In one of those odd twists of fate I'm pairing the same authors here as I did in my post of December 13. I'm not sure why!

The Man That Got Away, by Lynne Truss, is the second Constable Twitten Mystery. It is a turny, twisty, convoluted romp that, is a witty combination of CSI and farce. There are unsolved murders, and robberies. There are long lost loves and relatives. There are scams of all kinds. Constable Twitten thinks they are related, Inspector Steine does not. Others might (or might not) be thinking the same thing ... pay special attention to the members of the band in the night club. If you are prone to laughing out loud when you read, you might not want to read this in public. ;-)

The Cold Case gang is at work again, only this time there is a twist. Instead of staying near Bessie's little house, her good friend Andrew, is staying in the fancier hotel in Ramsey. Turns out it's because he brought along not just a cold case file, but someone involved with it as well. The first thing said person does is offend everyone he'll be working with over the next week or so. Then there is the extremely unpleasant party planner, Jennifer, who has disappeared immediately after a Showcase of Party Planners ... one where her arch rival did very well. Bessie is involved in both of them, naturally, and you can follow her along on her investigations in The Evans File: an Aunt Bessie Cold Case Mystery by Diana Xarissa.

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A man, a not very nice man, has made a shocking confession on his death bed. It could ruin pretty much everything for a lot of people, not to mention the Monks Hood Abbey. Lennox and Swift are called in to sort things out. Sins of the past come to the surface, an unexpected wife of the deceased appears claiming everything is to come to her. Bodies start to pile up ... with no visible cause of death. The Monks Hood Murders is another wonderful entry (#5) in the Lennox series from author Karen Baugh Menuhin. No spoilers, of course, but just consider plants and flowers while you read.

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Tall Reader loaned me the book Becoming, by Michelle Obama. It proved to be a wonderful, quiet read. (A review on Goodreads describes it as "mesmerizing", that fits, too). She writes of her upbringing, and the values she learned from her parents, of her schooling, and meeting a man with a 'strange name'. She describes being a working mother, and living and raising her daughters in the White House, a life always under scrutiny. The good times are here, as are the bad times. (Embrace that, learn from them, they are all a part of you). It was fascinating reading about someone so different from myself, I gained new perspectives on things. This is an amazing woman!

An excellent recommendation came from Kiwi: To Engineer is Human: the Role of Failure in Successful Design, by Henry Petroski. A nice blend of things I did not understand (a bit technical for this non-engineer type person), and things I did! I especially like the chapter on fiction books about engineering. More pictures would have been nice. If you have seen and enjoyed a show called 'Engineering Catastrophes' (that's what got us talking about this book in the first place) you should like this book.

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County Reader reminded me of a book I'd read long ago, well before my blog started, so I read it again so I could list it. :-) Set in the American West, in the late 1800's, two brothers are riding the range, looking for work. They get hired at a mysterious ranch with an ill-tempered boss. They plan to just keep their heads down and get on with their work, but (of course) they come across a body. One of the brothers loves the stories about Sherlock Holmes (he doesn't read, so his younger brother reads to him, meaning he, too, knows all about Holmes). He patterns his investigation on things Holmes would do. Remember though, this is not London, it's the wild west, so it is all done in 'cowboy' lingo and references. Good action, very little swearing, and wonderful interactions between the hired hands and the (not so elite) Brit that actually owns the ranch. Holmes on the Range, by Steve Hockensmith, is the first in this series. (Warning! There is one, tragic, violent event that occurs towards the end, one that I forgot about, or maybe blocked it out of my mind. As far as this reader is concerned it did not need to happen and seriously dampened my enthusiasm. It might not do so for other readers).

I will admit I am a bit, mmm, stodgy when it comes to poetry. I like it to rhyme, I like a meter, a pulse that gives it energy, so I tend to stick to my old favorites. Still, when Solstice: Light & Dark of the Salish Sea, a poetry anthology edited by Carla Shafer arrived as a gift from a friend, I knew I'd be giving it a try. It wasn't bad! I liked the Winter Solstice section the best (no big surprise), and especially the poem "Solstice" by Leslie Wharton who mentions reading, and soups, cuddling down, and dancing in the dark! Reading her bio at the back, I learned that she too, hid from the heat dome and too much sun! :-)

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Posie Parker is bored. She has no cases to work on. And then, a summons comes from the House of Sinne, a well known and very famous perfume house. Truly a puzzlement since Posie wears little perfume. There is about to be a 'reveal' ... one in the making for two years ... a new and earth shattering fragrance ... This means a strange and unusual gathering of people, a peacock ... and, of course, a body. This is a very convoluted story, I could imagine the author with a flow chart hanging next to her keyboard! Lots of history, not all of it good, and connections between those invited? Also not good. How does it all work out? Murder in a Chelsea Garden is the twelfth Posie Parker Mystery by L.B. Hathaway.

What if the characters in the books we enjoy discovered they were characters? That every move they made, every thought they had, came from an author. An author interested in making sales? And what if they convinced other characters of this and vowed revenge on these authors? And then the authors figured this out and wanted to stop them? In the effort to avoid 'capture' the characters escape into various books: a bodice ripper, an intergalactic battle, a zombie uprising ... For a delightful and different read, go with Lost on a Page, by David E. Sharp. Such fun!

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A Game of Birds and Wolves: the Ingenious Young Women Whose Secret Board Game Helped Win World War II, by Simon Parkin is one of those history books I enjoy so much. Churchill believed that the outcome of the war depended on the battle for the Atlantic. Germany was having great success with Uboats, which needed to be stopped! For the purpose of strategy, a board game was developed. Played on the floor, (and sometimes walls) by the women of the Wrens, it would prove invaluable. It got better as the war went on, especially once German messages could be intercepted and used. I think the section I liked best was where veteran captains, who at first were insulted by anyone thinking that 'girls' (they were very young) who had never been to sea (they weren't allowed on ships) or in battle could tell them what to do, realized that what they were saying worked!

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It seems when the Corgi dogs Sherlock and Watson helped solve the mystery of some long missing jewels, (Case of the Shady Shamrock) they came to the attention of a fan of the breed. A very specific fan of the breed. A royal fan of the breed. They, along with Zack and Jillian have been duly and officially summoned to an audience with that fan. An audience with her Majesty, the Queen, cannot be ignored, (especially when it includes first class tickets for all of them) so they head for England in Case of the Missing Marine, the 14th of the Corgi Case Files by J.M. Poole. The missing Marine is Jillian's brother, who is working for MI6 (and loves puzzles, remember that). All this ties together nicely for another charming read in this favorite series of mine. (And the audience with the Queen? It's a hoot)!

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Tall Reader loaned me A Deadly Education (Lesson One of The Scholomance) by Naomi Novik, wanting to know what I thought. What I thought ... it was dark, and angry, and depressing. It was relentless ... this is a school for the 'magically inclined' and there are things trying to kill the students all the time ... in the halls, in the classrooms, in their rooms, in the shower, in their food ... I never really warmed to any of the characters ... And yet, it was a new spin on a 'school for wizards' story, and had many interesting elements. After all, I did finish it!

Lennox is not exactly happy to be summoned to Damascus, and his trusty retainer, Greggs, even less so. Inspector Swift convinces them it will be a lovely vacation in a warm country. He is only partially correct. Death in Damascus, is the fourth of the Inspector Lennox mysteries by Karen Baugh Menuhin. There are lovely descriptions of gardens and street markets, and the staff is there to meet every need of the visitors, but there is a body, you know! Wonderful old legends and mysteries, an ancient map, and, of all things, a crew from Hollywood making a movie make for a captivating read. Just consider this: everyone is not who they say they are.

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