Jane, owner of Storyton Hall is again holding a themed retreat, this time it’s a Rare Book Conference. In order to keep her resort popular, she is expanding and adding a fancy spa. Excavation comes to a halt when bones are found, including a skull and a box. Which contains an old (very old) book. At first it is thought that all text has faded due to time and damp, but when it is learned that it could be a Very Dangerous Book and that there is a way to view the text, excitement builds (as do the bodies, of course). Murder in the Locked Library in the fourth in the Book Retreat Mystery Series by Ellery Adams.

It was back to the Isle of Man with Aunt Bessie Needs. Bessie is taking a class to learn the Manx language … again … it’s a hard language! Her new friend, Laura, arrives at the class in tears, seems her ex-husband, the one she divorced due to abuse, is moving to the island. She refuses to go to the police, but Bessie thinks they should know. A few days later a woman who looks a lot like Laura is murdered. Was it mistaken identity (it was in a dark alley, after all)? Some nice twists and turns this time intertwined with the struggle to learn Manx! I’ll just say that things might not be as they seem. This is part of the Isle of Man Cozy Mystery series by Diana Xarissa.

Why would someone want to sabotage the Menagerie? Why are the mermen and mermaids going on strike? Things are not as they should be. And when a disturbing map of the Menagerie as an amusement park shows up on the desk of a local politician (one whose mind had been erased of any memory of seeing mythical beasts) things really heat up. Remember Logan’s mom who disappeared in book one? She’s back, too. And a tragic story from the past. The Menagerie: Krakens and Lies, by Tui T. Sutherland and her sister Kari Sutherland is a tween read, but a very exciting one that just might keep you reading through dinner time!

Reading Hermit With Dog