The Busybody Book Club

 The Busybody Book Club by Freya Sampson adds another clever cute mystery to the new genre of elderly persons solving mysteries. It seems to be a growing trend.

Thhis time we meet Nova Davies, a young woman who has taken on a position at the area's community center as an activity director.  New to the area, living with her fiancé and his parents, she is looking forward to her upcoming wedding.

When Michael, one of the book club members disappears, Nova and the other members resolve to solve the mystery of his disappearance.  Leading the charge is Phyllis, an Agatha Christie fan, who imagines herself as Miss Marple.  

With many twists, turns and discoveries Nova finds her job in danger, her wedding on the edge.  But around the last corner the answer to the mystery may be within reach.  Can this small group of unusual characters save the day?  They come together seeing strengths in each other and themselves they didn't realize before. 

Bringing together a group of lonely individuals to create a group of friends, this is a entertaining mystery novel with a satisfying end.

Vera Wong's Guide to Snooping (on a Dead Man)

 Second book even better than the first!!!  So Vera Wong's Unsolicited  Advice for Murderers was an interesting first mystery novel by Jesse Q. Sutanto.  I enjoyed reading it but was not sure I was looking forward to another book about Vera Wong. 

But now I am hooked and I am already looking forward to another in this series.  Vera Wong has grown on me.  Her cute word plays and obvious misunderstanding of the English language and especially any new saying and clever sayings of the Gen Y group of young people.  

Also though the mysteries are clever and the writing style is wonderful, there is something very endearing about Vera Wong.  It is what the people she meets feeel about her.  They are not sure why but they fall in love with her and are willing to do whatever she asks of them.  Well by the end of book two I also feel that wasy about Vera.  I was crying real tears as the sad and lonely characters in this book found love and acceptance.  How so many people from different backgrounds come together to eat the mouthwatering food and tea that Vera prepares in her restaurant.

Malice Aforethought

Author, Avree Kelly Clark, surprised me with this very interesting novel, Malice Aforethought.

Very intriguing story of two women killed in New England and how the police and town officials went about solving the crimes and finding the killer.  Written as a novel but in the style of a police procedural ... this is a captivating plot with interesting characters.  The reader is caught up in the mystery and concerned about how the criminal will be caught.  There is no scientific DNA discovery ability at this time.  Timeline and the ability to travel between locations along with personality assessments ments become very important to the evidence and in determining guilt or innocence.

This is a story that takes place in New Hampshire which in itself is interesting.  It is written as a novel but follows true facts about women who were killed in neighboring towns.  Thinking of the period it takes palce in, it is interesting to see how they solve the crime without all the modern forensics that are at our disposal today.