The Killing at Kaldaire House is the first in a new series by Kate Parker: the Milliner Mysteries. Emily Gates makes amazing hats. Her business is growing, and her hats are in demand. Even more so when she designs a veil that proves useful when women are riding in that new fangled invention: the automobile. While sneaking in to steal a painting one night (you'll have to read the book to find out why) she finds the owner of the unconscious and bleeding on the floor. By calling for help she sets the story in motion. He dies, who did it and why? There are family issues (she wants nothing to do with hers) and exiting races (all the way up to speeds of twelve miles an hour)! I'm ready for the next book, but it's not out yet .... darn!

Gone Gull, by Donna Andrews, is another in her Meg Langslow Mystery series. Set in a newly opened craft center (think classes for potters, painters, weavers, etc), things are not going as planned. It starts with vandalism but soon (of course) a body is found. Lots of interesting (and some annoying) characters here. Fun bits on birds, too, as usual for this series. :-)

Murder in the Mystery Suite is the first in the new series by Ellery Adams, A Book Retreat Mystery. Looking for a way to create interest in Storyton Hall, manager Jane Stewart decides on a 'mystery' get away, complete with costume dinners, scavenger hunts and so forth. When the guest that won a rare, first edition book is found dead in his suite, the mystery goes from fictional to real life. (Well, you know what I mean.);-) Love all the names of the characters, be sure to pay attention to them! An unusual family secret is revealed as well. Not a bad start.

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The Google for June 10 was a cute animated story of the garden gnome. Which got me looking for books about said gnome ...

Here's a mostly wordless (there are just four) book about what a garden gnome gets up to at night: Good Night, Garden Gnome, by Jamichael Henterly (he's local!!). While a silent (and still) participant in the activities of a little girl by day, by night he has his own agenda. Under a starry sky he weeds and waters, protects squirrels and feeds bunnies. When he finds a lost item, however, he embarks on a rather perilous quest to return it. Lush pictures, sweet story.

All gnomes have beards. All but Al, that is. He tries various false beards, but they look, well, false. What is a gnome to do? Find out in Go Big or Go Gnome, by Kirsten Mayer and illustrated by Laura K. Horton.

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While Murder at the Polo Club is another of the nice mysteries by Dianne Harman, it's not part of the Northwest Cozies, it's from her High Desert Cozy Mystery series. I picked it up because I once played polo! There wasn't much polo here (to be fair, the season hasn't started yet), but as with Harman's other books, a nice mystery, lots of possible murderers, and a bit on appraising antiques.

I read the first Veronica Speedwell mystery, by Deanna Raybourn, back in 2016. A Perilous Undertaking comes next and what a read it was! A man has been falsely accused of murder, and will hang soon. He has an alibi, why won't he speak up? It's up to Stoker and Speedwell to find the answer. A wild romp involving artists, unconventional women, and a, er, .... grotto of pleasure! If I'd started earlier, this would have been a one day read. I will not wait as long to read the third book.

I did not wait as long for the next in the Herringford & Watts Mystery. The White Feather Murders, by Rachel McMillan, is just as compelling as the books that came earlier. World War I is brewing and 'foreigners' are looked at with suspicion. Bodies are being found, and with each one a white feather (a sign of cowardice). There's a baby now, too, which leads to conflicts between work and motherhood. This is a great series and I'm sorry some of the books are only available as ereaders as I'm just not interested as yet, but for those of you who are, don't miss them!

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The Prodigal Tongue: the Love-Hate Relationship Between American and British English, by Lynne Murphy is a book I am pretty sure my Mom would have loved. The author is a linguist and can talk about the history of words, sentence structure and so forth. Sometimes that made the book feel a bit like a text book ... however ... the author has a good sense of humor and made some wonderful observations on variations on the English language ... and that made the book fun to read. My biggest chuckle came when I learned that bumbershoot is not a British term!

I am part of a monthly Game Day and recently we played Clue. The traditional version! Two of us have played an updated game and did not like it and were happy to find the older style was still available. This made me curious about games and I went in search of a book. What I found was It's All a Game: the History of Board Games from Monopoly to Settlers of Catan, by Tristan Donovan. What a find! We might all know that chess is an old game, but it changed depending on where it was played, who was ruling (take a guess at how the Queen got so much power), and has been banned several times, as recently as 2014. The first version of what became Monopoly was invented by a woman. 'Murder' was the original name for Cluedo ... better known as Clue in the U.S. One game was considered much too risque to sell well ... until Johnny Carson and Eva Gabor demonstrated Twister one night. Oh, and those new versions of Clue ... they were not well received and are no longer sold! ;-)

As much as I love reading while I eat, I am also very (very) picky about food around books, games, records, dvds, and so forth. I want easy to eat, 'tidy' snacks that I can eat with one hand ... so ... when I found a book that mentioned "mess-free" eating, I just had to investigate. That book was Gourmet Game Night: bite sized, mess-free eating for board-games parties, bridge clubs, poker nights, book groups, and more, by Cynthia Nims. Alas, these are beyond my capability as a (non) cook! Some of the recipes seem really complicated, but, that being said, I have several friends who are excellent in the kitchen and they would like this book, so you might, too! :-)

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Morning All,

TODAY is the day before the first day of summer ... time is nebulous any more and I kept thinking yesterday was Wednesday. It wasn't! TODAY is Wednesday, and TODAY is the day before the summer solstice!

There's no excuse here, I have a clock that tells me the day of the week as well as the time ...  ;-)

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Summer officially starts tomorrow. Here are two picture books to get you started! A Lullaby of Summer Things, by Natalie Ziarnik & Madeline Valentine. It's dusk and everyone is headed home after a day on the beach. Follow along on their evening routine. Lovely pictures and verse, Kiwi loved this book!

Summer Supper, by Rubin Pfeffer and pictures by Mike Austin is a symphony celebrating S (okay, so one word starts with C, but it sounds like S, right?). ;-) That's right, every word in this book starts with the letter S ... and follows the journey of food from farm to frig. Spectacular!

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The sixth Northwest Cozy Mystery by Dianne Harman is Murder at the Gallery. DeeDee is troubled by a painting she saw in a recent trip to France, and one friend just bought from a local gallery. Could it be a forgery? And if so, who knows, and why was it made?

Fair warning here: The Perplexing Theft of the Jewel in the Crown, the second of the Baby Ganesh Agency mysteries, by Vaseem Khan, was a one day read. I had not planned on that, I had a few other things I was going to do, but I found this book impossible to put down! The British Crown Jewels are making a rare stop in Mumbai. Part of the display includes the Koh-i-Noor diamond, which many feel belongs in India. Security is high and yet there is a successful break in and theft. A man has been arrested, he claims he is innocent, but no one believes him. Except for retired Inspector Chopra. How will he (and his elephant) figure things out? I am loving this series!

The pensioners found in The Little Old Lady Who Broke All the Rules (post of March 30, 2018) are back! They are in Las Vegas, doing what they do best, figuring out ways to make money in less than honest ways, and counting on the fact that no one will ever suspect them. The Little Old Lady Who Struck Lucky Again, by Catharina Ingleman-Sundberg is another amusing romp with these retirees from Sweden. They've now bought a large house with an amazing view ... and interesting neighbors ... a motorcycle gang! Again, the translator is Rod Bradbury. It will keep you laughing. :-)

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