Overall I liked The Bookshop on the Corner, by Jenny Colgan. I liked how the main character started over when the library (a small branch) closed. Her 'talent', it seems, is to match up people and books. She ends up in a small village in Scotland (she is from London) where there is no library and no bookstore. She buys and converts a large van into a mobile bookstore. It goes over very well! The characters are great, the descriptions of the Scottish countryside are delightful (think of those long days of summer). Only (slightly) negative comment (and this is just me, I'm pretty sure) is that it was just too 'romancy' for me. Still, I'm glad I read it.

Here is the second in the Lady Hardcastle Mystery series: In the Market for Murder, by T E Kinsey. As with the first, I was up late reading it, this is just a delightful series! This time, after an 'interesting' trip to the cattle market, a local farmer ends up dead. In the pub. Face down in his dinner. Why? Then there is a theft where nothing is stolen. More and more suspects keep popping up, there's even a ghost (or is there?) We also learn more about Armstrong (the maid) and just what she learned when they were in China. Lots of fun, and a great mystery, too. :-)

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If you loved the All Creatures Great and Small books, then you should enjoy The Real James Herriot: a Memoir of My Father, by Jim Wight. Here he is, the veterinarian who has inspired generations of folks, either to read several books (!) or to go into veterinary medicine as a profession. Here is the good (the beautiful country side) and the bad (there were some health issues). Gently and affectionately written by his son, this was just a wonderful read. I had a bit of a struggle at first getting used to the real names, but it didn't take too long to 'get them right'. :-)

Some of the most beautiful songs came out of World War II, some are still popular today, others have vanished (into the mists of time, as they say). The Music of World War II: War Songs and Their Stories by Sheldon Winkler is just what it says it is ... stories about the songs popular during that time. A nice read, but it really needed an index!

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What do the recent deaths have in common? There have been several. Different areas of London, different means of death, victims have nothing in common (or do they?). Penny is sure there is a connection, but no one will listen. It could be dangerous, should she investigate alone? (We all know the answer here, yes?) Curse of the Poppy, one of the Penny Green Mystery series by Emily Organ, kept me reading far into the night. (And if you are wondering if there is a connection between poppy and opium, yes, there is).

Here's another fun entry from the Aunt Bessie Cold Case Mystery series by Diana Xarissa: The Carter File. It's sort of a 'locked room' mystery this time. Fifteen years earlier, six high school graduates were spending the weekend in a 'cottage' owned by one of the families (it has four bedrooms, game room, fancy kitchen). There was a lot of drinking going on, but the idea here was that there would be no driving. In the morning, Julie Carter was found dead. Every one had an alibi, there is no evidence of a break in ... the murder was unsolved. Until now. To keep things really interesting for Aunt Bessie, a good 'friend of a friend' is missing, too. A quick, fun read.

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I've read other books by Erik Larson so was most interested in The Splendid and the Vile: Churchill, Family and Defiance During the Bombing of London. I waited until the paperback was out to read it ... made it less heavy, but also harder to keep open with hands that are sometimes stiff. ;-) I know, there is the ereader format, but I love actually holding a real book, it's still magical to me. As with his other books, the research is mind-boggling. Be sure to at least scan the notes at the back, there are lots of tidbits that didn't make it into the final edit. This was a most interesting look at what it was like during those early days. What was it like living in a city under attack? How did Churchill encourage the citizens to just 'keep on' with life? Serious events, like the bombings, were interspersed with family events (naming a baby) and accounts of what was going on in Berlin. My favorite chapter, though, was the one on whether or not to ration tea!

Since I enjoyed Free Country, by George Mahood so much, I thought I'd try Not Tonight, Josephine: a Road Trip Through Small Town America. Turned out, this was actually written first. Instead of taking a gap year before college, George and his friend Mark, take one after they graduate. The first thing they need is transportation: enter Josephine ... a battered and used van, that was 'the right price.' Their goal is to drive across country, and back, on the smaller roads, and visit the small towns as well as some of the most familiar landmarks. They are less than impressed with signs (in the middle of nowhere) that say '(name of river, waterfall, building) used to be here', and more than impressed with the Grand Canyon. Mark's visa is only good for 90 days so when he heads home, George convinces his girl friend (now wife) to come for the rest of the journey. A fun arm chair journey of bad weather (wipers don't work), flat tires (turns out, they weren't all the same size), sleeping in the van (it's cold!!) but also of wonderful people and good food.

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This is a three book post today, and it combines fiction and non-fiction books. There is a common theme, you see. Mothers. The only element missing is that it is not May.

Now, granted, the work that Virginia Hall did was never talked about, few records survived (if they were even created in the first place), and as far as anyone then knew, she was a journalist writing about the war. It was so much more than that! A Woman of No Importance: the Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II, by Sonia Purnell reads like a thriller. Virginia Hall had two strikes against her: she was a woman; and an amputee (she named her artificial leg!). Turned down for job after job with the US government (even thougth she spoke six languages, could create and decipher codes and more) she went to France, where she drove an ambulance, continuing to shuttle the wounded to safety even when the seasoned military leaders were dropping their weapons and fleeing. She goes on to be one of the lynchpins in the French Resistance. Her mother never approved, her daughter was supposed to marry well and settle down!

Tall Reader read the above book before I did, and then shared The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion, by Fannie Flagg with me because it too, deals with World War II (and women doing unusual jobs). Sookie Poole is looking forward to some down time with her husband. The last of three daughters has just been married, the house is quiet ... and then she gets a strange phone call, followed by a life changing registered letter. The letter is actually for her mother, (a mother who never seems pleased with her daughter, and tells her so) but since there are, um, mental issues, all mail goes through Sookie. The information takes her on a journey back in time to a family of (mostly) daughters who take on the task of keeping the family gas station running while the men are at war. One in particular, a bit more bold than her sisters, learns how to fly (think barn-storming, wing walking). She is an excellent pilot, but of course, as a woman, cannot join the military ... until it is decided that women could ferry the planes around the country. (Several of the other sisters learned to fly, too). What Sookie learns will cause her to rethink her life.

Death By Windmill: a Mother's Day Murder in Amsterdam, is the third in the Travel Can Be Murder series by Jennifer S. Alderson. I'm beginning to think Wanderlust Tours should stop having 'theme' tours, but then there'd be no story, right? ;-) Much to Lana's horror, her boss (and owner of the tour company) has invited Lana's mom on the tour. Someone Lana had not talked to for ten years. There are other mothers and daughter's on the tour, too, not all with the best of relationships. Add to that, one woman in particular has been the cause of much grief for several who are on the tour, not to mention her daughter. And then there's the pushy biographer, trying to learn as much as she can about this woman's past. What's that all about? Lots of suspects this time, lots of motive ... and that tour, remember? It must go on. Take a moment to look up some of the destinations, they are stunning.

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A Quiet Life in the Country, the first in the Lady Hardcastle Mystery series, by T E Kinsey is new to me, and what a find it was! I will warn you right up front, I was up very late reading it! (So was Tall Reader). Although it is the first in a series, there are hints to events that happened in the past, which is why Lady Hardcastle and her maid, Armstrong, are hoping for a quiet life in the country. They are not the proper widow and companion they seem, for sure! While exploring their new home, and the lovely country around them, they come across a body hanging from a tree. There are things that just aren't right for it to be suicide and soon they are helping the local police (it becomes obvious they've done this before). And don't overlook the missing trumpet case! Wonderful characters, and dialogue that will make you laugh out loud.

Murder at Hawthorn Cottage, by Betty Rowlands, came as a recommendation from Canadian Reader and is the first in the Melissa Craig Mystery series. Wishing to escape the city and a relationship that needed to end, Melissa moves to the Cotswolds where she plans on having lots of time to work on her next book (she writes crime novels). I'm not sure if it's 'life imitates art' or 'art imitates life' but there are similarities between what she is writing and what is happening around her! Not a bad mystery, not a cozy, (wait until you discover what some of these proper ladies like to do on an afternoon), but not as gritty as, say, a police procedural can be.

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I don't know about you, but I've always considered plumbers to be essential workers! I love indoor plumbing, hot and cold running water, and having someone to come fix them when necessary is, well, downright wonderful. Author Abby Ross needed a plumber at one point, and they got to talking, and that plumber had some wonderful stories, so she decided to interview more plumbers and The Poop Diaries is the result. Yes, is is a bit gross, given the kind of emergencies/jobs they are called out to do, but some are quite funny and there is a common thread of loving what they do, and enjoying (for the most part) the people they meet that ties the stories together. The plumbers are male and female, on is of a darker skin tone, a couple are from Canada. An unexpected find, and a good read.

There is a route one can take that goes from the southern tip of England to the northern tip of Scotland (or the other way, of course). It is popular with hikers, joggers, and bicyclists. The author, George Mahood, was discouraged by the idea that the nation had 'lost sight of the basic values of humanity and kinship' (pg 9), that people were suspicious of strangers, were reluctant to help them, and so forth. He gave him self the challenge (and snagged a friend to come along) of biking the route penniless, without, well, anything ... bikes, clothes, shoes, food ... and that they would ask for handouts (often offering to work for the goods). They started out in just their boxer shorts (featuring the British flag). Free Country: a Penniless Adventure the Length of Britain is their story, and what a hoot it was! They make do with whatever they are given: to start with just one pair of shoes, so they each wore just one shoe; pants that were much too big, and not what one would wear when riding a bicycle (they were held up with twine); and the bikes! Early on they just had bikes for children. The people they met were many and varied but almost every one of them was willing to help, but just how, well, that's what makes this such a fun read.

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Life is good for Lana, there's even a new man in her life. They met on line and have been on two dates, but she's hopeful for more when she returns from leading a Valentine's Day tour to Paris. It's for couples, and designed to be a 'romantic getaway'. Things do not go well, starting when she sees Chad, that new man in her life, at the dock ... with his wife. Some of the couples know each other, and the one couple she does know are bickering about when to start a family. There are arguments and fights, events from as far back as high school arise, as do more recent secrets, and then there is a death ... on a picnic, in front of everyone. Wonderful descriptions of the familiar landmarks of Paris and, um, difficult tourists! Death by Baguette, part of the Travel Can Be Murder series by Jennifer S. Alderson may just make you think twice about taking a romantic tour!

Canadian Reader alerted me to the fact that there is a new Phryne Fisher Mystery, by Kerry Greenwood out. I was eager to read it as this is a most enjoyable series. Death in Daylesford did not disappoint. Phryne has set out for a spa vacation, and a chance to check out this spa which is run by a retired Captain who is trying to help shell-shocked soldiers. Things become more 'interesting' when two young men are killed at various Highland gatherings. And then there's the case of the missing wives. (Pay attention to the knitting). Just to keep things interesting, the young folks Phryne has taken in have a mystery of their own to solve. Great characters, great story, just a lot of fun to read. :-)

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