PK the Bookeemonster: Cuddling with the weekend ...

Friday, August 2, 2024

Cuddling with the weekend ...

TGIF!

No plans this weekend other than reading, crocheting, some cleaning (what??), napping, and walking Keo.

I'll finish the Allison Montclair book soon, either tonight or tomorrow. I'm listening to the James Patterson for GarbAugust. I had thought that maybe I could use that for a scavenger hunt prompt for next weekend (book from a long series).... but is rather gritty and this group is very cozy mysteries. So the search continued. I wanted it to hopefully be a historical mystery as the group isn't as exposed to them and I want to spread the joy.

It had to be a series that I wasn't caught up on (like Sherry Thomas, Andrea Penrose, or C.S. Harris) and I was hoping for over, say 18 books in a series. It couldn't be a series that people were already pretty familiar with (Victoria Thompson or Veronica Speedwell). An audiobook available would be nice so I can listen while I crochet.

I've chosen two and I may start them this weekend.

First up, A VERY ENGLISH MURDER by Verity Bright. 1st of 19 in series featuring Lady Eleanor Swift in 1920s.

England, 1920. Eleanor Swift has spent the last few years travelling the world: taking tea in China, tasting alligators in Peru, escaping bandits in Persia and she has just arrived in England after a chaotic forty-five-day flight from South Africa. Chipstone is about the sleepiest town you could have the misfortune to meet. And to add to these indignities – she’s now a Lady. Lady Eleanor, as she would prefer not to be known, reluctantly returns to her uncle’s home, Henley Hall. Now Lord Henley is gone, she is the owner of the cold and musty manor. What’s a girl to do? Well, befriend the household dog, Gladstone, for a start, and head straight out for a walk in the English countryside, even though a storm is brewing… But then, from the edge of a quarry, through the driving rain, Eleanor is shocked to see a man shot and killed in the distance. Before she can climb down to the spot, the villain is gone and the body has vanished. With no victim and the local police convinced she’s stirring up trouble, Eleanor vows to solve this affair by herself. And when her brakes are mysteriously cut, one thing seems sure: someone in this quiet country town has Lady Eleanor Swift in their murderous sights…

Published 2020; 374 pages. Itis Kindle Unlimited and there is an audiobook.

Second, I may read MURDER & THE HEIR by Beth Byers. 1st of 44 in series featuring Violet Carlyle, also set in the 1920s.

Christmas 1922. Violet Carlyle--along with a slew of relatives--is called to spend the holidays with their aunt, Agatha Davies. The intransigent woman has spent the majority of her life squirreling away money and alienating her family. It's hardly the first time Vi has spent the holidays with her aunt. She and her twin intend to do what they always do. Enjoy Aunt Aggie’s luxuries while ignoring the histrionics of the family trying to worm their way into the will. Only this time, Aunt Aggie claims someone is trying to kill her. But how can that be true? Before Vi can find the killer, Aunt Aggie dies. Since Agatha never named an heir, why would anyone want to kill her? To her shock, Vi finds herself embroiled in a murder investigation where she and her family are the suspects. Just who murdered Aunt Agatha? And why? Will they be able to find the killer before someone else dies?

Published 2018; only 172 pages. No audiobook available but it's a quick read and a huge number of "books" so I may get to it.

The package to Canada arrived yesterday. Per a request from one of our group who had been involved in choosing the second color and watching me work on (both) shawls, Sarah is going to unbox it on camera probably on Sunday. I said she didn't have to and only if she felt up to doing it.