The second of the Dales Detective Series was just as enjoyable as the first, also with some great humor! It's taking a while for Samson to feel (and be) welcome back in his home town, he left under, um, interesting circumstances. A resident of the local senior living facility shows up in is office one morning sure that someone is trying to kill her. Since she is old, with a touch of dementia and no real proof, he makes a note, but there's not much he can do. Until she ends up dead. Then there are other threats and attacks on residents of the same facility and the investigation heats up. Once again Delilah and her dog step in to help. There is also the search for the missing Ralph, but I've promised no spoilers, so .... ! :-) Date With Malice is by Julia Chapman.

I know you are not supposed to judge a book by the cover, but I really do like the earlier covers for the Enola Holmes books! Still, the story is just as good as I learned when I read Enola Holmes and the Black Barouche, by Nancy Springer. Brother and sister are working together now, and it is Enola who steps up to help when a young woman comes to ask for help in finding her sister, her twin sister. Family has been told she died, but Letitia is sure that as a twin, she would know that. The death was sudden, and the body cremated in a hurry, all with minimal records. This has happened to Earl, the hubby, before, too. Enola goes undercover in this tale, and it's down right scary, I tell you. As before, this is a hard series to put down.

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Lots of women helped out in lots of ways during World War II. Propaganda Girls: the Secret War of the Women in the OSS, by Lisa Rogak focuses on four from birth to death. Their job was to weaken the morale of the Axis soldiers. Creating false rumors was harder than you might think which made for a very interesting read. Detail was very important here, as was the paper a flier was printed on, or even how it arrived at its destination. How was this carried out, often behind enemy lines? Words could be changed in songs, or the tempo changed, or a subtle shift from major to minor all to make a once happy song more melancholy. The OSS had more leeway, luckily, as many of these changes, that maybe should have been routed through the higher ups, weren't, meaning they could be put in place more quickly and with less chance of being found out by the enemy. I read this in one day!

I do seem to come across some rather odd books I think! Weird War One: Intriguing Items and Fascinating Feats from the First World War fits the description. Peter Taylor did a great job scouring the collections of the Imperial War Museum for his books (yes, there is another one). One of the most unusual here is a portrait of President Woodrow Wilson ... done using 21,000 troops! (Taken from a high vantage point, obviously). There are chapters on deception and gadgets, communication, animals that were used, and what was done for fun. There was a shovel, made with a hole so a rifle could be aimed through it and it would also act as a shield. It did not work very well. There were classes in semaphore, the best means of communication from a ship, or in a noisy situation. Even civilians learned it. There were theaters completely underground so the show could go on even during hostile air raids. Most interesting!

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Here is the first in a new (to me) author and series: Date With Death, book one in the Dales Detective Series, by Julia Chapman. What a delight it was! There is humor as well as mystery here. :-) Samson O'Brien has been dismissed from the police force in London (we don't know why) and has returned to his small home town of Bruncliffe in the Yorkshire Dales (where the James Herriot books take place). He sets up a small detective agency, sharing the space with a local dating agency (yes, confusion does happen). A suicide (that isn't) leads back to the dating agency so he and the owner (Delilah, and her dog) work together to solve what become several murders. A grand start!

It seems I'm back on track with the Royal Spyness Mystery series, by Rhys Bowen now, with The Proof of the Pudding. Georgiana is pregnant in this one, and due soon. There is a new chef, from France. A certain kitchen helper (Queenie) is not amused, but Pierre can coooook! A neighbor, an author of creepy books, with the name Mordred Mortimer wants to have a dinner party to celebrate his most recent book and hires Pierre. There are thirty guest, most who do not know each other. One of the guests is Agatha Christie! A feature of Mortimer's mansion is the garden, especially the poison garden. When folks take sick after the dinner ... well, let's just say mayhem ensues. And it will get worse, one of the poisons found in the victim wasn't from the garden. Georgiana helps out, of course, even as near to term as she is. :-)

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Here is a non-fiction book that reads like high adventure: American Sirens: the Incredible Story of the Black Men Who Became America's First Paramedics, by Kevin Hazzard. Similar services have come and gone over time, but for the most part 'rescue' usually meant 'swoop and scoop' by either police or funeral homes where the patient was dumped in the back of a car and raced to the hospital. Peter Safar, who developed modern CPR, thought this should change, but it was an uphill battle. It started in Pittsburgh. In a place called Freedom House. There were parts of town (think poor, black) where emergency services either would not go, or were slow to respond. This is where he started. He trained black men (and it was all men at that time) in basic medical procedures (making doctors at hospitals angry), provided them with the necessary equipment (this all took time). He taught them the 'language' they would need to use at emergency rooms so those there would take them seriously. They would respond wherever there was an emergency, but in some neighborhoods (think rich, white) they had to turn off their sirens and go at a slow rate of speed. In spite of this, their success rate of saving folks was high, but those in charge were not interested ... until there was a convention of ER medical folks, in Pittsburgh. Freedom House put on a demonstration ... an amazing one of a large, staged, accident scene. It described the accident, the injuries (including some deaths) and what was done. Attendees were so impressed that many cities (globally) set up their own 'paramedic' services (that word was new at the time). The mayor of Pittsburgh finally had to give in and set up services there ... but ... Freedom House was NOT to be given any credit ... truly! It would be closed down and the (black) staff would be given (menial) jobs elsewhere. This is a book that will make you cheer, and make you angry! I'm glad the true story has been told.

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Anna Elliott and Charles Veley are a father/daughter team who write books! The first in their Homefront Sleuths Mystery series is The Blackout Murders. It is England, 1941. Crofter's Green is a small town, away from London, but blackout orders and curfew are in place, and the local warden is very strict about this, sometimes, maybe too much so. When he is found dead there is little remorse, but they do need to find the murderer. Five locals band together to do this (older, younger, none of them police). They will have to dig into the secrets of the village and those who live there, what will they find? Wonder historical detail.

Late one night, as Megan and Fred (Great Dane) are heading home on a winding road an oncoming car, coming much too fast (she tries to warn the driver) plunges off over the cliff and into the water below. She calls it in but when the EMS folks arrive they find no body in the car. Something is going on, for sure, and Megan wants to learn what. It's a twisted path to the answers, and her trusted friend, partner (and maybe more), Santiago, is acting oddly, what's going on there? Think shady business practices, cover ups, someone who may or may not be dead. Dark Highways & Digging for Clues is the fourth in the Megan Henny Cozy Mystery series by Rimmy London.

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On an early morning walk, with her dog, Ally finds a body in the loch ... a blond woman, a stranger. Who is she? Then, the new bride of Hamish Sinclair (an earl) is poisoned. Is there a connection? Everyone in the small town is a suspect, including Ally. She sets out to solve both murders. This takes her all over the small town and businesses as she tracks down the clues she needs to do so. Murder at the Loch, by Dee MacDonald, is the second in her Ally McKinley Mystery series.

Not only has it been a while since I read a Royal Spyness novel, by Rhys Bowen, but it seems I missed this one earlier in the series as well. Heirs and Graces was just a fun read! Remember, Lady Georgiana is royalty (34th in line) so she can't be seen (gasp) working for a living, however, since her brother (men inherited everything at this time) has pretty much cut her off from family funds (due to his waspish wife), she is looking for something acceptable to do. There is a local family where the only son is gay, so, there is no chance of an heir from him, right? A younger son once lived in Australia but came home to fight (and die) in the war. Turns out, he had a son (legitimate and everything) who is the legal heir to the estate, when the time comes. However, he is from Australia, remember, and has to be taught proper manners! This is Georgie's job! Then, the gay son is found dead and, well, mayhem ensues! Hard to put down. ;-)

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A Very Lively Murder, is the second in the Three Dahlias Mystery series by Katy Watson. Two of the three actors who have played Dahlia Lively over the years are in the most recent film (one as the aunt now that she is 'old'). They've asked the third one to join them more for company, at first, and then because there have been threatening notes and 'accidents' on the set, including a prop weapon replaced with the real thing. Now it's just scary. Then there is a storm, and a flood, all elements for a good read.

Pumpkins, Paws & Murder is the second Dickens & Christie Mystery by Kathy Manos Penn. The annual autumn celebration is usually fun, it has been in the past, but this year someone ends up dead, and it is the ex-husband of a local resident. She becomes the prime suspect, of course, and it is up to Leta and her (talking) pets to figure things out. They are most helpful, but since she is the only one who can understand them, she has to figure out how to explain what they discover. A fun series!

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Here's a fun one, especially if you are a musician! Death in A Major, a Music Lover's Mystery by Sarah Fox. Looks to be the second in the series. It happens at the reception after the first concert of the season, which,of course, includes all the bigwigs, those who are supporters of the orchestra, one in particular, who donates a lot of money. He is a nasty sort, rude to everyone and known to leer at women. He drops dead. Turns out it's not from natural causes. Jordon, his grandson, and a violin student of Midori, asks for her help in figuring out the who and the how. There are a couple of interesting twists concerning the past of the dead man, and a 'pudgy' French Horn player.

Pandemonium at the Pet Store, a Molly Montgomery Cozy Mystery, by Tessa Aura was a ... curious read. It's short, just 88 pages. A new store owner (the pet store in the title) has gone missing. Molly (and others) did feel things were a bit 'off', but weren't sure why. What is in the locked room at the back of the store? And the strange deliveries? Not a bad little story, and truly a cozy, but for this reader, it read a bit like something written for a college creative writing class. Note: I was under the impression it was the first in the series, but it's actually the second.

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I like to have a book with short entries to read during commercials for shows I'm seeing for the first time and The World's Best Short Stories: 127 Funny Short Stories About Unbelievable Stuff That Actually Happened, by Bill O'Neill was perfect for that. There was a war against emus. Covering slaves with honey so as to draw flies away from a Pharaoh in Ancient Egypt. A woman who survived the Titanic, and the sinking of three other ocean liners. An octopus with the skills of Houdini ... and more, a lot more. Better than the ads, for sure. ;-)

Here's something with a local theme: Elise Olmstead: the Myth and Mystery of Seattle's "Queen of the Bootleggers.", by Albert Gidari. The research here was astounding as Elise often changed her name (and/or spelling), lied about dates, events, and so on, and frequently burned her own records! When that information is incomplete, the author lets you know he is speculating on things, but he creates a very plauseable history here. This was a most interesting woman! She ran a radio station, did a children's story time (one of the earliest to be on the air),and broadcast live concerts. She might have been a spy during the war, she certainly had the skills to do so, and the goverment admits they didn't keep records on everything that went on. Did she have a secret past? She, along with her husband, Roy Olmstead, ran bootleg liquor during Prohibition and that is the trial you will read about here (for me I kept hearing that two note theme from Law & Order!). Reporters loved her, when she was in the news, papers would sell out!

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