Need a Good Read?

I have a weakness for historical fiction, especially if it involves a mystery. One of my favorite authors of historical fiction is Pat McIntosh. She paints such a fabulous tapestry of 1400s Scotland one would think she was writing from her own life experience, if that's the case however let me assure you she looks absolutely fantastic for her age! I'm so completely infatuated with the protagonist in her stories, Gil Cunningham. I mistakenly read The Nicholas Feast first which is actually book two. I ended up being quite relieved however, as there was a particular situation introduced in book one (The Harper's Quine) that would have given me much anxiety had I not already known how it was resolved by accidentally reading ahead. I don't want to tell you what it is though, I want you to go out and get the books. I was very thrilled last night to discover that there is a fifth Gil Cunningham Murder Mystery pending. Now I need to go do a "saved search" on my library's website so that it will notify me when the book comes in, I love that!

Another really good one is The Kingsbridge Plot by Maan Meyers (which is actually two authors in one). The beginning of the book was a little crude for my taste (one of the characters is, well, really crude) but I persisted and was rewarded with an excellent story based on true happenings in colonial America. I haven't read other Maan Meyers books yet (they're on my to-read list) but partly because I've gotten addicted to The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith. I mean, honestly, how can one not fall immediately in love with Mma Ramotswe. During my last pregnancy I had a little ritual that I would go through regarding these books. Rob was traveling a lot so I had my evenings to myself (once the kids were in bed of course) so I would bake a loaf of bread and time it so that it was coming out of the bread machine (yes, I use a bread machine nowadays. It's cheating but give me a break, I'm pregnant with two kids) after the kids were down. I'd make a hot cup of Safari Spice tea, slather a couple slices of hot bread with butter and hunker down with whichever Mma Ramotswe book I had my nose in at the time - heaven! Anyway, if you read these books and don't immediately want to hop a plane to Botswana there is something wrong with you.