Mail-Order Murder by Leslie Meier

I have seen  Lucy Stone mysteries on several friends' Goodreads list, so decided I needed to check them out. This is book 1 in a long series of books by Meier featuring Lucy Stone as sort of a younger Jessica Fletcher.

In Mail-Order, Lucy (who live in Maine) is married to Bill and has 3 young children. She works part time taking telephone orders at Country Cousins where people all over the world order items ranging from hand-knit sweaters to orthopedic back cushions and every thing in between. The pay isn't great, but the hours work into the Stone's schedule allowing Lucy to be home with her kids in the day and Bill there at night.

Christmas is fast approaching and Lucy is busy buying gifts and preparing for the onslaught of family, so finding a dead body is the last thing on her mind.  But find one she does... her boss, Sam Miller, has evidently committed suicide by carbon monoxide in his car. But the police soon learn that it is not suicide, but murder and Lucy's love of mysteries and natural curiosity take over.

Mail-Order is a neat and tidy little cozy mystery with a bit of a twist at the end, but one that the reader begins to see before it hits... but not too early on. There is a bit of language throughout the book, not as much as a typical sitcom these days (keep in mind this was written in 1991). I enjoyed it, but cannot say I am hooked. In some odd way it was a downer.. the town, the people, their lives seem so depressing.. dismal and while life is not all roses and sunshine, a bit of light and hope would be nice.

Fleece Navidad by Maggie Sefton

Another Christmas themed book read out of season.... another cozy mystery series I love!  Fleece Navidad is part of Sefton Knitting Mystery series... which definitely needs to be read in order!

The holidays are fast approaching and knitting needles are flying at Lambspun in Fort Connor, CO. So many Christmas projects to finish up and so little time. And definitely no time for a murder!  Juliet is a local librarian... quiet as a mouse.. and finally has a Romeo in her life...that is until Claudia comes to town.  Vivacious.. full of life.. flirtatious.. Claudia who is on the hunt for the right man.  A bit of a love triangle ensues and then death kicks it up to a whole new level.  Add to this a former daughter-in-law who is certain Claudia is a money hungry gold-digger who married wealthy men and then kills then for their fortunes.  The holidays are heating up and Christmas cheer is hard to find.

Can the ladies at Lambspun put the pieces together and tie up this mystery in time to restore harmony for the holidays to their cozy little town?

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Probably not a book you expected to see here and honestly, not one I knew much about or would have picked up to read if not for my kids.  Both my children (young adults) read and loved this book.  (One loved the movie also, the other did not.) It really had there attention and the attention of so many other college / youth age kids I come in contact with... so I decided to read it and see what the fuss was about.

Do I like it? Good question. It is very well written.. intriguing.. definitely draws you in and hooks you (takes a few chapters though) and honestly, I will probably read the other 2 books in the series because too much is left hanging at the end of book one.

And yet, the subject matter is not an easy one. It is not really as gruesome or gory or gross as you might have heard (although there are a few scenes I felt comfortable skimming over).  The heaviness, to me, is the overall subject .... this idea of a society that has fractured and sectioned off itself in such a way that it is a bit like a Caste system.  And then to create a sport that is so vile and goes so against the moral grain.  And yet (seems to be an "and yet" theme here), we really do this already in many ways.  Think of the shows we watch on television... many, many of them pit people from different walks of life against each other to fight it out to the end... not death, but a set end.  Survivor, the Apprentice, even things like those beat 'em up shows.. American Gladiator and the like.  I know there are others, I am just not a huge fan of reality shows.  Even our sports lean towards this... look at how vehemently some watch football and how they want a rough and tough game. And the thing is the more we watch, the more we want and the more we want the more we watch.. a vicious cycle.  And that is a big part of The Hunger Games.  The ultimate reality show and the spectators while at time repulsed by it want more and more.. more scandal, more action, more blood.

This is a work of fiction and can be read as just a story.. but if we are honest while reading we will see ourselves, our culture, in the midst of it. Collins has just taken it to an extreme to make a point. One I hope we all see and take.