The year is 1922 and Dandy Gilver (a member of the upper class) is bored. When she is offered the chance to 'look around' for some missing diamonds, it sounds like a bit of fun. Until the death of a young woman, that is. It's dismissed as an accident, but this is a mystery so we all know that's not true. ;-) How are the diamonds and the murder connected? Who in society is hiding something? A nice way to start to what, I've been told, is a good series: After the Armistice Ball, by Catriona McPherson is the introduction to Dandy Gilver, society sleuth.

April Henry is the author of a nice mystery series featuring Claire Montrose. Set in Portland, I enjoyed the descriptions of the area that were so familiar. :-) Ms. Montrose worked in the Oregon State License Plate Division approving or denying those vanity plates you see every so often. (Something happens in the first book, Circles of Confusion, which allows her to leave her job). It's been years since these books came out I was unable to find a copy of the first book, but I did find the second: Square in the Face, and recently reread it. Claire has promised to help a friend find her first born, a child that had been put up for adoption in the hopes she will be a match for a bone marrow transplant. Lots of interesting (but sad) twists. As with all the Claire Montrose mysteries, there are lots of vanity plates to decipher. :-) Third in the series is: Heart-Shaped Box.

In Small Plates: Short Fiction, Katherine Hall Page, author of The Faith Fairchild Mysteries has gathered together a collection of her shorter stories. Some feature Ms. Fairchild, some do not, but all were fun to read. Don't miss the one about the Christmas pudding!

Reading Hermit With Dog