Reply #57: The Insight Guide to England (in preparation for travel) and

[Lydia Leftcoast]

Wet Grave, a mystery novel that's part of Barbara Hambly's series that takes place among free African-Americans in pre-Civil War New Orleans. I highly recommend this series and suggest that those interested start with the first book, A Free Man of Color, which sets up the main characters and their various ties within the slave, free, French, Spanish, and Anglo communities.

I just finished P.D. James' The Lighthouse, which is about a murder that takes place on a privately-owned island with restricted access. Not one of my favorites, but James is a good enough writer that I can forgive her for just about anything.