"The Salisbury Key" by Harper Fox

This is an usual story featuring archeologists, soldiers, death, and bombs.  Daniel Logan is mourning the suicide of his boyfriend, a respected archeology professor at a small university in England.  Daniel is also an archeologist and is stunned when Jason Ross takes his own life - he thought they were happy with the way their lives were going.  Jason had been trying to dig for artifacts in the Salisbury Plain near a bomb-ridden military installation.  After discovering an old map that Jason left for him, Daniel takes up his cause with the help of Lt. Rayne, a bomb diffusing specialist with the military.  Together they try to find the "key" to Jason's suicide . . . unless they are killed first.

I liked the story although the author could be a bit wordy and her English phrasing was sometimes odd.  To me, Daniel started out as a kept man with an easy life until Jason kills himself.  He flails in his grief and pain until he and Rayne begin working together to discover Jason's secret.  Rayne is my favorite character - he's tough but not unfeeling and does his best to keep Daniel together physically and mentally.  We learn more about his background and family when a shocking event takes place that really pushes Daniel to take charge.  213 pages (Kindle edition).

Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear

 This first book in a series by Jacqueline Winspear is set in England in the aftermath of the Great War, known here in the U.S. as WWI.  Maisie Dobbs worked her way up from a lowly servant to a Girton College educated psychologist/detective. Maisie is asked to find out if a businessman's wife is having an affair.  She follows the wife to her weekly assignation-a cemetery where her lover is buried.  Why did the lover kill himself?  Was the burden of being a disfigured war veteran too much to bear?  A good story that left me wanting to know more about Maisie and to follow more of her cases!  294 pages.

A Christmas Journey by Anne Perry

This story is set in Victorian England in the 1850s. Lady Vespasia Cumming-Gould is enjoying a house party when a stinging remark made in jealousy by her friend, Isobel Alvie, leads to the suicide of Gwendolyn Kilmuir. Feeling Isobel should be held accountable for her cruel remark, the house party determines that she must travel to Gwendolyn's family to tell them of her death and the role she played in it. Failure to complete the task will lead to Isobel becoming an outcast in society.  Lady Vespasia joins Isobel on the journey which turns out to be more arduous than expected. I had heard good things about the author, but ultimately found the story slow and the characters rather uninteresting. 160 pages.

Sleeping Murder by Agatha Christie

A classic mystery by Agatha Christie featuring my favorite amateur sleuth, Jane Marple. Need anything else be said? 256 pages.

Touchstone by Laurie King

I really had to work to finish reading this book.  The touchstone the book refers to is Bennett Grey, a WWI veteran who was wounded in the trenches.  As a result of his injuries, Grey is able to discern whether a person is truthful, often by a strong visceral reaction to deception of any kind. Unfortunately, Grey is not the main character.  Laurie King felt the need to anchor the story on the shoulders of an American FBI agent on holiday.  Harris Stuyvesant is using his personal time to track an anarchist bomber back to England.  His search leads him to a shady character named Carstairs who is looking for a way to coerce Bennett Grey into assisting him with his "research" on lie detectors and the efficacy of torture.  Carstairs points Stuyvesant to Grey, or rather Grey's sister, as a way to get into the Anarchist circle.  As you might imagine, you have to read a lot of backstory to keep up with this plot. History buffs interested in a light version of the labor troubles in the U.S. and England pre- and post-WWI might find this story engaging but other folks will probably want to give it a pass. 548 pages.

Do Not Disturb by Kate Kingsbury

I have read a couple of the special holiday Pennyfoot Hotel cozy mysteries, so thought I would see what the original series is like. I was confused at first because while the characters are the same, their relationships are different since this series predates the holiday series. None the less, I was quickly able to catch on and actually enjoyed reading about how it all began. (Well almost began; Do Not Disturb is actually book two in the series.)

The series is set in England in the early 1900s. Cecily Sinclair, a widow, owns the hotel visited by the aristocracy, but it is really run by the faithful, stoic manager, Baxter. When Madeline, Cecily's friend, is hauled in for questioning and becomes the primary suspect in a murder, Cecily decides to investigate, dragging along a reluctant Baxter. The characters are loveable caricatures. The mystery is  light. The reading is fast and fun. I'll visit the Pennyfoot again soon! 203 pages.