I learned of this book in one of the books I've read recently about books, bookstores, and so on: The Last Leaf: Voices of History's Last-Known Survivors, by Stuart Lutz. The author got hooked on talking to old people as a child and went on to work with historic documents. He started learning of folks that had survived or witnessed various events from what we take to be 'long ago' and started interviewing them. Here are those stories, and what a fascinating read! Here you'll meet one of the last women married to a Civil War Vet (that is NOT a typo!) ... she died in 2008! Someone who was there for the Scopes Trial. One of the first people to see a television program. One of Houdini's last assistants. Highly recommend and hard to put down ... consider yourself warned!

I like several of the CSI type shows so What Lies Beneath: My Life as a Forensic Search and Rescue Expert, by Peter Faulding looked like a slam dunk! ;-) It was, for the most part, many of the rescues his team works on involved removing protestors (more complicated than you might think) but I found the search for bodies more interesting ... probably due to too many tv shows and books ... Faulding has put together a world renowned team of experts and equipment who can search underwater (their specialty, actually), in fields and gardens and so on. Many of the missing bodies are now cold cases, some decades old. He works well with other teams too, local police and other search teams. Interesting for sure, but be warned, very grisly, too, given the nature of the work.

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Wandering Reader recently sent me a box of books ... which arrived on a nasty, stormy day (bringing to mind the post office slogan about that) as I was just finishing up the book I was reading. Naturally I decided the next read had to come from that box so I closed my eyes and pulled one from the pile. It was Murder in House, by Veronica Heley, from her Ellie Quicke Mystery series. (a quick search shows it as #10). Ellie and her hubby are not well, they both have colds, but someone is refusing to leave the church (hubby is a vicar) so they know they have to intervene. Ursula is a student at the nearby university. A friend has died, and another is missing. The death was reported as an accident, a young man got drunk and went off a balcony. Thing is, Ursula says, he didn't drink. She is concerned about her missing friend, too. There has been no word from her, her phone is off (turns out it'd been smashed), and her parents could care less. There are direct connections to a powerful and ruthless family here. This is a grim, grisly mystery with some truly horrible events, but it's also a good story with some characters you will come to like (remember we're jumping in with book ten). :-)

It was easy to just grab another book off the 'Wandering Reader pile' and it was Last Will and Testament, the first Virginia and Felix mystery by E.X. Ferrars. A woman has died, she is old, it was not unexpected. She is rich and owns a large house. Relatives gather, relatives who either did not visit, or only visited grudgingly, expecting a nice inheritance of some sort. They are in for a surprise! There is no money, and the bank owns the house ??? When and how did this happen? Then the one last thing of value disappears, as do the housekeeper/cook and gardener (married couple). A nice traditional mystery this is. :-)

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Bundled together here are two oldies but goodies: Parnassus on Wheels, and The Haunted Bookshop, two classic novels in one volume by Christopher Morley. The first is about a bookshop on wheels, with a nice little living area tucked inside. Helen, on a whim, buys it (the intended new owner was her brother who had written a best selling novel) and sets out on the road to sell books. There is a dog, and a sweet little mare named Pegasus. And the former owner, who helps her get started. He returns in the second book, now the owner of a book store in Brooklyn that stays put. In both, the love of books and sharing them, of finding the right book for the reader comes through. These are magical stories.

Murder on a Country Walk is the sixth Julia Bird Mystery by Katie Gayle, who, if you remember is actually two authors! (Kate and Gail) It was another fun read about Julie and her overly happy and enthusiastic dog, Jake. When he seems 'off' they go to the vet who diagnoses him with Happy Tail Syndrome (a real thing!). The vet is popular and well liked so when it is her body that is found off the side of the trail it is first determined to be an accident. It's not, of course. Later a second body appears at the same location and the hunt is on, as the saying goes. As for motives for the first, well, there's the mother (with a gambling problem), and the assistant (who was worried about keeping her job), a local breeder ... or maybe someone else.

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Every so often there is a story on the news about some amazing, rare find of *something* in an attic, a suitcase, behind a desk and so on. Author Rebecca Rego Barry challenged more than 50 passionate rare book collectors to tell the story of their favorite find (not necessarily the one that made the most money) and where that find was made. Some of them really are unexpected! Rare Books Uncovered: True Stories of Fantastic Finds in Unlikely Places is a great read!

Conversations with Kiwi recently about how people can believe things that seem to be so obviously false news resulted in this recommendation: The Quiet Damage: QAnon and the Destruction of the American Family, by Jesselyn Cook. While the focus is the tragic effect QAnon has had on five families, it can also be applied to pretty much anyone who feels lost, abandoned, confused and is looking for somewhere to belong. This is what QAnon offers. The author explains how folks can be convinced to believe the stories they read on this site to the point of ignoring friends and family, of asking questions or doing any checking/research on their own. By cutting them off from others, they pull them into a cult like group, telling them they are safe and that everything will be okay if they follow along with the things they are told. Frightening, to say the least! Well written and researched.

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Getting back to a Meg Langslow Mystery by Donna Andrews was great fun! As if having one of those reality channel 'make over' shows in town working on a house in the neighborhood, wasn't enough, somehow a flock of feral turkeys have arrived as well. There are lots of them, they are big, can be mean, and are destroying yards. The house undergoing the remodel has been closed off to everyone for now because the crew did not know what they were doing and load bearing walls have been removed. The manager/boss/head guy is missing. As are the funds to pay anybody. Then the body of the wife of the homeowner (not well liked) is found in the shed. Between a Flock and a Hard Place will keep you guessing and laughing as Meg and the helpful members of her family figure things out.

Keeping to the theme of 'getting back', it was time for a return to the Isle of Man so I plucked Visitors and Victims by Diana Xarissa off my shelf. It is the 22nd in the Isle of Man Ghostly Cozy series. Fenella's nieces, Margaret and Megan, have come for a visit. They are eager to learn more about where their Aunt Fenella has been living the past two years. On their first night out, though, they come across a body. It is someone they had met just that night at a pub. What was he doing in the alley? Can they help figure out the crime? Will they meet Mona?

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Henry Ward Beecher said it best: "Where is human nature so weak as in a bookstore?" This is so true for me, I never come out of a bookstore without at least one book! Seems they've been around for a long time and a delightful history of that may be found in The Bookshop: a History of the American Bookstore, by Evan Friss. Benjamin Franklin had one! There are small stores, that spill out onto the city street, huge mega-stores, and quirky independent stores (some that cater to just one subject). At one time some of the fancier stores such as the Bon Marche included one. Their demise has been predicted several times due to tv, the internet, electronic books (even radio at one point), and yet ... they are still around, thankfully. This was a fascinating, enjoyable, hard to put down read. :-)

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The Murders in Great Diddling by Katarina Bivald started out as a nice read, one I could put down and do other things, and then turned into quite the engaging read that kept me up late. Set in the small town of Great Diddling ... where there is no coast, no lakes, nothing to draw any tourists ... and with a curious and quirky population. A writer of note as moved there, hoping for inspiration for her next book (she's on a deadline). There is a tea at the one large mansion (filled with lots of books) during which there is an explosion. The body is that of someone no one likes, so there is not much concern shown over that death, and, there are lots of folks with motive. Three women claim responsibility and sell their story to a different newspaper for money (which they need). The interest in the murder convinces the head of the town council to have a book festival ... in less than two weeks! She sends out invitations and adverts saying there will be panels with famous authors, a surprise event, and more, even though she has not yet figured out exactly what is going to happen. How this is all pulled off makes for a wonderful story!

The Three Dahlias is the first in a series (Dahlia Lively) by Katy Watson. Dahlia Lively is a character in a series of books written in the 1930s.(Think Miss Marple). She has a huge fan base even in these modern times. There has been a movie, a tv series, and now, a second movie is about to be made. There is a convention to celebrate all this, held at Aldermere, where the books were written. There is much excitement! And, of course, a body. The three actors who have played (or will play) the character form an uneasy alliance (at first) to solve the crime based on how Dahlia would have done it! Not a bad start. :-)

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Magda Alexander writes delightful traditional cozy mysteries. Murder at a Funeral is #9 in her Kitty Worthington Mystery series. Kitty is due to get married, in just a few weeks, but first, the biological mother of Robert (her intended), is to be reburied next to his father. It should be a small, quiet affair ... until the vicar doesn't show up and a body does. It is a woman no one really likes, in the chapel, dressed in the vicar's clothes. Robert is asked to help, which means Kitty will too. There are lots of suspects since the victim was not popular, and Robert's brother is one of them. They need to figure it all out, and on a tight deadline as the wedding is now just days away.

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The image of a plaid tea pot caught my eye on the cover of Murder in the Scottish Highlands. It is the first in the Ally McKinley Mystery series by Dee Macdonald. Ally, recently retired, has opened a guest house in an old, Scottish malthouse. She is settling in nicely, making friends with the locals and all ... and then (you know this is coming) ... a body is found, in her courtyard ... as she investigates (with the help of her Labrador puppy, Flora) she learns that the victim was claiming that he is the proper Earl of Locharran. Is he? Could he prove it? And then what would have happened?

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