Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

Actual crickets, that is–Palmer was hungry, and they were out when I was running errands earlier in the week. The first Friday morning PTA meeting is done, though, and I’m desperately grateful. (I’m also grateful I decided not to submit a receipt for the food I brought, because I took too much of it home to feel good about that.) I came away with a reimbursement check for various purchases, more PTA copy paper, and a few questions I forgot to ask the office (because of course I did). And I did get a haircut yesterday, for which I’m grateful–it was overdue!

Anyway. On Wednesday night I showered extra early, which gave me time enough to finish listening to Cloche and Dagger, the first in one of the (many) cozy mystery series my friend Britt enjoys. I have to say, it was fun–American Scarlett Parker heads to London to stay with her cousin, who runs the hat shop (hence the title) they inherited from their grandmother, after an entertainingly described break-up disaster in Florida; her mercurial cousin, however, isn’t there to greet her, which doesn’t seem like a huge deal until a countess is found murdered wearing nothing but a hat designed by said cousin. Should Scarlett be concerned about her cousin’s disappearance? Why is someone breaking into the hat shop? And is their business still going to be there when the police find out what’s been going on? Enquiring readers want to know!

Overall, it’s a fun story with a relatable main character; my main critique is the pacing, and I rather suspect that’s mostly due to its being first in a series. The first half of the book seemed more to be setting up the characters and the setting than dealing with the mystery; I was interested, but not necessarily gripped until over halfway through. Since that seems unlikely to happen with subsequent titles in the series, I’m okay to overlook it in this one. I’m not a big mystery reader, really, but I’ll likely keep on with these!

In the meantime, we’ve got a wedding reception to attend tonight, and I was thinking about cadging a nap before we leave. Have a good weekend, everybody!