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)!

Reading Hermit With Dog