THE DARLING DAHLIAS AND THE CUCUMBER TREE (Susan Wittig Albert)

It takes a little time to get into Albert's Darling Dahlias series, mainly because of the large number of characters, but the author includes a list at the beginning of the novel, which helps.  I enjoyed this book for several reasons beyond the entertaining mystery:
(1)  Set in 1930, the ambiance is refreshingly different from that of the many contemporary and Victorian mysteries popular today.
(2)  The characters are nicely developed and seem true to their era in temperment and interests.
(3)  There is a librarian in the book (although she is not particularly appealing)!

The Darling Dahlias are a garden club based in Darling, Alabama at the beginning of the great depression.  They have recently inherited a clubhouse from the estate of founding member Mrs. Dahlia Blackstone and plan to restore the beautiful gardens around the house.  The Cucumber Tree of the title is a type of magnolia and graces the Blackstone garden.  It also figures in a Civil War era mystery connected with the Blackstone family and more recent activities related to the family legacy. 

When beautiful, blonde Bunny Scott, who sells cosmetics at the local drugstore, is found dead in the wreck of a stolen car, the townspeople assume that she was the accomplice of a car thief, possibly a recently escaped convict from the local prison farm.  Club members Verna Tidwell (widow and secretary to the county probate clerk) and Lizzy Lacy (secretary to Mr. Moseley, a lawyer), who regularly lunched with Bunny, don't believe that she could have been involved in a car theft and launch their own investigation into their friend's death with the help of Myra Mosswell (owner of the local diner and telephone operator), eventually bringing to light the true details of Bunny's death.  This is one garden club that digs up more than dirt!  Check out this series as soon as you can.  You will love the ladies of the Darling Dahlias.

AT HOME WITH THE TEMPLETONS (Monica McInerny)

The Templeton family has sociopathic tendencies, but not in the quirky, humorous way you might expect in a popular novel.  There is neither edge-of-the-seat suspense nor unstoppable action in McInerny's latest.  Instead the reader is treated to a complexly woven tapestry of relationships, family secrets, deceit, betrayal, and denial.  If At Home with the Templetons were made into a movie it could go in many different directions depending on the whim of the director or screenwriters.

Templeton Hall is a family estate in Australia that has been turned into a living history museum by English heir Henry Templeton. Henry's four children serve as weekend docents, guiding tourists and treating them to stories about the family's checkered history and possessions.  Wife Eleanor homeschools the Templeton children, Charlotte, Audrey, Gracie, and Spencer and Aunt Hope, Eleanor's sister, spends most of her time belligerently drunk.  Nina Donovan, a widow, and her son Tom visit Templeton House during an open house for the locals and vow never to return after an altercation with Hope, but as time passes Tom and young Spenser become close friends, as do Nina and Gracie.  Eventually Nina moves into an apartment on the estate grounds and, when Henry and family are mysteriously called back to England, she remains as caretaker of the estate until an unexpected tragedy tears the familes apart.

The novel spans almost twenty years and is filled with unexpected twists and turns and shifting of relationships.  The children grow up and establish themselves in various careers, developing along the way personalities and attitudes that both grate and fascinate.  Everyone, in fact, evolves.  Most readers will enjoy the revelations and surprises as the story progresses through the years.  I know I did!

THE GIRL NEXT DOOR (Elizabeth Noble)

I seem to be very dissatisfield lately with cover art and now titles, too!  Noble's The Girl Next Door is not about one girl and even after finishing it I am confused a bit about who Eve (presumably the title character) and her husband Ed's next door neighbor's actually are.  However, it was a very enjoyable novel with enough depth to hold your interest. 

Eve and Ed move from their idyllic English cottage to an apartment in New York City after Ed accepts a lucrative promotion at his bank.  Ed is thrilled with the fast pace of the city, but Eve misses her garden, her family, and England.  Noble introduces the reader to all of the apartment building's inhabitants by way of a character list at the beginning of the novel, and multiple chapters scattered throughout the book focus on each of the tenants and their interactions with one another.  The tenants include Violet Wallace, an elderly transplanted English woman; Charlotte, a shy, awkward single woman who lives more in fantasy than reality;  an aimless young man living on his trust fund; a male gay couple; a beautiful triathlete; a "perfect" couple with 3 children; a troubled couple with seemingly insurmountable problems in their marriage; and a predatory, sex-obsessed twenty-something woman, among others. 

Overall, I enjoyed the development of the relationships among the characters and the evolution of the tenants themselves.  Each of them changes, some positively, some negatively, as a result of their interactions with the others.  Running throughout the novel are the stories of Eve's pregnancy and Violet's life in America and the friendship that develops between the two women.  Highly recommended!

A NICE CLASS OF CORPSE (Simon Brett)

Where has Mrs. Pargeter been all my life?  I find it hard to believe that I have never before read this excellent series.  There are so many elements that make it appealing, not the least of which are the business dealings of the late, devoted Mr. Pargeter.  Was he a detective,  a jeweler, a burglar, a social worker, or an international spy?  Mr.  Pargeter left his widow well-equipped with enough money, weaponry, tools, jewelry, and business contacts to last for the rest of her life and she makes good use of these when she decides that amateur detective work might be a occupation to keep her mind sharp.  Soon after she moves into the Deveraux Hotel, a residential establishment in Littlehampton for the genteel elderly, Mrs. Pargeter is confronted with the "accidental" death of the quiet, gentle Mrs. Selsby.  Which of the hotel residents, who range from fading movie star to aristocrats fallen on hard times, or staff might have had a hand in Mrs. Selsby's fall down the stairs?  How many more accidents will occur before Miss Naismith, the proprietor, and the police begin to suspect foul play?

What I enjoyed most about Mrs. Pargeter was her level-headed elimination of suspects.  She is intelligent, worldly, and sassy yet demure at the same time.  She is also keenly observant and analytical and frequently calls to mind advice from the late, beloved Mr. Pargeter.  I didn't figure out who did it until the very end.  I can't wait to read the next book in his series!

SUMMER HOUSE (Nancy Thayer)

First of all, I wonder who created the cover art for this novel?  Here it is:
   If you haven't read a description of the novel, your assumption would be that this is pure chick lit, possibly about 2 young women who are friends or sisters spending a the summer at the beach, probably with at least one handsome romantic interest.  Needless to say, I don't like the cover.  I think it misrepresents the book.

In reality, Summer House is about family relationships.  Four generations of the wealthy Wheelwright family gather each summer at the family house on Nantucket, home to ninety-year-old Anne "Nona" Wheelwright.  Her son, Worth, works at the family-founded bank in Boston, as does her son-in-law Kellogg and grandsons-in-law Claus and Douglas.  The story is told from the points of view of three women: Nona, her sixty-year-old daughter-in law, Helen (could they be the leggy girls in the hammock?), and Helen and Worth's 30-year-old daughter, Charlotte.  Worth is disappointed that none of his 3 children have chosen a career in the family banking business.  Son Oliver is a successful architect living in San Fransisco in a committed relationship with his partner, Owen.  Charlotte, the oldest, tried working in the bank to please her father and is now an organic gardener, growing and selling produce on her grandmother's land, to the consternation of her cousins.  Youngest child, Teddy, is 22 and has a history of drug and alcohol problems and now has a wife and a child on the way.  Helen loves her family and is stunned to discover that handsome, successful husband Worth has been unfaithful. 

As the summer progresses and family relationships change and evolve, Helen ponders how to resolve her marriage problems, Charlotte focuses on the future, and Nona, in the twilight of her life, decides that the time has come to face past secrets. Thayer allows her readers to revisit significant events in Helen and Nona's past through dreams and reminiscences, which adds depth and insight to the story.  Is there any romance?  Some, but it is secondary to the overall story.  Is this chick lit? Definitely not, despite the cover.  If you are looking for an intersesting story about the twists and turns of family relationships, friendship, marriage, and parenthood, look no further.  Summer House is highly recommended!

A VILLAGE AFFAIR (Joanna Trollope)

When Alice Meadows meets Martin Jordan's family she falls hopelessly in love.  She and Martin marry and live a pleasant life with their 3 children until they purchase Grey House, a beautiful old village home in rural England.  Suffering from postpartum depression after the birth of her youngest child, Charlie, Alice believes that the move will be good for their marriage and family, that becoming immersed in the activities and eccentricities of village life will give her a new purpose and, perhaps, restore happiness to her increasing stressful relationships.  When exotic, unpredictable Clodagh Unwin returns to Pitcombe after a broken love affair in New York and befriends the Jordan family, life suddenly takes on a new luster and excitement.  Alice, the children, and Martin soon accept Clodagh as part of their family, causing speculation and questions among the villagers.  When details of Clodagh's relationship with Alice are revealed, Alice and Martin's lives are changed forever, their definitions of happiness are transformed, and their future is redefined.  As usual, Trollope delves into the heart and psyche of English life.  Published in 1989, this novel remains fresh and readable today.

SECRET OF JOY (Melissa Senate)

Rebecca Strand is shocked by her father's deathbed confession that he has another daughter.  When Rebecca was 2 years old, a brief affair in Maine resulted in the birth of child whom Daniel Strand has never met. After the death of Rebecca's mother, she and her father formed a close and unbreakable bond, and the realization that Daniel kept a secret so significant sends Rebecca reeling.  Did he love the woman?  Did her mother know?  Why did he fail to acknowledge and support his second daughter?  Rebecca, unfulfilled by her relationship with Michael (she actually loves his mother more than she loves him), decides to travel to Maine to seek out Joy, her sister and only remaining family.  She is desperate to make sense of her emotions and her new relationships, and in the process she finds answers to other dilemmas in her life as well.  This could have been a trite story about a confused young city woman finding happiness and love in small-town Maine, but Senate treats Rebecca's emotional quandaries with sensitivity, humor, and realism.  Senate's latest is enjoyable and a satisfying way to spend a weekend.