From Canadian Reader came a recommendation for the first in a new (to us) series: The Case of the Missing Marquess, by Nancy Springer. It is the first in her Enola Holmes Mystery series. Enola is the (much) younger sister of Sherlock and Mycroft Holmes, and, given the era, a bit of a scandal given that it means she is a child of an older mother! It is written for 8 - 12 year olds, but at least four of us agree that it is more fun if you know the characters and a bit about that time era. Enola's mother has gone missing. Her brothers come to check out things and discover that while Enola is well educated, she has not ever been sent to finishing school and so does not know (gasp) how to act like a proper young lady. Mycroft plans to remedy that, but Enola does not want to go to such a school ... so she runs away. Her hunt for her mother, and the clues that she finds make for a most enjoyable read, one that won't take you long. :-)

The Witch is Back, by Angela M. Sanders in the sixth book in her Witch Way Librarian Mystery Series, and another excellent read! Wilfred, Oregon, is usually a quiet little town, folks all get along, and so on ... until poison pen letters start arriving, each with a threat to 'tell all'. Who is sending them? The monetary demands to keep quiet are small, the secrets old, some decades old, so how are they being found out? And what about the body at the bottom of the cliff? And why is Josie's magic feeling ... blocked?

Reading Hermit With Dog