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.

Reading Hermit With Dog