I have been trying to fill in gaps in M.C. Beaton’s Agatha Raisin .  These three were actually all in a row and represent the time in the series in which Agatha opens her own detective agency.  This introduces some new recurring characters in the form of Patrick and Harry, who help at her agency, while keeping the mainstays of Mrs. Bloxby, Sir Charles Fraith, and James.

Agatha’s agency goes through the gamut of cases from lost dogs and cats, missing teenagers, divorce work (which Agatha really doesn’t like still stinging from her divorce) and of course the odd murder or three.  James really shows his true colors through the course of these three and Mrs. Bloxby comes into her own, more than she had in earlier books.  Really enjoyable mystery reads, with great characters and intriguing story lines.

Dying Light is book 2 in Stuart MacBride’s Logan McRae series.  There is a so much going on in the form of characters, connections, twists, turns and red herrings, so you really need to pay attention.  McRae has been transferred to a screw up squad based on the outcomes of book 1 and has a new boss, DI Steel, who I found thoroughly unlikable.  The case begins with a prostitute beaten to death and that is only the beginning.  The bodies stack up at an alarming rate leaving McRae to try to make connections to get ahead of the killer(s).  Just a FYI to readers, there is “on-screen” torture and the murder of children, very much a brutal book, but a good read.