ISLAND INTERLUDE
Last week, we took the kind of vacation we hadn’t had in years. We returned to beautiful St. Lucia after 20 years away. Same lovely lush island, but a different resort this time. The air was warm, the breezes soft, the sun mostly out, and the occasional rain showers brief and almost magical.
We spent the bulk of the time outside, reading, relaxing, eating too well, and just being lazy. It was a welcome respite from our busy retirement life.
LEISURE READING
When you are spending all your time lazing around, what do you do? If you are like me, you read and then read some more. I read a stack of books, nearly all virtual books on my Kindle. They were generally light fare, fluff or a good mystery. Here are two of those titles:
Beach Vibes by Susan Mallery
Beth is divorced and the owner of a popular sandwich shop. She has just started volunteering at the local food bank where she meets Jana, a single mother of a 4-year old, who has a job and is going to community college part time. The two become friends and then Beth’s brother Rick, a surgeon, asks Jana out. Jana lives with her brother Teddy and his three kids since his wife died several years ago.
When Beth later meets Teddy and starts dating him, life for these friends and their sibling brothers quickly becomes complicated. Teddy is protective of Jana and Beth of brother Rick. Beach Vibes is an engrossing romance that is as much about friendship and family loyalty. A great beach read!
The Woman in Blue by Elly Griffiths
The Woman in Blue is the eighth book in the Ruth Galloway series and is one of the best I’ve read. I’m approaching this series slowly with many books in between each title and the next one. Published in 2016, the setting is Walsingham, England, a real shrine town with an actual cathedral, to which Griffiths has added some fictional buildings.
When a beautiful former model, Chloe Jenkins, a patient at the nearby hospital, is murdered, DCI Nelson and his team are on the case. Meanwhile, Hilary, an Anglican priest and a college friend of Ruth’s surfaces, and shares threatening letters she’s received denouncing women clergy.
A second murder occurs, and Ruth, advisor to Nelson and the single mother of his young daughter Kate, becomes more closely involved in the investigation. Who has sent the letters and did the same person kill both women? It’s a winning combination of likable complex characters, some ancient history, and a bit of religious myth tossed in.
If you like archaeology and local history, then you will be quickly captivated by Ruth and Harry Nelson. Recommended! (~JWFarrington)
Footnote
Today is the 2nd anniversary of our move from the Florida coast to North Carolina. It was so much the right thing to do, and we remain delighted with our new home! To celebrate, we had lunch downtown at Zest: Sushi and Small Plates, one of several favorite Cary restaurants.
Note: St. Lucia photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved.)
