Aunt Dimity & The King's Ransom

Aunt Dimity & The King's Ransom is book twenty-three in Nancy Atherton's paranormal mystery series. (Although the book can be read and enjoyed as a stand alone, be aware that a ghostly friend from Aunt Dimity's Death makes an appearance and might intrigue first-time readers of the series.)

On her way to a well-deserved weekend getaway to meet up with her husband Bill, Lori Shepherd instead finds herself seeking refuge in the rural town of Shepney, England, due to an extra-tropical rainstorm. When she arrives, she meets former bishop Christopher. Having no room to house her, the bishop suggests an inn called The King's Ransom.

The only inn space available to Lori is a dusty and supposedly haunted attic without heating, plumbing, or electrical outlets. Trying to make the best of it, she arranges the room to make it a bit more comfortable. When she begins hearing strange sounds, she enlists her ghostly friend, Aunt Dimity, and the bishop for help in searching for their source. Their exploration leads them to underground tunnels that were used by smugglers during the 18th century. Full of history, mystery, and intrigue, this is a great book to cozy up with, alongside a nice cup of tea!

~Dani Green

"The cyclone taught me a valuable lesson, Dimity."  Did it teach you to check the weather forecast before you leave home? "Definitely!" I said, laughing. "But it also taught me to embrace the unexpected."

~Aunt Dimity and The King's Ransom

Manhattan Beach

If you like character-driven novels featuring strong, smart women, you might want to pick up Jennifer Egan's latest book, Manhattan Beach. We initially meet Anna Kerrigan as a spunky 12-year-old, accompanying her father Eddie to Manhattan Beach as he visits Dexter Styles, a wealthy man she doesn't know but assumes is connected to Eddie's job. Years later, Anna is a young woman living in Brooklyn with her mother and severely disabled sister as World War II breaks out. Her father has disappeared. To support the family, Anna gets a job at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, one of those Rosie-the-Riveter factory type jobs, but her interest is piqued by her view from the factory floor--watching divers plunging into the depths to perform various ship repairs and tasks. After some perseverance and good luck, she becomes the Navy Yard's first female diver. Egan appears to have done quite a bit of research on this topic and time period, and the details of the cumbersome diving suit and the challenges facing divers make for fascinating reading. Although Anna loves her work and her small family, she is tortured by the absence of her father. When she runs into Dexter Styles at a local nightclub, she begins a relationship with him, to explore possible reasons for Eddie's sudden departure from his family. This takes her into the criminal underworld in which her father and Dexter Styles worked. Manhattan Beach combines historical fiction, crime fiction, suspense, and a war story into one big and boisterous book that was a pleasure to read. I loved Anna, and I think you will, too.

Kelly Currie

The Bloody Black Flag by Steve Goble

  Set in 1722, the same year that 16-year-old Ben Franklin contributes to the 'Dogood Papers' on moral topics and J.S. Bach publishes The well-tempered Clavier, John "Spider" Rush reluctantly joined a crew of cut-throat pirates.


  John and his best friend Ezra planned that after this voyage they would live a life of peace. On the pirate ship, Plymouth Dream, someone recognizes Ezra as the "witches son" and fears for his life.  One night John woke up and saw that his friend Ezra wasn't in his hammock, so he went up to search for his friend and found him dead!  He knew Ezra was murdered and he vowed to find the man who did this and render to him what he deserves a hundred times more. With an amateur detective at work, Spider would have to become an 18th century Sherlock Holmes and start deducting.  Try doing that on a ship full of murderers.  A story of pirating that wouldn't be the life for me!  For those mystery buffs, pick this one up---you won't be sorry mate.

~Dani

Spider stood by Ezra's shoulder. "this is not good..."

"No," Ezra said. "Not at all good."