Herbert Lee Clark mixed folk wisdom with his own observations to write practical notes on all aspects of rural/farm life. Unfortunately good advice is mixed with very questionable or flat out bad ideas. Do not read the section on training pups to hunt coons or the having a stranger (to the dog) whip your dog as part of guard dog training. Do not inject Lysol into any animal for any reason. I discussed that tip with a vet; it’s too bad Clark didn’t before adding it to his journals.

Annie Adams is settling into village life after solving her great aunt’s murder. She meet’s eccentric Peony Lane, the woman who predicted Great Aunt Frances’s murder way back in 1967. Peony has another old prediction, one she gave to the wrong person. And this one also leafs to a dead body in Annie’s new home and Annie fitting together pieces from the latest murder with a cold case.

I listen to this in one day now I’m onto the second one and then the filthy rich vampire a must read or listen

What’s true? Dorothy Sayers founded the Detection Club for the best of the best mystery fiction writers of the time. May Daniels, a young English nurse, disappeared while on a day trip to France. Sayers and her reporter husband, Mac, investigated May’s disappearance and probable murder. Marie Benedict takes these facts and creates a locked room mystery solved by the all-star Queens of Crime: Sayers, Agatha Christie, Emma Orczy, Ngaio Marsh, and Margery Allingham. At first the investigation is a bit of a lark, a way to prove their worth by solving a mystery the police and their fellow (male) mystery writers can’t. But the queens bond as they learn about the sweet, naive person May was. The press describe a very different woman, turning public opinion against the victim. She had it coming. The police jump at any excuse to unofficially stop investigating (since they aren’t getting anywhere). Only the Queens care about justice for May, and all of the expendable young women like her.

Absolutely loved it!! Did not disappoint and I’ve now found a new favorite authors. This book kept me guessing and had me gasping out loud. Pulled on the heart strings so hard but just enough to be pleasant.

Suspenseful, but at times, hard to stay engaged in.

Corinne Michaels has a way of grabbing your heart and never letting go. One of my favorite authors and a fantastic listen while washing dishes

Yoshitaka Amano illustrates passages from The Tale of Genji (11th century Japanese novel of court life and possibly the first novel), A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and catalogues of fairies. A short section at the end discusses fairies of the British Isles versus Japanese spirits. You won’t get much of a sense of Genji or Midsummer Night’s if you’re not already familiar with them. Really this book is just a showcase for Amano’s gorgeous art.

People traveled in the 12th-15t centuries. Merchants sought new markets, diplomats finagled treaties, and anyone who could get the necessary funding and permissions took religious pilgrimages. Bale explores the most common holy and trade routes based on what the travelers wrote in journals and guidebooks. It is very interesting, but too limited. Bale points out several times that Christians (Roman and Eastern/Greek), Muslims, and Jewish pilgrims visited many of the same places in Constantinople and Jerusalem. We only have the Christian, and almost exclusively Western European Christian, stories. One small chapter near the end follows Asian travelers’ adventures in the west. Ma Huan (Chinese Muslim), Het’um (Armenian Christian), and Rabban Bar Sauma (Christian Mongol) don’t represent the majority of nonEuropeans. A broader range of viewpoints and less personal commentary from the author would improve the book.

This book had my sons begging for the next volume! Shipping took forever, but was definitely worth the wait. Both of my sons enjoyed this volume and look forward to the next.