The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman

This is the first in a series.

The library is in a universe of its own and is connected to many other universes with their own alternate realities of earth set in different eras. The library is responsible for keeping each reality in order. Books can be dangerous in these realities, as they can shape the reality to being either too chaotic which leads to the influx of Faes, vampires, werewolves and other creatures who love to bring to chaos and destruction with them. Other books can bring too much order and rigidity, which is the inhabitants of dragons.

Humans in both states of reality are servants and playthings of those at the top of the pecking order.

The librarians are quite happy to steal, buy or blackmail to get the books which are then taken back to the library for safety. How you become a librarian is not mentioned, but the librarian for this series is Irene, who's parents where librarians before her. Her assistant and trainee is Kai who is handsome, sulky, prideful and is a dragon who we see most often in his human form, who has a story of his own to tell.

They are sent to fetch a version of the Grimm's Fairy Tales. They find the vampire who had it originally had been murdered by a secret society, they also come in contact with one of the main Fae of the world and end up being caught up in a race for the book between opposing forces. 

The two of them also come up against an enemy, who is one of the legends of the library, and are asked to question what the true purpose of the library is.

A book title with library in it is always a draw for me and I wasn't disappointed.

The characters are fun and enticing, the story-line draws you in and the world Irene and Kai are sent to is Victorian with steam punk technology and a healthy dose of magic

To explain more I feel would lead to telling you too much and spoiling the enjoyment of a fun read while sitting curled up before the fire.

Although I will say Kai is someone I would love to meet.

A Man of Some Repute by Elizabeth Edmondson

The book begins in 1953 with Hugo Hawksworth and his 13 year-old sister arriving at Selchester Castle, the home of the Selchesters for generations. Hugo is invited to stay at the Castle by Sir Bernard his new boss.

Sir Bernard is became the  trustee of the Selchester's estate after Lord Selchester disappeared in 1947 in a snow storm, and his son is killed in action not long afterwards. 

The Castle is inhabited by Lord Selchester's niece, Freya Wryton, and a live in cook/housekeeper, Mrs Partridge. 

Hugo works up at the Hall a supposedly Office for Statistics run by the war office, but all the locals know its more then that and often comment on this knowledge. Hugo is looking at individuals and their service to the country weeding out those who have suspected Communist sympathies. This is set in the time not long after the Cambridge Spy Ring affair.

He finds the job slow but interesting, but in the midst of his job, the skeleton of Lord Selchester turns up under the chapel floor, much to the annoyance of the Lord's daughter and heir, who has been counting down the years to when she can register him dead and sell the Castle and its land to a hotel chain.

The Lord had many secrets, and was a renowned blackmailer and generally a not nice person. So when he disappeared not many people were upset and now few are upset by his demise. 

Hugo finds himself involved with tracking the murderer down and opens up a hornets nest.

The characters are of the era, and this can jar with modern readers, especially the doffing of caps to the upper classes. The characters are intertwined beautiful and they play their parts well, so it is hard to work out who the murderer is. 

Yet they seemed dream like to me and not fully formed, but this only added to the atmosphere of an era which has been shaped for me by Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, old movies and plays.

Although the plot was intriguing I did feel at times I wanted more depth to the character's thoughts and behaviour, and the ending I felt was contrived and was arrived at with very little detective work as such.

Yet saying that I really enjoyed this book and read the next ones in the series.

The No2 Feline Detective Agency by Mandy Morton

This is the first in a series of delightful and intriguing books where cats ware clothes, drive, cars and motorbikes, buy things off the back of lorries, bake cakes and pastries, and commit murder.

Hetti Bagshot is a cat who once toured the country with her band, but now finds herself renting a room behind a bakery  which is run by two kindly sister’s – Betty and Beryl, but she is now facing eviction and is offered a job by her friend Marcia Woolcat, for her fledgling  detective, which up to now as been tottering on boredom with petty problems. Marcia is the matron for the residential home – Furcross, where the bodies of three former residents are missing from their graves in the grounds.

She is helped by her assistant Tilly an older cat who has chronic arthritis, a penchant for cardigans and reading, her wealth of knowledge from authors such as Polly Hodge (P D James) often helps Hetti out, even though it comes from Tilly's ramblings.

Hetti meets an old friend from her touring days Marley Toke who is the homes cook. Her cooking is divine, but beware of any dishes who’s names begin with Jamaican as these are highly laced with cat nip.

The book is easy to read, although it is dark in places. It zigs and zags along pathways which often have unexpected twists. The fashion show and it’s drastic ending is one of them.

The characters are rounded and flow from the page, which bring them and their world to life.

The cat who at the end rings to ask Hetti to investigate who is watering his tomato plants and leaving great big boot prints by them makes me wonder what my cat thinks of the feet who so kindly feeds and waters him.

Be warned that once read, you’ll never look at cats in the same way again, especially when they stare at you menacingly.  

Borrower of the Night by Elizabeth Peters

This is the first in the Vicky Bliss Series of 6 books. Vicky is a specialist in Medieval Europe and works in an American college teaching history. She is drawn into an adventure when her and her male colleague discover a trail to finding a missing religious icon. Both are determined and stubborn and bet each other that they can find the icon before the other one does.

The trail leads to a castle in the German Town of Rothenburg and they come up across others who are also seeking the icon, and one of them is willing to kill Vicky, her colleague and anyone else who gets in their way.

Vicky is a strong minded women who tends to go off on her own to prove that she is capable and ends up needing rescuing, not because she's a women but because she so often does not understand or recognise the danger a person or group bring into the setting. She is self-deprecating especially about the way she looks, and the way it distracts people especially men from her intelligence.

Vicky and her rescuer are well developed and their interactions can be felt as you read them. The locations are written with enough detail so you can imagine them but with enough left out to fuel your imagination or memories.

I found myself much to my surprise liking Vicky and her rescuer who she becomes involved with in later books. Although I did find myself often silently yelling at her as the danger approached as she was blissful unaware.

If you like light hearted, tongue in cheek stories then this is for you.

Carrots by Collen Helme

Shelby Nichols is a housewife married to a respectable lawyer. Her life is one of everyday normality until one day in grocery store where she is buying carrots and her head is grazed by a bullet from the cross-fire of a bank robbery nearby, which seems at first to have not caused any change in her personality or life.

Until on day she begins to hear what people are thinking. Shelby hears who they want to kill, what their planning on cook for dinner and what they think about their bosses and spouses.

This leads to trouble when she hears what her children really think of her and she believes her husband loves her but he keeps thinking about a red head in his office. During her investigations into who the redhead is she becomes mixed up with the mafia and is saved by a Ramos a hit-man who is cool and hot. This is problems and Ramos and the boss finding out about Shelby's talent, which leads to even more problems for Shelby when she has to hide it from her husband.

Shelby tells her husband of her new found ability which leads to conflict, can she save her marriage, stay alive and discover what her husbands colleague is up to.

I came across this book through a book promotion and was drawn in from the start. The writing is quick and witty, although not necessarily to everyone's taste.  Shelby is a lovable character who can also be extremely annoying, she has a habit of talking too much and edging her way to having her ability being discovered which is how she ended up working for the mob boss.

The hit-man Ramos is well written and we see not only is steely dangerous side, but a fun loving man who has the hots for Shelby and is quite happy to show them, apart from when is boss is around.

The book is fun although in some places it leaves you feeling your reality is being stretched.