I just read this one at the recommendation  of Booktrader of Hamilton.  I  loved it!  The marriage of cozy mystery and romantic suspense works so well here.  The theme concerns a young writer, Lena London, who is chosen to be the apprentice of her life long favorite romantic suspense author, Camilla Graham.  A young man is killed not far from Camilla’s home and so the investigation begins.  There is a subplot  involving the neighbor and his missing ex-wife and other storylines involving Lena’s friends and a possible romance.  This book has it all,  great protagonists, writers, books, cats, dogs, romantic possibilities, murder and other criminal activity.  Great start to a new cozy mystery!

I have been working my way through P.D. James, Adam Dalgliesh series, for a while now.  I had put a lot of my reading aside to work on the Save Our Cozies Readathon and other things.  But I am back in the swing of it now :).  Last night I read this, Devices and Desires, which is book #8 in the series.  I loved it!  The plot was intricate and well done.  All the characters, motives and alibis woven together in a way that kept you thinking about not just who the murder is, but also how all the other pieces were going to fit together in the end.  I particularly liked the Mrs. Dennison’s story, it just resonated with me.

In this book, the author has  developed a stong sense of place and this impacts the whole experience of reading the book. You can feel the isolation and the sense of despair coming right off the pages as you read.  So well done.  The plot involves some political commentary about nuclear power, village life, and social services, along with common themes of love, hate and jealousy.  Overall, a highly recommended read!.