Books Read June 2013

Adams, Ellery

• Pies and Prejudice 

Fiction.  Ella Mae returns home to Georgia after catching her husband cheating on her.  She moves into a guesthouse behind her mother’s house and is warmly embraces by the five women who raised her and who help her fulfill her dream of opening a pie shop.  An untimely threat to her childhood nemesis is mistakenly assumed to be toward the woman’s fiance...who ends up dead.  Ella Mae needs to clear her name and goes about trying to solve the murder.

Beck, K.K.

• A Hopeless Case 

Fiction.  Jane has spent the last 20 years living in Europe, when she receives the news that her wealthy uncle has died.  She has inherited his house and his money...with a catch.  She must move back to Seattle and take over his foundation.  Her new job is to solve hopeless cases, cases where an injustice has been done and which can’t be solved through the normal channels.

Bevill, C.L.

• Bubba and The Dead Woman 

Fiction.  One night while working at the gas station, Bubba looks out the window and sees a familiar face, someone he hasn’t seen in years.  When he arrives home, he finds that person dead from a gunshot in the back.  Can he solve the murder before they string him up for it?

Bretton, Barbara

• Spells and Stitches 

Fiction.  4th in the Sugar Maple series about the half-human, half-Fae owner of a successful yarn shop who is married to a full-blooded human and lives in a magickal village.  Luke and Chloe have been trying to keep a distance between his overwhelming family and the magicks of Sugar Maple, but things come to a head when they discover that Chloe is pregnant, and the baby might be in trouble.

Canfield, Jack

• Chicken Soup for the Soul: I Can’t Believe My Cat Did That! 

Non-fiction.  Collection of heartwarming tales of the peculiarities of cats and the owners who love them nevertheless.

Dams, Jeanne M.

• Murder at the Castle 

Fiction.  13th in the Dorothy Martin series about a 60-something American woman who moves to England after the death of her husband.  She is remarried to an English ex-Chief Constable, and the two of them seem to keep finding themselves involved in murders.  In this book, they travel to Wales for a 10-day musical concert vacation that rapidly turns into a mystery.

Houston, Victoria

• Dead Angler 

Fiction.  A retired dentist living in the small town of Loon Lake, Wisconsin spends his free time fishing the many lakes and streams around him.  When he takes up fly-fishing again, he’s drawn to the Chief of Police who is his fishing guide.  A murder brings them closer.

Wahlstrom, Ralph L.

• The Tao of Writing 

Non-fiction.  Wonderful book more about the creativity of writing than the technique of writing.  Has lots of exercises in the back to get your creativity moving.