I’m back with Poisoned Pen Press
Been off from work for six weeks with the Total Knee Replacement adventure. A few suggestions if you are going to have this done. Don’t read or knit for the first 3 weeks. Awful daytime TV works because you drift in and out of consciousness. First, you’ll find you’re reading the same page over and over again, second I took out four rows of knitting about nine times before I realized those brain cells weren’t working.
Once the reading cells start up again Poisoned Pen Press mysteries are the perfect antidote to boredom.
First I read Skeleton Picnic by Michael Norman. It’s a J. D. Books Mystery. Couple goes missing. 
Territorial issues have the local Sheriff Charley Sutter turning to Bureau of Land Management Ranger J.D. Books for help. Skeleton Picnic is the euphemism for Native American artifact and pot hunting trips, clearly illegal. Evidence shows the couple have not left by their own means. Further investigation, with his new young deputy, Beth Tanner, reveal these are not the only people going missing in the Four Corners region. Family conflicts create tension for Books and lead to more questions than answers. This book provides a good mix of interesting characters, with a strong Southwest setting. Ethical considerations bump against local traditions of collecting artifacts. Ending will not disappoint.
Looks like I missed the first in the series, On Deadly Ground, will have to go and pick it up.
Another from the Poison Pen fare, is Kerry Greenwood’s Cooking the Books: A Corinna Chapman Mystery. Good news for all you Phryne Fisher fans, now you have a new woman sleuth to follow. Corinna is a great baker, has a yummy boyfriend, and gets drawn into film set antics that lead to murder. She’s working for her caterer friend as a baker on the set of a new soap opera, called “Kiss the Bride”. The lead actress is like the tiger that erupts on the set. There is a sub-plot going with her private detective boyfriend investigating missing bearer bonds last held by a mistreated corporate employee. Setting is Melbourne, Australia, you can almost smell Corinna’s baking as she solves crimes in this 6th in the series.
Poisoned Pen Press offers a variety of Kerry Greenwood mysteries, stop by and store up.
And even though I’m a big fan of Poisoned Pen, I picked up a mystery I just didn’t like. Clea Simon’s Cats Can’t Shoot: A Pru Marlowe Pet Noir. Pru is an animal behavioralist and pet psychic. Did the white Persian really kill her owner by stepping on the dueling pistol? Pru tries to get the kitty to trust her and reveal the truth. I liked the plot, Pru’s interactions with ex-boyfriends, and the disagreeable wife, but all the animal dialogue just got in my way. I have four dogs and a cat and can’t imagine those conversations going on in their heads, and my cat is as verbal as it gets. While this is an interesting twist on the mystery tale, its just not one for me.
