Another book in the stack from County Reader was The Fallen Architect, by Charles Belfoure. It is a rich and detailed mystery, keep an eye out for clues, the author does a good job here! (And no, I did not pick up on them!) A balcony in a theater has collapsed and several people were killed. The architect is blamed, and sent to prison. When he is released he is determined to start a new life, but things keep popping up that prove to him he was framed. Figuring out the who and how, and most importantly, the why made for a read that kept me reading far into the night.

A man is shot outside a pub in a small village in Yorkshire. There is a witness. The shooter cannot be found. Then, there is a second murder ... same thing, a witness, but again the shooter (a different person) cannot be found. Why were these people shot? What happened to the shooters? They lived in the area (but were new, as in the last few years), but now, no record of them can be found. The Nidderdale Murders is another Yorkshire Murder Mystery by J.R. Ellis.

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I've read a fair number of books by Rhys Bowen, she has some wonderful series out! Above the Bay of Angels though, feels like a stand alone. Raised in a good family, and with a good education, Isabella has to find a job when her father dies (and then her mother). Given the era (Victorian England), that means service and she is working in a kitchen. One day, when she's out, she witnesses an accident. She goes to comfort the victim, who stuffs a letter into Isabella's hand. It's an introductory letter for a job at Buckingham Palace. It's too good to good a chance to ignore, so, posing as the person in the letter, she applies, and is hired. Just how will that work out?

Depressed with visiting folks (their own age) in nursing homes, Mrs. Entwhistle and her good friend Maxine decide to take a road trip ... one along the famous and fabled Route 66. They meet up with a bike gang, a rather inept (fortunately) kidnapper, and an abandoned kitten. Along the way they will make some good new friends, too. Mrs. Entwhistle Takes a Road Trip, by Doris Reidy was another great read in this series.

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Overkilt is one of the Liss MacCrimmon Scottish Mystery books by Kaitlyn Dunnett. Thanksgiving is coming and the local hotel is featuring a 'couples' dinner geared towards those who don't have kids. A local, um, group (with old fashioned ideas) has taken exception to this, sure that it must be 'anti' family values. They protest. There is a death (naturally). At first the body is identified as the leader of the group, but it's not. So, is it a case of mistaken identity (all the men have beards, etc, so they do look a lot alike), or not? Love the Scottish connection ... kilts, bagpipes, etc. ;-)

Here is an interesting twist on a subject ... the first time a teen faces murder. Sometimes it's as a witness, sometimes as the murderer, and once, as the victim. Well written, but a bit dark (adolescent angst, perhaps), I would suggest you know your reader if you are going to use it as a gift. Mystery Writers of America Presents Life is Short and Then You Die: First Encounters with Murder, edited by Kelley Armstrong, was a most interesting read.

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Ever wonder what goes in to making the popular show Jeopardy!? It's a lot of work, which is explained in Answers in the Form of Questions: a Definitive History and Insider's Guide to Jeopardy!, by Claire McNear. There's a series of tests, then the wait for 'The Call' (one contestant was in labor when it came, she was on the set three weeks later). There are chapters on strategy, and betting. And the buzzer, oh, that buzzer ... there is a skill and an art to that! And what about the audience? Who is watching? Well written and most interesting, I would have liked an index. Still, a timely read as Jeopardy! is seeing some major changes (and it's not just the passing of Alex Trebek).

When Josh and Brent saw Beekman Mansion while on a trip to upstate New York, they knew they had to have it. Once a working farm, and a stop on the underground railway, it also listed several well known people from the past as visitors .... all that history and the beautiful location ... it was just an opportunity too good to miss. The Bucolic Plague: an Unconventional Memoir, by Josh Kilmer-Purcell is how they became gentlemen farmers, raised goats (with help), much of their own food, started a new business ... all in all just a fun read. There were some tough, worrisome times, (at one point neither had a job in the city), but they persevered and became part of a wonderful community.

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It took a while for Lord James Harrington and the Michaelmas Fair Mystery, by Lynn Florkiewicz to come out (it's explained at the front of the book). It was worth the wait and I'm glad the author is writing again. It's busy in the tiny town of Cavendish: a wedding, a school reunion, an old car run, not to mention the annual Michaelmas Fair. When a body is found, it looks to be fairly simple, the man was not well liked, but then two more bodies are found. And the bodies are posed, with a message. Finding the connection made for another grand read by this author.

When County Reader and I finally touched base again ... masked, outside, and so forth due to Covid, of course, one of the things we did was swap books. In the stack that came from her was Queenie Malone's Paradise Hotel, by Ruth Hogan. I loved her earlier book, The Keeper of Lost Things, so was eager to try another of her books. As before, there is an interesting story and some great characters, along with a few surprises! Life was not easy for Tilda, but she made the best of things and when her mother dies and she returns home to clean things out she learns, well, a lot of why things happened as they had.

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Murder in Old Bombay is the debut novel of Nev March ... and what a debut it is! It is based on true events, be sure to read the notes from the author at the end. Hired to solve the mystery of the deaths of two women, retired military man Jim Agnihotri is determined to see the case to the end, even after he is attacked several times. He is a master of disguise, and, it seems, the collector of orphaned children. A bit grittier in spots than I normally read, it still kept me reading far into the night.

Several of my friends have chickens, so it is no surprise that A Cop & a Coop, by Hillary Avis, caught my eye. :-) It is the first in her Clucks and Clues Mystery series. Leona has returned to her small home town, with the idea of starting an egg business. When she is clearing the land for her 'chicken palace' she digs up a pair of old boots. Not too surprising, actually, she's come across other garbage, too. However, the boots contain bones, human bones, and that's where things get 'interesting.' Secrets from the past surface, Leona meets up with former classmates, old rivalries flare up as the mystery of who was buried, and why is investigated.

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It took me a while to figure out the 'offbeat humor' mentioned on the back of The Plague and I, by Betty MacDonald as it's about time spent in a TB sanatorium, where the conditions were awful! Once I realized when it was written, and what was known then, and so forth, it was a much easier read! Rules were rules (some for good reason), staff was strict, pleasures were few and far between, and yet, somehow the author found some good in her experience with TB.

Just who goes to bookstores these days? Secondhand bookstores? There are customers, even in this electronic age, and, they actually fall into several categories, and a few sub-categories. They are cleverly described in Seven Kinds of People You Find in Bookshops, by Shaun Bythell. See if you recognize yourself!

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Have you ever wondered what it was like to be a book? Cookie Boyle did, and wrote an absolutely delightful novel called Entitled. Told from the perspective of the book The Serendipity of Snow, we travel along as the book is passed around, or left behind, travels to foreign countries, and finally, meets up with her author! I love how the author had each book have a different personality depending on the subject. A Western has a drawl, and a hard edged crime book a tough New York accent. An unabridged dictionary provides longer answer than a pocket version, and the travel book knows that, sadly, he will soon be out of date (yes, each book has a gender, too). If you like a bit of quirky-ness to what you read, give this a try.

In the next Rosa Reed Mystery, Murder on Location, by Lee Strauss, Norm Strauss, and Denise Jaden, Rosa finds herself on the set of a movie. It's a Western and she and her cousin have signed on as extras. Movie work is not as exciting as they thought, there's lots of standing around and waiting and Rosa almost wishes she was sitting in her office, where she could at least be in comfortable clothes and reading a book. Then one of lead actors is shot. With a prop gun.

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