Every one of the Meg Langslow Mystery books by Donna Andrews has a bird in the title as does this one, The Gift of the Magpies. Christmas is just a few days away and the Caerphilly Helping Hands for the Holidays volunteers are busy helping out anyone who needs, well, pretty much anything done. In one case it's convincing a hoarder to let them clean out his house, and repair it so it is livable again. It's actually going quite well until he is found dead in his garage. There are relatives (estranged, distant relatives) who want the house and the 'treasure' they are sure is hidden there. There are others, still alive, (or their children) who remember the father, who ran a bank decades ago and they are sure he kept money from it when everything crashed. It must be hidden in the house, right? And then there's a strange women he met on-line who claims she has a Will. Can they get this all figured out before Christmas? This is a fun series. :-)

The war is over and each of the Kopp sisters has plans for what they will be doing next. Those plans all come to a screeching halt when their brother dies suddenly and they return home to help their (pregnant) sister-in-law. How are they going to get by? One of the sisters happens upon a job, a rather odd job ... I don't want to say too much here ... let's just say it involves photography. And THAT leads her to several women she believes are being swindled. Miss Kopp Investigates, by Amy Stewart (one of the Kopp Sisters novels) is how she does so. Based on a real family, don't miss the notes at the back!

Reading Hermit With Dog