Is it weird that I like books co-written by animals? There are a couple of series I read where a cat is prominent in the story. Whatever. They are entertaining and Ms. Brown’s stories are wonderful. Harry, our heroine, is the main character who cannot but help herself get involved in mystery. She is extremely nosy and asks questions constantly, which often gets her into trouble. This time Aunt Tally is about to celebrate her 100th birthday. Tally’s alma mater wants to honour her in a ceremony which will include fund raising for the college – a charity close to Tally’s heart. The college board members who are organizing everything have two members on it who are sworn enemies and are hell bent on making each other’s lives miserable. They have been digging up dirt on each other and one has been found to have taken money from the college association’s account and replacing it. Whenever the board meets all the members have to run interference as these two create so much trouble and extend each meeting by hours due to their squabbling. At the time that everyone is on the way to the celebration in Missouri, a huge blizzard threatens travel and the entire event. As this is a mystery there soon follows a murder but as it happens one of the things Tally wishes is for the answer to a suspicious death over 40 years earlier. Are these deaths connected in some way? This is another great Mrs. Murphy mystery which introduces us to some new characters and brings back some old ones.

This is the next installment in the Stephanie Plum saga. As is the case with some authors who are presumably expected to churn out book after book with less time in between, the story lines get pretty thin. This book is definitely an example of that. Now don’t get me wrong, I would love to be able to get started on a character who is fun and have loads of ideas on what happens next to him/her. I will also continue to read Ms. Evanovich’s books, it would just be nice to have her bring back some of the old characters who made me laugh out loud. This one centers around her boss who has been kidnapped. He runs the bond office where she is a bounty hunter, albeit a pretty bad one. Stephanie considers not going after him but realizes he is the source of her income for the time being. He is a revolting human being who brings new meaning to the word depraved. He owes money everywhere and his wife doesn’t want him back either. Meanwhile our heroine’s love life with her on again off again copper boyfriend is in an off pattern. Not much is going well for Stephanie and she is once again without a car – she is famous for destroying all her vehicles as well as setting fire to things. Even her usually hilarious side kick Lola isn’t as funny and Grandma Mazur has only a bit part. What can I say – this was a little disappointing.