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.

Reading Hermit With Dog