The Double Cross by Clare
O'Donohue -- book three in the Someday Quilts Mystery series; I read the
first two last year. This is about Nell who loves to get involved in
solving crimes although she's not a detective. In this book, the Quilt
Club leaves Archer's Rest so Susanne can teach a class at a new
bed-and-breakfast establishment. What they find is a run-down place,
weird locals, and a murder!
Beauty for Ashes
by Dorothy Love -- book 2 in the Hickory Ridge Romance series; I read
the first book from the library, and liked the story so I put the next
two books on my Amazon Wishlist since the library didn't have them.
Problem is that I kind of forgot what book 1 was about, but I think I
remembered it somewhat as I read this book about Carrie Daly as she is
pressured into taking care of her unkind sister in law and her two
unruly sons while her brother Henry goes to Chicago to find work.
The Wedding Dress
by Rachel Hauck -- an honor book at a local library; I'd read a few
others from this author so I decided to read this one about Charlotte
who owns a wedding dress shop in Birmingham. She goes to an estate
auction and buys a battered trunk that is welded shut. When she finally
gets it open, she discovers a wedding dress and seeks to find out more
of its history.
The Lake House
by Kate Morton -- a great book with an ending that may have been just a
little too neat, but still...I really enjoyed this book about Alice
Edevane's family in Cornwall, and the modern-day detective Sadie who was
visiting her grandfather there while on forced leave. This was the
last of her books at my library, but maybe she'll have more sometime!
The Three Mrs. Parkers
by Joan Medlicott -- a book about three women Winifred Parker who came
to live with her daughter in law Zoe, and then Zoe's daughter Kathryn
moving in with them after her disabled daughter's death
The Bay at Midnight
by Diane Chamberlain -- I discovered this author last year, and have
enjoyed most of her books. This was no exception. It takes place in
New Jersey (where the author is from), and I love the character of
12-year-old Julie reading her Nancy Drew novels, collecting assorted
items and keeping them as clues. As the book opens, Julie is now 53
years old and writing her thirty-third novel in her Granny Fran series.
But a knock on the door changes everything...and reopens wounds from
the summer when Julie was 12, and her sister died at the Jersey Shore.
Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death
by M.C. Beaton -- I read a short series by this author last year that
takes place in Edwardian times. This one is more contemporary and a much
longer series. I got the first from the library to give it a go. And
for the most part I liked it! The proofreader didn't do well...at times
they had Angela instead of Agatha and a few other quibbles were noted
by someone who read the book and decided to ink in the correct name or
quotation marks. But the story was rather cute if not great. I'll
likely read more of these for some light reading.
A Single Thread
by Marie Bostwick -- After her divorce Evelyn takes a long trip from
Texas to Connecticut to see the fall colors, as that is something she
always wanted to do. While there, she discovers an abandoned store for
rent, and decides to try out a dream of opening a quilt shop.
Eventually she becomes friends with some local ladies and an Irish
gentleman who run the popular Grill. A rather cute story about the
importance of friendship.
The Dressmaker's War
by Mary Chamberlain -- The story of Ada's war. The young lady with a
flair for designing and creating lovely dresses. Who was foolish enough
to take up with a guy who led her to Paris just as War was coming to the
world. What was Ada's war like as a dressmaker in Munich? And what
happened after the war? Was her story believable enough for English
society?
Austenland
by Shannon Hale -- ho hum. Jane is gifted a trip to Austenland where
she put on the dress and character of a Regency-era lady and tried to
make heads or tails of what kind of man she wanted. I got rather bored
of this book after awhile; I'm glad it was under 200 pages.
Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor
by Stephanie Barron -- "Being the First Jane Austen Mystery" ; a series
I discovered at a local library about a journal of Jane Austen who was
detecting in the murder of the Lord
The White Garden by
Stephanie Barron -- "a novel of Virginia Woolf" -- Jo Belamy goes to
England to research the White Garden because she is hired by a rich
fellow in the States who wants it replicated. While there, Jo searches
for clues about her grandfather Jock who killed himself the day after Jo
told him that she was traveling there. She didn't realize her
grandfather had once been the gardener at Sissinghurst Castle. What did
he know about the death of Virginia Woolf?
The Excellent Lombards
by Jane Hamilton -- a somewhat interesting story about Mary Frances
Lombard and her extended family who lived in Wisconsin and worked in the
family apple orchard and in the sheep pens. MF (as she refers to
herself later in the book) holds steady in her desire to work the farm
and orchard one day, but has trouble with her brother's changing ways -
going to college - and other changes around the place.
The Daring Ladies of Lowell
by Kate Alcott -- a good story about Alice's arrival at the cotton mill
in Lowell, Massachusetts, around 1832. Her time with other mill girls
and the circumstances surrounding her friend Lovey's death: was it
suicide because of Lovey's fallen state or was she murdered? I liked
this book.
Mozart's Sister
by Nancy Moser -- my mom read this book a few months ago, and I put it
on my to-get-eventually list; well that day happened recently, and I
enjoyed learning more about Nannerl Mozart through this first-person
account some of which is fiction, of course, but much of which was gathered
through the family's letter-writing (and saving of those letters)
tradition; a good book
Gone South by
Meg Moseley -- When Tish decides to check out the ancestral home in
northern Alabama on her way back from moving her mom from Michigan to
Florida, she had no idea that she'd decide to purchase the thing! But,
she does, and finds it's a bit hard to plug into life with a name like
Letitia McComb. Something about her grandparents being unkind
carpetbaggers 100 years prior. In the meantime, Tish takes in Mel -
that's Melanie Hamilton - who recently arrived back into town. A local
20 year old on the outs with her family and most of her hometown. A
decent book.
