There were several major finds in Egypt in the late 1800's and this book: Murder on the Sea Witch feels like an homage to that. The ship in the title is a freight ship, designed to bring home, in this case precious, cargo. The body of the chief archeologist has been found inside the sarcophagus he was bringing back to London. When it is discovered that his brain has been removed in the fashion of preparing a body for mummification Redmond and Haze believe that should make it easier to find the killer. It does not! Since the ship is designed for cargo, not passengers, those aboard all had something to do with the dig, many have been on several digs, and most know how to remove the brain from a body! Who might have had a grudge against Blake Upton? Another 'keeps you up late reading' mystery, this is the seventh in the Redmond and Haze Mystery series by Irina Shapiro.

A Grim Reaper's Guide to Cheating Death, by Maxie Dara was a read completely different from what I usually read, even though it was a mystery! It is the second in the S.C.Y.T.H.E. Mystery series. (Any of you remember the show The Man from U.N.C.L.E.?) I have not read the first. Nora Bird works for S.C.Y.T.H.E., she schedules the reapers, those who go out at the death of someone to be sure the soul moves on properly. This goes well until the name of her brother comes across her desk. He is her twin and all the family she has left so she is NOT going to let this happen! They flee to the small town their father is from, and what a strange little town it is! A most curious read, for sure! I take exception to the review on the cover: "funny and warm, delightfully fresh" ... to me is is NOT funny or warm ... there is death, lots of it, paranoia, fear, fright and so on ... it IS however, fresh, in that the point of few is certainly new to this reader! Do note, this is NOT a cozy! There is lots of bad language. It fits with the characters and the story but I wanted to give you a heads up. :-)

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In these times that I find rather depressing and discouraging given what is happening in this country it was nice reading a happy, cheerful book, this one, by Dick Van Dyke! 100 Rules for Living to 100: an Optimist's Guide to a Happy Life. Follow along as the author talks about his life and work, the good times and bad and how he's been successful or not. He's still dancing, and works out at a gym ... that's how he got a recent role on a tv show, a soap opera! A feel good sort of read.

What was your favorite song from Walt Disney's Mary Poppins? Dick Van Dyke's book inspired me to go through the song book I have from the movie and pick out the songs on the piano (pretty much just one handed these days). Like Mr. Disney, I love Feed the Birds the best, but I also like Chim Chim Cheree and how it evokes the life on the rooftops of London (it's right there, in the lyrics)!, and Step in Time for energy and enthusiasm. Made for a nice afternoon of memories. (My dad DID recognize the elder Mr. Banks as portrayed by Dick Van Dyke and we watched the credits until his name became unscrambled and dad could say "I knew it!" :-)

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Christmas is coming, a time of family, friendship, gathering .... and death? Well, yes, but mostly because this a mystery. ;-) Death at the Swan Tavern is the sixth Veronica Vale Investigates mystery by Kitty Kildare. When one of the guests, someone invited to join the festivities at the last moment (so as not to be alone over the holiday) is found dead everyone is hoping it was an accident. It wasn't, and as his past is uncovered there are more and more suspects. Can the reason be discovered before Christmas? I love the sub themes of dog rescue and Ruby, who can drive any sort of vehicle (there's a tractor on the cover for a reason). Set in the 1920's.

Next is another Redmond and Haze Mystery by Irina Shapiro: Murder at Ardith Hall. Also set at Christmas and also the sixth in the series. (And yes I did read them back to back and no, did not do this on purpose)! The death happens at a sèance, one where folks have gathered in the hopes of contacting a loved one who has died. One of them is the wife of Daniel Redmond. It is not hard to determine that this person was murdered, but also determined that someone had been trying to kill him for some time now. (I know this is fuzzy, but I promised no spoilers, and the method here was very interesting)! Set just after the American Civil War, in England.

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Company and projects have kept me from reading as much as I usually do so there was just one book ready for me to post ... and most of the time I like to do two ... so ... what to do? Then I remembered that some time back now, Seattle Reader asked me if I'd ever consider doing posts on books that folks like to read over and over again. I said yes, did a bit of checking with friends on that, and then ... nothing happened. Now it will! And, take a look at the image today! That's from a set of bookends! Wouldn't those be fun?!

Since it was an idea from Seattle Reader, I will start there. "Books I tend to re-read are often the first book of a series (even if the series ultimately was disappointing) such as Out of the Silent Planet, by C.S. Lewis. On the other hand, David Eddings five book series The Belgariad has been read more times than could be easily counted! And of course, DRAGONS! Dragonsong, by Anne McCaffrey!" (me, too!) (This is the first in the Harper Hall Trilogy and ties in nicely with The Dragonriders of Pern books).

And, from a friend who died much too young, Moby Dick, by Herman Melville! This was a book I could barely get through once, although to be fair, I was also reading it for a class with one of the worst profs I ever had, might that have colored it? Any way, it was an annual read for this person ... loving the story, the writing, the descriptions and more, I was told.

I've also been told twice recently, that in these troublesome times, it's nice to go back to an old favorite or two.

The important thing here is, new or old, actual book or ereader (or audio book), just read! :-)

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We had company this past weekend: two humans, two dogs! It was glorious fun AND I got a recommendation for a new author and series! :-) Nic Saint writes a series about cats who help solve crimes: The Mysteries of Max. Book one is Purrfect Murder. The cats and their human (a local reporter) can talk to each other, it's something the women in her family have been able to do for generations. And, since cats can wander pretty much any where, they can do a lot of eavesdropping! The body of a famous author has been found, in a most unusual spot. Impeding progress though are two newcomers to this small town: an arrogant cat and his equally arrogant human (a detective, who does NOT like interference with his investigations). A nice light story, good for these troubled times. And, if you like them there are more than 100 books in the series!

And, then it was back to the next Liturgical Mystery by Mark Schweizer, the Countertenor Wore Garlic. It's coming up on Halloween and the town is getting ready to celebrate, big time. There are standoffs between vampires and zombies, a visiting (hellfire and damnation) priest, and a 'congregational enlivener' ... something I've never head of before ... the body is found at in the hay bale maze, the identify hidden due to a pumpkin on the head of the corpse. Expect puns. Don't miss the 'reviews' of the book at the beginning. Enjoy! (I laughed out loud).

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Here I am, back with those two favorite authors again!

The Organist Wore Pumps is the eighth title in the Liturgical Mystery series by Mark Schweizer. There has been an accident (swerving to miss a family of skunks) and Hayden is in a cast so cannot play the organ for the church services. His replacement is someone he knows from his past, and doesn't really like all that much. It's Christmas, or nearly so, and there are all kinds of activities going on leading up to that special day (and beyond). Disrupting this schedule is an obnoxious deacon (his sermons are MUCH too long) who ends up dead. From a bullet from Hayden's gun. ??? How did this happen? Hayden is trying to write a children's book, too ... that should give you a chuckle (remembering how bad is hard core detective stories are ...) ;-)

The body may never have been discovered if the grave digger (fussy about his work) had not checked out the grave he'd dug for the afternoon funeral and noticed things were 'off' about it. Sure enough, at the bottom was a body. It is someone new to the area but everyone liked him, found him to be a good, kind man. Is there something from his past that finally caught up with him? Clues are hard to find. Murder in the Grave, by Irina Shapiro is the fifth Redmond and Haze Mystery book.

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Riding Reader has an unusual way (to me) of selecting books. There's a stop at a local county branch of the library and then a quick dash in where five or so books are plucked either from a 'to be shelved' cart, or the new book shelf. It's a system that has worked well ... always a diversity in the subjects, and always at least one worth reading! Recently there was The Traveling Archivist: Eastern Oregon. It's the first in the Della Waters Archival Mystery series by Mary B. Hansen. The state of Oregon is initiating a new program, one designed to help small towns collect, preserve and protect various city records. A professional archivist is sent out for a period of several weeks, with supplies and, of course, the know how to do just this. It should be fairly easy but there is one rather obnoxious 'pillar of the community' who tries to thwart her at every step (His family founded this town after all, it is up to him to protect the history properly). The reason for this becomes more clear once Della finds some records, woefully misfiled (but with reason, as it turns out) of the trial documents for the massacre of thirty-four Chinese gold miners more than one hundred years in the past. Based on a true event. Not a bad debut!

The work done by the Six Triple Eight Battalion in World War II is most fascinating. The US Army did not know what to do with women, let alone Black women. They were finally all put in the same battalion and assigned a job where failure was a given. Except that it wasn't. There were millions (actually more) of pieces of mail waiting to be delivered. Others had tried and failed to clear it out. They were given six months ... they had it cleared in two! The non-fiction books I found were either picture books, or had such dismal reviews that I opted for a novel about them. Women of the Post, by Joshunda Sanders was a good read, but I would have liked more about how they did what they did! Still it was an excellent, if unsettling, read of what it was like to be Negro (in the language of the time period) and how they were treated. Powerful, too, these were strong, smart women.

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