What I've been reading

It's been a couple of weeks since I posted a Just finished reading... blog, so I thought I'd catch up. I've actually read quite a lot in fourteen days!

At Wick's End by Tim Myers.
I've been meaning to start this series for some time, but couldn't seem to find it on the library's shelves when I wanted it, so I picked up a copy when we were in SF.
The story is about Harrison Black, whose only relative, his great-aunt Belle passes away and leaves him her business as well as the complex in which it's located.
Harrison moves into the apartment a few floors above the store, and sets about learning candle-making. As he learns more about the way Belle lived, he becomes more and more convinced that she did not die a natural death, and sets out to prove it.

Persuading Annie by Melissa Nathan.
I really enjoyed Nathan's version of the Pride and Prejudice story (see post from 29 December 2007), and was pleased when my SIL lend me her copy because it's out of print and hard to find.
Persuading Annie is her interpretation of Persuasion, and it's just as good. Annie Markam's godmother convinces her not to marry Jake when she's 19. Seven years later, the Markham business is in trouble and a management consultant is brought in to try to revive the company. Yes, of course, the consultant is Jake. I'm not going to describe the plot any further, as you know it if you've read Persuasion. And if you're not a Jane-ite, you probably don't care about this book.

Curse of the Spellmans by Lisa Lutz.
I loooooved this sequel to The Spellman Files. Izzy has been "subletting" an apartment from a friend. When he unexpectedly returns, he insists she stay, but unable to deal with his loud poker parties, she moves back to her parents house. She meets their new next-door neighbour John Brown (obviously a phony name) who has a landscaping business (obviously phony). She sets out to prove that he's a bad guy, and ends up in jail.
Izzy and her younger sister Rae are hilarious, and like Lucy and Ethel, all the crazy things they do somehow seem reasonable.

Justice Hall by Laurie R. King.
Slowly continuing my reading of the Russell/Holmes novels. Here, Mary and Holmes have just returned home from a long and difficult case, when one of their old friends from O Jerusalem literally stumbles onto their doorstep. He insists that their other comrade from that adventure needs their help, and persuades them to accompany him to his ancestral home, Justice Hall. In this sixth volume of the series, but the quality of the writing and storytelling is as high as ever.


Turn up the Heat by Susan Conant and Jessica Conant-Park.
The third in the Gourmet Girl series has Chloe Carter finding a waitress from her boyfriend Josh's restaurant in the back of a delivery truck with her apron strings wrapped around her neck. This affects not only Josh, because the restaurant is shut down for a few days, but one of her best friends, Owen, the owner of the truck and chief suspect. Chloe is determined to prove that neither of them is involved in the murder.

Currently reading:
People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks.