It's been a while since I read one of the Andy Carpenter Mystery books by David Rosenfelt, so it was nice to get back to his characters with Flop Dead Gorgeous. Andy, a lawyer, is always trying to retire (he doesn't need to work anymore) but cases seem to keep finding him. In this case it was someone he'd once dated in high school who is now a well known acting star. She's in town, filming, when she is accused of murder. The victim was found in her house, they'd argued publicly, it was her cake knife in his back ... how will Andy ever prove she's innocent? Join him and his team (do love Marcus!) as they look for the way to do this. I actually had the 'who' figured out this time (doesn't happen very often) but not the 'why'.

Thanks to a loan from a good friend, I did not have to wait too long to read The Last Devil to Die, the fourth in the Thursday Murder Club Mystery series by Richard Osman. A good friend of the Thursday Clubbers has been killed, and something he had is missing. This sets the group on the hunt for the killer, of course. They encounter antique dealers, art forgers, on-line scams, drugs (and interesting ways to move them in and out of the country). This is a 'thriller' so of course there are more bodies and tense moments (kept me reading far into the night). There were some fun twists, too, although sadly, one ended up in a death. I even figured out one little piece of the mystery!

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Here's a good mystery for this time of year: The Plot and the Pendulum, by Jenn McKinlay. Set in October, close to Halloween it has an old mansion, odd drafts and cold breezes, a decades old mystery, and a secret room. Complete with a skeleton with one hand on a book. By Edgar Allan Poe! The owner of the old house is being moved to an assisted care facility and the (estranged) son wants to be rid of her extensive library. He is donating them to the local library and when the head librarian, Lindsay, and her crew are boxing up the books the secret room, with the skeleton is found. This renews the search for someone gone missing decades ago, which causes old secrets to surface. It is part of the Library Lover's Mystery series.

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Once you get away from the idea that a library needs to be a building, and look, well, traditional you can find all sorts of interesting takes on where to find books! I quite enjoyed seeing what folks came up with in Improbable Libraries: a Visual Journey to the World's Most Unusual Libraries, by Alex Johnson. (Although one in a tree bothered me ... think pitch ...) There was also a chapter on how they might be delivered, we've seen these before, but what fun! There are horses, donkeys, boats ... elephants ... hikers, of course ... I can see a time in the near future where drones are used, yes? A fun way to while away a rainy afternoon.

Another loan from Tall Reader was a sweet little book on the art of decluttering. Title is a translation of a Swedish term that basically means any clearing away of stuff whether from a death, down-sizing, a move, and so on, so don't let it put you off! The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning: How to Free Yourself and Your Family from a Lifetime of Clutter, by Margareta Magnusson is easy to read, with no guilt suggestions for getting rid of stuff. Many of them I am already doing so I can tell you they work!

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There's been a murder, of a visiting royal, and as intrigued as Kitty is, she absolutely cannot get involved (national security and all that) ... until she is asked to investigate by his mother! She gathers her team together and they dig into what happened and why. Curiously enough, said royal had asked to stay in the same room as Anne Boylen did before her beheading. Murder at the Tower of London is the fourth in the Kitty Worthington Mystery series by Magda Alexander, and has it all: murder, intrigue, politics, foreigners, explosions, a touch of romance ... all that was missing was Sir Winston, the Basset!

Canon Daniel Clement has managed to divide the congregation of his small church. What is causing such turmoil? The addition of a lavatory (his words)! The church has been fine without one for four hundred years, so why add one now? And don't even think about moving some of the pews! Then there is a murder (you knew it was coming), of someone who was working on getting old records into order. (Story seems to take place in the mid-eighties ... I finally looked it up and it's 1988). Old secrets begin to surface, new secrets, too, and there are more bodies ... a mural ... an opinionated mother and two dachshunds, all of which come together in Murder Before Evensong, a Canon Clement Mystery by Reverend Richard Coles. Not a gripping read, more, mmm, reflective, perhaps, as Daniel and the police figure things out, but not bad!

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Lady Hardcastle and her 'maid' Flo are back at it in A Fire at the Exhibition by T E Kinsey. It's been a quiet spring so far but there is an art exhibit (local artists, mostly, except for one painting), plus a very expensive volume of Shakespeare, and, the first ever bicycle race! On opening day there is a fire. During that time the Shakespeare book, the painting and an (ugly) bust go missing. One of the racers does not check in at the end of the race ... his body will be found and the seat on his bicycle is missing. There are newcomers to the area, and talk of a hidden fortune. Find out how all these connect, it's a grand romp! This is a Lady Hardcastle Mystery.

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I love finding something unexpected, especially when it turns out to be a wonderful read! This time the 'find' was Worn On This Day: the Clothes That Made History, by Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell. There is a piece of clothing that was worn by someone (or sometimes several someones) for each day of the year. Clothes from the famous are here, of course, but so are clothes from the unknown or the more common folks. There are helmets and shoes, corsets, wedding dresses ... it was a captivating read!

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Albert Smith, retired detective, widowed, and with little to do, decides he a) needs to learn how to cook, and b) see more of England. He embarks, along with his 'service' dog (he flunked police dog school) Rex Harrison on a tour of small towns that offer classes in cooking a local delicacy of some sort. (You know this can't go well, yes?) The mayhem has already begun by the time they arrive in Bakewell ... there's been a death and an 'accident' (but was it, really) ... and he learns that what he hopes to learn to bake is not a tart (don't ever, ever, call it that) but a pudding! Bakewell Tart Bludgeoning is the second of the Albert Smith's Culinary Capers, by Steve Higgs. Love the doggy version of things.

Lady Jane, and her Aunt Kate have come to a posh resort planning on a nice vacation. Instead, they are pulled into a mystery ... death, a missing person (a friend of theirs), lots of suspects, threats ... hardly relaxing, but certainly interesting! The Seaview Cottage Conspiracy, by B.D. Churston, is the second in the Lady James and Mrs. Forbes Mystery series.

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Recently I read two books that are on topics unfamiliar to me: fashion (gasp) and plants! I may have to post these two together just because of that! Kat Out of the Bag is the first in a series by Wendy Kendall called An In Purse-Suit Mystery. Kat (Katherine Watson) has returned to the home she grew up in to open the purse museum: the Purse-onality Museum. (I chuckled out loud in the book store at that). Lots here on what purse to wear with what clothes, for what event and so on ... all new to me, who has been using the same fanny bag for the last 30 years! There is a murder at the opening, which makes local headlines. She partners with local cop Jason Holmes and his K-9 partner to figure things out before she becomes the next victim.

I do not garden. Quite frankly, if it does not bark or whinny I can pretty much overlook or ignore it. There's a reason I call my place 'Withering Heights'! Still, I quite enjoyed A Botanist's Guide to Parties and Poisons, by Kate Khavari. It looks to be the first in her series A Saffron Everleigh Mystery. Set in 1923, Saffron is the only woman in the botany department at the University College London. She is good at what she does, she's passed all the necessary exams to become a research assistant, but still, as a female, well, that's new and can be awkward at times. At a fancy gathering to celebrate an upcoming journey down the Amazon river, the wife of one of the participants collapses. She has been poisoned and Saffrons adviser and mentor is the prime suspect. Saffron sets out to prove his innocence. Lots of interesting bits here on poisonous plants! A good read.

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I said I'd be reading more of the Cozy Pet Lovers Mystery series by M.K. Dean! Here is the second book: The Dog Days of Murder. Life is good. Ginny, thanks to an unexpected inheritance, is planning on buying out the small local vet clinic when the present veterinarian retires. However, when she returns from a long needed vacation she discovers it's been bought out by someone else. What happened? Then, that new vet is found dead. As Ginny investigates (her mother is the prime suspect after all), other, not so nice, elements to this new vet emerge ... who is really behind her purchase of the clinic, what's expected of her (it's not the best care for the animals, that's for sure). Pay attention to the dog, Remy (Remington).

Alas, here it is (hopefully not for long), the last (#25) of the Miss Fortune Mystery books by Jana Deleon: Fortune Teller. Carter is off on a secret mission of some sort leaving a new sheriff in town. This could be trouble for Swamp Team 3. A young girl has been found in the swamp. She has no recollection of who she is, but some think she's from a group, a very secretive group, known as the Brethren, said to be living deep in the bayou. It's been there for decades but no one knows much more than rumors about them. It will up to Swamp Team 3 to figure it out. It could be (will be) dangerous. And a great read!

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