A Rumpole Christmas

A Rumpole Christmas: stories by John Mortimer

Most holiday seasons Horace Rumpole and his wife--known as She Who Must be Obeyed--exchange gifts (lavender water for her, a tie for him), and have a dinner of supermarket turkey and trimmings with a glass of port. But on several occasions the Rumpole family plans have gone awry. Fans will love these stories. John Mortimer died in 2009, but Rumpole lives on in these delightful holiday tales.

The Blue Goose is Dead

The Blue Goose is Dead by Helen Goodman

Allison Aldridge's friend Catherine has been summoned by her unpleasant Aunt Bess, and asks Allison to come along for moral support. Aunt Bess lives at an abandoned lake resort, Blue Goose Lodge, so Allison expects a pleasant few days relaxing before returning to her teaching job.

But Aunt Bess is a mean-spirited, spiteful woman, and tells the assembled relatives she's selling the lodge to a lumber company. The lodge will be demolished and the land will be clear cut. She's signing the papers tomorrow.

Which relative did away with horrid Aunt Bess? Allison gets caught up in the investigation. A cozy read in the tradition of English manor house mysteries.

October's Books

In Jeanne Dam's latest mystery, The Corpse of St. James, ex-pat Dorothy Martin, retired schoolteacher, and her husband, retired chief constable Alan Nesbitt, attend a ceremony at Buckingham Palace honoring one of Alan's proteges, Jonathan Quinn, who is to receive the George Cross. While walking in the park across the street from the palace, they discover the body of a young woman. Although Quinn tells the police he does not recognize the girl, he later confesses to Dorothy and Alan that she is the granddaughter of an old family friend. Discovering the girl's murderer brings the trio into the world of those who are employed at the Palace--guards, tour guides, art curators, and even the man who tends the Queen's Corgis. Readers who enjoy a good British mystery will happily savor this one.

Cleveland Moon Handbook by Douglas Trattner
Death Benefit by Robin Cook
Cozy by Parnell Hall
The Beautiful Mystery by Louise Penny
A Fatal Winter by G.M. Malliet
Goldberg Variations by Susan Isaacs
Making Money by Terry Pratchett
Fatally Frosted by Jessica Beck
Glazed Murder by Jessica Beck
The Corpse of St. James by Jeanne Dams
Woolvs in the Sitee by Margaret Wild
The Darling Dahlias and the Cucumber Tree by Susan Wittig Albert