The weather felt like the last week of March instead of mid-February. Quite a shock after the below 0° temps of Valentine’s weekend. In between perusing seed and plant catalogs and dreaming of flowers, it’s been prime reading weather. “Dead Sand” (1994) by Brendan DuBois is the first Lewis Cole mystery. Cole is a mysterious resident of Tyler Beach, N.H. (obviously a stand-in for Hampton Beach). What he did before moving into a waterfront cottage and writing a column for Shorelines magazine is unclear. (Don’t worry, all is revealed.). But, he’s a big help to Detective Diane Woods, the only detective in town because of cheap selectmen. In summer, when the town overflows with tourists and a rowdy young crowd, she doesn’t get much peace or sleep. Cole is also friends with local reporter Paula Quinn and a local rep for the Boston mob. Cole has helped Diane with cases before (”doing a column on this one” as he puts it). And that’s exactly what he plans when a 17-year-old summer worker is found dead, just after a female corpse is unearthed after 40 years in a sandy saltmarsh grave. “One Good Turn” (2006), the second Jackson Brodie book by Kate Atkinson. Again, I can’t recommend her books enough if you like smart, funny writing. This one is better than the first. It begins two years after Jackson retired from the PI business when a dead client left him an inheritance, allowing him to purchase his dream house in France. He’s at the Edinburgh Festival with girlfriend and sometime actress Julia. Of course, it’s not long before he’s involved in something more lethal than Julia’s play rehearsals. I love how Atkinson takes four or five plots and slowly develops them until they converge and connect. And, this one has a lot more humor than the first book. Parts are just hilarious. “Murder at Longbourne" (2012) by Tracy Kiely is like an adult Nancy Drew mystery. When Elizabeth Parker is invited to a murder-mystery New Year’s Eve dinner at her Aunt Winnie’s B&B on Cape Cod, the Inn at Longbourne, she’s thrown back together with a childhood nemesis, an odious boy, now grown up. Of course, someone actually gets murdered and, with Winnie the prime suspect, Elizabeth must try to put the clues together and find the murderer before Winnie is arrested — or the murderer strikes again. Elizabeth has a penchant for quoting Austen, especially “Pride and Prejudice.” And, each chapter begins with an appropriate quote from Austen, Heyer, Wilder and other authors. It’s a light, fun read. “What the Waves Know” (2016) by Tamara Valentine of Kingston, R.I., is by a new author I definitely like. Izabella Rae Hoffman hasn’t spoken since the night her father disappeared from Tillings Island. Eight years later, Iz, now 14, and her mother head for the island in a last ditch effort to confront the memories of that time and find the truth, along with Iz’s voice. This is a lovely coming-of-age story set off the coast of Rhode Island. It also has a lot of strong female characters and a touch of the magic quality you find in Alice Hoffman’s novels. “The Orphan Train” (2012) by Christina Baker is a fascinating novel based on the true stories of children on the “orphan trains” that left New York for the Midwest from 1854 to 1929 with more than 100,000 orphans and abandoned children. They were parceled out to anyone who wanted them. Some were adopted and raised as the couples’ own children, but many were exploited as free labor. In the book, young Irish immigrant Niamh is sent to Minnesota in 1929 where she endures a couple of bad situations before finding a good home (and has her name changed each time). The story moves between the past and the present, where 17-year-old Molly Ayer, a foster child in Maine, gets in trouble and must perform community service for the aging Niamh, now Vivian Daly. It’s a story of survival and resilience and learning how to let other people in. “I Could Pee on This and Other Poems by Cats” (2012) by Francesco Marciuliano. This tiny book, a Christmas gift from a friend, made me laugh out loud. If you have cats, you will totally appreciate the poems. Even the titles are funny — “I Lick Your Nose,” “Who is That on Your Lap?”, “O Christmas Tree,” “This is My Chair” and “Some of My Best Friends are Dogs.” Here’s an example:

“Sushi”

Did you really think That you could hide fish in rice? Oh, the green paste burns! Visit Lynda Rego on Facebook at www.facebook.com/lynda.rego where she shares tips on cooking, books, gardening, genealogy and other topics. Click on Like and share ideas for upcoming stories.