Even though we spent the last 2 weeks of July in Ontario, I still managed to read five books before and while we house-sat for son #2 during the first part of the month, and finish a sixth on the flight home at month’s end.

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Birds of a Feather, by Jacqueline Winspear. I’m becoming really fond of Maisie Dobbs, the “psychological detective” who began as a tweenie (between stairs maid) until her aristocratic employer recognized her superior intellect and assigned her a tutor/mentor in whose footsteps she would eventually follow – but not before being and sponsored as a “scholarship girl” to a top-notch English university, and volunteering as a field nurse in the WWI battlefields of France. Maisie’s unusual background gives her insight into the different levels of British society, and unique empathy for the suffering of others. Those skills come into play as she tries to uncover the connections between a runaway daughter and multiple murders. Once again, Jacqueline Winspear’s characters and vividly described locations make for a riveting story.

A Killer In King’s Cove, by Iona Whishaw. Sadly, my library had no more Maisie Dobbs books ready to binge on, but I found a post WWII heroine to replace my WWI detective. In this case, it’s ex-intelligence officer Lane Winslow who relocates from London to a small town in British Columbia’s interior to enjoy a simpler life, but that becomes impossible when a body in the creek plugs her water supply….. and then there’s Inspector Darling (!), the hunky Canadian policeman to contend with.

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The Girl You Left Behind, by Jojo Moyes. Each of this author’s books is completely different, but I’ve loved each one for its nuanced characters. Once again, though, I’ve chosen a book with ties to events in WWI – although this one spans a century to bring us to the impacts of that conflict that still linger. Without spoilers: a painting, an obsession, and a study in how in uncovering an object’s provenance a life can be revealed.

Paris For One & Other Stories, by Jojo Moyes. I wanted a book with a few short standalone stories for our week spent with our grandsons. A short story can fill half an hour instead of an afternoon, which was perfect for my purpose. True to Moyes’ form, each of the 9 stories in this collection somehow manage to feature fully-realized characters presented with the same kind of care and depth as in her novels. Really a wonderful way to take a break from routine and escape into other lives. In the title story, Nell is stood up by her boyfriend and ends up spending a planned “romantic weekend” in Paris alone … where who knows what might happen? Between the Tweets is the first of 9 shorter vignettes in the book, and looks at what happens when social media clicks are the only things that seem to matter, whether the reasons are good or bad. The other 7 stories are just as diverse and interesting, including Crocodile Shoes, (which later became Moyes’ full-length novel Someone Else’s Shoes), and Holdups, maybe the quirkiest jewelry store heist tale ever.

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Court of Lions, by Jane Johnson, moves between present day Granada and the 15th century emirate that existed there. I grabbed this one for its setting in Alhambra (which ranks as one of my favourite historic sites ever) and because I’d enjoyed Johnson’s The Sultan’s Wife. Having visited Alhambra certainly made the novel feel more “real”. If you haven’t been there, Johnson’s vivid descriptions are enough to make you add Granada to your travel wish list…. but there’s a darkness behind the beauty. As with all of Johnson’s books, it’s important to read the epilogue, where she references the actual events that inspire her work.

The Jazz Club Spy, by Roberta Rich, features a heroine who survived a pogrom in Russia in 1930, but has never forgotten the Cossacks who destroyed her village and cost her family so much. When, years later in New York City, she thinks she sees the very man who destroyed her family’s lives she is determined to attain some kind of justice and closure. Being recruited from her job as an observant cigarette girl in a jazz club to become a spy for the U.S. government seems like the perfect opportunity to achieve her goals, but nothing is quite that straightforward.

That was it for July.

I’ve already made a start on August, just having finished my 4th book. Reading out on the patio in glorious weather like what we’re currently having in Maple Ridge makes it easy to devour a book every couple of days.