Another great read in the Vera Stanhope series by Ann Cleeves, Silent Voices, was better in the  book than the TV show that I watched based on it.  Hannah’s character seemed much more interesting in the book.  Vera has joined a health club, rather stealthily as she wouldn’t really want it to be the subject of discussion at the station.  Then, dripping wet from the pool,  she has the bad luck (or is it good luck)to stumble on  a murder.  The case leads to an upper class (but probably no money left) family, the death of a child under the supervision of social services and ties to older secrets.  Great mystery, lots of twists and turns with interlocking character stories and red herrings.  I really enjoy reading this, even though I’ve watched the TV show already.

Deadly Donuts by Jessica Beck is the 10th book in The Donut Mysteries.  This is a cozy series I have returned to again and again, whenever I feel the desire for a lighter read. The story here involves blackmail, family secrets, midnight assignations, and assassination attempts on a governor.  It’s all in a day’s work for Suzanne, the sleuthing donut baker and her loyal cadre of sleuthing companions.  This was fun, quick read with lovable, relatable characters in a familiar setting.  I am sure I will continue to read and enjoy the series (good thing there are plenty more of them).

Disposable Lives has been on my Kindle for quite  a while so while I ‘m back in a cozier swing of things I decided to pick it up.  The book concerns con men and conspiracies, a murdered husband and a country club, and mainly Travelers of the Irish persuasion.  I was a little uncomfortable reading this for some reason.  Travelers as villains is certainly nothing new in crime fiction, however they were somewhat cartoonish in their villainy here.  More of stereotypes than characters and it just struck a wrong note with me.  The main character also seemed off, her husband was killed and she seemed to give no thought to consoling her kids or that the kids would even grieve for a father.   Didn’t really work well for me.