Internet has been spotty at home and I don’t have access for extended periods.  Discovered the modem has gone bad and so hopefully will replace it and be up and running later today.

Briefly this week’s reads were:

Diane Mott Davidson’s Dark Tort  .  This is from one of the cozy mystery series that started me reading the American “theme” based cozies and I still have to say for me it is the best of the cooking based cozies.  This book was a fun quick read with all the loved familar characters.  4 stars

Deborah Crombie’s All Shall Be Well is book 2 in the Duncan Kincaid & Gemma James series.  I love the interaction between the partners and in this book that was a particularly strong element because the mystery concerns Kincaid’s neighbor and he takes a personal interest in the case.  Charmng series with great characters, a good read for mystery readers.  4 stars

Last Seen Wearing by Colin Dexter  is book 2 in the Inspector Morse series.  If you are a fan of Morse, the TV series, or the character you will enjoy this.  This is a mystery that allows you to see all the sleuths ruminations and how he thinks about the crime and it makes for fascinating reading.  Be prepared to face Morse’s rampant sexism throughout the book.  Very good mystery read 4 stars.

An Advancement of Learning by Reginald Hill is book 2 in the Dalziel and Pascoe series of which a TV series was made.  I borrowed season 1 from the library and enjoyed it, not as much as Inspector Lynley or Lewis but it was still fun to watch and the actors were a good match for the characters in the book.  Interesting mystery with twists and turns and a good look at how working cold cases is hampered by the lack of record keeping prior to computers.  I found the motives a little weak but still enjoyed it and will definitely read more in the series. 3 stars.

What She Really Wants and The Dream both by Barbara Delinsky  are not my normal type reads, pretty standard romances.  I picked them up because I saw her new book Blueprints at Barnes and Noble and reading the first few pages it pulled me in enough to order it from my library.  I am on the wait list so I grabbed these two of her books instead.  These were rather predictable and had no other story other than the romance, What She Really Wants is just a short story, while The Dream was about 250 pages.  On the whole the storyline and characterization was a little too simplistic and there was not really anything going on. 2 stars.