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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Here's a mystery with an interesting twist to the plot ... the author must have had fun writing it! The Secret Detective Agency, by Helena Dixon is set in 1941 London (well, England). It starts with a body in a pond. Who is it, and why is she there? Those assigned to figure things out do know each other, but don't necessarily like each other. One is good with codes and ciphers and unfit for active service due to severe asthma. The other manages agents sent out on various missions who smokes, and has a cat. The problem is that pretty much everything is secret, even the agents don't all know each other. Each has a code name for their respective mission, and no one can talk about anything, which makes asking questions especially hard. So, how do you figure things out? The bodies will pile up as Arthur and Jane work to figure things out.

The Mystery Guest is a Maid Novel by Nita Prose. What's fun here is that while there are familiar characters from her first book, it is not a sequel! You can read the books in any order. :-) The beautiful hotel where Molly works looks stunning ... everything cleaned, polished, dusted and so on for the gathering that will feature a famous author, one that is a bit of a recluse, and who has an announcement to make. J.D. Grimthorpe dies before he can finish what he wants to say, but it is really a heart attack? Events from her past surface as Molly works to solve the mystery.

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It took a while for the next Lane Winslow book Lightning Strikes the Silence, by Iona Whishaw to come out, and then a while for me to read it (it's a big book and I've been leaning towards shorter stories of late), but when I started I could not put it down. This is a favorite author of mine, her writing is simply beautiful from the descriptions of the time period to the events in the story ... in this case not too long after WWII and what appears to be an unexploded bomb (that wasn't). Add to that the dead body of a Japanese woman and a surviving (but mute) child and all kinds of feelings from the war are brought up. Then there is the death of a local jeweler, too, what is going on? I won't wait as long to read the next in the series!

And, speaking of a good series ... The Case of the Disappearing Duchess is the sixth in the Enola Holmes series by Nancy Springer and was just as good a read as the earlier books. (I'm told the Netflix series is excellent as well, by at least three people). Enola and her brother are both looking for the Duchess, but it is Enola that figures out she has been kidnapped, and why. Sherlock is also looking for Enola (and completely misses her once, when she is in costume) because he needs help deciphering a cryptic message from their mother. Mycroft, of course, wants to find Enola and send her to a proper boarding school. Will they meet up? Come to terms? Figure everything out?

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