It is always nice at Christmas to buy a book just for one’s self. Here are some books that Jack and Wendy have enjoyed in the last little while. Jack could not put Anthony Horowitz’s The Word is Murder (TP $24.99). He is really pleased that there is going to be a second title with Detective Daniel Hawthorne in the spring. Jack also liked Peter James’ Absolute Proof (TP $26.99). This is not part of the Superintendent Grace series but is a standalone. Will the late night phone call that investigative reporter Ross Hunter nearly didn’t answer change not only his life but also the course of society?

Wendy was pleased that there was, at last, a new Susan Hill novel in her ‘Simon Serailler’ series. The Comforts of Home is the ninth in the series and well worth the wait (TP, $25.00). For some reason Christmas titles have been being released earlier and earlier in the year. One very enjoyable book, which we hope will be the basis of a new series was Susi Holliday’s The Deaths of December, (tp $15.99). A British police procedural, the plot revolves around an advent calendar and Christmas craft fairs.