A Talent for Murder

First off, I loved the straightforward murder mystery aspect. This relatively slim novel hooked me right away and was a fast paced read. This was the third in the series, I had no read the previous two, but the story was still easy to follow. Martha Ratliff, a sedate librarian living in Maine has begun to suspect that her husband is up to no good when he travels the coast selling his wares. She doesn't think it's infidelity, but she does think it involves murder. Is her charming husband a serial killer?! Marth enlists the help of Lilu Kintner, a former college friend to help her dig deeper, she doesn't want to come out and accuse her husband, what if she's wrong? What Lily and her partner Henry discover goes much deeper than anyone thought. Chilling and dark, I need to check out the rest of the books in this series. 

The Christmas Guest

Trying to get in the holiday spirit by reading about some murder under the mistletoe. While no one gets murdered under the mistletoe (more like actually bludgeoned to death with a rock in the snowy woods), there is at heart a little mystery. When an American student is invited to the English countryside to spend the holidays with one of her classmates she bites at the chance. She also falls head over heels for her friend's older brother. While at the pub, someone comments that she looks just like the murdered girl found behind her classmate's manor. Is it true? How did that girl die and why? Interesting narrative. It was a quick read that kept me hooked.