A Fete Worse than Death by Dolores Gordon-Smith

Jack Haldean isn't necessarily looking forward to the local fete when he visits his uncle, aunt, and cousins but it goes downhill when he is recognized by a man who reported to Jack in the RFC during the Great War. The man was a thorn in Jack's side; Jack even comments that Boscombe caused more trouble than the Germans. And he seems to be continuing the trend, making oblique comments about other people at the fete. Then the man turns up dead in the fortune teller's tent.
Jack, being a mystery writer of some note and generally curious, inserts himself into the investigation (Gordon-Smith inserts that Jack had helped on a major case in the past and has used the police extensively to write his stories so he's not a complete n00b.) With drama circling around Jack's uncle's ward and a hero of the war, a ball in the neighborhood being thrown by a local, older femme fatale, and another body popping up, there is a lot going on in this book.
Gordon-Smith weaves together all of the stories into a book that slides into the life of a detective and lets us ride along with him.

Four stars
This book came out June 26, 2007
Book borrowed from library

The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman

Nina Hill likes herself just fine, thank you. She tracks her days down to the minute, including her time to do "Nothing" (aka reading time.) Her work at the bookstore and her trivia team satisfy her need to see people and she is pretty happy being the only child of a globe-trotting photographer mother.
But her life is about to change with the news that her father is dead. The father she never knew. The father who signed release paperwork releasing all claim to Nina even before she was born. Suddenly, her stress levels are skyrocketing- she has a sprawling family, a potential love interest from a rival trivia team, and her beloved bookstore is in danger of being closed forever.
The book started off a bit too twee but moved past it quickly. The ending also was sort of out of step with the middle which was frankly the best part of the book. I would recommend this book to readers who like characters breaking out of their shells and get to have a small dose of romance.

Three stars
This book comes out July 9th
ARC kindly provided by Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley
Opinions are my own