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. :-)

Reading Hermit With Dog