I decline

 Monday

I finished two books this weekend. I finished the Andrea Penrose, MURDER AT THE MERTON LIBRARY. 4 stars. And DEATH AT A SCOTTISH WEDDING by Lucy Connelly. 4 stars.

I read a novella on Saturday, BONES TAKES A HOLIDAY by Emma Jameson. 3rd of 3 in historical mystery series featuring Benjamin Bones, a doctor during World War II in Cornwall

The holidays in question are Christmas 1939 and Valentine’s Day 1940. The world is at war, and the first of many hard winters has begun. But for Dr. Benjamin Bones and Lady Juliet Linton, love has bloomed amid the fear of an uncertain future.

Dr. Bones and the Christmas Wish

A few days before Christmas 1939, Dr. Benjamin Bones is in a "Bah, Humbug," sort of mood. It's the coldest winter on record, his country is at war, and his love life has run aground. But magic as well as mysteries abound in Cornwall. When Ben makes a bargain with an elfin little man, it leads him to an old woman who longs to make amends--and a chance for Ben to show that certain someone how much he cares.

Dr. Bones and the Lost Love Letter

There's no such thing as privacy in the tiny village of Birdswing. Everywhere Dr. Benjamin Bones turns, someone is spying from a window, listening through a wall, or gossiping over a garden fence. "The birds sing in Birdswing," says the vicar, Father Cotterill, and in February 1940 this is more true than ever. Waiting for Hitler to make his move and turn this "Phony War" into the real thing, Ben's fellow villagers are desperate for a distraction. But his blossoming affair with Lady Juliet must remain absolutely secret. So when a seemingly trifling "case" arises--a love letter misplaced for almost thirty years, still in search of its intended recipient--Ben and Juliet jump at the chance to investigate, simply to steal a bit of time together. But as they try to deliver the letter, they discover two lonely people who might get a second chance at love... through the magic of Cornwall.

Published 2026; 130 pages. 3 stars.

Currently reading THE RIGHT SORT OF MAN by Allison Montclair. 1st of 6 in series featuring Miss Iris Sparks and Mrs. Gwendolyn Bainbridge, proprietors of The Right Sort Marriage Bureau, beginning in 1946 London

First comes love, then comes murder. In a London slowly recovering from World War II, two very different women join forces to launch a business venture in the heart of Mayfair--The Right Sort Marriage Bureau. Miss Iris Sparks, quick-witted and impulsive, and Mrs. Gwendolyn Bainbridge, practical and widowed with a young son, are determined to achieve some independence and do some good in a rapidly changing world. But the promising start to their marriage bureau is threatened when their newest client, Tillie La Salle, is found murdered and the man arrested for the crime is the prospective husband they matched her with. While the police are convinced they have their man, Miss Sparks and Mrs. Bainbridge are not. To clear his name--and to rescue their fledging operation's reputation--Sparks and Bainbridge decide to investigate on their own, using the skills and contacts they've each acquired through life and their individual adventures during the recent war. Little do they know that this will put their very lives at risk.

Published 2019; 320 pages.

A lady I know is reading COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO a few pages at a time. I thought that's a good idea. I'm going to read THE SUNNE IN SPLENDOUR by Sharon Kay Penman. Historical

A glorious novel of the controversial Richard III - a monarch betrayed in life by his allies and betrayed in death by history. In this beautifully rendered modern classic, Sharon Kay Penman redeems Richard III - vilified as the bitter, twisted, scheming hunchback who murdered his nephews, the princes in the Tower - from his maligned place in history with a dazzling combination of research and storytelling. Born into the treacherous courts of fifteenth-century England, in the midst of what history has called The War of the Roses, Richard was raised in the shadow of his charismatic brother, King Edward IV. Loyal to his friends and passionately in love with the one woman who was denied him, Richard emerges as a gifted man far more sinned against than sinning. This magnificent retelling of his life is filled with all of the sights and sounds of battle, the customs and lore of the fifteenth century, the rigors of court politics, and the passions and prejudices of royalty.

Published 1982. 1249 pages.

No sprints tonight. Still freaking cold.

Have a good day

Much love,

PK the Bookeemonster