While I have been reading this past week or so, I haven’t read any of the books I’d planned to review. I read Dave Freer’s deeply tongue-in-cheek noir detective send up, The Bolg and the Beautiful, a continuation of the adventures of his immortal Pictish king turned private eye. This one centers around Freya, her daughters, and the business of banking. A fun read for those who appreciate noir and dry humor. 
I’d been reading a lot of Agatha Christie and trying to figure out which ones I’d read in the past – I usually don’t remember titles, so it’s luck of the draw and what is available on Overdrive for those. She’s always a comfort read, though. Because the ‘if you enjoyed that, you might enjoy this…’ suggestions offered them up, I tried a couple of other books. Martha Grime’s Richard Jury series is another Scotland Yard man, but although I enjoyed The Anodyne Necklace, I just couldn’t finish I Am the Only Running Footman. Too contrived. Too many coincidences. 
I also couldn’t finish Aunt Dimity & the Summer King by Nancy Atherton, not because I wasn’t enjoying the very, very light mystery (no one dies by the mid-point of the book), but because the book just went on and on about nothing, and the main character is just too twee for words. As is her ghostly ‘aunt’ so that one will be returned to the library too, because I got bored. 
I mentioned yesterday that I’ve rediscovered DE Stevenson, I’d enjoyed Music in the Hills and will pick up the sequel, Shoulder the Sky, which is a story of what happens after marriage to make it work harmoniously… I know, revolutionary, isn’t it?
I have a pair of books from Baen I am looking forward to very much, but I’ve been putting them off until I can give them the attention they deserve, so I will review them in the next week or two. Today I’ll be in chemistry lab learning fluoroscopy fluorometry most of the day. Fun times. Excited quinine – thrilling stuff. We’ll be tickling electrons with UV light to make them jump.
