We Solve Murders by Richard Osman

Amy Wheeler is a bodyguard protecting bestselling author Rosie D’Antonio on a remote island in South Carolina. It doesn’t seem like a strenuous assignment for one of Maximum Impact Solutions’ best employees but that’s until her boss, Jeff Nolan, tells her three of their clients have been murdered – when Amy was conveniently nearby.  He's acting as if she's responsible! 

The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum #Ozathon24

Title: The Wizard of Oz
Author: L. Frank Baum
Illustrator: W.W. Denslow
Publication: Reilly & Lee Co., hardcover, originally published in 1900
Genre: Juvenile fantasy/series

Description: Dorothy is a little girl who lives in Kansas, with Uncle Henry, who was a farmer, and Aunt Em, who was the farmer’s wife. When a cyclone hits, Dorothy and her dog Toto don’t move quickly enough to the cellar: the house is sucked into the center of the cyclone and they are transported to a country of marvelous beauty and color, quite different from the gray prairie she knows.

Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross

Title: Divine Rivals
Author: Rebecca Ross
Publication: Wednesday Books/Macmillan, hardcover, 2023
Genre: YA Fantasy

Description: Iris Winnow’s beloved brother Forest has gone off to fight a strange war in which two gods are in conflict, her mother has lost her grip on reality, and Iris not only needs to earn a living but also has a newly developed desire to be a journalist.

The Moon-Spinners by Mary Stewart

Title: The Moon-Spinners
Author: Mary Stewart
Publication: William Morrow, hardcover, 1962
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Setting: 20th century Crete

Description: Nicola Ferris has been working as a secretary at the British Embassy in Athens, working on her Greek and trying to explore the country whenever possible. She has planned a trip to Crete to meet up with her cousin Frances and gets a ride part of the way and arrives a day early, needing to walk across country to the town of Agios Georgios.

Witch of the Glens by Sally Watson #1962Club

Title: Witch of the Glens
Author: Sally Watson
Publication: Viking, hardcover, 1962
Genre: Juvenile Historical Fiction
Setting: 17th century Scotland

This week Simon from Stuck in a Book and Karen from Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings are hosting the 1962 Club, and I finally found an American author to feature.

Description: At 17, Kelpie is a spirited young woman who knows only the life of a gypsy, traveling throughout Scotland with abusive Old Mina and Bogle.

Bel Lamington by D.E. Stevenson

Title: Bel Lamington
Author: D.E. Stevenson
Publication: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, hardcover, 1961
Genre: Fiction
Setting: Great Britain

Description: After Bel’s aunt dies, she is on her own and leaves Sussex for a tiny flat in London and a secretarial job at an import/export firm. She finds the work interesting but is lonely and the other office staff resent that her industry is recognized when she is promoted to work for a young partner, Ellis Brownlee.

They Came to Baghdad by Agatha Christie

Title: They Came to Baghdad
Author: Agatha Christie
Publication: Pan paperback, originally published in 1951
Genre: Mystery
Setting: Iraq

Description: After Victoria Jones loses an office job she did not much like in the first place, she is contemplating her prospects when she encounters Edward, a handsome young man about to take up a new position in Baghdad.