What would you do if you learned that the man you thought was your father wasn't? At least in the biological sense? When author Bill Griffeth learned this, it took him on a quest to learn more about his family (after the initial shock wore off). The Stranger in My Genes is part mystery, part history, part travel journal ... and all in all just a very hard book to put down. Thanks go to Constant Reader for sending it my way. :-)

It's been ages since I've seen the movie Arsenic and Old Lace, but now I may have to do so, and all because of a book ... a mystery by Parnell Hall titled Arsenic and Old Puzzles. The Guilford sisters run a small inn. All seems well until the bodies start piling up, and all with a puzzle on or near the body. What is the connection? A nice nod (I'm pretty sure) to classic film. :-)

Here's another entry in the Scottish Bookshop Mystery series: Of Books and Bagpipes, by Paige Shelton. Delaney is sent to pick up a package and finds a body instead. This paves the way for a mystery that started with something that happened decades ago, a secret society, and questions that no one will answer. (This was frustrating at first, but the story develops nicely and soon I was pulled in). :-)

When I said I was reading The Zig Zag Girl, by Elly Griffiths, Canadian Reader told me she'd recently read it, too! Set in England not too long after the end of WWII, members of a special unit (the Magic Men) have been murdered, and in ways that mimic a magic trick gone horribly wrong. Why? Nice period details, and I smiled over things like 'tv is just a passing fad' or 'the play The Mousetrap (Agatha Christie) will have a short run.' (It was first performed in 1952 and is still running to this very day ... it is the longest running play of all time). :-)

Reading Hermit With Dog