Sorry there are only two rad reads this month. I didn’t have as much time for reading this past month, and a lot of the stories I read were just okay. That’s not good enough for me to recommend them to you.

But here are a couple I really enjoyed…

Christmas at the Grange, A Lady Hardcastle Mystery – by T.E. Kinsey – $1.99 (free on KU)

I love this historical mystery series! Imagine Mrs. Pollifax at Downton Abbey!

And this Christmas short story is a great way to see if the series is a good fit for you.

Lady Hardcastle is a respectable gentlewoman, but what most people don’t know is that she is also a retired (mostly) British spy—and her lady’s maid, Florence Armstrong, is also a bit more complicated than she seems. The petite Flo is Lady H’s comrade in arms in her adventures.

In this story, they have put aside sleuthing to enjoy Christmas with their neighbors at the Grange. But the theft of a priceless necklace drags them back into the game.

This is a fun story and a quick read for this time of year! The series can be read out of order, but if you prefer to start at the beginning, Book 1 is A Quiet Life in the Country ($3.99 or free on KU)

The Lady Hardcastle mysteries get five fingerprints from me!

Out With the Sunset, A Parks Pat Mystery ~ by PD Workman – $3.99

A police procedural set in picturesque Canada and a quick read for the busy holiday season!

Yet another PD Workman series, although this one I’m not quite as thrilled about. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed this book or I wouldn’t be recommending it to you. But I don’t think it is quite as good as the other PD Workman books I’ve read and recommended.

Métis detective Margie Patenaude has moved to Calgary with her teenage daughter, and before she can even get said daughter off to school on her first day, Margie has a murder case. Not wanting her new colleagues to think she’s just a “diversity hire,” she struggles to juggle the case with her daughter’s needs and those of her elderly grandfather in a nearby home for the aged.

What is absolutely great about this story – the characters! Especially Margie who is well-drawn with a lot of depth and possibilities for development. And woven into the story are some details about the infamous schools for indigenous children in Canada, as Margie’s grandfather was a student at one of them.

Insights from his experiences turn out to be crucial for Margie to solve her first murder case in her new town. I hope her grandfather plays a role in future books in this series as well.

Because, yes, I will be reading more of this series (Book 2 is already on my Kindle), even though I felt that the plot in this one was not as well developed as it could have been. And I won’t say more so as not to spoil anything.

Despite that issue, I feel that this story is still worth the price. Four fingerprints for Out With the Sunset.

And that’s it for my Rad Reads for 2021. Can you believe this year is almost over?

More to come in 2022!!