Steeple Chasing: Around Britain by Church, is the second book I've read by Peter Ross. I like his style ... there's history and humor, and good information if you want to travel to these places (and even if you don't). There are churches with cats, and wells (water is holy, or healing). There are sites where a church has been located for centuries. Some have pagan rites. One is using an item that has been used since the 1600s, which made a visiting historian gasp ... it should be safely tucked away in a museum, not (gasp) handled without gloves! There are steeplejacks, those who climb those steeples, either for repair, or as a hobby. and, my favorite, the ones with bells. Many still do change ringing, which has nothing to do with playing melodies (although, they do that, too), but rather complex and long sequences that change in an orderly fashion (with odd names such as Plain Bob Triples, Yorkshire Surprise and so on). If fact, handbells came from needing a way to practice change ringing without keeping the entire country side awake. It's a challenge! Imagine pulling a rope, with a large bell attached to a wheel ... you have to figure in how long it takes your bell to sound (varies with the size of the bell) and then, partnered with seven others, play the changes precisely and perfectly. No music to read, just a precise order to follow depending on which change you were playing. I know this because I was once in a bell choir ... the small bells, not the big ones, and had a dedicated and wonderful conductor who wrote many changes out for us to play and explained the history.

I'll say right up front here, I almost did not include this book in my blog, but finally did so because it might appeal more to other readers (it did in the reviews I read anyway.) The Riddles of the Sphinx: Inheriting the Feminist History of the Crossword Puzzle, by Anna Shechtman sounded most interesting as did the description on the back of the book, and in The Chuckanut Reader. The history of the crossword puzzle was interesting. Early on they were often created by women, it was something they could book on crosswords: Early on (1900's), it seems they were created by women as it was something they could do while at home and attending to proper wife/mother duties. However, they were NOT supposed to do them, as it could become an addiction and they would then be avoiding those proper wife/mother duties! During the Jazz age there were all kinds of fun clues, much more so than today, and (do try and blush here) some were rather risque. In addition, though, is a lot (too much for this reader) on the author's battle with anorexia, and I found the chapter on French feminists to be a bit long. Reviews were mixed, some loved it, others had the same reaction I mention here.

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Jonathan Cardew, Jonny to his friends, always wanted to be a detective. When he was a young man, he was just about to tell his father, too, except Dad had had a heart attack and died, leaving the family business to Jonny. A packaging business. With everything needed for mailing, shipping, storing stuff, from the boxes to the packing materials, to the taping and including labeling, shipping and sometimes, delivering. It was not an inspired life, but now there was a son, who did like the business so arrangements were made for him to take over and Jonny could retire. His wife is still working so he sometimes wanders down to a local cafe run by Jasmine and it is there, sharing a table one morning, with Katya, a retired police woman, and Ivo, a young man, nearly homeless but an excellent handyman with a dog (Harold), that the Breakfast Club Detective group is formed. A body had been found and has been determined a death by natural causes which causes a lot of discussion ... and the start of their investigation. Great characters, clever writing, some nice twists to the plot ... Death in the Long Walk is the first Breakfast Club Detectives book by Hilary Pugh.

Oddly enough, my next read after The Attenbury Emeralds was also about a necklace that went missing: A Burglary in Belgravia, by Lynda Wilcox is set in London in 1924. It's during a play that Lady Eleanor Blackwell hears what might have been a gunshot, or at least something hitting the floor. Upon investigation of the box next door (think individual rooms here, the fancy/expensive seats in a theater) she finds Sir David Bristol dead from a gunshot wound. Determined to stay away and let the police do their job, that changes when the lead in the play (and mistress to Sir David) asks for her help. There are other murders, too, all with a connection to a pearl necklace. And there are threats for her to stop. Some nice details here (Lady Eleanor has certain skills she learned during 'her part' in the war), as did her maid/friend Tilly. Not a bad read. :-)

A Date with Death is a prequel to the West Wales Murder Mysteries series by P. F. Ford. It's a bit darker than the rest of the series, but with the good writing we expect from this author. One of the detectives, Sarah, is returning to work after maternity leave. Her husband is often absent so there is tension on the home front. One of her coworkers is being especially creepy so there is tension at work, too. There is pressure on her boss to solve a series of robberies and two murders ... NOW. Let's just say there is a lot going on! I figured part of one of the mysteries out, see if you do, too. :-)

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I've read a lot of books about libraries but this one might be my favorite! There are libraries here with collections older than the Vatican, ones really 'hidden' in that there is no actual address and you need permission (and directions) to visit, and one that is mobile, yes, as many are, but this one is on a car transformed into something that looks like a tank and is a 'weapon of mass instruction'! (p.47) When the familiar, oh-so-well-known red phone boxes of the UK became, well, unneeded in this era of cell phones, they were threatened with extinction, until someone had the bright idea to make them into small libraries (mobile service was being cut at about this time, too). Some have been made into tea shops, art galleries and so on, but the majority are now small, neighborhood libraries! And there's a little free library at the south pole. Right next to the marker indicating that location! There are several research facilities here, and this is to serve the folks there ... and is put out only as weather allows. :-) There are lots more, too. Hidden Libraries: the World's Most Unusual Book Depositories, by DC Helmuh is a book I've read twice already, and will browse through one more time before it is returned.

It was the subtitle of The Upstairs Delicatessen that caught my eye ... :on Eating, Reading, Reading about Eating & Eating while Reading. (!) The author (Dwight Garner) loves to eat and to read and this memoir reflects just that. The notes that must have been made to include so many books and the meals and food that they contained boggles the mind (there are notes and permissions at the end). It is divided by meals, as well as a chapter on Shopping and even Napping! I quite enjoyed this but will warn others that there is a section on, um, 'other' things that can be done with food (not sure whether I was appalled or amused) and one much too detailed description of what happens when you cut off the head of a chicken. (Although, maybe, if you don't already know, this will be of interest). And yes, it did make me hungry, and yes, I often read while I eat! (With apologies to my mother, who did raise me better). ;-)

Curiosities of Literature: a Feast for Book Lovers, by John Sutherland lived up to it's name ... curious selections indeed! Who wrote the first western? I'll bet it's not who you might think it is! Did you know JM Barrie came up with a now popular name for girls? What did various presidents read? There's a section on farts (really!), from both characters in books and authors. There are books with their own action figures, or other odd things (think Yorick and a skull for your desk). A different sort of read, for sure.

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I tend to avoid, at least at first, books on best selling lists, not sure why, but I've always done this. However, The Briar Club, by Kate Quinn, was recommended by Canadian Reader, and the entire book club! So, I gave it a try ... and read it in less than two days! It's 1950, in Washington D.C., in a rather run down (and therefore cheap) boarding house. Folks pretty much keep to themselves until one boarder, Grace, changes all that. She has a weekly dinner party (if it can be called that when it's all done on a hot plate and folks sit on the floor), where the residents get to know each other. There are lots of secrets, of course, and histories good and bad. It's the McCarthy era and one resident is on the look out for Commies; one has a (maybe) gangster boyfriend; a young mother, trying to be 'perfect' while waiting for her husband (a doctor in Korea) to come home; a elderly woman who escaped from eastern Europe ... and Grace, she has a secret, too. Things are going well, too well, perhaps, until they aren't. I'm not doing this justice here, but I don't want to give anything away! Do what the author asks and don't read the historic notes at the end first (I often start there).

This book is a Lord Peter Wimsey story, written, not by Dorothy L. Sayers, but by Jill Paton Walsh, who knew, worked with, and had Sayers permission! The Attenbury Emeralds takes the reader back to his first case ... finding a large (and rather gaudy) heirloom. The setting is the 1950's, some thirty years after this case and Lord Peter is explaining it to his wife. The emeralds have made the news once again as there is a dispute as to who actually owns them. There are plot twists, of course, and copies of the jewels (some good, some paste) that needed tracking down when they first went missing, discussions of where they were from originally, and so on. I rather enjoyed the read, but reviews have suggested that if you are a die hard Sayers fan, you might not like it as much. :-)

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Murder on a High Note is the first in the Music Shop Mystery books by Jennifer Lamont Leo. It's set in a small town in Idaho in 1916. For most of the year Timber Coulee is a lumber town, but for six weeks every summer it is host to an established and much loved music camp. This year, sadly, due to the war in Europe, there are 'anti-foreigner' feelings and stores are vandalized depending on the last name of the owner. (Some things never change, do they). Then the expected guest conductor cancels and in his place is an unknown ... who is this guy? He is charming, and he is a conductor, but why does he have an interest in an old man's death and the boxes in his shed? Join with Amanda (the store owner) and her niece as they work through the clues. A fun start!

As much as I love (and prefer) a printed book, this one, Tragedy at Piddleton Hotel, might be better as an audio book! It's written to be humorous, something much easier to convey with voices than just letters on a page! Annabel Churchill, now a widow, has moved to the village of Compton Poppleford. She has purchased the detective agency there, somethings she's sure she can do because her late husband was a detective with the London police. It comes with a secretary. Her first case is a fat cat, the owner wants to know who else is feeding his cat! Then there's a more serious case: local busy body Mrs. Furzgate has died in a fall down a flight of stairs. Was it an accident? There was a dropped sticky bun at the top of the stairs after all. Delightfully crazy characters (pay attention to their names) and some sleuthing that is almost slap stick, this was a hoot of a read! It is the first in the Churchill & Pemberley Cosy Murder Mystery series by Emily Organ.

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Ten Foot Cops: the World's Mounted Police, by Nigel Allsopp could have been an amazing book. It is a global history of mounted forces. It discusses when they were established (some have been disbanded and brought back, others are as new as 1995) and how the officers and mounts (some are camels) are selected and trained. Some are part of the police force, others are volunteers, or supported by donations, grants and so on. The author did a wonderful job of talking with members of these teams from around the world, you will learn a lot! However, it suffered from a lack of that final 'polish' ... you know, the last time through a manuscript when you clean it all up. There are incomplete sentences and thoughts, and 'spell check' should have been checked by a human as there are several uses of 'pray' instead of 'prey.' There are great photos, but most of them needed a caption. It kept me reading, the concept was spot on, but the delivery could have used some work. Just so you know ... I did read it all the way through, after all. :-)

The Horse and Buggy Doctor, by Arthur E. Hertzler, M.D. was originally published in 1938! Med school certainly has changed! ;-) Author said it wasn't really an autobiography, but there is a lot about his life included, such as a horrible childhood. It was the 'spare the rod, spoil the child' era, so parents, teachers, and clergy all beat children. There is humor too, though, he was thrashed (and the book burned) for reading an early book about anatomy which (gasp) mentioned that there were TWO sexes ... something that as a farm kid, he'd already figured out! It was a much slower process, too, since it could sometimes take several hours (and sometimes a change of horses) to get to the patient. Folks pretty much didn't call unless it was serious, though. This was an interesting read as it talks about the folks the good doctor went to see, those who came to his office (when he had one) and the hospital he set up. The forward was written by Milburn Stone, who played 'Doc' on the old TV show, Gunsmoke! Warning here, this was at times a tough read as animals were shot ... for food, for practice, and to ward of attacking dogs from a farm the doctor was visiting. Times were different, for sure! It's a dense read, too, and I sometimes took a break for something lighter in-between chapters, but you will get into the rhythm of the writing, pick out the funny bites and so on. All in all, an interesting read of a bygone era.

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Ian and Will Ferguson are Canadian humorists (humourists?) and brothers who wrote a cozy mystery! I Only Read Murder features an aging TV star who once had a very popular show. No good parts have come her way for a long time. When she receives a postcard with a cryptic message from a small town, she decides to follow up on it (it's from a former love) ... but it's certainly not what she expected! Still, the town is about to put on a play, one that is performed every year (exactly the same way) so she auditions for a part. The lead should have gone to her, but didn't, it goes to an unpopular person instead. That person (of course) ends up dead ... but who killed her, and why? And how, for that matter? Just a fun read from start to finish ... and I learned why it is considered bad luck to whistle on stage!

There is a surprise visitor in Yachts and Yelps, from the Isle of Man Ghostly series by Diana Xarissa ... someone who is looking for Mona, claiming to be a good friend (but hasn't spoken to her in eighteen years) and is unaware she is dead. He arrives on a yacht, with his extended (and unhappy) family and friends. What does he want from Mona? Later (of course) Fenella and her niece, Margaret stumble upon a body. It is one of the traveling companions. This makes everyone on board a suspect. Mona has to help, of course! There is an ex-wife, too, might she be a suspect here? We are nearly to the end of this fun series (although the author has many others out if you want to look her up).

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