The Burglar in the Rye: A Bernie Rhodenbarr Mystery, by Lawrence Block

It was as clever and delightful as watching a truly great caper movie like To Catch a Thief, where all the characters are carefree, witty and criminal only in the most pleasant sense of the word. I actually found myself quoting ideas from the book (like second round logic). I loved it!

On the other hand, the ending was kind of

Weigh Dead: An Iris House B&B Mystery, by Jean Hager

I think I am a Jean Hager fan. Even though there were parts of the story where I wanted to scream that the lead character should be charged with obstructing justice because she withheld information from the police, it all tied together nicely enough that I was satisfied in the end. And like The Last Noel the author leaves clues early on that are successfully muddled later on--just enough so the ending is a surprise but is not out of left field. Overall, very enjoyable,

The Last Noel: An Iris House B&B Mystery, by Jean Hager

I really liked it. It was a perfect little cozy mystery. It was well-written, cute and it made sense. Plus, I was able to figure out the end myself based on the clues (but not too early on) and then there was still a little extra twist at the end. The setting and characters were fleshed out without being distracting. There was a certain suspension of disbelief surrounding why an amateur detective is doing the job that police, prosecutors and defense attorneys SHOULD be doing, but there always is in these mysteries. It was handled well enough so