I am in a rut, aren't I?! Here's another of the Liturgical Mystery books by Mark Schweizer: The Diva Wore Diamonds. In spite of all the good in his life (and there is a lot of that), Hayden Konig has dreams of being a mystery writer in the style of Raymond Chandler, and is in the process of writing that novel along with his other jobs of police chief and choir director. The results are not good! When they were rebuilding the church (you'll learn why in an earlier book) they come across a time capsule buried in 1900. Among other things, it includes diamonds. Diamonds that were found on local property ... but where exactly? There is a squatter trying to claim land, folks trying to sabotage Bible School, and the world premiere of a previously unknown work by Henry Purcell. Oh,and a body (of course)! Madness and mayhem as usual for this author. :-)

Needing to get out of my rut I found and tried a new author and series for me: Dead in the Morning, the first in the Oxford Don Mysteries by Margaret Yorke. There is a large family, in a big house, being controlled by a rather nasty matriarch, who is confined to a wheel chair. Tension abounds (but folks pretend it doesn't). There is a housekeeper who keeps things together, and can cook as well! One of the sons has remarried (his first wife died), to an American! She seems to be well received, until she meets the housekeeper. THAT was a very strange interaction. How could they possibly know each other? Lot of secrets bubble to the surface here. Then the housekeeper ends up dead, but was she the intended target? The Oxford Don is a rather interesting character. Not a bad start.

Reading Hermit With Dog