January 2026 Reading

A new year and all my library holds arrived at once, so I even had to return a few without reading! Two mysteries were my favorites this month: Guilty by Definition and Murder Takes a Vacation, and I decided to try Mick Herron’s Oxford Investigation series and enjoyed the first two books. I don’t expect to get much reading accomplished in February because I will be glued to the Olympics but I may get some quilting done . . . .

Fiction

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark (1961). Miss Brodie is a charismatic and controversal teacher at a girls’ school in Scotland in the 1930s. Her chosen students admire her passionately and absorb all her utterances – until they don’t. This was my February Book Group selection and gave us lots to discuss. Some had watched the movie featuring Maggie Smith in honor of her passing.

Mystery/Suspense

Evidence of Murder by Lisa Black (2008). This turned out to be the second in a series about forensic investigator Theresa MacLean, back at work after losing her fiancé, but having difficulty focusing. She is investigating the suspicious death of a young mother, Jillian Perry, who everyone else believes to have died from exposure.  It picked up as it went along but I didn't like it enough to read more by this author.

Guilty by Definition by Susie Dent (2024). Soon after Martha Thornhill returned to Oxford for a job at the Clarendon English Dictionary, she is stunned to receive an anonymous letter referencing her sister, who disappeared ten years earlier. Some of her new colleagues knew Charlotte and offer to help her piece together what happened that summer, which is fine, until they get too close to a killer. This was my favorite book of January! My review.

The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley (2022)(audio)(various narrators). When Jess arrives in Paris to stay with her brother he is mysteriously absent. She picks the lock to get into his apartment and makes herself at home while trying to figure out where he is and how he can afford to stay in this expensive building. This was entertaining but not very convincing; she writes the sort of books you forget immediately after reading, full of unlikable characters.

Down Cemetery Road by Mick Herron; narrated by Alix Dunmore (2003)(audio). Sarah Trafford is unemployed and bored so it is understandable that she becomes obsessed by an odd explosion in her residential neighborhood that kills several people (think about the crazy Karen Read fans who had nothing better to do than stand outside the Dedham court house for weeks), although a child survives. She even hires a private detective to find out where the child but when he is warned off, the drama really begins. My review.

The Last Voice You Hear by Mick Herron (2004). In the second book in the series, private investigator Zoë Boehm is investigating the suspicious death of a woman who fell in front of a train when she uncovers a larger conspiracy. I liked this too and now have the third book from the library (despite the aforesaid pile).  Maybe I should try the Slow Horses series again?

Murder Takes a Vacation by Laura Lippman; narrated by Kimberly Farr (2025)(audio). When Mrs. Blossom decided to go on a cruise in France, she is nervous about traveling alone. Alan, an attractive, friendly gentleman at the airport distracts her and they wind up spending a wonderful day together in London before she heads to Paris. But then the police tell her he fell from his hotel balcony and quite a few people think Alan gave her something before he died. Mrs. Blossom has to figure out what’s going on or her trip will be ruined in this delightful mystery. I gave my copy to my mother and left another on my friend Marianne's doorknob.  My review.

Killing Trail by Margaret Mizushima (2015). This is first book in Margaret Mizushima's Timber Creek K-9 Mystery series, featuring Officer Mattie Cobb and her K-9 partner, Robo, as they investigate the murder of a young girl in the Colorado mountains, a case that draws in local veterinarian Cole Walker. I liked the sound of this but it was very dull.

Mrs. Spy by MJ Robotham (2025). Widowed Maggie Flynn has worked as a low level MI5 operative since her husband died, primarily carrying out surveillance in London, and has been able to support herself and her daughter. But when she learns her husband kept major secrets about his espionage, she begins to wonder about his death and is determined to find out more, even if it jeopardizes her job. This was well reviewed but hard to find; it came via ILL from Leominster, MA.

The Bridesmaid by Cate Quinn (2025). When a celebrity bridesmaid is murdered weeks before a fancy society/social media wedding, forensic attorney Holly Stone is drafted as an unlikely undercover replacement. The reviews for this were good (which is why I requested it) but the characters were annoying and I was almost too bored to finish.

Bloody Instructions by Sara Woods (1961). In this first in a series, handsome barrister-sleuth Antony Maitland has to investigate the death of a colleague while his famous uncle, Sir Nicholas Harding, has to defend an actor who has been falsely accused – or has he? My review for Dean Street December.

Romance

If It Makes You Happy by Julie Olivia (2025). After her mother dies, Michelle takes time away from her job to manage the family’s B&B in Vermont where she initially clashes with the single father next door, who runs the local bakery. I enjoyed the small town setting which reminded me of Gilmore Girls but I am not a fan of the theme that women obsessed by work can never be happy until they change and there were two of them this month!  

Honey and Heat by Aurora Palit (2025). Cynthia Kumar has spent her adult life working long hours for her father’s construction business so that she can one day take it over. She realizes her father never took her seriously in this role when he hires a handsome young man right out of business school to groom as his heir – someone with whom Cynthia shared a one-night stand when she was upset about work. Both Cynthia and Rohit were appealing characters with realistic family issues, and readers always enjoy a lovers to enemies to lovers theme.

The Tall Stranger by D.E. Stevenson (1957). Barbie is recovering from illness at her aunt’s house in the Cotswolds (query: why does my aunt merely live in North Carolina? Not very exotic!) when the maid reads her tea leaves and predicts a tall stranger. But Barbie’s stepcousin, Edward, turns up instead and soon proposes so maybe he is The One? My review.

Juvenile Fiction

Saffy’s Angel by Hilary McKay (2001). When Saffy learns she is adopted – the cousin of Caddy, Indigo, and Rose, instead of their biological sister – she becomes fixated on the only memory she can muster of her childhood in Siena, an angel in the garden. The comical antics of the Casson family serve as a contrast to Saffy’s wistful longing to belong.  I hadn't read this series but suspect I gave this book to one of my nieces.  

cute British cover

Television

I enjoyed the new adaptation of The Seven Dials Mystery on Netflix last week. The actress playing Bundle is excellent and I liked that she and Helena Bonham Carter, playing her mother, actually look as if they could be related. Of course, in the book Bundle’s mother is dead but, for the most part, the changes from the book are acceptable. I was disappointed by several grammatical errors that writer Chris Chibnall or someone should have noticed.   If you decide to watch this, avoid spoilers!  I saw one plaintiff comment online from someone asking for a list of characters that doesn't say which are going to die!

Lady Eileen "Bundle" Brent