Shutter by Ramona Emerson

This is my new fav! I’m on the list to get her second book from the library. So many good storytellers coming out of the southwest. Rita can see and hear ghosts and acknowledging this is a big taboo in Navajo culture. And potentially dangerous for Rita. But the dead want her help and as a forensic photographer, she’s in a position to do just that.

At times I did stop reading as the descriptions of the crimes were so gruesome and disturbing. I also was pretty sure who the murderer was.

But that was balanced out by the loving relationship between Rita and her grandmother and Rita’s growth as a photographer.

Ramona also ties in the terrible history of the Navajo peoples perpetrated by white people and their continuing hardships. I was aware of some of this and it is heartbreaking to read about it in such a personal manner.

Murder-mystery, ghosts, Navajo culture, photography and more–I’m looking forward to the next book!

The Golden Tresses of the Dead by Alan Bradley

Another murder mystery! I’ve loved Flavia de Luce since The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie came out. This is the tenth novel in the series. I love her spunk. I love her relationship with her sisters. I love Dogger. But I think I love Gladys best! That Flavia treat her bicycle as a person just tickles a girlish part of me.

Oh no! There’s someone’s finger in Feely’s wedding cake! Who will figure this out? Flavia’s new investigative business with Dogger is on their first case.

These are such a fun read. I admit to skimming a lot of the chemistry. That might be Flavia’s love, but I study chemistry in high school and college and that was enough for me!

I’ve got the next book in the series on the top of the TBR pile just waiting to go!