There is an excellent tv series called Murder in a Small Town that is based on a book series by the same title by L.R. Wright. It is set on the Sunshine Coast of B.C. so the scenery is very familiar. :-) The Suspect is the first of the Alberg & Cassandra mysteries in both book form and on tv. There are a few subtle changes, but mostly the show sticks to the books. An older resident of the small town finds a body when he goes to visit a friend, he is the one to report the crime. Follow along as Karl and Cassandra (and their budding new relationship) as they figure things out. Why would someone murder an 85 year old?

Leta is looking forward to the conference of crime-loving readers, and not just because her boyfriend (a long distance relationship until recently) will be there. She meets up with good friends, the panels and talks are fun ... until a body if found. There was an altercation earlier, could the murderer be that easy to find? That would actually be nice as that person is all too flirty and pushy with the men attending, including Leta's boyfriend. Then that person is also found dead. Leta and the Little Old Ladies' Detective Agency get to work to solve just what is going on. Pets, Pens, & Murder is the seventh book in the Dickens & Christie Mystery series by Kathy Manos Penn.

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I actually had two non-fiction books I was reading at the same time. Every morning, with my second cup of tea, I'd read a section from each of them. They ended up going well together! Both were about road trips, both very nostalgic in nature. Don't rush either book, they are worth the time.

The amount of work that went into The Great American Retro Road Trip: a Celebration of Roadside Americana, by Rolando Pujol is mind boggling! To start with is the road trip ... coast to coast and north to south, including much of Route 66. There are pictures, thousands of them, of roadside curiosities (giant lumberjacks) to neon signs advertising a business from across the decades. Then there was organizing and putting them all into this glorious romp for armchair travelers, as well as those who have driven some of these roads themselves. Many of the businesses, cafes, and gas stations are still open, some even owned by the same family. Others have a new owner and business, but kept the old historic neon signs (thankfully). Some are abandoned, sadly, and of course, some are gone. Loved the pictures and the history ... just an amazing book!

Welcome Home: Travels in Small-Town Canada, by Stuart McLean was written in the late 1980's. He sought out small towns that, say, had no ATM machine, a bowling alley where the pins were still set up by a human, schools that taught all grades from kindergarten to high school. You will learn about forestry, and herding cattle (and fences). Local businesses where you go get your own cup of coffee, as many as you want, with a bowl near the spoons for you to pay (owner never had a problem doing that). There is a town with a possible, very possible, link with royalty (albeit illegitimate). There is a hockey town ... small, but fierce in determination to keep it's hockey rink. You meet the locals, folks who have lived in the area all their lives as well as folks who have left and returned. Charming and sweet, it will make you smile.

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Here's a brand new author for you to try! Especially if you like a good mystery written in the 'noir' style. :-) The Bookscout and the Theosophist, by W.J.McHenry. Author used the first person narrative style, which was brilliant ... no need for what can be awkward dialogue, and no worries that quotation marks might not get properly closed! (a pet peeve of mine). Follow along as the bookscout finds an interesting book (and learn how that happens, what such a scout looks for at estate and garage sales and so on) ... a copy of Leaves of Grass. There are interesting notes and names written in the margins and on the end pages. There might even be a connection with ... well, I won't tell you, I've promised no spoilers! It is hopefully the first of many tales, which will eventually make up a collection of short stories. Be here at the very beginning. Find the book on amazon, and yes, it's short, just 22 pages, but worth it! (And yes, I do know the author). ;-)

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Hannah has been volunteering at the local hospital while the bookstore she and her Aunt Violet own and run is being rebuilt after the recent bombings. It is London, 1916. She arrives one morning to find a soldier, dead, in the small library. That's not all that is suspicious ... a young nurse is afraid she is being followed, and then disappears. Hannah is sure they are connected. Murder in the Library is the second Miss Merrill and Aunt Violet Mystery by Anita Davison. Smart, strong women here, something that is not always appreciated in that time! ;-) Police, among others can be reluctant to listen to them. They will regret that.

It might be fun to partner the above book with Murder in an English Village, set in 1920 London since some of the attitudes are the same ... and remember that as you read, there is one extremely annoying doctor! Having fallen on hard times Edwina is advertising for a lodger to help make ends meet. Those who have applied are just not acceptable, until, thank goodness, an old friend, an American (and most unconventional) woman sees that ad and, not ready to return to the States as yet, takes Edwina up on the offer. Then, to save the reputation of her friend, finds the biggest gossip in town and at a 'slip of the tongue' says that the ad was actually a coded message, that the two had worked together during the war, possibly for the King! Turns out, there is a sinister side to the small town, with folks with secrets to hide. Seems they worry about what Beryl and Edwina might find out. This, the first of the Beryl and Edwina Mystery books by Jessica Ellicott is a grand romp! Thanks to Canadian Reader for the recommendation.

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The Case for the Master Sleuths series, by Alex Wagner, is also one of those mysteries where the animals can talk. The twist here is that while they can all talk to each other (cats, dogs, birds, rodents, etc), humans cannot understand them. When they find clues, and/or solve the murder they then have to figure out how to tell those humans! There's a clue in the title of the second book in the series: Never Blame the Gardner. A professor has died, in a tragic accident. Or was it? There is a former employee that is much too interested in his estate, why?

It's summer, the busy season for Mackenzie (Mac) and her bike shop. She has an altercation with a local by the name of Jake. He later is found dead with a knife in his chest, one that looks a lot like one her brother owns. And said brother is now missing. The local police figure the case is closed but Mac knows better .. and she and the members of her book group, the Cozy Capers (they only read cozy mysteries) set out to prove the police are wrong. Murder on Cape Cod is the first in the Cozy Capers Book Group Mystery by Maddie Day. Fun characters, especially the grandmother.

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Before the Vinyl Cafe radio show (and maybe during) Stuart McLean was on a show called Morningside and this book The Morningside World of Stuart McLean is a collection of the essays he wrote for that. Here are stories about the pencil, the game Monopoly, the popsicle, the Jersey Cow, shoveling snow and more. One, about a groundskeeper for an old, grass baseball field (where you mowed, not vacuumed) was so interesting it sent me looking for a book on that very subject! This is a sweet, charming, nostalgic book and I opted to read just one essay every morning to make it last.

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London, 1915. After the recent bombings Hannah goes to check on the bookstore her Aunt inherited. Said Aunt is more interested in working on votes for women, and with the Red Cross, so a friend from her childhood has been hired to manage the store. He proves to be useless, so Hannah fires him and takes over. He is angry and the next morning Hannah arrives to find her best friend, Lily, dead in the store. The plot thickens, as the saying goes, when a coded message is found. Hannah has often thought Lily's husband was keeping secrets. Could he be a German spy? Murder in the Bookshop, by Anita Davison, is the first in the Miss Merrill and Aunt Violet Mystery series.

We've probably all heard of the Tour de France, yes? What about the Tour of Britain? Not so well known, although there are those who would like to change that. This is less likely to happen, or maybe not in the way originally thought, when there is a murder. The police think it is random, but Leta and the other members of the Little Old Ladie's Detective Agency do not and they investigate. They are helped by Leta Parker's cat and dog, who can talk to her and are always eager to help. Good characters and a touch of humor in the sixth book in the Dickens and Christie Mystery series by Kathy Manos Penn, Bicycles, Barking & Murder.

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A Guide to Solving a Murder, the first in the Finn and Briar Cozy Mystery series by Courtney McFarlin starts with a familiar theme ... an inheritance. One that will change Tessa's life dramatically. The difference here is what that inheritance is! Not a house, or a lot of money, but magic! Turns out, there is magic on her mothers side of the family. In Tessa's case, she is now able to understand her dog and cat! The legacy also includes dreams and when a dream is of a woman who was murdered she knows she (and her pets) will have to investigate.

Fake Death, by Victoria Tait is a new author for me. It's part of her series A Dotty Sayers Antique Mystery. It's the first in the series, I checked several times as it felt like it was starting in the middle, or maybe at the end of 'something' ... the main character is recovering from a head injury and (to me) her co-workers are not always sympathetic. There is a body, of course, who looks familiar to several people (and yet, not quite). Turns out he is a man with several identities! Figuring all this out made for a mostly interesting read, and at the end, I learned you could learn more about what happened to Dotty in a 'prequel' but only if you also wanted to sign up for a newsletter and more, which I won't be doing (but you could)!

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