Agatha Raisin series by M. C. Beaton which is a psedonym for Marion Chesney. I love to re-read this series and savor these books as a treat to read every few weeks. I keep wanting more. Agatha Raisin is always a delightful read as you never can tell what kind of mischief she will get herself into. I'm not sure why the last few titles no longer have her name in the title.

18. Kissing Christmas Goodbye

17. Love, Lies and Liquor

16. Perfect Paragon
On the advice of the vicar's wife, Agatha takes on Phil Witherspoon, 76, as a photographer. And she hires her secretary's nephew Harry Beam, a bright lad on his gap year from university, to find the missing pets her detective agency has mostly dealt with lately. Although Agatha hates divorce cases and thinks Robert Smedley an obnoxious bully, the £1,000 plus expenses he offers to find his errant wife overcome her scruples. Meanwhile, she and Phil go to work on the case of a missing teenager whose body they soon find. When Smedley is poisoned in his factory office, Agatha discovers that he'd been having an affair with Joyce, his secretary. Wait, there's more: The missing teenager had been making porn tapes for her secret fiancé, who worked for Smedley and was also carrying on with Joyce. The cases, which seem so remote from one another, naturally end up intertwined. In the end, Harry proves his worth, Phil shows a flair for detection, former employee Patrick Mulligan returns to the fold and, despite a distinct lack of warmth from the police, they manage to sort it all out. In typical Agatha fashion she solves it all but only with the help of her friends.

15. Deadly Dance
Finally an Agatha Raisin novel that does not have her name in the title. Agatha always thought of herself as a detective but can she make it her business? After getting mugged on vacation, in what she will always think of as the Paris Incident, she decides to find out. Her clients are ladies with missing cats and a man whose son has run off with his car. Agatha even worries that she might be outclassed by her sixty-seven-year-old secretary, Emma Comfrey. But then wealthy divorcée Catherine Laggat-Brown walks in with their first "real" case. Mrs. Laggat-Brown's daughter has received a death threat, and when Agatha thwarts an attack on the girl at a dinner dance, she recognizes an opportunity to show what Raisin Investigations can do. Even better, the case gives her a chance to reunite with her long-absent friend, Sir Charles Fraith. As they scour the Cotswolds in search of leads, Charles' insights prove invaluable and his charms irresistible, leading poor Emma to fall madly in love with him.As ever, Agatha bumbles her way through the case, trying her friends' patience and flirting shamelessly with the chief suspect. Will she put her tiny agency on the map, or has even the outrageous Agatha finally bitten off more than she can chew? Truely wonderful as always.

14. Agatha Raisin and the Haunted House
Just back from an extended stay in London, Agatha Raisin finds herself greeted by torrential rains and an old, familiar feeling of boredom. When her handsome new neighbor, Paul Chatterton, shows up on her doorstep, she tries her best to ignore his obvious charms, but his sparkling black eyes and the promise of adventure soon lure her into another investigation. Paul has heard rumors about Agatha's reputation as the Cotswold village sleuth and wastes no time offering their services to the crotchety owner of a haunted house. Whispers, footsteps, and a cold white mist are plaguing Mrs. Witherspoon, but the police have failed to come up with any leads, supernatural or otherwise. The neighbors think it's all a desperate ploy for attention, but Paul and Agatha are sure something more devious is going on. Someone's playing tricks on Mrs. Witherspoon, and when she turns up dead under suspicious circumstances, Agatha finds herself caught up in another baffling murder mystery.

13. Agatha Raisin and the Case of the Curious Curate
Some familiar faces return such as John Armitage & Mrs. Bloxby wife of the local reverend. The story starts with Agatha returning from a trip to London to discover there is a new curate, Tristan Delom. who is literally and figuratively taking over the Rev. Bloxby's parish. Tristan is beautiful & charming and seems interested in Agatha but is it for her money or true love. Before she can find out he is murdered but is the Rev. Bloxby the murderer or is something more sinister afoot. It seems like each book in this series has a murder or more but this is definitely more of a puzzler with a twist at the end. But from the ending there is definitely more Agatha Raisin to come...

12. Agatha Raisin and the Day the Floods Came
Agatha's latest adventures begin when her husband runs off to join a monastery in France. Agatha seeks solace in an island vacation. During her getaway, she notices a newlywed couple; within days, the groom drowns the bride. On her return home, during a dramatic flash flood, Agatha sees another dead bride, wearing a white gown and clutching a bridal bouquet, sweeping past on the river. Agatha swings into action, pestering the locals and enlisting the aid of her new neighbor, a mystery writer. But will she find romance with her new neighbor or just be one of the boys? I listened to this on tape and really enjoyed it. I will defintely listen to more on tape.

11. Agatha Raisin and the Love From Hell
10. Agatha Raisin and the Fairies of Fryfam
9. Agatha Raisin and the Wizard of Eversham
8. Agatha Raisin and the Witch of Wyckhadden

7. Agatha Raisin and the Wellspring of Death
Agatha has agreed to come out of retirement to manage the publicity for the launch of water bottled from a village spring--much to the chagrin of some of her neighbors. Worried that the commodification of at least part of the village's charm might wreak havoc on their peaceful existence, some of the community try to stop it once and for all. Still, killing off a member of the village council and leaving the corpse in the spring itself seems a little extreme, especially as it makes Agatha's paying job a bit more difficult. Believing that a dead body might destroy the chances for a successful campaign to market her product, Agatha begins an investigation into who might have wanted the victim dead. She careens around the Cotswolds asking impertinent questions regarding the personal lives of her neighbors, all the while wondering why so many of them are unpleasant to her. She manages to muddle her own romantic affairs to such an extent that she finds herself in bed with her young and handsome employer--to the dismay of her former fiancée.

6. Agatha Raisin and the Terrible Tourist
The marriage of expublic relations whiz Agatha Raisin to cold, enigmatic James Lacey, who lives next door to her retirement cottage in the Cotswold village of Carsely, has fallen through . James has taken off for Cyprus, the planned site of their aborted honeymoon, and Agatha, incomprehensibly, takes off after him. Soon after her arrival, on a day cruise in the harbor at Kyrenia, she meets an oddly mixed group of tourists--aristocratic Olivia Debenham, her broker husband George, and their older friend Harry Tembleton-- spending much of their time in the company of low-class, tarty Rose Wilcox, her hard-drinking husband Trevor, and their elderly friend Angus King. Agatha has tracked down James and, on a platonic basis, is sharing his rented house. They've joined the oddball group at a disco one night when Rose is stabbed to death and Agatha and James are detained and questioned by Detective Inspector Lyall Pamir. A second murder in the group arouses all of Agatha's detecting fervor. But will she be the next victim before she can solve the big case? Of course she will and we love her for all her faults.

5. Agatha Raisin and the Murderous Marriage
Agatha is about to marry her handsome next-door neighbor, James. But the wedding ceremony is halted mid-vow by the arrival of Jimmy Raisin, the husband Agatha fervently hoped was dead and has neglected to mention to James Lacey, the fastidious, upstanding citizen currently waiting to tie the knot. Even less convenient than a living husband who interrupts your wedding is one who, shortly thereafter, turns up dead in a ditch in the immediate neighborhood. Naturally, Agatha and James top the suspect list. But the dead Jimmy was a down-and-out alcoholic who had been known to practice a bit of blackmail. Agatha and James track down some of his victims, who have a distressing tendency to die shortly after being questioned by the two. With bodies stacking up and James refusing to marry Agatha (even though she has already sold her cottage), the atmosphere becomes nicely tense. I think this one of my favorites as we really get to see what makes Agatha tick.

4. Agatha Raisin and the Walkers of Dembley
Shortly after Agatha's return, Jessica Tartinck, the confrontational leader of a walking group, is murdered in nearby Dembley. When Sir Charles Fraith becomes the chief suspect (he and Jessica had argued about the walkers' right-of-way through his fields), Agatha is asked by a village friend to investigate. Ever eager, Agatha and her cohort James move to Dembley and, posing as man and wife, infiltrate Jessica's walking group. Wending their way through circuitous misadventure, however, the pair solve the murder and forge a deeper relationship than they'd enjoyed before. We are introduced to Sir Charles and it gives us the background on how her neighbor, James, finally pops the question. But who is really in love with whom?

3. Agatha Raisin and the Vicious Vet
Is there a romance is budding with the attractive new village vet, Dr. Paul Bladen? But before Agatha can find out, Bladen accidentally kills himself while attending to Lord Pendlebury's horse, and Agatha must turn to her distinguished neighbor, the retired military man James Lacey, for comfort. Together, the odd couple begin to investigate Dr. Bladen's death . . . and the curious lack of sorrow shown by his divorced wife. But will they succeed in unmasking a killer before suffering an "accident" of their own?

2. Agatha Raisin and the Potted Gardner
Never say die. That's the philosophy Agatha Raisin clings to when she comes home to cozy Carsely and finds a new woman ensconced in the affections of her attractive bachelor neighbor, James Lacey. The beautiful newcomer, Mary Fortune, is superior in every way, especially when it comes to gardening. and Agatha, that rose with many thorns, hasn't a green thumb to her name. With garden Open Day approaching, she longs for a nice juicy murder to remind James of her genius for investigation. And sure enough, a series of destructive assaults on the finest gardens is followed by an appalling murder. Agatha seizes the moment and immediately starts yanking up village secrets by their roots and digging up all the dirt on the victim. Problem is, Agatha has an awkward secret of her own...

1. Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death
Feisty Agatha Raisin, until recently a public-relations executive in London, has retired to peaceful Cotswold. Eager to make friends in her new English village home, Agatha buys a quiche and enters it in the village quiche-making competition, only to be accused of poisoning the judge with the dish. We're introduced to series regulars detective Bill Wong, former employee Roy Silver, the vicar's wife Mrs. Bloxby. We are also introduced to handsome retired colonel James Lacey, who moves next door to Agatha towards the end of this story.

Angus, thongs and full-frontal snogging: confessions of Georgia Nicolson by Louise Rennison. Presents the humorous journal of a year in the life of a fourteen-year-old Georgia who tries to reduce the size of her nose, stop her mad cat from terrorizing the neighborhood animals, and win the love of handsome hunk Robbie. This is a U.K. teen series so lots of odd sounding slang, see the title? But there is a glossary at the back that has been written by Georgia so it's worth a read plus a good reference when you aren't sure what they are talking about.

This is quite an entertaining read plus since I listeded to it on tape got to hear the British accents. There are 3 others in the series now that I'll probably get to one day but can only take so much at one time.

I really enjoy reading books by Charlaine Harris. She somehow manages to take ordinary situations and find the terrifying focus underneath - and she is not for the faint of heart. These may look like cozies but are not! She has written several series of which I've read most of and am starting to re-read once again.

See more about her books at this site - http://www.murderexpress.net/charlaineharris/index.htm

Aurora "Roe" Teagarden - a small town librarian, who seems to be followed by murder and mayhem

1. Real Murders
2. A Bone to Pick
3. Three Bedrooms, One Corpse
4. Julius House
5. Dead Over Heels
6. Fool and His Honey
7. Last Scene Alive
Roe is is reunited with the circumstances in her first murder when a movie comes to town to create a movie version of a book that was written about the grizzly murders. With this comes her former flame, Robin Crusoe, and her stepson Branson. It's been several years since I read the original books but it all came back quickly reading this latest installment.
8. Poppy Done to Death

The Shakespeare/Lily Bard Series - Lily is a profession house cleaner and survivor of a horrible kidnapping and rape while in her early 20's.

1. Shakespeare's Landlord
2. Shakespeare's Champion
3. Shakespeare's Christmas
4. Shakespeare's Trollop
5. Shakespeare's Counselor

Sookie Stackhouse Series - Sookie is a small town waitress with a disability - she can read minds. And then along comes Bill who is a blank slate. Quickly she finds out that she isn't alone in the disability department and finds herself attracting all kinds of supernatural creatues. Vampires, werewolves and spooks, oh my!

1. Dead Until Dark
2. Living Dead in Dallas
3. Club Dead

Quaker Silence by Irene Allen - Debut detective Elizabeth Elliott, 66-year-old Clerk of Meeting for a Boston church, embodies a number of Quaker qualities that aid her in discovering the killer of a wealthy but troubled Friend. Reluctantly pressured into clearing the name of a homeless man accused of the crime, Elliott persists in questioning suspects until she solves the case. An interesting approach to a murder mystery, plus learned about the Quaker religion. I'm looking forward to reading others by this author.

Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer - Twelve-year-old, Artemis Fowl, tries to buy back his mother's sanity while trying to discover if his father is still a live. This evil genius tries to restore his family fortune by capturing a fairy and demanding a ransom in gold, the fairies fight back with magic, technology, and a particularly nasty troll.

Artemis Fowl: the Arctic Incident In his second adventure, the youngest, brightest, and most dangerous criminal mastermind is at boarding school when he receives an urgent e-mail from Russia. It's from a man Artemis never thought he'd see again: his father, who has been kidnapped by the Russian mafia and pleads for Artemis's help. Brings back familiar characters from the first book.

Artemis Fowl: the Eternity Code Discovering a way to build a super-computer using stolen fairy technology, young criminal mastermind Artemis sets out to blackmail a Chicago businessman but runs into a trap that leaves Butler mortally injured.

Nine Lives to Murder by Marian Babson - A backstage fall causes a preeminent English actor and a cat to miraculously switch bodies, and while the cat lies in the hospital in the actor's body, the actor in the cat's body tries to learn who pushed him. An entertaining read and I will read more by this author.

Bellwether by Connie Willis Statistician Sandra Foster and chaos theorist Bennett O'Reilly are brought together by a misdelivered package and urged into their own chaotic world of million-dollar grants, unlucky coincidences, setbacks, and eventually the ultimate answer. This is one of Willis' earlier books and not so much science fiction as the how scientists discover the answers in the most surprising places and ways. I love her books so much and it was interesting to read this much shorter book of hers as her newer books are very long but so good.

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.