How to Age Disgracefully
How to Age Disgracefully by Clare Pooley When recent empty nester Lydia applies for the job running the local Senior Citizens’ Social Club, she envisions quiet, grateful pensioners enjoying bingo […]
The Silver-Haired Sisterhood
The Silver-Haired Sisterhood (the further adventures of the Five French Hens) by Judy Leigh The Five French Hens are back in another improbable adventure. (Old ladies do not really live […]
Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murders
Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto Sixty-year-old Vera Wong springs out of bed at 4:30 a.m. each morning. “Late mornings, Vera believes, are only for toddlers […]
The Examiner
The Examiner by Janice Hallett I loved The Examiner, a fiendishly clever epistolary novel. I read the book in a weekend, and was repeatedly flummoxed by the plot’s twists and […]
One Death at a Time
One Death at a Time by Abbi Waxman Romance writer Abbi Waxman (The Bookish Life of Nina Hill) has written a mystery. Twentysomething Natasha Mason and iconic, retired actress Julia […]
Run for the Hills
Run for the Hills by Kevin Wilson I am not generally a fan of Kevin Wilson (the weird book where the children spontaneously combust when agitated -Ick), but I took […]
Murder Takes a Vacation
Murder Takes a Vacation by Laura Lippman As we swelter in Nashville, a river cruise in France sounds delicious! Unless you are the traveler who discovers the body! Mrs. Blossom, […]
American in Paris Mysteries
American In Paris Mysteries, Colleen Cambridge There is a sub-genre of mystery novels that feature real-life historical figures as crime solvers. Some of these efforts seem a bit of a […]
The Golden Gals French Adventure
The Golden Gals French Adventure by Judy Leigh Another completely predictable but charming novel features an unlikely pair of friends, wealthy, self-absorbed Fliss and her hardworking housekeeper Shirl. When Fliss […]
Table for Five
Table for Five by Izzy Bromley When Abbie Finch is fired from her fabulous, if all consuming, job in Leeds, she realizes that her only confidant is her cat, Elvis. […]
The Country Club Murders
The Country Club Murder Mysteries by Julie Mulhern In the first of these novels, set in Kansas City 1975, artist, and unhappy wife Ellison Russell stumbles over a body during […]
Churchill’s Citadel
Churchill’s Citadel, Chartwell and the Gatherings Before the Storm by Katherine Carter Do we really need another Winston Churchill book? Probably not, but author Katherine Carter, curator at Chartwell, takes […]
The Uncommon Reader
The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett I love discovering an “old” book (nope, not Moby Dick), such as The Uncommon Reader, a novella about Queen Elizabeth II by the British […]
How to Choose a Murder Mystery
How to Choose a Murder Mystery Those of us who regularly read crime novels know that despite their down-market reputation, writing an engaging page-turner (I bow to you Michael Connelly) […]
A VoyageAround the Queen
A Voyage Around the Queen by Craig Brown Craig Brown’s unconventional biography of Queen Elizabeth II was a disappointment. By all accounts, QEII never said (publicly at least) anything interesting, […]