Catalyst by Laurie Halse Anderson Kate Malone is a straight A science and math geek, minister's daughter, ace long-distance runner, unwilling family caretaker, emotional avoidance champion. Kate manages her life by compartmentalizing it, not unlike the periodic table. When her enemy and neighbor, Terri's, house is burned down and Terri and her brother Mikey moves in it becomes a catalyst to Kate's neat and tidy life. She can handle anything--or so she thinks. She finds that while her life feels like it is falling apart others have it much worse. I really like Anderson's writing style - even uses great chemical titles and subtitles for the short chapters - as you feel like you are in Kate's head. But this is definitely not has strong as Speak was. Her website doesn't seem to be working - http://www.writerlady.com/

Death in Bloodhound Red by Virginia Lanier Jo Beth Siddon is a bloodhound trainer with a special talent for harrowing search-and-rescue missions, and a bad habit for mouthing off to deputies who refuse to take orders from a woman.She has seen her share of trouble: moonshiners poking guns at her head, crooked cops, and an abusive ex-husband with a terrible temper. Then she's suspected of murder and finds herself treading a quagmire as thick and treacherous as the Okefenokee Swamp. If she can't prove her innocence, she might lose not only the thriving business she loves, but the freedom and independence she's fought for all her life.

Dresden Files are set in a "alternate" Chicago where magic is real, but only a few actually believe in it; it's a first-person tale told by an irascible wizard named Harry Dresden, who regularly gives the magical establishment indigestion — and the police, the same. Take Sam Spade, your Average Joe Underdog Action Star, and toss in some spellcraft, and you get Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden.

Storm Front by Jim Butcher Harry Dresden is the best at what he does. Well, technically, he's the only at what he does. So when the Chicago P.D. has a case that transcends mortal creativity or capability, they come to him for answers. For the "everyday" world is actually full of strange and magical things -- and most of them don't play well with humans. That's where Harry comes in. Takes a wizard to catch a -- well, whatever.

Fool Moon Business has been slow for Harry. Okay, business has been dead. And not even of the undead variety. You would think Chicago would have a little more action for the only professional wizard in the phone book. But lately, Harry Dresden hasn't been able to dredge up any kind of work — magical or mundane. But just when it looks like he can't afford his next meal, a murder comes along that requires his particular brand of supernatural expertise. A brutally mutilated corpse. Strange-looking paw prints. A full moon. Take three guesses — and the first two don't count...

Guardians of Ga'Hoole by Kathryn Lasky is an interesting new series reminiscent of Animorphs.

Book 1: The Capture introduces us to the main characters Soren, Gylfie, Twilight and Digger who have all been captured by other owls claiming they are orphans. There they are brainwashed to be almost slaves to these elder owls but Soren & Gylfie manage to escape but at a cost to other owls who try to help them. Once they escape they find Twilight and Digger and together band together to find the lost world of Ga'Hoole where they think their families may have hidden.

Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich

#13
Lean Mean Thirteen
This time around Stephanie is reunited with her two-timing lawyer ex-husband, Dickie Orr, while doing a favor for the mysterious, sexy Ranger. But when Dickie disappears from his house leaving behind only bloodstains and bullet holes, Plum becomes the prime suspect in his alleged murder. Determined to clear her name, Plum and her on-again off-again Trenton cop boyfriend, the irresistible Joe Morelli, uncover Dickie's ties to a shady group of men involved in everything from money laundering to drug running. And when Dickie's jilted business partners decide Stephanie holds the key to the $40 million they believe Dickie stole from them, she's in for a wild ride. While helping Ranger search for Dickie (the ex) she has three 'skips' to find for the bond office, a taxidermist with a penchant for bombs to a grave-robbing tax man show us that life is never dull in the burbs. We see more of Grandma who still goes to funeral viewings and Lola who seems to be changing her hoing ways as she stays with one man - Tank

12.5
Plum Lovin' is a "between-the-numbers" Stephanie Plum novel. Stephanie already has two guys in her life (cop Joe Morelli and bounty hunter Ranger), reconnects with Diesel, a third heartthrob. Diesel offers Stephanie a deal: if he lets her find Annie Hart, a relationship coach who's become a big-ticket bond on Stephanie's Most Wanted List after fleeing a charge for a robbery she didn't commit, then Stephanie can do Annie a big favor by playing Cupid for a number of Annie's lovelorn clients, including a shy butcher, a desperate vet, an overworked single mom, a 30-something virgin and the marriage-phobic fellow who just happens to be Stephanie's pregnant sister's boyfriend. Diesel and Stephanie's short but sweet adventure ends on a teasing note that will leave fans hungry for the next juicy Plum-a-thon.

More of a novela than a full fledged novel it is still packed with laugh-out-loud moments. I felt kind of let down by the ending but it's no more a cliff-hanger than the previous books. So we'll see what comes out this summer. If Diesel is still around or left behind.

Twelve Sharp
#12 in the series
In usual fashion Stephanie finds herself in danger when she discovers that a woman is following her. This woman who threatens her and waves a gun around claims to be Carlos Manoso's (aka Ranger) wife! When she ends up dead and Ranger's daughter is discovered kidnapped from Miami by Ranger himself Stephanie knows something is up! A doppleganger has stolen parts of Ranger's identity, marrying the strange woman, kidnapping Ranger's daughter and then wants to go after Stephanie herself. Now she gets to pay Ranger back for all the times he helped her out in a jam. But she'll need the help of both Ranger and Morelli. Meanwhile she and Lulu are trying to pick up as many FTA's people who skipped their count appearance before Vinnie goes bankrupt. They have to start hiring new bounty hunters and the interviews are so funny! They end up hiring a FTA Stephanie is able to hunt down, a sad sack named Melvin Pickle, who had been arrested for indecent exposure in the multi-plex. Plus Lula, Sally, and Grandma Mazur start up a rock band and find new costumes for each gig!

You can't help but laugh out loud at all the quirky characters but I have to admit that this one had more depth than previous ones. It even ends with Ranger feeding Stephanie cake. yum...

Ten Big Ones ~ Stephanie Plum, girl bounty hunter, the terror of Trenton, the bane of her boyfriend Joe Morelli's existence, and the delight of her crazy grandma's heart, is in the wrong place at the wrong time--as usual. Just happening to be indulging her nachos jones at a local deli when it's robbed by the notorious Red Devils, Plum is the eye witness who could put the gang leader, known as the Junkman, behind bars... if he just lets her live long enough. Looking for a place to hide out from the killer until the cops catch up with him, Stephanie sneaks into her fellow bounty hunter Ranger's apartment without telling Morelli, who's not overly fond of him. All the usual suspects in this long-running series are along for a wilder than ever ride, including Lula the gun-toting ex-hooker, Grandma Mazur, Stephanie's pregnant sister Valerie and her fiancé, as well as a host of minor characters who bring Trenton's seedier environs to life.

To the Nines ~ Usual characters, but not so much Grandma that I enjoy so much but we get more of Lulu who is just a hoot as she decides she is only going to eat meat to become a super model. Plus we get to know Joe's family better, but Joe is only around superficially in my opinon. Makes you wonder what their future is? This time we get Stephanie out of town going to Las Vegas. There is more tension between her and Ranger as he becomes her bodyguard after she is obviously being stalked by the "webmaster". I did get annoyed as I did figure out who was the "webmaster" about half way through the book and found it interesting how oblivious Stephanie can be. For the first time not one car gets blown up but Stephanie is forced to get her hair cut short, I really never pictured her with long hair. But still a fun - laugh out loud read.

Hard Eight ~ It lives up to it's name as she gets beat up trying to catch fugitives and finally gets naked with Ranger! Hurray! Several laugh out loud moments, especially as she is stalked by a bear and a rabbit! All our favorites are here including Grandma.

One for the Money
Two for the Dough
Three to Get Deadly
Four to Score
High Five
Hot Six
Seven Up

Visions of Sugar Plums ~ is a special almost novella featuring our favorite bounty hunter Stephanie Plum. It's Christmas in Jersey and Stephanie Plum has bigger problems than the usual thugs, robbers, thieves, and hoodlums. This time, there's someone in her apartment who just won't leave and he goes by Diesel and they are both after the same guy, Sandie Claws. But will Stephanie get into the Christmas spirit and just who is her grandmother's new hottie? Thumbs up for this Christmas story Jersey style.

Full House by Janet Evanovich - originally published in 1989 under the name Steffie Hall. She decided to update it and create some sequels only in paperback. It was a fun read, though not quite up to par with the Plum books. You can tell it takes place in the 80's but it isn't too dated. Billie Pearce is a divorced mother of two children. She meets Nick Kaharchek while taking Polo lessons. When fate brings them and their existing families together it can only be a disaster waiting to happen. Some basic drama and a very quick ending make this for a satisfying read.

Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand follows the journey of horse, jockey, owner and trainer and they together show the world what true spirit is. I learned so much about the racing world of the 1920's - 1940's. Plus it takes place mostly around Southern California so how can it go wrong? I think the hardest thing was listening to the horrible accidents that jockeys and horses went through just to win a race. Makes me shrudder... I listened to this on tape and it was very engrossing. I'm not sure I could have read it as I would have probably skimmed a lot of it. But listening to it made me keep going.

Repo by Bill Eidson Ex-DEA Agent Jack Merchant is living out his precarious retirement on the docks of Charlestown, Mass., surrounded by the revenge-minded dealers and punks he used to put away. All he's got is his sloop, the Lila, but soon enough he gets a visit from the repo man. Except the repo man's a woman, Sarah Ballard. Her proposition: they've got a week to track down a spoiled rich couple who've disappeared with their yacht. Find it, and Merchant can keep the Lila. The trouble is, they're not the only ones looking... While I enjoyed the relationship between Jack & Sarah, I found the actual plot not so plausable and more violent than I like. S & M, embezzlement, while I'm sure is prevelent I just don't want to read about it. I don't know if I'll read another book by this author.

Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire is the retelling of Cinderella. Maguire sets the familiar tale in an unexpected setting, making the story of the stepmother's family a paradigm for the rise of the middle class in seventeenth century Holland. While the trappings of magic are always just around the corner—the fairy godmother, the pumpkin coach, the beautiful gown—Maguire resists making a fairy tale out of what is really a story of economic distress and the threat of starvation.

Cat Who series by Lilian Jackson Braun. This series was started in 1966 - I discovered it back in 1987 when it was re-issued in paperback. I haven't read the series in several years so thought I would go back and listen to it on CD. It appears to be still going strong - makes you wonder if Braun actually writes this series anymore.

Cat Who Could Read Backwards
introduces Jim Qwilleran, a prizewinning reporter who's been on the skids but is now coming back with a job as feature writer (mostly on the art scene) for the Daily Fluxion. George Bonifield Mountclemens, the paper's credentialed art critic, writes almost invariably scathing, hurtful reviews of local shows; delivers his pieces by messenger; lives with his all-knowing cat Koko in a lushly furnished house in a moldering neighborhood, and has a raft of enemies all over town. He offers the newcomer a tiny apartment in his building at a nominal rent, and Qwilleran grabs it, surmising the deal will involve lots of cat-sitting.

Cat Who Ate Danish Modern
Qwill is given a new assignment from his editor is to produce a special Sunday supplement on interior decorating. For Qwilleran and his Siamese investigative cat, even interior decoration has its interesting side, murder for instance. Again Qwill is homeless but is able to sublet a wonderful modern apartment for free. He has all the luck. He finds Koko a female siamese named Yum Yum and develops a romantic interest but since Koko doesn't like her we know she won't last.

Cat Who Turned On and Off (1968)
Cat Who Saw Red (1986)
Cat Who Played Braums (1987)
Cat Who Played Post Office (1987)
Cat Who Knew Shakespeare (1988)
Cat Who Sniffed Glue (1988)
Cat Who Had 14 Tails [SS] (1988)
Cat Who Went Underground (1989)
Cat Who Talked to Ghosts (1990)
Cat Who Lived High (1990)
Cat Who Knew a Cardinal (1991)
Cat Who Moved a Mountain (1992)
Cat Who Wasn't There (1993)
Cat Who Went into the Closet (1994)
Cat Who Came to Breakfast (1994)
Cat Who Blew the Whistle (1995)
Cat Who Said Cheese (1996)
Cat Who Tailed a Thief (1998)
Cat Who Sang for the Birds (1998)
Cat Who Saw Stars (1999)
Cat Who Robbed a Bank (2000)
Cat Who Smelled a Rat (2001)
Cat Who Went Up the Creek (2002)
Short and Tall Tales (2002)
Cat Who Brought Down the House (2003)

Cat Who Talked Turkey
The shooting death of a well-dressed gentleman in the woods on Qwill's property is nearly neglected in the fuss and excitement engendered by the neighboring town of Brrr's bicentennial. On the trail of a story for the celebration, Qwill interviews Edythe Carroll, a wealthy widow who has retired to Ittibittiwassee Estates from the magnificent mansion she plans to leave to her granddaughter, Lish (short for Alicia). Little does Edythe know that Lish and her boyfriend, Lush, have already trashed the place. After dozing off in his gazebo after a busy day, Qwill is startled awake by strange noises, including some coming from Koko. Enter an entire family of wild turkeys. If this all sounds like a bit of a ramble, it's quite in keeping with the story, which wanders pleasantly around Moose County, surveying its eccentric citizens as they go about their idiosyncratic business. In spite of two murders and a pair of villains, the tale is as cozy as an hour spent cuddling your favorite cat.
Cat Who Went Bananas (2004)

Mystic River by Dennis Lehane. When Jimmy Marcus's daughter is found dead, his childhood friend Sean Devine is assigned the case. Sean's personal life begins to unravel as his investigation takes him back into a world of violence and pain he thought he'd left behind. His quest also leads him on a collision course with Marcus--a man with his own dark past--and David Boyle, a man who hides monstrous secrets beneath a bland facade. The first quarter of the book is a flashback to their friendship when they were 11 and how each one was affected by one particularly horrible incident. I listened to this on tape and while fascinating was very difficult to listen to.

Dortmunder series by Donald Westlake
1. Bank Shot ~ Introduces us to John Dortmunder, recently released from prision. He is immediately recruited by a buddy to come up with a plan to heist a large emerald belonging to a small African nation by another African nation. He comes up with the perfect plan but not the pefect people to do the job, so they end up having to steal it over and over again. I laughed a lot during this book and was cheering for the bad guys to win.

2. Hot Rock ~ features many of the same characters from Hot Rock with some new additions. It is even more wacky than the first as Dortmunder is talked into organizing a bank heist in which they drive off with the bank! The bank is in a mobile home in it's temporary facility while it's new building is being built. After much planning and organizing and of course several people to carry this off the bank is stolen but it doesn't go quite as planned.

3. Jimmy the Kid ~ After Kelp spoils Dortmunder's attempted robbery, Dortmunder takes a long time to get over being angry with Kelp about this incident. As a result, he's slow to take to Kelp's idea that the gang kidnap a child following the plot of a novel called Child Heist by Richard Stark. Eventually, Mae (Dortmunder's live-in girlfriend), Stan Murch (his favorite driver), Murch's Mom (the New York City cabbie) and Dortmunder agree. Mae and Murch's Mom go along more because they want to be sure that the child isn't harmed. The book alternates sections from Child Heist with what actually occurs. In the midst of this, Jimmy turns out to be a child genius who easily runs circles around the gang. The results are humorous and often unexpected.

4. Nobody's Perfect ~ As the book opens, Dortmunder is about to begin a defense against being caught red-handed with a stack of television sets he is stealing. As a twice-convicted felon, that's bad news. Suddenly, in walks one of the great criminal defense attorneys, J. Radcliffe Stonewiler, Esq., and in an hour-and-a-half Dortmunder is a free man. What's going on? That's what Dortmunder wonders, too, and he soon finds out that he has an obligation to fulfill to Arnold Chauncey, a society collector who likes to fill in the gaps in his income with payments from his insurance company for art that has "disappeared." Dortmunder's full realization that the bad luck that dogs him has more to do with him than with Andy Kelp is priceless. We are also introduced to a large and easily angered tough guy, Tiny Bulcher. The Continental Detective Agency also makes another appearance, having been reassigned after losing the bank in Bank Shot.

5. Why Me? ~ Having unsuspectingly lifted the hottest gem in town - the Byzantine Fire, John Dortmunder becomes the prey of the FBI, the New York City police, terrorist groups from three nations, and all of New York's petty and not-so-petty crooks. Dortmunder quickly gives up on the notion of trying to make any money from the gem. After all, every fence in New York is being watched and no one would buy it. He decides to give it back, but the police won't cooperate. They want his head on the wall. Now, how will Dortmunder get out of this one? That's the mystery of this story. This book will delight anyone who finds the "value-added" features of telephones (such as call waiting, call forwarding, caller ID, and answering machines) to be annoying. John Dortmunder does, too, especially after his friend, Andy Kelp, becomes addicted to all of these features.

6. Good Behavior ~ While escaping from a robbery attempt, Dortmunder falls through the roof of a convent. The cloistered nuns take this as a sign from heaven and tell Dortmunder (by writing notes) that they will not turn him in if he helps to return Sister Mary Grace to their convent. Sister Mary Grace is a young nun who is being kept in a tower apartment by her millionaire father, who is trying to deprogram her, but she is firm in her commitment to remain a nun. She is able to smuggle out the details of the high-rise's security system to Dortmunder, and the big escape begins.

7. Drowned Hopes
After a typically unrewarding night of attempted burglary, Dortmunder comes home to find ex-cellmate Tom Jimson ensconced in the living room. Jimson, given a 70th-birthday release from an overcrowded state prison, is as calmly venal and vicious as ever as he asks Dortmunder's help in reclaiming a $700,000 stash from an old robbery. The loot was buried in an upstate New York town that was subsequently flooded to become part of New York City's reservoir system. Jimson's plan to blow up the reservoir dam will doom nearby towns, so Dortmunder must concoct a more humane solution. Once again Westlake manages to bring in the current technology (book set in 1990) by introducing a computer nerd who lives in the reality of his computer games. But he is brought in as an expert to help them come up with possible plans. This is hilarious as we see one by one Dortmunder's plan fail. And then the irony of how it finally ends up. Great to see more about his girlfriend May and the other characters new and old.

8. Don't Ask
The caper features the femur of St. Ferghana, a 15th-century relic claimed by rival Eastern European governments in the newly created nations of Tsergovia and Votskojek. Whichever country is awarded ownership of the bone (by a dim archbishop) will gain the one available seat in the U.N. A Tsergovian cousin of Dortmunder's pal Tiny Butcher convinces the nefarious crew, including Stan Murch, Andy Kelp and others, to steal the bone from the Votskojek embassy, currently a boat berthed in the East River.

But nothing is as easy as it appears and Dortmunder's plan fails at the last minute. Now the bone is under Coast Guard custody on Governor's Island, half the gang is in the DEA's hands and Dortmunder's in a dungeon watched over by the Frankenstein-like Dr. Zorn. Dortmunder's escape and a few botched rectifying thefts occur before the lugubrious conman conceives an elaborately devious final job that involves impeccably timed crimes in New York City, in Vermont (at the ski chateau of an international hotelier with a $6 million art collection and an eye on the new Eastern European market) and at the Rivers of Blood Cathedral in Votskojek's capital. A twist or two later, the Tsergovians are accepted into the UN but are they even a real country or just appears to be so on paper?

Laugh out loud funny as always.

9. What's the Worst That Could Happen?
When billionaire hotshot Max Fairbanks, who has caught Dortmunder burgling his Long Island estate, tells the arresting police that the good-luck ring on Dortmunder's finger was stolen from him (when it was in fact a gift from Dortmunder's girlfriend, May), Max's fate, no matter how well protected he may be, is sealed.

Dortmunder makes repeated attempts to get his ring back, hitting on ingenious ways to get into the billionaire's lavish Times Square and Watergate apartments, making off each time with considerable more loot with each heist. But while Dortmunder is not unhappy with the loot he is really after only the ring. It's a pride thing.

When Fairbanks goes off to his huge casino/hotel/theme park in Las Vegas, in a deliberate attempt to entrap Dortmunder, does the dour vengeance-seeker shift into really high gear. Other friends from previous Dortmunder outings are collected into a formidable army, pitted against the best security Max's millions can buy, all leading to a showdown only Westlake could have conceived.

Fabulous! This is the most elaborate heist ever! Plus we get to see everyone travel, by bus, by air and by motor home! Kelp finds his own lady friend, Anne Marie, whom he picked up in New York while he was helping Dortmunder break into Fairbank's apartment. Anne Marie who was drowning her sorrows in the bar after her husband left her to go back to Kansas quickly jumps in to lend a hand. She has a knack for it too. Can't wait to read more of this fun, fun, fun series

10. Bad News
John Dortmunder and his gang of lowlifes from the back room of the O.J. Bar and Grill. In this, perhaps the best Dortmunder novel so far, Andy Kelp, Tiny Bulcher and the Murches (Stan and Mom) join Dortmunder in horning in on another crew's scam cheating two Native American tribes out of one-third of the take from a lucrative Indian casino in upstate New York. Fitzroy Guilderpost, mastermind of the con (and a memorable Westlake creation one hopes to see again), has enlisted Little Feather Redcorn, a Las Vegas card dealer and showgirl, to pose as the last living member of an extinct tribe with a claim to the casino. Unknown to the schemers, the casino managers have been cooking their books and will go to any length to avoid sharing the wealth. As the foes switch dead Indians from grave to grave, seeking to prove or deny Little Feather's tribal membership, Dortmunder plots an impossible and hilarious robbery using a blizzard as an accessory, and comes up with the usual mixed results.

Another hysterical edition of Dortmunder's adventures.

11. Thieves' Dozen

12. Road to Ruin
Dortmunder and his gang are approached by a friend of Kelp's - disgruntled former driver for Monroe Hall. He wants revenge on Hall and to hit him where it hurts. In order to do the heist of Hall's classic car collection they hire on as live-in staff on his secluded ranch as a way to get access to, and ultimately steal, his collection of antique cars.

Hall has recently been caught robbing his own company blind and is now in seclusion within his sprawling compound with his wife, security guards and various collections that include cuckoo clocks, chess sets, rare books and music boxes. In fact, the man collects just about everything. The only thing he seems unable to collect is servants who don't want anything to do with him - after all, he's a pariah.

Hall has ruined many people and some of those people want revenge. Mac, Buddy and Ace are some blue collar employees who were laid off when Hall's company went under; Mark and Os are investors who lost a lot of money when the stock collapsed. They team up with the intent of kidnapping Hall and forcing him to transfer money out of his "secret" off-shore accounts. But unlike Dortmunder and his crew, these folks are strictly amateurs.

Then things start to crumble, as they tend to do around Dortmunder. Not his fault, of course. Who could know that three other sets of people are also plotting revenge on this same crook? Or that these other bozos would kidnap the crook, thereby bringing the police onto the scene just at the wrong time? And who could have predicted that Dortmunder would be kidnapped right along with the boss?

Enjoyed this fun read but I think that there were too many voices as we hear Dortmunder, Hall, plus the bumbling amatures that wreck havoc on Dortmunder's carefully crafted plan. Still Westlake has a gift for the comedic relief and you are rooting for Dortmunder until the very end

13. Watch Your Back!

14. What's So Funny?

Monsieur Pamplemousse by Michale Bond who created Paddington Bear has written these delightful French mysteries. Monsieur Pamplemousse and his trusty bloodhound Pommes Frites are traveling through out France taking an extended vacation to stay at the famed La Langoustine. Pamplemousse is really undercover working for "Le Guide" France's premier guide to cuisine. But he quickly discovers that nothing is as it appears including himself when he tells one of the other people staying at the hotel who is an amputee that he has two artificial wooden legs. The word travels fast and before he knows it everyone wants to see him without his pants on. So much happens in this first novel of the series that I don't want to spoil it for anyone but it reads really fast.

I have read this series many times but enjoy reading it over and over again. It is so delightful and relaxing. The story takes place from both Pamplemosse and Pommes Frites. I wish it was still in print but at least more still keep coming. The only downside is the French isn't translated but I get the general jist of it.

Inn at Lake Devine by Elinor Lipman - It's the early 1960s and Natalie Marx is stunned when her mother inquires about vacation accommodations in Vermont and is refused because their family is Jewish. So begins Natalie's fixation with the Inn and the family who owns it. And when Natalie finagles an invitation to join a friend on vacation there, she sets herself upon a path that will inextricably link her adult life into this peculiar family and their once-restricted hotel.

I listened to this on tape and really enjoyed it. I always loved how people's lives cross and criss-cross over again through-out life.

Goodnight, Irene by Jan Burke introduces Irene Kelly, set in fictional Las Piernas, where Irene Kelly works and lives. The story starts with her discovering her good friend O'Connor has been murded by a bomb left at his own front door. And all because of an unsolved, three-decades-old murder the blustery, big-hearted newspaperman wouldn't let rest in peace. Once Irene Kelly gave up journalism for public relations. Now she decides to take over O'Connor's stories back at the newspaper that she left 3 years ago. But the search for O'Connor's killer may prove fatal for the intrepid reborn reporter. Because a savagely murdered "Jane Doe" corpse from thirty years ago is pointing the way into a lethal maze of blood and politics. And in the blink of any eye it could be "Goodnight, Irene"...forever.

A truely excellent series, I don't know why I waited so long to read it. Several more to read as well, hurray!

Sweet Dreams, Irene 2nd in the series - Jacob Henderson, the sixteen-year-old son of a candidate for District Attorney, comes to Irene seeking help. He claims his father's opponent plans to use an incriminating photograph to accuse Jacob of being a member of a Satanic cult. Whether or not the accusations are true, there are disturbing signs of cult activity in Las Piernas, most of which seem to have some connection to a local runway shelter. The stakes are raised on Halloween night, when the body of Althea Fremont, Frank's next-door neighbor and founder of the shelter, is discovered surrounded by ritual symbols—the same night one of the residents of the shelter goes missing. Irene is soon ensnared in a trap set by violent adversaries and will it be Sweet Dreams Irene?

Books by by Alexander McCall Smith

Professor Dr. von Igelfeld
Portuguese irregular verbs
Von Igelfeld is the world's leading scholar on Portuguese irregular verbs, having written a majestic, nearly 1,200-page book on the subject. As one review says, "There is nothing more to be said on this subject. Nothing." But in other matters, von Igelfeld is not nearly so skilled. Whether haplessly playing tennis against an equally dreadful opponent, or committing his friends to swordfighting duels without their knowledge, von Igelfeld is somewhat naive in the ways of the world. Yet that does not stop him from having a go at life, and the results are always humorous.

Utterly delightful!

Isabel Dalhousie Mysteries
Sunday philosophy club
Isabel is fond of problems, and sometimes she becomes interested in problems that are, quite frankly, none of her business. This may be the case when Isabel sees a young man plunge to his death from the upper circle of a concert hall in Edinburgh. Despite the advice of her housekeeper, Grace, who has been raised in the values of traditional Edinburgh, and her niece, Cat, who, if you ask Isabel, is dating the wrong man, Isabel is determined to find the truth—if indeed there is one—behind the man's death. The resulting moral labyrinth might have stymied even Kant. And then there is the unsatisfactory turn of events of events in Cat's love life that must be attended to.

This series is very different that his other series but equally enjoyable.

Precious Ramotswe Mysteries
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
Introduces new female detective named Precious Ramotswe of Gaborone, Botswana in Africa. She inherits money after her father died to start her own business. She is hired to track down a missing husband, uncover a con man, and follow a wayward daughter. But the case that tugs at her heart, and lands her in danger, is a missing eleven-year-old boy, who may have been snatched by witchdoctors. She and her little white van drive all over Africa helping people solve problems in their lives.

Tears of the giraffe
Precious Ramotswe tracks a wayward wife, uncovers an unscrupulous maid, and searches for an American man who disappeared into the plains many years ago. In the midst of resolving uncertainties, pondering her impending marriage to a good, kind man, Mr. J. L. B. Matekoni, and the promotion of her talented secretary (a graduate of the Botswana Secretarial College, with a mark of 97 per cent), she also finds her family suddenly and unexpectedly increased by two.

Morality for beautiful girls
Precious Ramotswe, founder and owner of the only detective agency for the concerns of both ladies and others, investigates the alleged poisoning of the brother of an important "Government Man," and the moral character of the four finalists of the Miss Beauty and Integrity Contest, the winner of which will almost certainly be a contestant for the title of Miss Botswana. Yet her business is having money problems, and when other difficulties arise at her fiance's Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors, she discovers the reliable Mr J.L.B. Matekoni is more complicated then he seems.

Kalahari typing school for men
Now that The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (the only detective agency for ladies and others in Botswana) is established, its founder, Precious Ramotswe, can look upon her life with pride: she's reached her late thirties ("the finest age to be"), has a house, two children, a good fiancé -- Mr. J. L. B. Matekoni -- and many satisfied customers. But life is never without its problems. It turns out that her adopted son is responsible for the dead hoopoe bird in the garden; her assistant, Mma Makutsi, wants a husband and needs help with her idea to open the Kalahari Typing School for Men; yet Mma Ramotswe's sexist rival has no trouble opening his Satisfaction Guaranteed Detective Agency across town. Will Precious Ramotswe's delightfully cunning and profoundly moral methods save the day?

Full Cupboard of Life
Worrying about her upcoming marriage to J. L. B. Matekoni, Precious Ramotswe is confronted by the challenges of running her No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, a terrifying request from the matron of the Orphan Farm, and a case involving an investigation into the would-be suitors of a wealthy woman to determine if any are fortune hunters. As usual all ends well but it does not feel like a clicque. I just love re-reading these books and enjoyed this as much as the first one.

This is a lovely series and I cannot wait until a new one in the series will come out. It is such a satisfying read, I think because it more about moral ethical issues that affect all us in life rather than just mysteries. We really see the characters develope.

In the Company of Cheerful Ladies
We see the return of newly married Precious Ramotswe, with husband Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni, his apprentices, and assistant detective Grace Makutsi in tow. The group embarks on another set of clever and amusing Botswana adventures that kick off with an intruder in Mma Ramotswe's home and proceeds to a succession of other dilemmas: Mr. Matekoni's apprentice Charliekeeps company with a mysterious older woman and quits his position, Mma Ramotswe and her assistant encounters a good-hearted man with a dark past, and Mma Makutsi reluctantly begins dance lessons with a stuttering stranger.

Blue Shoes and Happiness
There is considerable excitement at The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency. A cobra has been found in Precious Ramotswe's office. Then a nurse from a local clinic reveals that faulty blood-pressure readings are being recorded. And Botswana has a new advice columnist, Aunty Emang, whose advice is rather curt for Mma Ramotswe's taste. All this means a lot of work for our heroine and her assistant, Grace Makutsi. But there's trouble brewing in Mma Makutsi's own life. When Phuti Radiphuti misses their customary dinner date, she begins to wonder if he is having second thoughts about their engagement. And while Mma Makutsi may be able to buy that fashionably narrow (and uncomfortable) pair of blue shoes, it may not buy her the happiness that Mma Ramotswe promises her she'll find in the simpler things--in contentment with the world and enough tea to smooth over the occasional bumps in the road.

Good Husband of Zebra Drive
As with the previous novels there are several cases going on at one time. But now the cases are shared with others besides Makutsi. Dr. Cronje, who's half Xhosa and half Afrikaner, consults Smith's sleuth, the gentle and insightful Precious Ramotswe, because patients at his hospital who have occupied a particular bed have been dying mysteriously at the same time of day. Meanwhile, Mma Ramotswe's recently engaged assistant, Grace Makutsi, threatens to break their longstanding association. Mma Ramotswe must adjust their relationship in order to retain Mma Makutsi's services. J. L. B. Matekoni also tries his hand at the detective business, catering to a rude client who suspects her husband of infidelity. The case prompts Mr. Matekoni to wonder whether he's exciting enough for his cherished wife. Charlie, Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni's older assistant branches out on his own when he buys a Mercedes from him with disastrous consequences.

Of course, no matter what dramas the day brings, Mma Ramotswe always has time to enjoy a cup of red bush tea and revel in the beauty of her native land.

Delightful as always and so nice to hear it read outloud as the reader is excellent. Plus now I have a better idea of how the names should be pronouced. One of my most favorite series

Holes by Louis Sachar Stanley Yelants IV is wrongly accused of a petty crime and sent to Camp Green Lake juvenial facility to work out his term. At this camp, that is neither green nor has a lake, he finds friendship, self-confidence, and dreams. A wonderful dreamlike quality as you feel like you are digging the holes with Stanley and the other kids. It is tied up very nice and neat but hey it's a children's book. Now I need to see the movie.

The Man Who Turned Into Himself by David Ambrose After losing his wife and son in an accident, Rick Hamilton finds himself inhabiting a parallel universe in which the tragedy has not happened. The trouble is that nobody believes his story when he tells them, not even his wife or his best friend, Harold. They want him to have treatment, to admit that he is mentally sick. Can Rick really trust them? What is really interesting is that the lines blur between whichever reality he thinks he lives in. At the end you wonder what is really real. A very thought provoking book.

Angels & Demons by Dan Brown Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is summoned to a Swiss research facility to analyze a mysterious symbol -- seared into the chest of a murdered physicist -- he discovers evidence of the unimaginable: the resurgence of an ancient secret brotherhood known as the Illuminati. He along with the dead physicist's daughter Vittoria Vetra discover that the anti-mater that she created with her father has been stolen and placed somewhere in the Vatican. Meanwhile with the Pope's recent death the bishops have gone to the Vatican to vote on the new Pope, but the 4 favored Bishops have been kidnapped and their lives threatened while the clock is ticking. Will Robert find the anti-matter or will he be too late? A very exciting read, it only took me a few days most of which I finished half on the first day. Can't wait to read Da Vinci Code.

the curious incident of the dog in the night-time by Mark Haddon. 15 year old Christopher finds the body of his neighbor's dog, Wellingon, impaled on a pitchfork and is blamed for the killing. Christopher is a high-functioning autistic and relates better to animals than to people. He hates to be touched by any person and seems to not have an emotional connection to anyone including his family. He also doesn't trust strangers and hates people who lie as he feels that he always tells the truth.

He decides that he needs to find out who killed Wellington but ends up discovering a lot about himself and his parents. He has to decide if he can trust his parents after he discovers that his simple life is now very complicated. A very intense read as it is from his point of view which focuses on very minute details and mathematical equations. This is a British novel so some of the terminology is different. Highly recommended.

With a Vengeance by Eileen Dreyer features Maggie O'Brien -- A trauma nurse and paramedic who works one of the toughest EDs in the city. When people start dying who shouldn't be she starts to question the system. She quickly discovers that when she choices sides that she becomes an outsider and is on her own. When her own life becomes at risk who can she really trust. An interesting read, kind of dramatic but good. We mostly get things from her point of view but interspersed there are chapters of other's point of view that are anonymous which leads to the drama and suspence. I will probably read more by this author.

Chasing Shakespeare by Sarah Smith is a story about a self-professed "hick from Vermont," window installer/Shakespeare scholar Joe Roper who while cataloging an obscure collection discovers evidence that might refute the Bard's authorship of his hallowed canon. If Joe announces his find, it could make his career as a literary scholar-but it would also mean betraying his beloved mentor, Roland Goscimer, who's on the cusp of publishing part two of his long-awaited Shakespeare biography. Posy Gould, a flashy, aggressive Harvard student, who believes the Earl of Oxford is the author of the canon, jets with Joe to England to resolve the matter by sleuthing through libraries, graveyards, castles and stately homes-and, vicariously, through the glitter and duplicity of the Elizabethan stage and court. Smith, a Harvard Ph.D., knows academia can be as hazardous as cocktails with the Borgias and renders that world well, while making the Shakespeare authorship controversy as riveting as any film noir plot bursting with bodies.

Out of Sight by T.J. MacGregor deals with many moral issues. Human experimention is the major one and do we have the right to play god. Dr. George Nash has discovered how to make things and people invisible with the help of an indian named Luis. He manages to make a couple invisible but one (Logan) escapes while her husband Tyler is imprisoned. 3 years later Logan comes back to break Tyler out and destroy the project. A family camping accidently gets made invisitble as well and all hell breaks loose. A very fast moving and thought provoking book.

Slow River by Nicola Griffith Lore awoke in a dark alley, damaged and afraid. Who could she trust, not her family that wouldn't pay her ransome, until a stranger, Spanner takes her in and she starts living in the hidden dark side of society. Credible internet charity scams, kidnapping, fashionable designer drugs, sex, sadism, advanced digital porn, sabotage, information and identity theft are all a part of society and gives us a glimpse of what the future may hold. She discovers herself in both worlds and must decide where she will live. A very interesting read.

Nathan's Run by John Gilstrap is a sit on the edge of your seat thriller/murder mystery. 12 year old Nathan has been incarsurated for almost 10 months when he fatally stabs a prison guard and escapes. A the surface it looks like a run of the mill pyschopath teen but once you dig down things just don't seem right. How did he get a knife and what was he doing alone with the guard in an isolated part of the detention center. We see the story from several points of views, Nathan's, the cop on the case and as a third person. It isn't a long story but is packed with uncertainty as you wonder if anyone will listen to Nathan's side? I got kind of frustrated with this edge of your seat drama but I did enjoy listening to it on tape.

Discrete Charm of Charlie Monk by David Ambrose Charlie monk is the ultimate superhero. He has no fear. He has no conscience. And he has no memory of his past. Meanwhile Dr Susan Flemyng. a biologist specialising in brain diseases, has found a way to transplant artificial memories into the minds of her patients. But her discovery has already found its way into the wrong hands and it seems that Charlie is in fact some kind of bionic military guinea pig. As you read from both their points of views I found it hard to determine what was real and what wasn't. Ambrose is quite the storyteller and with a twist at the end you just don't know what to believe. I will defintely read more by this author. He is fabulous.

Point Blank by Anthony Horowitz - Fourteen-year-old Alex continues his work as a spy for the British MI6, investigating an exclusive school for boys in the French Als. Sixteen boys in a remote boarding school are suddenly all acting well-behaved and studious, but something's not right. Full of heart-pounding adventure, this sequel to "Stormbreaker" is a thrill ride and mystery all in one. It is like James Bond for teens. Lots of adventure and excitement. I listened to this on tape and will go back and read the first in the series.

Elizabeth Chase & Tom McGowan series by Martha C. Lawrence
I love this series. It is so well written and developed. Plus since I lived in San Diego when these books were written it's like a visit home.

Book 1 - Murder in Scorpio introduces Psychic P.I. Elizabeth Chase when Escondio police sergeant Tom McGowan asks to investigate what looks like a car accident involving an old friend, Janice Freeman. He has been seeing ghosts at other accidents and his gut is telling him that Janice was murdered even though it looks like a tragic case of a drunk driver hitting her car. But who would want to murder a friendly woman who was studying to become a lawyer. As Elizabeth tries to piece together the clues she becomes more and more attracted to Tom but can she trust her gut instincts and not get herself killed. Lots of spooky elements and I enjoy the supernatural aspects of this series. Plus it is set in the San Diego area.

Book 2 - Cold Heart of Capricorn - An increasingly violent rapist has been terrorizing San Diego, but the lack of physical evidence at the scenes gives the police very little to go on. Dubious but desperate as the rapist edges toward committing murder, the cops turn to Elizabeth for paranormal help. Her first step is to hypnotize the victims, hoping to unearth clues buried in their subconscious memories. Success seems imminent, but when her interpretations have devastating results, Elizabeth steps back from the case--only to find herself getting closer and closer to the deadly conclusion.

Book 3 - Aquarius Descending - Elizabeth Chase is hired to find a woman who's disappeared into a secretive New Age cult. Some members seem to have psychic abilities but it is hard to tell who is real and who is good at pretending. This was more difficult as some characters are killed in this pageturner.

Book 4 - Pisces Rising. Elizabeth Chase's lover has been killed in a showdown between cult leaders and the FBI, and she no longer trusts her own extrasensory gifts. But when an old friend asks for help in solving the murder and scalping of a casino owner at Mystic Mesa on the Temecu Indian reservation in the California desert, Elizabeth is persuaded to get involved. She soon finds herself drawn to a charismatic--and strangely familiar--Native American shaman whose strange gifts awaken and energize her own. Another gripping addition to excellently written series.

Book 5 - Ashes to Aries - Chase is called in on the case of a San Diego telecommunications mogul's missing four-year-old son. When a wildfire breaks out in the secluded community where the boy's family lives, Elizabeth finds that man, not nature, is responsible and tries to determine if the kidnapper and arsonist are the same person. This is the first book I have read by Martha Lawrence but will defintely read the rest. Very fast paced and you felt the flames during the fire scenes.

An Embarrassment of Corpses by Alan Beechey - When children's book author Oliver Swithin, reluctant creator of the notorious "Finsbury the Ferret," finds an old friend's body floating in a Trafalgar Square fountain, he can't convince the police to treat the death as a murder. But when more corpses turn up daily it seems that there is a serial killer about using astrology to find his victims. But is it as basic as it seems? Only Oliver'S uncle, Detective Superintendent Tim Mallard sees the true pattern.

An excellent mystery. Unfortunately the copy I read was misbound with the pages out of order so I was constantly having to see what page I was on. Luckily it was only the last quarter of the book. I really enjoyed the characters and the mystery as it had me stumped. I will defintely read more of this series.

Bk 2: Murdering Ministers brings back our favorite children's author Oliver Swithin, his uncle Mallard and his now girlfriend Detective Sergeant Effie Strongitharm now at Christmas time. Oliver is interviewing a childhood friend who is now a minister for local church. Effie tries to find a runaway teenager and winds up as an eyewitness to Murder in the Church. Is there a connection? And will finding it reveal who stuck strychnine in the sacraments? Hysterical to the end and again not obvious who dun it! I can't wait to read another in the fun series.

Beechey's website is fun to read to learn more about his books and characters.

Jemima J. by Jane Green - Jemima Jones is not happy with her life. She is overweight, lives with two room mates she despises, works a job she hates, Ben, the man she loves, only wants to be her friend and there seems to be no hope in sight. Then she discovers the Internet where you can be whoever you want to be and changes her name to JJ. After meeting Brad from LA online Jemima decides to become in reality the person she has been pretending to be online, thin athletic popular and a news presenter. After joining a local gym and practically starving herself she loses over 100 lbs. in a matter of months. She then flies out to Los Angeles to meet the new man of her dreams, who more than meets her expectations. But as is with most of life nothing as it appears. Will she ever find happiness? Find out by reading this funny book, very similar to Bridget Jones' Diary.

In the Shadow of the Moon by Karen White is a time travel / romance. Laura Trutt lives in the 20th Century but after losing her 2 year old daugther,Annie, on the mysterious Moon Mountain and her husband dying a year later she has little to live for. So after 5 years she decides to go back to Moon Mountain and finds herself in midts of the Civil War where it is brother against brother. She meets and falls in love with the handsome Stuart Elliott and finds her lost daughter who has little memory of her previous life or her mother. Will she take Annie back with her to the 20th Century and can she deal with the heartache she feels.

This is very similiar to Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. But it was much shorter and it was an easy read. Though I got a little annoyed by how easy it was to find her daugther and her way back and forth between time periods. But an enjoyable read.

Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde This utterly delightful book is set in the U.K., in an alternate version of our universe-one in which time travel is possible and the boundaries between life and literature are porous. Thursday works for Special Ops in the Literary Detectives and battles an archvillain who's kidnapping characters from classic literature.

If you like the books by Connie Willis especially _To say nothing of the dog, or, How we found the bishop's bird stump at last_ then you will love this one.

Lost in a Good Book is the 2nd in the series. Det. Thursday Next is back for another round of time traveling and bookish sleuthing. She's made an enemy of the corrupt Goliath Corporation, which manufactures absolutely everything, by imprisoning one of its executives, Jack Schitt, in the pages of Poe's The Raven. In return, the corporation eradicates her new husband, Landen. Since no one really dies in this chronologically fluid universe, Landen could be restored-but Goliath won't do it until Thursday brings back Schitt. But rescuing Schitt is easier said than done-Poe's oeuvre is dangerous territory. Thursday enlists the help of Great Expectations' Miss Havisham, who works for the intra-literature police force, Jurisfiction, and the two leap into the pages of Kafka's The Trial, Austen's Sense and Sensibility and Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. Thursday also finds time to authenticate Cardenio, a newly discovered Shakespeare tragedy, and save the world from being engulfed by an oozing pink sludge. Time flies-and leaps and zigzags-while reading this wickedly funny and clever fantasy. And of course it has ended with a cliff hanger ending when Next literally loses herself in a good book. Aaakkk!!!!

Well of Lost Plots I got this when I went to Montreal in Dec. 2003. I couldn't wait until it was released here in the U.S. Sometime in 2004. A very pregnant Tuesday Next once again does battle with philistine bibliophobes, taking a furlough from her duties as a SpecOps Literary Detective to vacation in the Well of Lost Plots, the 26 noisome sub-basements of the Great Library. Pursued by her memory-modifying nemesis Aornis Hades, Thursday joins Jurisfiction's Character Exchange Program, filling in for "Mary," sidekick to the world-weary detective hero of Caversham Heights, a hilariously awful police procedural. At the imminent launch of UltraWord, the vaunted "Last Word" in Story Operating Systems, Thursday's friend and mentor Miss Havisham is gruesomely killed, and Thursday gamely sets out to restore order to her underground world, where technophiles ruthlessly recycle unpublished books and sell plot devices and stock characters on the black market. Per ususal Tuesday creates havoc wherever she goes. Picks up where it left off in Bk 2. Now I can't wait until Bk 4.

Something Rotten is supposidly coming out in August 2004 both in the U.S. and the U.K. I can't wait! I hope she finally remembers Landen (eradicated in Bk. 2) and that she is married to him and gets him back.

Louisiana Bigshot by Julie Smith introduces african american Talba Wallis, budding PI, computer genius and by night the Baroness de Pontalba, a glamorous poet and performance artist. Talba was introduced in a Skip Langdon mystery 82 Desire. After totally her car, Talba gets a massage from friend Babalu who asks her to investigate her fiance who she fears is cheating on her. Talba gets the dirt on the boyfriend and four days later Babalu is dead of a heroin overdose. Is it suicide or murder? Babalu's boyfriend is convienced that it is murder so hires Talba to find out who would wand Babalu dead. Talba find out family secrets that go all the way up to the governor's elections.

Talba also unearth's some family secrets of her own. She finds out she has a younger sister and tracks her down to unsatisfactory conclusion. A lot happens in this mystery set in New Orleans. There is Talba's relationships with her family, her boss, Eddie Valentino and a host of other interesting characters. I enjoyed reading it but wouldn't put it on my list of favorites. I would read the next one just to see.

Learning to Fly by April Henry The chaotic scene of a huge, fiery chain-reaction car accident leaves Free Meeker in the possession of someone else’s bag and the hitchhiker she has just picked up dead. By the next morning, 19-year-old Free, daughter of aging hippies, has discovered that the bag contains nearly a million dollars - and that the hitchhiker’s body has been identified as hers. Fate seems to be handing her the chance to make her life over. But when the owner of the drug money realizes it didn’t burn up in the fire, things get complicated. And things only get worse when the hitchhiker’s stalking husband decides that Free must be some do-gooder hiding his wife. It is an interesting story plus it it told from several different points of view including Free's.

I really like April Henry's books - not just because we share the same first name. Her other titles are fun because she uses vanity license plate as the ending for each chapter. It is sometimes a challenge to figure out what each one stands for and how it pertains to the chapter.

Time Stops for No Mouse by Michael Hoeye which features Hermux Tantamoq, an average mouse who works in his watch shop. Nothing extraordinary every happens to him until one day when Linka Perflinger, daredevil aviatrix, drops off her watch to be repaired. Little did he know that his lfie would be changed forever. This book for children has adventure and a little romance. A lovely book. I will definitely read the sequel.

Sands of Time The adventures of Hermux Tantamoq, mouse and watchmaker, continue. When the museum in Pinchester announces a show of visionary portraits of cats, the mayor vows to shut it down. When a mysterious chipmunk claims to have a map to the royal library of an ancient kingdom of cats, he recruits Hermux to help him find it.

Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup, and a Spool of Thread by Kate DiCamillo is an odd and engrossing fairy tale. Follows the story of a smaller-than-usual mouse with large ears, Despereaux, in love with music, stories and a princess named Pea. This tiny hero faints at loud noises but gathers the courage to fulfill his dreams. With character and plot far more complex than the traditional fairy tale, separate stories introduce Despereaux, condemned for talking to the princess; the evil rat, Roscuro, who loves light and soup; and Miggery Sow, a farm girl with royal aspirations. The lyrical language of this distinctive tale is as savory as the palace soup. All of which become entertwined into a lovely story. It has won the 2004 Newbery award. I read this in just a few hours and enjoyed every moment.

An Artistic Way to Go by Roderic Jeffries features Inspector Alvarez. British art dealer Oliver Cooper lives on Mallora with his beautiful young wife and adoring friends. When his car is discovered at the edge of the cliffs Alvarez is brought in for a missing persons case. alvarez discovers that there are many people who would want Oliver dead, from his wife that is having an affair to the neighbor's who never got along. When Oliver is found dead with his head bashed in a few days later who will be the one who killed him? This is a short mystery but packed full. I have never read any books by this author and will try to go back and find some of the early titles as this one is #19. You really get the local flavor of this island and the culture with a mystery to boot. Olé!

Aunt Dimity Mysteries by Nancy Atherton

Aunt Dimity's Death is the first in the series that introduces us to Lori Shepherd and the ghost of her Aunt Dimity. Suffering from her recent divorce, her mother's death, and an erratic income, Lori Shepherd receives notice from a prestigious Boston law firm she then discovers that Aunt Dimity (who had been the heroine of her childhood stories) had recently died that she must travel to England in order to meet the requirements of a will. While at the cottage she discovers the ghost of Aunt Dimity and helps her heal the grief that they both have over loss. Makes you want to curl up with a cup of tea with your cat.

Aunt Dimity and the Duke - #2 in the series features Emma Porter, fortyish computer nerd and gardener, who goes to England after being jilted by her longtime lover. At another garden she meets the Pym twins who send her an introduction to see the Penford gardens. As she arrives she is suddenly given the job of restoring the long neglected gardens and becomes entangled in a mystery involving the Duke of Penford. Aunt Dimity herself appears only in name-but no matter for the rest of the characters are delightful. A very entertaining read.

Aunt Dimity's Good Deed - #3 in the series featuring Lori Sheperd and her family and friends. In this installment Lori, feeling like her marriage is on the rocks, arranges a 2nd honeymood to go back to England and stay at Aunt Dimity's cottage. At the last minute Bill cancels but has his father, William, to go with Lori instead. Once they are settled William leaves a cryptic note and leaves for parts unknown. Luckily Aunt Dimity makes an appearance and helps Lori and her friend Emma's 12 year old daughter, Nell, (introduced in Book 2) figure out where he is headed. They discover many family members, secrets and murder. But the biggest mystery of all is will Bill realize what he is missing and come to the rescue. Another fun read in this series.

Aunt Dimity Digs In - #4 in the series. Lori and her husband Bill and new parents of 3 month old twin boys. Lori is running on empty when the Pym twins, Ruth & Louis, introduce them to Francesca Sciaparelli to be their nanny. When the local busybody Peggy Kitchen declares war upon the vicar because he gave the church schoolhouse to Adrian Culver who is doing an archaeological dig in the village Finch, Lori is put in the middle to bring peace to the village. But with both sides very passionate about their cause and scandals abound who will win the war? As usual Aunt Dimity has the answers but only Lori can bring peace to everyone.

Aunt Dimity's Christmas - #5 in the series. It is Lori's first Christmas for the twins and she decides she is going to do it right. She is having a grand Christmas party on Christmas eve and has organized all kinds of parties, decorations and gingerbread making. But when a deretict collasps in their drive way everything changes as she an attractive Roman Catholic priest try to discover the idenity of the tramp named Kit. Once again Aunt Dimity pays a crucial roll in this nostalgic non mystery. A fun read, and brings more awareness of family and hope. We see all the characters change for the better because of one man's plight to gain his dead father's forgiveness.

Book #6 Aunt Dimity Beats the Devil. Lori takes a break from her toddler twins to evaluate a rare book collection. She sets out for Wyrdhurst Hall, and encounters the newlywed owners and a charming, handsome stranger. She falls under Wyrdhurst's spell when she unearths a cache of World War I letters that tell of a doomed love and hidden treasure. It will take all of Dimity's supernatural skills to help Lori solve the puzzle. I listened to this on CD in the car and really enjoyed it. Unfortunately a few of the CD's were scratched so I missed some parts. This was the first one I read in the series but I will go back and read the others.

Aunt Dimity, Detective # 7 has it's first true murder in this cozy mystery series. The twins are now 2 years old and the entire family had spent three months in Boston with Bill's family. On their return they find that there has been a murder in Finch, their idyllic Cotswold village. Prunella Hooper "Pruneface" to most villagers was found dead of a blow to the head in her home, Crabtree Cottage. Given her malicious nature, the residents of Finch aren't surprised by her death; in fact are very closed mouth about it. Lori with the help of handsome Nicholas go door to door to discover who hated Prunella enough to kill her. Aunt Dimity mysteries are always a fun read but I'm getting a little tired of Lori's wondering eyes as there always seems to be a handsome stranger to tag along plus what about her kids? She always is willing to leave them with someone. The emphasis is always on the relationships rather than the mystery. But no matter, fun never the less.

Aunt Dimity Takes a Holiday is the latest in this supernatural series. I just couldn't read this. It started with the usual drama but this time from the usually calm neighbor Emma pounding on the door saying that someone is going to kill her husband she just knows it. So I will return it back to the library and try to read in a few months. I think I have just read too many Aunt Dimity novels lately.

Aunt Dimity, Snowbound Lori Shepherd is overtaken by the blizzard of the century. Fortunately, she's soon safe and dry with two other stranded backpackers in Ladythorne Abbey, the fabulous home of the late Lucasta DeClerke. Or is she? In the abbey's cloisters and passages there still lingers the haunting presence of Lucasta, a mysterious madwoman -not to mention the danger posed by an unstable caretaker. It was better than the previous Dimity book, as I enjoy it when there is more of a supernatural aspect which there was this time. The mystery wasn't particularly difficult to figure out but it had an interesting twist.

Aunt Dimity and the Next of Kin
Lori Shepherd, feeling a touch world-weary, decides to become a volunteer at the Radcliffe Infirmary, where she can spread a little good cheer in the community. There she meets Elizabeth Beacham, a kind, retired legal secretary with no family except a brother who has mysteriously disappeared.

Lori is saddened when Miss Beacham passes away suddenly after only a few visits. But when she receives an envelope containing a set of keys and a letter Miss Beacham wrote to her just a few days before her death, it becomes clear that there was much more to the gentle invalid than met the eye. Notices start arriving around the village of the large bequests made before her death. And Lori finds that Miss Beacham’s flat is filled with priceless antiques—an inheritance too precious to remain unclaimed. Armed with a few clues and Aunt Dimity’s help, Lori begins to unearth Miss Beacham’s secrets and, ultimately, the surprising truth about her next-of-kin.

This was one of the better stories as it gives Lori some humility which she really needed.

Mrs. Murphy Mystery postmistress Mary Minor (Harry) Hairsteen Series by Rita Mae Brown & Sneaky Pie Brown

Book 13: Cat's Eyewitness
After she decides to quit her job as the Crozet, Va., postmistress because her animal companions-cats Mrs. Murphy and Pewter and corgi Tee Tucker-are no longer permitted to accompany her to work, Mary Minor "Harry" Haristeen and best friend Susan Tucker retreat to a Blue Ridge Mountains monastery, where a statue of the Virgin Mary suddenly begins to bleed from the eyes. This curiosity, which attracts national media attention after a local reporter, Nordy Elliott, files a short piece on it, becomes more of a concern when Susan's beloved great-uncle, a monk, turns up dead at the foot of the statue. While Harry, her two cats and her dog investigate, Nordy becomes the next murder victim, in a symbolic manner linked to the supposed miracle.

This was a bit more preachy than previous of the series. We even see Boom-Boom falling in love with a woman! I think this book has focused much more on the emotions of the various characters and less on the mystery. Listened to on tape so perhaps that is why I noticed it more.

Book 12: Whisker of Evil
This mystery concerns the death of Barry Monteith, a local horse breeder. Even more mysterious is that fact that Barry, although viciously murdered, was also infected with rabies. Harry soon finds the class ring of Mary Pat Reines, a local horsebreeder who disappeared in 1967 with her prize stallion. Two more deaths soon follow, and the entire close-knit town is shaken, trying to discover the murderer and the source of Barry's rabies. A lot of personal growth happens to Harry as well. She finally opens up her heart to love again and decides to quit working at the postoffice when she is told she can't have her animals working with her. Overall a good read but I do get a little tired of the horse stuff. A must read in the series or you'll come in an go huh?!? when she isn't working at the postoffice.

Book 11: Tail of the tip-off
Set in the middle of UofA woman's basketball season and murder is personal! Construction company owner H.H. Donaldson falls dead in the parking lot of the Clam, the University of Virginia's giant sports complex. The police and Harry are barely into trying to find out who killed H.H.-and how-when a second mysterious death occurs at the arena. Will she find out who did it before she is the next victim. I honestly did not figure it out, much more complicated than most of these mysteries.

Book 10: Catch as Cat Can
When Roger O'Bannon dies during the spring festivities at Crozet, Virginia, it's up to Postmistress Mary Minor "Harry" Haristeen's coterie of animals--her Welsh corgi, Tucker, her portly gray cat, Pewter, and, of course, feline sleuth extraordinaire Mrs. Murphy--to get to the bottom of the murder connection. I listened to this on tape. This is a very fun series. I have read all, but periodically go through and re-read every couple of years. It helps me remember who and why people are important to Harry.

9. Claws and Effect
8. Pawing Through the Past
7. Cat on the Scent
6. Murder on the Prowl
5. Murder, She Meowed
4. Pay Dirt
3. Murder at Monticello
2. Rest in Pieces
1. Wish You Were Here

President's Daughter by Mariah Stewart features Journalist Simon Keller and Dina McDermott. Simon unearths an unsettling story about former president Graham Hayward and a 30 year old murder. He finds that Hayward had a secret affair that ended with his mistress being killed by a hit and run driver. Through his discoveries he discovers successful businesswoman Dina McDermott who is the result of Hayward's affair. Shaken by a shattering truth, Dina is suddenly thrust into the crosshairs of a cold-blooded killer and on the run for her life.

An interesting story that I read it as the sequel is out and supposed to be good. We'll see. It was an alright story and not that hard or shocking to see who the real murderer is.

Mitford series by Jan Karon features the quiet life of Mitford through the eyes of it's pastor, Father Tim. I listened to each one on tape/CD in my car as I drive to and from work. It really helps pass the time. As I finish each book in the series I find that I'm missing it and can't wait until the next one comes out. I'm very thankful that I allowed myself to enjoy this lovely series.

Book 1 - At Home in Mitford Father Tim, the bachelor rector, enjoys his little quiet parish but wants something more. Enter a dog the size of a sofa who moves in and won't go away. Add an attractive neighbor who begins wearing a path through the hedge. Now, stir in a lovable but unloved boy, a mystifying jewel theft, and a secret that's sixty years old. Suddenly, Father Tim gets more than he bargained for. And readers get a rich comedy about ordinary people and their ordinary lives. OK, I resisted reading these books when it first came out. But finally felt it was time to start reading it. It is a lovely read perfect for rainy days in front of a fire with a cupa.

Book 2 - In A Light in the Window His attractive neighbor, Cynthia, is tugging at his heartstrings. A wealthy widow is pursuing him with hot casseroles. And his red-haired Cousin Meg has moved into the rectory, uninvited. I listened to this on tape and enjoyed it as much as the first. This is a good tape to take on a long car trip as it is 12 cassettes. We find out much more about our favorite priest and all the people in lovely town called Mitford.

Book 3 - These High, Green Hills Since I skipped Book 3 & 4 and read book 5 out of sequence book 5 is starting to make more sense to me now. After becoming trapped in a tunnel with his wife Cynthia he comes to terms with issues about retirement and his father. He has been married for about 3 months and Father Tim adjusting to married life, dealing with a new church computer, confronting issues of domestic violence and child abuse, providing courtship advice to the local newspaper editor, and facing the prospect of retirement. He discoveres that Dooley's mother is living in poor side of the creek, but doesn't come to grips with it until she is brought in as a burn victim the hospital. You feel his struggle with letting Dooley make his own choices about his life and sometimes you have to love someone enough to let them go. With the usual blend of humor, saddness and friendship one is again home in Mitford.

Book 4 - Out to Canaan Father Tim, the Episcopal rector, and his talented and vivacious wife, Cynthia, are pondering the murky uncertainties of retirement. They're also trying to locate the scattered siblings of Dooley Barlowe, the mountain boy they love as their own. A brash new mayoral candidate is calling for aggressive development, and a tough survivor must hunker down for the fight of her life. Worse, the Sweet Stuff Bakery may be closing, and a suspicious real estate agent is trying to turn the beloved house on the hill into a spa. Can change be coming to Mitford? The buzz on Main Street says yes. Change is certainly coming to the tenderest regions of several townspeople's lives.

Book 5 - In A New Song, Mitford's longtime Episcopal priest, Father Tim, retires. However, new challenges and adventures await when he agrees to serve as interim minister of a small church on Whitecap Island. He and his wife, Cynthia, soon find that Whitecap has its own unforgettable characters: a church organist with a mysterious past, a lovelorn bachelor placing personal ads, a mother battling paralyzing depression. They also find that Mitford is never far away when circumstances "back home" keep their phone ringing off the hook.

I listened to this on tape and enjoyed getting to know the people of Whitecap Island but we do get visits from our old familiar favorites from Mitford. I read this out of order thinking it was the 3rd book - hence was confused by some things that seemed to have changed so rapidly.

Book 6 - A Common Life which actually goes back to Father Tim & Cynthia's wedding. It is very short but nostalgic look at their marriage day as well as of several other main characters first loves.

Book 7 - In This Moutain Father Tim and Cynthia return to Mitford. Father Tim, disliking retirement, takes on a difficult ministry. At first he likes the challenge until an unexpected event propels him on a journey that shakes his faith, his marriage and the town of Mitford. We get a much more indepth look at Father Tim and his relationships with people in the community and with God.

Book 8 - Shepherds abiding
When Father Tim finds a battered nativity scene in an antique shop, he embarks on a renovation project that touches many. We also see the closing of the grill on Christmas eve. The usual cast of characters that make Mitford so unique. There is new love for Hope, manager of the Happy Endings bookstore, as she lets God take control of her life and her wildest dreams comes true. With typical fashion Father Tim is unable to keep a secret of what he is giving his wife for Christmas so everyone in town knows and lends a hand. With an almost Henry O' type ending we see Tim and Cynthia give each other the perfect gifts of Christmas.

This short novella includes two short stories: Esther's gift: Esther isn't so sure that she should spend so much time and money making her famous two-layer marmalade cake for holiday gifts, but then she remembers the meaning of Christmas. The Mitford snowmen: The citizens of Mitford have a spontaneous snowman-building contest.

Book 9 - Light from heaven
Father Tim and his wife Cynthia are housesitting on Meadowgate Farm, where the couple are staying for a year. Between Dooley's brother Sammy showing up, dust storms and the chimney collasping and finding someone to help clean up the mess plus keeping track of the animals, it is becoming difficult to stop and count their blessings. We meet the numerous and multitalented Flower Girls; there's a poacher on the farm. Plus we see Father Tim confront Dooley's father who is trying to get one of his sons, Sammy, back.

Then, high atop a nearby mountain, a tremendous challenge presents itself. An old, abandoned church, Holy Trinity, is in need of immediate revival--if Father Tim is up to the task. Preparing to become a vicar to a rural church closed for nearly 40 years, Father Tim considers the challenges ahead. We are introduced to a wide range of vivid characters. There's loquacious five-year-old Sissie; Jubal Adderholt and his squirrel-tail decorated home; Clarence, a gifted (and deaf) woodworker; and his mother Agnes, an Episcopal deacon. Still, Mitford is not far away, and Father Tim takes us on regular trips there.

Father Tim also struggles with the question of when to tell Dooley about his inheritance from Miss Sadie, looks for some money Louella has just remembered that Miss Sadie hid in a car, and engages in e-mail correspondence with former secretary Emma about her forthcoming trip to England. Two deaths occur in Mitford (Uncle Billy's death inspires the townspeople to take on an engaging new habit), as well as a wedding. Plus finally the missing brother comes home on a Christmas eve reunion that will bring you to tears.

Thankfully they go to Mitford often so we don't loose all our favorite characters plus there are so many new ones we get to meet. The ending was a bit rushed as she ties up loose ends to end this lovely series. I almost wish she could have been made it into two books as I felt it jump so much at the end. Oh, well all good things must come to an end.

Joe Gray msyteries by Shirley Rousseau Murphy

Cat on the Edge features Joe Gray, a cat, who discovers that he can understand, speak and read human language and feel such human emotions as guilt and sympathy, but when he witnesses Beckwith's murder, he begins to wish that he was just a regular cat. This very fun mystery series is more of an fantasy as Joe Gray finds he can understand human speak and even speak it himself. He discovers another cat who is like him as well as a human who can turn herself into a cat and back to human again. But I will definitely read more of this series.

Thale's Folly by Dorothy Gilman is a delightful book about Andrew Folly who goes to check out the property his father inherited. There he discovers that 4 people are very happily living there - perment guests of his Aunt. A truely delightful book.

Flesh Tones by M.J. Rose
Did Genny Haviland poison Slade Gabriel to save her adored father's art gallery or did she help the acclaimed artist kill himself before Alzheimer's disease destroyed his mind and talent? Although billed as a courtroom drama, there's not a great deal of suspense here, but that may not matter to readers who prefer their mysteries with a romantic subplot. In this engrossing, erotic novel, the affair that begins when 17-year-old Genny meets and falls in love with the married, much older Gabriel, and then spans two decades is more than a subplot--it's the whole thing. While the outcome of Genny's murder trial is hardly in doubt, it's a good frame for a nicely told story of love, art, and obsession.

Scarlet Feather by Maeve Binchy features two friends, Cathy Scarlet and Tom Feather who have started their own catering business. It follows their lives and those that they touch along the way. Everything written by Binchy is always lovely to read and this is no exception.

Sex and the City: Kiss and Tell by Amy Sohn gives an overview of the show's premise, photos of seasons past, biographies of and interviews with cast members and the show's producers, episode summaries and more. This is really fun to page through as I enjoy the show so much.

Bill Smith & Lyndia Chin Mysteries by S.J. Rozan

1. China Trade is set in New York's Chinatown Lydia is hired to find precious stolen porcelain. She follows a trail of clues from highbrow art dealers into a world of Chinese gangs. Suddenly, this case has become as complex as her community itself--and as deadly as a killer on the loose... Very fast paced and even though this is the first book you feel like the characters feel the history between the characters. I look forward to reading more by this author.

2. Concourse is from Bill's point of view and you get a lot of insight into his personality and his relationship with Lydia. A very complex world of real estate and community involvement in the Bronx. When a security guard is found beaten to death with a gunshot in his foot Bill is brought in by an old friend, Bobby Moran, who is the uncle of the murdered man and the head of the security company hired to guard the area. This form of killing if uniform of a gang killing bringing focus upon the local gang, the Cobras. When another security guard is killed will Bill discover if it is a simple as a gang killing or is something more sinister going on.

3. Mandarin Plaid is from Lydia's point of view. Her brother Andrew asks her to deliver the ransom for a set of stolen sketches that comprise the inaugural collection of fashion designer, Genna Jing. When Lydia is shot at in the park, her partner Bill is arrested and the money was stolen out from under her, Lydia starts digging to find out if everyone involved is really who they seem. Another well written addition to this excellent series. We find out more about Lydia's brother Andrew is hasn't come out to anyone in the family but her. Plus we see Bill & Lyndia's relationship grow and develope.

4. No Colder Place is back to Bill's point of view. Bill Smith is going undercover again as a favor to an old friend who wants him to investigate thievery on the 40-story Manhattan site of Crowell Construction's latest project. His bricklaying is a little rusty, but passable as he checks out the foreman who's under suspicion. A crane operator has disappeared--along with some heavy machinery. But when a well-orchestrated riot causes the foreman's “accidental” death, Smith plunges into a morass of bribery, blackmail and blood looking for answers.

By Blood Possessed by Elena Santangelo. Out of the blue, Pat Montella learns that an elderly Virginia woman, Magnolia Shelby, wants to leave her some land in her will. But a condition of the bequest is that Pat go to Virginia and spend some time with Miss Maggie. It turns out the land is the site of a Civil War battle, and Pat soon learns that she has a strange, eerie connection to events that happened 150 years ago, for she begins to hear sounds no one else hears, see things no one else sees. In many ways, this is a traditional mystery--someone seems to want to keep Pat from inheriting the land, and Pat has to figure out who--but it has a certain otherworldly quality that will appeal to readers of supernatural thrillers, for it offers an intriguing premise: If Pat's experiences aren't just a trick of her mind, can she use her unusual gift to solve a century-and-a-half-old mystery?

Jane Austen in Boca by Paula Marantz Cohen - follows the lives of senior citizens in Jewish "retirement club" in Boca Raton, Florida. Primarily follows 3 ladies who made an unlikely trio. It follows their loves, losses and friendship. It is a great read by the pool. I miss the characters already.

Passage by Connie Willis features Dr. Joanna Lander is a cognitive psychologist at Mercy Hospital. The focus of her research is the near-death experience (NDE). She interviews people who have coded and were resuscitated to try to to identify the common elements and to see if she can find out what causes the NDE and the purpose it serves in the dying brain. She meets up with Dr. Richard Wright, who is also studying NDEs, using a drug that simulates the near-death experience. When their volunteer list dwindles and the project is in danger of losing its funding, Joanna goes under the drug herself and embarks on a series of strange journeys as she tries to piece together the clues her experiences provide.

I love Connie Willis' books, I have not read one I did not like. It is hard to put her books down once you start reading it.

Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn is a story in corespondece from various characters. Ella Minnow Pea is a girl living happily on the fictional island of Nollop off the coast of South Carolina. Nollop was named after Nevin Nollop, author of the immortal pangram,* “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.” Now Ella finds herself acting to save her friends, family, and fellow citizens from the encroaching totalitarianism of the island’s Council, which has banned the use of certain letters of the alphabet as they fall from a memorial statue of Nevin Nollop. As the letters progressively drop from the statue they also disappear from the novel. The result is both a hilarious and moving story of one girl’s fight for freedom of expression, as well as a linguistic tour de force sure to delight word lovers everywhere.

Murder @Maggody.com by Joan Hess - I listened to this on cd in the car. I didn't like the reader but enjoyed the story. I always get a kick out of the latest Maggody book. I had read this one when it first came out a few years back but enjoyed it again. A fun series.

Muletrain to Maggody
Maggody, Arkansas is to (population 755, at least until Dahlia Buchanon brings her latest pregnancy to term), host a reenactment of the Skirmish at Cotter's Ridge, complete with mules, cannon, and corpses. The reenactors all have their own agendas. Jeb Stewart soaks his boots so they'll raise authentic blisters; Andrew Pulaski dreams of cutting a fine figure on horseback; Wendell Streek pores over the diary of Henry Largesse, whose unit camped at Boone Creek, where it was overwhelmed by Yankee artillery power. But it's Largesse's description of the Confederate gold, hidden somewhere on Cotter's Ridge, that piques the interest of virtually every one of the 755. Dahlia swipes her granny from the old folks' home to guide her through the ridge's caves. Ruby Bee Hanks and Estelle Oppers enlist the aid of backwoods delinquent Hammett Buchanon. Lottie Estes, Elsie McMay, and Eula Lemoy break into Headquarters House in Farberville looking for clues. When Lottie, along with Petrol Buchanon and Brother Verber, turns up missing, the heat's on Ruby Bee's pride and joy, Chief of Police Arly Hanks , to banish her old flame, filmmaker Jack Wallace, to the backlot so she can investigate.

China Bayles Herbal Mysteries by Susan Wittig Albert features herbalist China Bayles, who abandoned her career as a hot-shot Houston criminal attorney to buy an herb shop in a small town located half-way between Austin and San Antonio, Texas. Each of her mysteries has a signature herb that is connected to a major theme, and each is liberally sprinkled with information on growing and using herbs. Main characters are her friend Ruby, her lover ex-cop Mike McQuaid, as well as other friends and families.

1. Thyme of Death
China's first adventure. A friend dies--murder or suicide?

2. Witches' Bane
China and Ruby discover that the supernatural isn't funny.

3. Hangman's Root
Animal rights, academic politics, and murder--a potent mix.

4. Rosemary Remembered
Who remembers the victims of crime?

5. Rueful Death
Grace, forgiveness, and the mystery of community.

6. Love Lies Bleeding
China learns a tough lesson in love.

7. Chile Death
Hot stuff, folks! (Funny, too)

8. Lavender Lies
Mystery, murder, and a wet 'n' wild wedding

9. Mistletoe Man
What's Christmas without mistletoe? What's life without Ruby? Join China as she faces both of these difficult questions. When the mistletoe man is mysteriously run down by an hit and run driver immediate his neighbors are under suspicion as there has been a running feud with them for most of the year. But will the crazy aunt take the fall for the murder or will the real murderer please stand up? This one was a puzzlier but enjoyment to the end.

10. Bloodroot
We find out more about her relationship with her mother and her past. Leatha, China's mother, calls from Jordan's Crossing to ask for China's help in dealing with her Aunt Tullie's illness. Upon arrival in Jordan's Crossing Leatha informs China that Aunt Tullie has Huntington's Disease and struck Wiley, the manager of the plantation while in a rage about a long forgotten paper saying his great grandfather owns the property. When Wiley is discovered two days later drowned in the local pond they must all deal with the consequences of their aunt's actions. China must deal with this devastating news as she comes to understand how this affect her life as well as her mother's. When she goes to bed she dreams a childhood dream of following her Aunt and seeing her dig up an unmarked grave. When she awakes she finds Pearl's diary, Aunt Tullie's mother, and the pj's that China wore as a child stained with Bloodroot. Was it really a dream or are there really skeletons in the family graveyard that no one knows about. There are many mysteries to discover but thanks to the ghosts that speak from the past China learns the truth about herself and her past.

11. Indigo Dying
China has recently become part-owner of a combination herb shop and tea house called Thyme for Tea in tiny Indigo, Tex. But her new life-and the lifestyle of the bohemian entrepreneurs and elderly Indigo natives in the community-is put in jeopardy when Casey Ford, a reviled but powerful Indigo resident, concocts a plan to sell the coal-mining rights to a national conglomerate, a scheme that would allow him to evict most of the store owners in town once the deal is done. Ford is murdered days before he signs the agreement. Bayles and her husband, another former attorney named Mike McQuaid, find themselves stymied in their investigation of the murder by a town full of suspects who close ranks as they celebrate Ford's sudden death.

12. An Unthymely Death
Several short stories featuring our favorite characters. These were originally published in a magazine and feature many facts and recipes featuring herbs. Not as good as the full length novels but fun to read never the less.

13. Dilly of a Death

14. Deadman's Bones

15. Bleeding hearts
Coach Tim Duffy's Pecan Springs high school football team has won the state championships two years in a row -- and in Texas, that makes him a demigod. But when China's stepson's principal asks her to conduct a sensitive investigation concerning accusations of sexual misconduct lodged against Duffy, she becomes embroiled in a dark drama that, if exposed, could destroy families and ruin lives. Statutory rape and cold-blooded murder are just the beginning of this mystery…

China struggles to unravel the mysterious circumstances surrounding the murder of a beloved high school football coach and the alleged suicide of a woman who was once one of his students. A handmade quilt, sewn by a woman who went through cancer treatments, is missing from the quilt show that Ruby is in charge of. In typical New Age style Ruby decides to ask the Ouija Board to help guide her to the guilty party. Plus to complicate matters China's mother asks her to get some papers that were found after her husband's secretary's death. What China finds will rock her to the bone.

Interesting enough China's husband is out of town for most of the book. We get to see more of China interacting with other women and friends.