June Book List

Ten books read this month, I think about average for me.

Murder on Union Square by Victoria Thompson is #21 in the Gaslight Mystery Series. I always enjoy these books and was sorry when a friend told me she had heard that #20 was her last book. I looked online and found that this book was soon to be released. Both she, I and the person who had given her the wrong info, were all glad to learn it wasn't true.

Mind Prey and Sudden Prey by John Sandford are 7 & 8 in his Lucas Davenport series.

Enemy Women by Paulette Jiles was the best read this month. As noted previously, Jiles is one of my current favorite authors.  Adair Colley, her brother and two sisters were living with their father on a farm near the Missouri - Arkansas border in Southeast Missouri when the Civil War broke out. Their lives were torn apart by soldiers from both sides as well as outlaw factions.
Each chapter begins with a historic passage about the war, reported by members of the Union and Confederate forces as well as people living in SE Missouri. This is a very moving, thought provoking, realistic novel about the Civil War, especially the civilians caught up in it.

'Til Death Do Us Part by Kate White is one in her Bailey Weggins series. After three of the bridesmaids in a recent wedding have been murdered, Bailey wonders if she is next. As a mystery, this is an okay read, I just don't relate well to the lives of the rich. This was my least favorite this month.

Secret Prey and Certain Prey are #'s 8 and 9 in John Sandford's Lucas Davenport series. These books are like potato chips, you can't eat (read) just one.

The Punishment She Deserves by Elizabeth George is #20 in her Inspector Lynley/Barbara Havers series. It seems like a long wait, but well worth it, for a new novel about this team. Havers is still on thin ice, in danger of being demoted to a distant division in the hinterlands, if she doesn't follow strict police procedures. When she is paired with her 'guv', staying on track is doubly important and hard to do.

Death Of An Expert Witness by P.D. James is an older one of her Chief Inspector Adam Dalgliesh mysteries. Her books are always so good, not just for the mystery part, but also for her writing acumen. The first part of this book was the set-up for all the characters and the reasons they may have had for killing the victim(s). It was hard for me to place them all. It wasn't until Insp. Dalgliesh came on the scene that I could start to distinguish the suspects and their motives.

Easy Prey by John Sandford is #10 in his Lucas Davenport series and the 10th book I read this month. (Just finished it this a.m.) I still have seventeen more books to read before I get to his latest (#28) that just came out.

With company coming for our family Christmas in July and all the cleaning I *should* do, July's reading list may suffer in quantity; hopefully it will be compensated by quality.