultuous journey across the Atlantic (detailed in last year’s Miss Aldridge Regrets), Lena Aldridge has reached New York City only to discov…

Andrew Varga, "The Last Saxon King: A Jump in Time Novel (Book One)" (Imbrifex Books, 2023)

September 1, 2023

The Last Saxon King

Andrew Varga
Hosted by C. P. Lesley
Listen:

Daniel Renfrew is a typical American sixteen-year-old. His main gripe when the story opens is that his dad insists on home schooling even though Danie…

Olesya Salnikova Gilmore, "The Witch and the Tsar" (Ace Books, 2022)

August 18, 2023

The Witch and the Tsar

Olesya Salnikova Gilmore
Hosted by C. P. Lesley
Listen:

Any novel set in Russia during the reign of Ivan the Terrible (1533–1584) is an instant draw for me; that is, after all, the setting for most of my ow…

Jennifer Savran Kelly, "Endpapers" (Algonquin Books, 2023)

July 17, 2023

Endpapers

Jennifer Savran Kelly
Hosted by C. P. Lesley
Listen:

Today I talked to Jennifer Savran Kelly her new book Endpapers (Algonquin Books, 2023). Dawn Levit has reached a crossroads in life. What seemed like…

Ginny Kubitz Moyer, "The Seeing Garden" (She Writes Press, 2023)

June 30, 2023

The Seeing Garden

Ginny Kubitz Moyer
Hosted by C. P. Lesley
Listen:

Nineteen-year-old Catherine Ogden appears to have everything: youth, wealth, birth, breeding, and beauty. No one in New York high society is surprised…

Anna Lee Huber, "A Fatal Illusion" (Berkley Books, 2023)

June 20, 2023

A Fatal Illusion

Anna Lee Huber
Hosted by C. P. Lesley
Listen:

A Fatal Illusion (Berkley Books, 2023)—the eleventh installment in Anna Lee Huber’s Lady Darby Mysteries featuring Kiera and Sebastian Gage—opens in Y…

Katharine Beutner, "Killingly" (Soho Press, 2023)

June 5, 2023

Killingly

Katharine Beutner
Hosted by C. P. Lesley
Listen:

In 1897, a Mount Holyoke College junior named Bertha Mellish disappears from campus overnight, leaving no word for her family. It’s a time when female…

Marian O'Shea Wernicke, "Out of Ireland" (She Writes Press, 2023)

May 9, 2023

Out of Ireland

Marian O'Shea Wernicke
Hosted by C. P. Lesley

Today I talked to Marian O’Shea Wernicke about her new novel Out of Ireland (She Writes Press, 2023). Most people have heard of the Irish famine in 1…

C. S. Harris, "Who Cries for the Lost" (Berkley Books, 2023)

April 17, 2023

Who Cries for the Lost

C. S. Harris
Hosted by C. P. Lesley

Fans of Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, know that the individual tales that form his saga combine complex, fast-paced, often political mysteries w…

G. P. Gottlieb, "Charred: A Whipped and Sipped Mystery" (DX Varos, 2023)

April 4, 2023

Charred

G. P. Gottlieb
Hosted by C. P. Lesley

In Charred, the third of G. P. Gottlieb’s Whipped and Sipped Mysteries, her heroine, Alene Baron, has a lot on her mind. Chicago is in lockdown, a res…

Jacqueline Winspear, "The White Lady" (Harper, 2023)

March 21, 2023

The White Lady

Jacqueline Winspear
Hosted by C. P. Lesley

It’s just after World War II, and Elinor White (born Elinor de Witt, which also means “white”), a single woman in her mid-forties, lives as a recluse …

Molly Greeley, "Marvelous" (William Morrow, 2023)

March 8, 2023

Marvelous

Molly Greeley
Hosted by C. P. Lesley

Once in a while, a novel comes along that is both different and special. Marvelous (William Morrow, 2023) is such a book. Retellings of fairy tales ar…

Lynn Cullen, "The Woman with the Cure" (Berkley Books, 2023)

February 19, 2023

The Woman with the Cure

Lynn Cullen
Hosted by C. P. Lesley

The essential contribution of The Woman with the Cure (Berkley Books, 2023) can be summarized in one sentence: like most of its future readers (I assu…

Susan Stokes-Chapman, "Pandora" (Harper Perennial, 2023)

January 17, 2023

Pandora

Susan Stokes-Chapman
Hosted by C. P. Lesley

It is the very end of the eighteenth century, and Pandora Blake—known as Dora—lives at the edge of London society. Despite the opposition of her obnox…

C. W. Gortner, "The American Adventuress" (William Morrow, 2022)

December 8, 2022

The American Adventuress

C. W. Gortner
Hosted by C. P. Lesley

From Lucrezia Borgia to Marlene Dietrich, Empress Marie Fyodorovna of Russia, and most recently the actress Sarah Bernhardt, C. W. Gortner has made a …

Nicola Cornick, "The Winter Garden" (Graydon House Books, 2022)

November 21, 2022

The Winter Garden

Nicola Cornick
Hosted by C. P. Lesley

In her novels, Nicola Cornick blends a modern perspective with a historical mystery and a paranormal connection between the two. The Winter Garden (Gr…

Colleen Cambridge, "A Trace of Poison" (Kensington Publishing, 2022)

October 25, 2022

A Trace of Poison

Colleen Cambridge
Hosted by C. P. Lesley

Agatha Christie hardly needs an introduction. The Queen of Mystery has reigned since the 1920s, and the recent release of films based on her books sho…

Bárbara Mujica, "Miss Del Río: A Novel of Dolores del Río, the First Major Latina Star in Hollywood" (Graydon House Books, 2022)

September 29, 2022

Miss Del Río

Bárbara Mujica
Hosted by C. P. Lesley

Miss del Río (Graydon House Books, 2022) explores the biography of a real-life actress, Dolores del Río, who became a silent movie star in Hollywood, …