Relics by Pip Vaughn-Hughes

England, 1235. Brother Petroc is living a simple life as a novice, struggling to keep his soul fairly clean and resisting the local girls. Then one evening he stumbles into a vicious trap - and finds himself on the run, framed by a sinister Templar knight for murder and theft. When his best friend is killed by the knight, Petroc's flight becomes a quest for restitution.

Trusting his fate to an enigmatic relic-hunter, Petroc is determine to get revenge on the man who wrecked his life - and in the process, discovers his own fate is linked to that of a priceless relic...

Adventure, mystery, twist and turns and a touch of romance. I enjoyed this far more than I had expected to.

🌟 21st December: A BOOK WITH A ONE WORD TITLE

Death of a Dreamer by M C Beaton

The rugged landscape of Scotland attracts dreamers who move north, wrapped in fantasies of enjoying the simple life. They usually don't last, but it looks as if Effie Garrard has come to stay. When Constable Hamish Macbeth calls on her, he's amazed that she weathered the difficult winter. But Effie is quite delusional, imagining that she's engaged to local artist Jock Fleming. Later, Effie is found in the mountains.

These are not brilliantly clever detective stories. Nor are they deep psychological portraits. The murders seem almost like an excuse to introduce and play with a cast of eccentric characters. Hamish can be annoying, he is so clever as a policeman and so thick when it comes to women.

An enjoyable entertaining read.

⛄ 14th December: A BOOK WHOSE AUTHOR AND TITLE DOES NOT CONTAIN THE LETTER L
(because no "L" is Christmassy! 😉)

The Eye Of The Sheep by Sofie Laguna

Meet Jimmy Flick. He's not like other kids - he's both too fast and too slow. He sees too much, and too little. Jimmy's mother Paula is the only one who can manage him. She teaches him how to count sheep so that he can fall asleep. She holds him tight enough to stop his cells spinning. It is only Paula who can keep Jimmy out of his father's way. But when Jimmy's world falls apart, he has to navigate the unfathomable world on his own, and make things right.

An extraordinary and powerful story told from the point of view of a remarkable boy. 
Beautifully written & very hard to put down.

🍹 13th December: A TITLE THAT INCLUDES A BODY PART

And a book that I bought.

Noah's Compass by Anne Tyler

Liam Pennywell, who set out to be a philosopher and ended up teaching fifth grade, never much liked the job at that run-down private school, so early retirement doesn’t bother him. But he is troubled by his inability to remember anything about the first night that he moved into his new and spare condominium on the outskirts of Baltimore. All he knows when he wakes up the next day in the hospital is that his head is sore and bandaged. His effort to recover the moments of his life that have been stolen from him leads him on an unexpected detour. What he needs is someone who can do the remembering for him. What he gets is . . . well, something quite different.

Liam is used to being alone, but dreads loneliness. Change is coming and he's not sure how to cope.

A gentle, slow moving story that I enjoyed.

🌟 12th December: A BOOK THAT HAS BEEN JOURNALLED IN MORE THAN ONE COUNTRY

Top Secret Twenty-One by Janet Evanovich

The dead ends are turning into dead bodies...

Stephanie Plum is getting desperate. She's running out of leads in the search for Jimmy Poletti, who was caught selling more than cars out of his New Jersey dealership. Even Joe Morelli, the city's hottest cop, is struggling to find the criminal wheeler and dealer.

Stephanie's No. 1 temptation, Ranger, is also struggling. There's a killer in town with a personal vendetta against him. If Ranger wants to survive, he'll need Stephanie's help - and to reveal a piece of his mysterious past.

Another fun Stephanie Plum book. Lots of humour, Ranger (sigh), Morelli (sigh) and Grandma.

👼 10th December: A TITLE CONTAINING A NUMBER

Who Killed The bride? by Lily Malone

Cally Minter is a woman on the verge of wonderful things. With her best friend Sienna, Cally is about to launch a new tourism venture—Murder Mystery At Butterfly House—in the country town of Cowaramup. All that remains is a final weekend trial with their friends and one very special guest, Brooke Sherman, who represents a prestigious tourism association. A five-star review from Brooke will set the business on its way.
But when Brooke turns out to be different from what Cally expects, the future of Butterfly House teeters on a knife edge. Then Cally’s not-quite boyfriend casts doubt on Brooke’s true motives. One of the famous fibreglass Cowaramup Cows goes missing, and Cally suspects a thief covets more of Butterfly House’s secret treasures.
While their guests solve the mystery of Who Killed The Bride, can Cally and Sienna find the missing cow, catch a light-fingered thief, and make sure their new business doesn’t crash before it can get off the ground? 

I didn't really care who killed the bride. Or who stole the cow. Or what is the brothers secret. Or why the man in the dress is pretending to be from the tourist association.  Too many characters, too many sub-plots, too many obvious twists.

🎉 9th December: A TITLE THAT INCLUDES AN EXCLAMATION MARK OR A QUESTION MARK

My Grandmother Sends Her Regards and Apologises by Fredrik Backman

Everyone remembers the stories their grandmothers told them. 

But does everyone remember their grandmother flirting with policemen? Driving illegally? Breaking into a zoo in the middle of the night? Firing a paintball gun from a balcony in her dressing gown? 

Seven year old Elsa does.

We are introduced to a woman in her seventies. I can only describe her as totally weird, and very likely, completely crazy. But there is Elsa, a cute seven year old who has this old lady as her dear friend. And her grandmother. Upon her death, Elsa comes into the possession of a compendium of letters. In each one of these letters, Elsa's grandma has left her explicit instructions of what she must do in the case of each specific letter.

A thoroughly enjoyable read. It was both funny and heartbreaking at the same time.

At the end my thought was WOW! just WOW!

🔔 5th December: THE FIFTH BOOK ON YOUR TBR THAT WAS REGISTERED BY ANOTHER BOOKCROSSER

Balloons Can Be Murder by Connie Shelton

he Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta is days away, and Rachael Fairfield is attempting to break the women''s altitude record—a danger that doubles when she begins receiving threatening notes. When she comes to Charlie Parker for help, Rachael has a grim idea of who is sending them: her own father, recently released after spending fifteen years in prison thanks to his teenage daughter''s damning testimony. 

Not convinced that simply watching Rachael''s father until the festival ends will keep her client safe, Charlie looks into Rachael''s personal life for other suspects, knowing an associate with a grudge or an abusive ex-boyfriend can''t be overlooked. But as shattering secrets involving Rachael''s troubled family emerge, Charlie begins to identify the red herrings among the clues leading to a deadly stalker whose intent is to keep Rachael grounded—by any means necessary.



Advent Calendar Challenge
🎲 4th December: A TITLE WITH A CHILDREN'S TOY OR GAME (not a sport) IN IT 

Foxglove Summer by Ben Aaronovitch

When two young girls go missing in rural Herefordshire, police constable and wizard-in-training Peter Grant is sent out of London to check that nothing supernatural is involved.

It’s purely routine—Nightingale, Peter’s superior, thinks he’ll be done in less than a day. But Peter’s never been one to walk away from someone in trouble, so when nothing overtly magical turns up he volunteers his services to the local police, who need all the help they can get. 

But because the universe likes a joke as much as the next sadistic megalomaniac, Peter soon comes to realize that dark secrets underlie the picturesque fields and villages of the countryside and there might just be work for Britain’s most junior wizard after all.

Soon Peter’s in a vicious race against time, in a world where the boundaries between reality and fairy have never been less clear....

Once again we have Peter's laconic observations on the British police and their procedures ' no fish was harmed (sic) ' and their love of acronyms for example PEACE which stands for Planning, Engage and explain, Account and clarify, Closure, Evaluate training. These are pithy and amusing. We follow Peter's meanderings through the country as he meets various local identities and investigates sheep's intestines, bored holes in trees and ancient ruins. It was fun to be with Peter at the conception of a river god and to be given hints of Molly's (the housekeeper) background.

Advent Calendar Challenge

🎅 1st December; A TITLE THAT HAS A "Q" "X" OR "Z" IN IT

and a book that I bought