I finally found fiction to relax with! Wait, I shouldn’t say it that way… The heroine is a Professor of English (at Reed College in Oregon, no less) and she would disapprove of a preposition at the end of a sentence.
Emily Cavanaugh is an appealing protagonist, and the frequent literary references (ranging from the Old Testament to JK Rowling) in this mystery amused me. When stressed, Emily retreats into the worlds of Jane Austen and Anthony Trollope. When confronted with murder, she relies on Dorothy Sayers. Emily is a bibliophile who suffers from a level of technophobia even worse than my own. She would never condescend to blog. Horrors! Such an ugly neologism!
Two of the themes of this book are old grudges and land development. It works. There’s romance, too.
This is Ms. Bolger’s first novel and I look forward to more. She is calling her series “Crime with the Classics”. I don’t think she can go wrong.
AMG Reading Journal 
I must go down to Mystery on Main and see if David has this in stock. If not, I’ll get him to order it for me.
I got the book and read it in almost one sitting. Also loved the literary references especially since I was just ending my annual “Pride and Prejudice” orgy. The anti-development for development’s sake attitude is wonderful. I look forward to knowing more about all the folks in the book. Thanks for recommending it, Alice.
Hi, Maya! You can always return the favor by telling me about your favorite recent fiction reading!
Probably Wolf Hall. But I just started a new mystery called “Ordinary Grace” for my book club next week. I’ll let you know.