Here's the second Electra McDonnell mystery by Ashley Weaver: The Key to Deceit. The body of a young woman has been pulled from the Thames wearing a locked bracelet. An unusual cameo bracelet. Ellie is able to open it, only to find film. It's a camera! Clearly this person was a spy, but for whom? then there are keys, one for a mantle clock, one that doesn't work, and has a rare pink face. And just as Ellie and Major Ramsey (and a host of others) are planning a bank robbery, the bombing of London begins. Plan on staying up late to finish this!

Author Pip Williams read and loved a book about words and dictionaries she read years ago, and that lead, eventually, to The Dictionary of Lost Words. Esme grew up around words, her father, and others, are working on the first complete edition of the Oxford English Dictionary. Some words are not included ... they are not 'proper' words because they have not been written down, that is, they are mostly used by folks that cannot read. Or they are considered vulgar. Or (gasp) they are considered women's words. Esme starts collecting these words. An interesting read, if a bit slow moving, it was this theme (comes along around page 100 or so) that kept me reading.

Reading Hermit With Dog