Cold Days In Texas
So big ice storm in Texas with all the attendant drama – what are you gonna do? Make some in-roads into that ever-growing to-be-read pile, of course!
Diane Kelly writes fun who-dun-its with compelling characters and the House Flippers series is no exception. Murder With A View has Whitney and Buck renovating an old motel into condos while dealing with squatters, corpses, smarmy competitors, and mysterious fans who may or may not be murders. Fun, fast paced, with human and humorous elements to make characters real and mysteries plausible. And the cat, Sawdust, is adorable!
Jumped into a series at the halfway point just to see what happened to two characters – The Second Chance Cat Mysteries by Sofia Ryan. Having established the Angels detective agency and explored Sarah’s relationship with three adopted grandmothers, the series turns its attention to Elvis, the savvy stray who proves as charming as his namesake as he infiltrates a local cat show. Undercover Kitty has all the thrills, chills, and near misses you could expect in a case replete with dangerous stalkers, suspicious accidents, and high-stakes finances!
A Catered St. Patrick’s Day by Isis Crawford came out in 2012, but it’s in keeping with the upcoming season so definite buy at the local bookstore. Sean, a retired policeman, and his two daughters can’t help poking their noses into local mysteries in spite of or perhaps because of the local police. The connection gets personal when a local investment banker is found drowned in a vat of green beer by one daughter’s boyfriend, leading Sean to manipulate the other daughter’s boyfriend into driving him around town in pursuit of clues! Fun family dynamic with classic who-dun-it twist.
The Time-Traveling Fashionista and Cleopatra, Queen of the Nile is a young adult book that has adult appeal in both history and fashion. The sales at Louise’s favorite vintage store transport her back in time, first to the set of the Elizabeth Taylor version of Cleopatra, then to ancient Egypt to meet the real queen herself. Rich with historical nods, this tale also includes a life lesson in confidence for the middle-grades
As another installment in the Earthcent universe, Traders on the Galactic Tunnel Network by E. M. Foner works. By itself, it’s a little confusing as the two protagonists are depicted similarly enough that I had to go back a book in the series to keep track of who was who. But, it’s a nice explanation of black market government subsidizing, actually a real-life problem. So altogether, another funny, satirical look at human practices thrown into stark relief against alien civilizations that don’t share mankind’s cherished delusions – er, beliefs!
All in all, not a bad way to spend a week of forced reclusion. What did you read while waiting for ERCOT to come to their senses?
kathybryson 
Thanks, Kathy!