March 19, 2023 HANGING AROUND

Hopalong Cassidy here-hobbling toward week four. The black and blue and brown and yellow and purple is finally gone. The swelling is getting better too. Can't wait to go back to the doctor next week. I'll have another Xray. Praying for good news. It is VERY hard for me to sit around. Thankful for the NCAA tournament. It's given me something to do between books. Speaking of books, I just finished the first installment of Claire Mackintosh's new crime series The Last Party. The series features Ffion Morgan, a detective constable in Wales. She's thirty years old, recently separated and living with her mother Elen and sister Seren in Cwm Coed. The story begins on New Year's Day as a body washes up on Mirror Lake during the annual Polar Plunge. The body--Rhys Lloyd-- was a famous singer from Cwm Coed who recently returned to build "The Shore" a resort for the wealthy--much to the chagrin of the residents of Cwm Coed. As the lake borders both Wales and England, Leo Brady, a detective constable from England  teams up with Fifion to investigate Lloyd's death. It seems everyone in Cwm Coed had a reason to want Rhys Lloyd dead. This is a real page turner with so many twists and turns that you won't know who killed Lloyd to the very last page. It's refreshing to read about a woman detective--especially one as rough around the edges as Ffion. The cast of characters including the wealthy people living at The Shore are in sharp contrast to the residents of Cwm Coed, which adds a whole other layer to the mystery. I really enjoyed this mystery and look forward to the next book. It's about 400 easy pages that you'll have trouble putting down.