A Caribbean Mystery by Agatha Christie #ReadChristie26

In this mystery set on a fictional island in the Caribbean, Miss Marple’s quiet vacation is (surprise!) interrupted by murder. Her nephew Raymond had thoughtfully paid for her to travel to the West Indies to recuperate after a bad bout of pneumonia, and now Miss Marple is doing what she does best: listening. 

Hello, Summer by Mary Kay Andrews, who reveals her Betsy-Tacy fandom

Given the challenges newspapers have experienced, investigative reporter Conley Hawkins is thrilled to have been offered a prestigious job in Washington, DC. Then, during her actual goodbye party, in the sort of nightmare situation that would normally only happen to yours truly, she learns her new employer has gone bankrupt – so no job in DC and her job in Atlanta has already been filled. 

The Sea Child by Linda Wilgus - a dramatic adventure in Cornwall

In this captivating historical novel, a grieving widow is drawn back to Cornwall, the location of her earliest memories, where she expects a quiet life but is drawn into friendship with a gang of smugglers. Impoverished after her naval husband’s death and unexpectedly touched by scandal, Isabel Henley flees London for a rustic cottage in Helston after her husband dies at Trafalgar on the HMS Neptune, leaving nothing but debts. 

Other People's Houses by Clare Mackintosh – Reading Wales 2026

In the third mystery featuring Detective Constable Ffion Morgan in Wales and Detective Sergeant Leo Brady just across the border in England, Ffion is investigating a drowned real estate agent while Leo has been summoned to a ritzy neighborhood in Cheshire, the Hill, regarding a string of burglaries. As I learned when visiting Cornwall several years ago (and it is also true on Cape Cod), housing in areas where tourism is a major industry has become too expensive for traditional residents.

Spell the Month in Books - March

For March's Spell the Month in Books I chose several books I read in 2007:

Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin aka Diana Norman (20007). This is the first in a historical mystery series set in 12th-century England about Adelia Aguilar, a female forensic pathologist from Sicily, summoned by Henry II to investigate the murders of children in Cambridge, which have been blamed on the local Jewish community.

The Elements by John Boyne - Reading Ireland Month 2026

In this very dark novel by Irish writer John Boyne, four novellas are connected through the trauma that each character experienced; some are victims and some have turned around to inflict their pain on others. Each segment is named after an element. 

February 2026 Reading

Several books I enjoyed this month - I reread the first book about Fiona Griffiths, which I appreciated in a different way having read the whole series.  I really liked Codebreaker, a debut YA thriller, and was intrigued by Tapestry, although I found the heroine very annoying.

Danger Point aka In the Balance by Patricia Wentworth

If you are experiencing a crisis, running into Miss Silver on the London train is most fortuitous. In her kind, decisive way, she will try to find out what is wrong:

“I came away in a hurry.”

“Why?” said Miss Silver.

“They said he was trying to kill me,” said Lisle Jerningham.