Flying Solo by Linda Holmes (2022)

 

I found Flying Solo to be an easy to read, feel good story. It explores our habits of making assumptions and categorizing everything and everyone is our lives. As the story evolves, we find this is not always a good thing.

The main character is Laurie Sasslyn, a soon to be 40-year old woman who canceled her wedding three weeks before it was to take place. She leaves her Maine home and travels to her small Washington hometown to clear out the house of her recently deceased Great Aunt Dot. Her best friend (June) still lives there as well as, you guessed it, Laurie’s first love, librarian Nick Cooper, who has recently divorced.

Among her aunt’s things, Laurie finds a craved duck buried at the bottom of a cedar chest. She later finds a love letter to the never-married Dot that ends with the line, "And anyway, if you're ever desperate, there are always ducks, darling." Laura is determined to learn more about the duck and the author of the letter. When the duck is stolen, Laurie and her friends scheme to get it back.

Flying Solo does not end the way one would expect given the plot line. You’ll need to read it to find out how Laurie’s story ends.

3.70 stars on Goodreads, 4.1 on Amazon

Fierce Poison (Barker & Llewelyn # 13) by Will Thomas (2022)

 

Fierce Poison was my introduction to author Will Thomas and his pair of private equity agents (private investigators in Victorian London). Cyrus Barker and his assistant Thomas Llewelyn first appeared in Thomas’ 2004 book Some Danger Involved. Although each book in the series reflects the passage of time, it is not necessary to read them in order. Each contains enough backstory for the reader to keep up. In Fierce Poison, Barker and Llewelyn have been partners for ten years.

The pair couldn’t be more different from each other. Llewelyn has spent time in prison and Barker has spent much of his life in the Far East. The books are narrated by Thomas Llewelyn and he infuses the story with many humorous asides, observations, and descriptions.

In Fierce Poison, Roland Fitzhugh, the newest Member of Parliament, arrives at the equity agent’s door but dies on the floor before he can tell them why he is there. The agents quickly learn he's been poisoned with a cyanide laced raspberry tart and Barker is determined to find the culprit even though there is no paying client. The very next day an entire family in the East End is found dead after consuming a large raspberry tart. As Baker and Llewelyn’s investigation heats up, they find themselves the poisoner’s latest target; even Barker’s dog is at risk.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, reading it in two sessions. It is an easy read, the writing is excellent, the characters well-rounded, and the mystery intriguing. I figured out the motive for the killings near the end of the book but had no idea which of the unusual cast of secondary characters was the guilty party.  Maybe you’ll have better luck.

Book 14, Heart of the Nile is due out in April 2023.