“A Spoonful of Poison” by M.C. Beaton

“A Spoonful of Poison” by M.C. Beaton
2008, St. Martin’s Minotaur
ISBN: 978-0-312-34912-7

Hey, I really liked this book. “A Spoonful of Poison” by M.C. Beaton. I’ve never read anything by her before and this was one of those deals where I just wandered around my favorite shelves in the library and was attracted to her book. Notice I’m only in the “B’s” yet, so there are quite a few more shelves to go.

So, this one is advertised as an Agatha Raisin Mystery. There are more, so that’s a treat too. I just love it when I like a book and there are more in a series.

Agatha Raisin is a detective. She’s got her own agency and lives in England. She’s got folk who work with her, so there are lots of interesting characters around.

Her good friend Mrs. Bloxby sort of volunteered her to help out at a nearby village’s church festival. Agatha used to be in the public relations field before she began doing detective work so it was up her alley. Except she really didn’t want to do it. So, there the two of them go to tell the vicar no, except that this really handsome man appears in the churchyard and as Mrs. Bloxby says often, “Oh, Mrs. Raisin is off again.” meaning she’s thinking romantic thoughts.

One thing leads to another and murder is committed at the festival. It’s the solving of it that is the rest of the book with lots of stories about the characters intertwined. It’s just a really good have some tea and cookies, curl up and read book. I did enjoy it.

“Light of the Moon” by Luanne Rice

“Light of the Moon” by Luanne Rice
2008, Bantam Books
ISBN: 978-0-553-80511-6

“Light of the Moon” by Luanne Rice is a regular sized book. I would normally take 3 or 4 days to read it. Not this one. I started it yesterday and finished it this morning it was that good.

Susannah Connolly is an anthropologist. Her work is pretty much all that occupies her. Her mother just died. She’s grieving and life just isn’t so happy now. She’s going to keep a promise that she made to her mother to visit the French Camargue where there are famous white horses.

She’s been in love with horses since she was a little girl and the trip appeals immediately to her. There she is rescued by a man when she stumbles into a herd of bulls. His daughter, Sari, is a wounded little girl whose mother deserted the family when she was 8 years old. Now, she is 13 and still carries the scars both emotional and physical from the night her mother left.

Susannah falls in love with both of them and during the course of this story miracles shine forth. Luanne is a wonderful writer and I would recommend this book for anybody up for a terrific love story.

“Sweet Revenge” by Nora Roberts

“Sweet Revenge” by Nora Roberts
1988, Bantam
ISBN: 0-553-10514-0

This was a fascinating story. Adrianne and Phillip, both people who risk much to take much. Both, as adults, are independent and neither have the least thought to be involved with anyone else, but when love hits you don’t always see it coming.

The fascinating part of this story is that much of it is rooted in the Middle East where customs diverge wildly with what we know and accept as normal in the West. There, where women are subservient, where they must go about veiled, where they have no voice, where freedom as we know it does not exist; these ideas were set before me in a way that became all too real in a way I’ve never experienced before.

So, Adrianne’s mother was a starlet in the West. She was talented, she was glamorous, she was a star and King Abdu fell head over heels in love with her. He courted her until he had won her heart. They married and she was never seen again. She disappeared into the harem in King Abdu’s Middle Eastern kingdom.

The problem was the baby she bore him was a daughter. He had expected a son. So, her worth was diminished. Then, he starts thinking because she is a westerner he has fallen afoul of the laws of his religion. It gets really nasty here and their lives become unbearable until they flee.

At the heart of this story is a fantastic necklace called The Sun and The Moon, given to Adrianne’s mother on her marriage day and taken from her by the King when Adrianne and her mother flee to the west. Adrianne vows to have it again.

This story is fast paced. It is thrilling. It is a peek into a culture I never really knew very much about.