I've found several 'firsts' for new series and authors (at least for me). One of them was Out of the Picture, the first of A Shepherd Sisters Mystery books by Tracy Gardner. A rather typical start: relationship break up, loss of job, return to small home town ... but after that I liked how the story progressed. Savanna is an art authenticator, and while there isn't much of that needed in this tiny town (she's teaching art at the elementary school), it is that skill which allows her to discover what might be a fraudulent painting. (Loved the clues here)! And, there are dogs! Oh, and sisters. ;-)

This Side of Murder, by Anna Lee Huber, was the first in her Verity Kent Mystery books that I've read. Verity Kent has reluctantly agreed to attend a party, she is, after all, still grieving the death of her husband in World War I, but figures a bit of fun might be good for her. It is anything but (of course)! There are bodies, and a cryptic message that her husband had committed treason. And perhaps most un-nerving, someone knows what she did during the war, and no one is supposed to know that .... Ms. Huber also writes the Lady Darby Mystery series.

Reading Hermit With Dog