Midnight Crossroad (Midnight, Texas #1)

 Midnight Crossroad (Midnight, Texas #1)

by Charlaine Harris

Pages: 305

Stars: 5 out of 5 stars

A fun read from the creator of the Sookie Stackhouse series, Aurora Teagarden series and other supernatural mysteries. Midnight, Texas is a very small town with the few businesses lining Davy Road and situated at the crossing of Witch Light Road. It is a small, old, western town. But newcomer, Manfred Bernardo is happy with the quiet location and the locals who keep mostly to themselves. There's a small diner and a gas station but you have to drive into Davy to find a grocery store and most other services. 

Everything starts out quiet and friendly enough, but a gathering for a picnic just outside of town reveals a murder. Now the county sheriff and other out of town people are snooping around and the local residents do not appreciate any digging into their past. They all have something to hide, but who is a murderer?

The Paris Hours by Alex George

 The Paris Hours by Alex George

Pages: 272

Rating: 4 out of 5

Set in 1927 Paris with events all happening over one day, this story shows four common people being touched by living in Paris and having contact with literary and artistic geniuses of the time. All four are searching for something they have lost, sometimes something physical but always some part of themselves. 

Camille, as the maid of Marcel Proust, knows his secrets and keeps them, but did he keep all of hers? Souren, a refuge, and puppeteer with his own version of fairy tales shared with the children in the park. Starving artist Guillaume, hopes meeting Gertrude Stein will change his luck. Jean-Paul a journalist always telling other people's stories, but is inspired to share his painful story, when he meets Josephine Baker. The foursome's paths cross in the end, and each learns what they are really looking for. 

Beautifully describes Paris in between World War I and World War II as a city recovering from war and a center of thought and art. Everyone in the story has been touched by the war in someway, so a bittersweet story.