May 13 - 19, 2018

Flash by Donna Ball - a routine home alarm check becomes a double murder and attempted murder of a police officer. The only witness who saw everything is a border collie puppy. Two years later the puppy, Flash, has become part of the police force and everyone is gearing up for the trial of the murderer. But the wounded officer is having flashbacks that don't quite add up to the official version of events. This was an odd book, action and plot development would be interrupted by dog facts. But it's fiction so I don't know if the facts were factual. I enjoy a dog story but this was dog was just too smart and psychically connected to his owner.

2 stars
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The Alice Network by Kate Quinn - two women's lives intertwine after WWII when Charlie shows up on Eve's doorstep asking her to help find her cousin Rose. Eve was recruited into the Alice Network during WWI and is inserted into a restaurant where German officers meet. Her story is full of danger, courage, and betrayal. Charlie seems a little whiny but she's led a sheltered life with overbearing parents so perhaps she can be excused. Together they travel across France on what ultimately becomes a search for revenge.

4.5 stars
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Summer Hours at the Robbers Library by Sue Halpern - three very different people come together at a library in a small dying town in New Hampshire. Kit, a librarian, has made a quiet life for herself after arriving in the town four years ago. Sunny is sentenced to community service at the library after attempting to steal a dictionary. And Rusty finds himself there after losing his well paying Wall Street job during the economic downturn. The story is told from the viewpoint of all three and Kit also tells the story of her marriage. I was a little disappointed in the ending, it seemed to peter out.

4 stars