Dust

Dust is the most recent mystery by Martha Grimes featuring her Scotland Yard Detective Richard Jury. I've been steadily reading my way through this series from the beginning (The Man With a Load of Mischief) and am sad that I've reached the end. Grimes has done an excellent job of developing her main characters, Jury and his eccentric sidekick Melrose Plant, along with a plethora of other colorful recurring characters. In this installment Jury is still reeling from being outsmarted by a psychopath he meets in The Old Wine Shades and is somewhat desperate to solve this latest mystery. It turns out his nemesis from the previous novel is able to lend him a hand. All in all, Grimes waves a complicated and challenging mystery that kept me guessing almost until the end. Now I'll have to wait impatiently for the next in the series like all of her other fans who followed this series for years.

Between The Tides

Between The Tides was a delightful read by Patti Callahan Henry about looking back on our past experiences as children and learning to accept and understand them from an adult perspective. Well, maybe I'm making it sound deeper than it really is. Catherine Leary returns to the home she knew for her first 12 years to scatter her father's ashes and discovers how the past that has shaped her adult life was not really as she remembered or perceived. She deals with the guilt from her childhood and in the process of forgiving herself finds the courage to find real love as and adult. I definitely recommend it.

Winter Study

Winter Study is Nevada Barr's 14th installment in the Anna Pigeon mystery series. It's been three years since her last novel. As always Barr really delivers on this mystery. Park Ranger Anna manages to escape near death not once but 3 times. January finds Anna back on Isle Royal, the site of one of her earlier adventures (A Superior Death). In winter the park is closed to the public and the site of a prestigious wolf study. It takes the book a while to get going. (I believe it was after page 100 before the first body shows up.) Once it starts moving it's not stop adrenaline until the end. I did not figure out the mystery until Anna spelled it out for me and it came as a surprise. The ending is a little different also and fizzles out a little. Certainly, not the best book in the series and by all means don't begin with this one if you haven't already read some others. I just wish these mysteries would come a little faster.

Christmas Letters

Christmas Letters is written by Debbie Macomber. She usually puts out a different Christmas book each year. I think this one is from a few years back. It was light reading following the last novel I read. I needed something light. The story is upbeat and has a predictable ending but a nice read overall.

Careless in Red

Careless in Red is the latest book by Elizabeth George. I think everyone who enjoyed her Thomas Lynley series anticipated this being another installment. However, this is far from the case. That aside it was a brilliant and well written mystery. Lynley and his partner Barbara Havers have only peripheral roles in this novel. Other characters are developed to such an extent you have to wonder if the author is starting a new series. At least one of the story lines in the book have so little to do with the actual murder investigation it could have been left out entirely without much notice. Because of these details the author leaves you guessing until nearly the end. I myself didn't figure out who the murderer was until page 563 and that was pretty much when all the pieces fell into place. I admit that I have missed Lynley somewhat but have survived by reading about Richard Jury, Martha Grimes Scotland Yard Detective. The one I really missed though was Havers. She is the most down-to-earth character I've ever read about and I can relate so well to her if not her life. I hope that the author is not going to abandon these well-loved characters.