An I Had So Much Fun Weekly Link Round-Up

 

After three weeks of not even looking at the computer, I'm finding it difficult to get back into my routine. I'll get there. I'm too stubborn not to!

Those three weeks with my niece, Karen, flew by. They were fantastic. We went places, we accomplished things around the house, we made memories. One night in particular stands out. We watched movies all evening, making ribald comments about pieces of dialogue and action. We laughed so much, it's a wonder the neighbors didn't come over to join in the fun. It's been years since I've experienced an evening like that... what a wonderful memory to keep! (And no, I'm not sharing which movies we were watching or what comments we made!)

Photos will be forthcoming, but not right now. You'll have to settle for a look at my autumn tree that's in the family room. I bought the decorations on our trip to Michael's. Didn't Karen do a wonderful job?

Virtual hugs to you all, and enjoy the links!

►Books & Other Interesting Tidbits◄

• Libraries in Kentucky are seeing more book checkouts after school districts ban cell phones.
• The secret lives of men who read romance novels.
• Audible's new features let you explore book worlds-- and use AI to talk to characters.
• From "Sunday Scaries" and "Whack-a-Mole" to "Looksmaxxing" and "Cuffing Season," these are the newest words in the dictionary.
• A signature Hawaiian textile with a rich history is making a splash in the fashion world.
• 40 years later: A look at the legacy of Michael Mann's Manhunter.

►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄

• A 1,700-year-old tomb discovered in Egypt contains a poem in ancient Greek and spells to protect the dead.
• A lavish private bath used by Roman emperors and "high-status residents" was discovered at an imperial palace in Serbia.
• The Crown of Kerch: A 1,600-year-old gold, gem-studded diadem found in the grave of a Hun noblewoman.
• A 3,200-year-old inscription may point to a long-lost ancient Egyptian city from the time of Ramesses II.
• A stunning Roman-era mosaic discovered in Turkey features "Emerald" the cat and "Ocean" the dog.
• Guldhøj folding chair: The only completely preserved chair from Bronze Age Europe.

►Channeling My Inner Elly May Clampett◄

• "It is extremely rare to witness": Scientists record a humpback whale mother grieving her stillborn calf in first-of-its-kind footage.
• Scientists name a new cat species for the first time in over a century.
• Two heads are better than one: A rare, double-headed turtle hatchling was discovered on Cape Cod.
• FiasKo the police dog gets a sniff of a missing 6-year-old boy's shoe and leads searchers right to him.
• Scientists recreated the long-lost chirps of Jurassic insects. Listen to the simulated soundscape of 164 million years ago.
• These adorable, critically endangered pygmy raccoons in Cozumel are teaching one another to turn trash into toy balls.

►The Wanderer◄

• We now have an incredibly detailed map to help predict which areas of Los Angeles are the most at risk from "The Big One."
• The most (and least) expensive states for groceries, mapped.
• England's beloved Sycamore Gap tree is showing signs of life, three years after vandals chopped it down.
• The best state fairs in America, ranked.
• A lake in Canada got a mysterious new island. Then it disappeared-- and now it's back.
• Crime and the City: the Azores.

►Fascinating Folk◄

• Who wrote Elizabeth I's most scathing letters? New research suggests the Tudor queen's male secretaries revised her correspondence to emphasize her temper.
• 15 trailblazing facts about Gloria Steinem.
• The life of Agatha Christie, the world's best-selling novelist, goes under the microscope at the British Library.
• After 131 years of being buried in an Indian School cemetery, Comanche child Frances Bones' remains are returned to her homelands.
• The Hispanic inventors behind things you use every day.
• The women who sold books door to door.

►I ♥ Lists◄

• Kirkus' 20 best books to read in October.
• Kirkus' 20 must-reads for obsessive book lovers.
• Kirkus' 20 fiction books getting major awards buzz.
• 7 social rules the family landline forced everyone to learn.
• 20 defunct chain restaurants you used to see everywhere.
• The best historical fiction of fall.

That's all for this week! No matter how busy you may be, don't forget that quality Me Time curled up with a good book!

The Dying Light by Ann Cleeves

 

First Line: The two girls climbed out of the car and there it was, in all its glory.

Devon's summer begins with a heatwave. Lottie and Hannah decide to celebrate the end of their school exams by going to Hannah's family's beach house a few days early. 

Lottie's body is found in the swimming pool; Hannah is missing. Matthew Venn is called in to investigate and finds a community filled with secrets, politics, and social media controversy. As he and his team dig deeper, Venn knows that the real answers they seek do not lie in what people say, but in the silences they keep.

~

Readers are seldom able to devour a book in one sitting. It's a fact of life. But some books, when they must be set aside, refuse to remain quiet. Ann Cleeves' The Dying Light is one of those books. As I performed the tasks I had to do, my mind kept going back to the book, piecing clues together, and wanting to find out what happened to Lottie and her friend, Hannah.

Unlike other characters created by the gifted Cleeves, Matthew Venn is more difficult to warm up to. His upbringing in a very strict religious group as well as his sexual orientation have made him feel like an outsider looking in. He stands back, watches, and he's a master at listening. His team has picked up on that, which means their working together is smoother, more intuitive.

There is some excellent misdirection in The Dying Light, so much so that I hadn't deduced the villain and was annoyed when I discovered the person was right in front of my nose the entire time. 

Isn't it great when a writer can do that to a seasoned crime fiction reader?

The Dying Light by Ann Cleeves

eISBN: 9781250836816

Minotaur Books © 2026

eBook, 384 pages

Police Procedural, #4 Matthew Venn

Rating: A

Source: Net Galley

A Time to Enjoy Family Weekly Link Round-Up

 

This is going to be a short intro because my niece, Karen, will be here this evening for the next three weeks, and I still have things to do to get ready.

Needless to say, I won't be posting while she's here, but I did want to leave you with a fresh batch of links before I disappear. Have fun and read some good books. (I'm reading one right now-- The Flight Nurses' War.)

Virtual hugs to you all, and enjoy the links!

►Books & Other Interesting Tidbits◄

• Digital forensics expert Hany Farid provides helpful tips for spotting AI-generated images.
• Not all boredom is the same.
• New York City bans AI use for students until they reach high school.
• Why do we say "Don't have a cow"?
• Why criminal profiling is a pop culture myth.
• A brief history of women's underwear.

►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄

• Archaeologists discover a 4,000-year-old tomb with a false door at Egypt's ancient Saqqara necropolis.
• Stones from one of Henry VIII's fortresses spent more than a century hidden in plain sight.
• A man rummaging in a Polish junkyard finds a 1,800-year-old shield holding the cremated remains of a Vandal warrior. (Now that's a junkyard...)
• A 1,300-year-old carving of a powerful Maya "Lady Supreme Warlord" weighs over a ton.
• The prehistoric paintings on the walls of caves have always been moving. But with the right kind of light, some actually seem to move.
• Why was this 17th-century Polish woman buried with a padlock on her tow and an iron sickle across her neck?

►Channeling My Inner Elly May Clampett◄

• A sunken World War II hospital ship has been colonized by devil firefish and rare monk seals.
• Blue crabs have taken over the Adriatic Sea. To fight them off, Italian researchers just released thousands of baby octopuses.
• These 20 bird images from the Audubon Photography Awards capture the wonder of the winged world.
• What Ann Patchett's Whistler gets right and wrong about horses.
• Scientists discover Australian lizards have mutations to resist snake venom, and one day, that could help humans.
• The return of wolves to Yellowstone has led to a surge in aspen trees unseen for 80 years.

►The Wanderer◄

• How Japan turned department stores into dreamworlds.
• Before Vegas became Vegas, Hot Springs was America's Sin City. Now the Arkansas spa town embraces its colorful and seedy history.
• On the power and personality of trees.
• Le Louxor Palais du Cinema, Paris's Egyptian Revival movie palace, was abandoned for decades and was restored in 2013.
• 9 travel experiences people don't have anymore because of cell phones.
• These 15 photos of India are like witnessing the country through a kaleidoscope.

►Fascinating Folk◄

• 91-year-old Dale Sanders fell 71 times while hiking the Appalachian Trail. He just became the oldest person to complete the 2,190-mile trek.
• American commando Francis Lowell Coolidge parachuted behind enemy lines in both the European and Pacific theaters of World War II.
• An ode to the gleeful terror of Tim Curry's Pennywise.
• In lieu of flowers, Dolly Parton's Imagination Library is accepting donations. (It has mine.)
• To dismantle the concept of separate but equal, Thurgood Marshall methodically devised a winning strategy: divide and conquer.
• Meet Jewels Gilbert, the Native artist behind beautiful Arctic beadwork.

►I ♥ Lists◄

• 20 best books to read in September. 
• The most popular soup in every state, mapped.
• 12 French words English speakers use every day.
• Bookworms will love these 18 novels about writers.
• The Chickasaw Nation mystery series by Kris Lackey.
• 12 of the best travelogues that will whisk you around the world.

That's all for this week! No matter how busy you may be, don't forget that quality Me Time curled up with a good book!

Sanctuary by Garry Disher

 

First Line: It's a Tuesday evening and you're watching Caught Out on YouTube.

Grace has been a thief since she was a child. She's a good thief, taught by experts. But it's not the life she wants. It's a solitary life, always watchful, always on the move. She wants to change.

When a run-in with an old associate has her lying low in a small rural town, Grace finds an antiques shop with a timid but friendly owner who has a room for rent. This may be the perfect opportunity for Grace to have that new life. 

But dangerous men are looking for her, and she should never let her guard slip because no matter how far she runs, her past comes right along with her.

~

Australian author Garry Disher never disappoints, and Sanctuary is proof of that.  

For some reason, I've always had a penchant for reading about career thieves, and the character of Grace had me hooked from the moment I met her. Her voice drew me right in. Grace has been a thief since childhood, specializing in small, high-value items. She was taught by experts, and the identity of one or two of those experts may surprise you. She's not proud of being a thief, but it's the only way she knows how to live. Needing to feel better about herself, she loses herself in books and music whenever she can. When she finds the small town antiques shop owner, Erin, she sees her chance for a normal life, and I was certainly cheering her on. It's amazing how sympathetic this woman is, and if she taught me anything, it's that a life of thievery is exhausting. I'd never want to try it. Reading about it is enough for me.

To keep the pace fast and the blood pumping, there are characters devoted to finding Grace with varying degrees of menace, including one mediocre police officer who's always been overlooked. The twists and turns are plentiful and kept me guessing.

If you're in the mood for a fast-paced character study, I recommend Sanctuary. I bet you'll be cheering for Grace, too.

Sanctuary by Garry Disher

eISBN: 9781613168097

The Mysterious Press © 2026

eBook, 312 pages

Standalone Thriller

Rating: A

Source: NetGalley

A ParaDrama Weekly Link Round-Up

 

I'm beginning to think that, whenever I decide to go to The Poisoned Pen, I'm going to experience some sort of drama. Twice before, the drama came when it was time for Paratransit to take me home from the bookstore. This time, it was an adventure just trying to get there.

I scheduled my ride and got confirmation from Paratransit. Pick me up at my house at 5:30 PM because I needed to be at the bookstore by 6:30 PM. (The event started at 7-- gotta allow a bit of browsing time.) The next day, Paratransit informed me that I would be picked up by another company. This didn't bother me because I'd already experienced it. When demand exceeds supply, Paratransit farms out pickups to outside companies. I also got confirmation from the company. A black Dodge Caravan will be there at 5:30 to take you to The Poisoned Pen.

At 5:45, I called the company. So many drivers take an eternity to strap down my scooter, that I didn't want to wait any longer to find out what was going on. The woman who answered the phone put me on hold, telling me that she was going to contact the driver. Ten minutes later, she told me that the driver would arrive in thirty minutes-- basically the time I wanted to be at the bookstore. Lovely.

At 6:30, a white van pulled in the driveway. I don't know if the first driver blew me off or if his black Dodge Caravan blew a fuse and was sitting on the side of the road. Whatever the reason, this driver got me to my destination right on the stroke of 7 PM. I'd been looking forward to seeing Tim Sullivan for months, and I can't begin to tell you how unhappy I would have been if I'd missed him!

L to R: Unknown fan, Tim Sullivan, and Fred, the man responsible for getting Tim's publisher to add The Poisoned Pen to his US tour. Thank you, Fred!

    

If you'd like to watch the event, you can see it on YouTube.

Virtual hugs to you all, and enjoy the links!

►Books & Other Interesting Tidbits◄

• The AI book devourer is feasting on New York's bookstores.
• Inside the warehouse where Amazon scans and destroys books for AI training.
• A sparkling book club craft idea: book bedazzling.
• How a group of Michigan parents defeated anti-trans MAGA activists.
• Two friends went fishing on the Mississippi River. Police say they may have just solved a 1967 cold case.
• The making and un-making of a personal library.

►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄

• A brittle coating on a 2,200-year-old Roman shipwreck reveals how ancient sailors kept their ships afloat.
• Archaeologists unearthed a unique, 11,000-year-old statue of a person riding a leopard from one of the world's earliest settlements.
• A cave sanctuary in Spain has the highest number of Latin inscriptions anywhere in the Roman Empire-- and many of them mention a mysterious "lady."
• Archaeologists unearthed a medieval nobleman buried with his horse and dog in a rare wooden tomb in Russia.
• Archaeologists unearthed traces of a mysterious medieval city that was abandoned under puzzling circumstances hundreds of years ago.
• Ancient "alien-like" skulls have been found on every continent but Antarctica. Anthropologists are starting to figure out why.

►Channeling My Inner Elly May Clampett◄

• Africa's wild dogs are the most hated carnivores on the continent. Here's why some conservationists are saving them anyway. (All creatures on the planet have a purpose, even if humans don't know what that purpose is.)
• See 16 stunning animal images from the Wildlife Photographer of the Year awards.
• An "extremely rare" half-male, half-female bobolink temporarily took up residence outside Chicago.
• Scientists gave dogs MRIs and learned that they're surprisingly good at distinguishing between human emotions, even some negative ones. (Most dog lovers could've told them that without the MRIs.)
• Scientists have identified a new manta ray species, just the third known in the world.
• Eight minutes of cute baby animal videos.

►The Wanderer◄

• In France, brutal summer heat waves are taking a toll on the flowers that inspired Claude Monet's most beloved paintings.
• Closed to the public since World War II, a "hidden" gallery at London's Natural History Museum opens its doors once again.
• The countries with the most-- and least-- paid time off, mapped.
• Get a dose of sun, sand, and sea with these 20 scenes from the beach.
• Mount Thor: the mountain with Earth's longest vertical drop.
• A giant meteor impact may have triggered a massive Grand Canyon landslide 56,000 years ago.

►Dolly Parton, You Will Be Missed◄

• Long live Dolly Parton, giver of books.
• Dolly Parton's contributions to literacy will outlive the star, just like she planned.
• 10 iconic photos of Dolly Parton through the decades, from the Smokies to superstardom.
• The Buckingham Palace guards play 9 to 5 in honour of Dolly Parton as the Royal Family pay tribute.
• How Dolly Parton told her life story through six iconic songs.
• Dolly Parton, country music icon, dies at 80.
• Dolly Parton was one of the biggest stars in the history of country music. She wanted to be remembered as a songwriter.
• Dolly Parton and Kermit the Frog perform a lovely duet of Everyday People.

►I ♥ Lists◄

• 7 nautical words and phrases you use even if you've never been on a ship.
• 7 Old English words hiding in your everyday vocabulary.
• 21 fast-paced mysteries for when you don't have time to read.
• 27 historical novels that will transport you to summers past. 
• These are the perfect books to read at the pool.
• 12 medical mystery and thriller books that'll get under your skin.

That's all for this week! No matter how busy you may be, don't forget that quality Me Time curled up with a good book!

The Chapel of Bones by Kate Ellis

 

First Lines: Beasts. Large beasts, small beasts. Fierce beasts, gentle beasts. Beasts slithering on the ground, beasts flying in the air with mighty beating wings.

Things have calmed down now that tourist season is over in South Devon. The woman who recently bought Sycamore House is looking forward to the completion of renovations, but when the builder finds a mummified body behind a wall, everything comes to a screeching halt.

The body is that of Dr. Aleric Donnal, a scholar specializing in medieval history who was last seen over a decade ago around the time Sycamore House was owned by a commune that believed the house occupied a sacred site. 

While Detective Inspector Wesley Peterson looks for potential suspects, his friend, Dr. Neil Watson, is investigating the ruins of an ancient chapel nearby. But when a new murder occurs nearby, Wesley has to wonder-- are the two crimes linked?

~

It's hard to believe that The Chapel of Bones is the thirtieth book in Kate Ellis's series-- and that I've read them all. By now, the entire cast feels like a beloved part of my (fictional) family. If you have yet to sample this excellent blend of crime, history, and archaeology, I urge you to do so. Due to the character development, it would be best to begin at the beginning (The Merchant's House). If thirty books feel daunting, start anywhere you like, but don't be surprised if you find yourself looking for the rest.

There's the usual catch-up with the characters. Wesley's boss, Gerry Heffernan, is still being pressured by higher-ups to retire. Neil Watson feels a twinge of jealousy when he's not unearthing an ancient chapel, and-- to his horror-- he has a groupie following him. Wesley and his wife, Pam, may be getting the hang of dealing with troublesome mother-in-law, Della, which pleased me to no end. As you can see, this series is perfect for character-driven readers.

As much as I love the characters, I think my favorite part of this series is how Ellis blends a current crime with local history. I've learned a lot in the most enjoyable way from reading these books, and The Chapel of Bones is no exception. In this investigation, Wesley and his team are hampered by the difficulty in identifying both victims and suspects. One thing that could help is tracking the previous owners of Sycamore House, but even that proves difficult. (How would you like to trace the owners of a property that is hundreds of years old and has undergone several name changes?) 

The Chapel of Bones is another strong entry in this long-running series. I'm looking forward to Wesley's next investigation.

The Chapel of Bones by Kate Ellis

eISBN: 9780349442976

Constable © 2026

eBook, 335 pages

Police Procedural, #30 Wesley Peterson

Rating: B+

Source: Purchased from Amazon.

A Colorful Weekly Link Round-Up

 

Another quiet week with a bit of rain to enjoy here at Casa Kittling. I've got to polish my scooter so it's all bright and shiny for my doctor's appointment tomorrow. I've also begun preparations for my niece Karen's arrival in two weeks. (Two weeks?!? She and I were beginning to think the day would never get here!) Karen will be spending almost three weeks with me. I can't wait because I know I'm going to enjoy every minute that she's here. It's going to be wonderful to have an English accent in the house again. 

I've stopped making tissue box covers, and it was about time, too; otherwise, I'd need an entire closet just to hold the things. That would never do! Instead, I've decided to make a patchwork-style wall hanging, and I've been having a blast going through all the yarn in my stash to find complementary color combinations.

Colors and their endless combinations have always fascinated me, and this is a good way to use some of my forty-year-old yarn. (I told you I had a stash!)

Virtual hugs to you all, and enjoy the links!

►Books & Other Interesting Tidbits◄

• On that disgraceful, disreputable, (wonderful) form of punctuation: the parenthesis.
• Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick says Texas is "coming for the books" in public school libraries.
• 404 tracked a shipment of rare books. It ended at an Amazon AI training facility.
• Alfred Hitchcock's favorite Hitchcock movie is an eerie 1940s psychological thriller. (I was rather surprised when I discovered it was also my favorite Hitchcock film.)
• The neuroscience of why you can't stop buying books you don't have time to read.
• Last year's trendiest vacation? A reading retreat. (Who cares if it's trendy or not?)

►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄

• A medieval man's injuries reminded one archaeologist of modern-day car crash victims. They turned out to be the work of an English trebuchet. (The first trebuchet I ever saw was at Urquhart Castle on the shore of Loch Ness.) More from Live Science.
• Archaeologists say they've identified traces of a 2,000-year-old love note still etched into a wall in ancient Pompeii.
• Archaeologists are mystified by these 2,000-year old bodies seated upright and facing west in France.
• Archaeologists discover an intact cannonball from the Battle of the Alamo one day before the pivotal conflict's 190th anniversary.
• Lady of Elche: a 2,400-year-old bust of a mysterious "highborn" woman from pre-Roman Spain.
• An ancient Egyptian drawing is now theorized to represent the Milky Way's great rift.

►Channeling My Inner Elly May Clampett◄

• Why are some octopuses so smart? The answer might lie in a never-before-seen mutation that helps them accurately build proteins.
• See the photos of three red panda cubs born at the Smithsonian's Conservation Biology Institute this year.
• 15 photos of lions, the most majestic big cats found throughout Africa.
• The global web of subsea cables that connects the world can now detect whales-- even when they're silent. 
• Fishers discover a first-of-its-kind bright orange shark in the Caribbean.
• New Zealand's massive green parrots have narrowly avoided extinction. But many of their parasites did not survive.

►The Wanderer◄

• These coral reefs off West Africa were long presumed dead. Scientists just found them alive and teeming with life.
• The little known noir of Timor-Leste.
• Exploring the perfectly preserved abandoned town of Kitsault, British Columbia.
• Scientists find the mysterious source of the massive 1831 volcanic eruption that cooled Earth and made the sun appear blue.
• The centuries-old abandoned farmhouses of Puglia are having a Renaissance moment.
• The 230-foot-long Bayeux Tapestry will return home to England for the first time in nearly 1,000 years.

►Fascinating Folk◄

• Meet three research assistants who traced women's stories from state fairs to the Smithsonian Institution.
• Archaeologists used to think women in prehistory wielded no power. Genetic data is upending that idea. (Surprise, surprise.)
• Way Bandy was one of the most influential makeup artists in the world. He challenged stigmas in the 1980s by making sure his death from AIDS was widely known.
• This is what being in your twenties was like in 18th-century London.
• The Tougaloo Nine were arrested in 1961 for reading at a segregated public library. Their contribution to the Civil Rights Movement have long been overlooked.
• An archaeologist may have uncovered the remains of D'Artagnan, the famed French musketeer.

►I ♥ Lists◄

• 60 of the most anticipated books of Fall 2026.
• 7 Victorian phrases you still use without realizing it.
• 6 innovative ways humans have kept cool throughout history.
• 17 psychological thrillers set in wealthy suburbs.
• Highly anticipated book-to-screen adaptations out in the second half of 2026.
• The best mysteries and thrillers of Summer 2026.

That's all for this week! No matter how busy you may be, don't forget that quality Me Time curled up with a good book!

Catching Up on Reviews...Again

 

I have some unexpected free time, but it's not much, so I'd better work fast to catch you up on the books I've been reading. I'll include a link to Amazon in each book title in case you want to know more about it since these aren't my usual full reviews.

Pedal to the metal time!

Storm Warning by Alice Henderson

#5 in her Alex Carter series.

Rating: C-

My Thoughts: Alex is camping on a beach in Hawaii to monitor and protect hawksbill turtles. When I finished book four, I wasn't sure I'd continue because Henderson had been using a character to swoop in at the end to save the day for Alex, and that annoyed me.

Well, he didn't save the day this time, but I wasn't any happier with Storm Warning. All the information-- while important to those concerned about the wildlife on our planet-- felt like one lecture after another instead of being seamlessly integrated into the story. In addition, Alex turning into MacGyver at every turn stopped being ingenious and started making my eyes roll. Although there are things I do like about this series, I don't think I'll continue.

Christmas at Ferndean Manor by Joanna Campbell Slan

#3 in The Jane Eyre Chronicles

Rating: A

My Thoughts: I have enjoyed Slan's Jane Eyre Chronicles, and I was happy to see that there's a fourth book. I needed a comfort read, and Christmas at Ferndean Manor fit the bill perfectly.

I loved how everyone gathered together to make this the best Christmas ever, even though food kept disappearing from the pantry. 

If you're a reader who likes seasonal reads, this is absolutely perfect for Christmas-- and you don't have to read the other two books in the series first. 

Scavengers by Steven F. Havill

#11 in the Posadas County series

Rating: B-

My Thoughts: Visiting the fictional Posadas County, New Mexico, to catch up with the lives of the wonderful characters Havill has created is always a pleasure; however, I found the story to be lackluster. Still good-- especially in the scenes chasing people out in the desert at night-- just not quite up to Havill's usual high standards.

Will this keep me from heading to Posadas County again? Heavens, no!

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans

Rating: C+

My Thoughts: When I was a teenager, I had penpals from around the world, and I loved writing and receiving letters. 

Like the main character, Sybil Van Antwerp, those letters were one of the ways I made sense of the world and my place in it. Although I did enjoy watching Sybil's world unfold letter by letter, I never did warm up to her, so the book fell a bit flat for me.

The Salford Sioux by M.J. Lee

#11 in the Jayne Sinclair Genealogical mysteries

Rating: B

My Thoughts: This is one of my favorite series, and Lee never fails to provide a fascinating glimpse into little-known history.

This time, a family comes to Jayne when DNA results show Native American ancestry. Their family tree-- all of them born in the industrial town of Salford in England-- shows no hint of such ancestry, but DNA doesn't lie.

This is another strong investigation for Jayne, which is slightly marred by a rather abrupt ending.

The Dead Come to Stay by Brandy Schillace

#2 Jo Jones amateur sleuth mystery

Rating: B

My Thoughts: For me, the main character, Jo Jones, is the star attraction, and there just wasn't enough of her in The Dead Come to Stay to suit me. 

More family secrets are revealed in a nice, twisty mystery, although the book is marred by very poor proofreading, which is a shame because Jo is an editor. 

My favorite quote (because I identify): "It took her two extra weeks to edit because she kept falling down subject interest rabbit holes." Love those rabbit holes!

Women in the Valley of the Kings: The Untold Story of Women Egyptologists in the Gilded Age by Kathleen Sheppard

Non-Fiction

Rating: B+

My Thoughts: The field of Egyptology would be nothing like it is now without the hard work and dedication of many women. Sheppard brings to light these women's lives and their accomplishments. 

Many worked together in pairs because "decent" women simply did not travel alone at the end of the nineteenth century. They quickly learned to work in tandem with the Egyptians and learned their language quickly. Naturally, much more was expected of them than the men. In addition to all their work, these women were expected to be doctors to all as well as hostesses to anyone who wanted to show up for a tour.

They gave tours, wrote bestselling books, conducted fundraising ventures, taught classes, and developed precise cataloguing for the treasures that had been unearthed-- something that had never been done before.

This is a fascinating look into an important part of women's history, and the book's opening made me involuntarily scream. Why? Because the male archaeologists used DYNAMITE to unearth these treasures. I don't even want to think about what was destroyed in the process.

Well, that's it! I'm caught up. Did I tempt you with any of these books? Or did I steer you away from one or two? Inquiring minds would love to know!