by Ellis Peters

This is the first in a series of books about Brother Cadfael, an unusual monk who solves mysteries in the twelfth century. Cadfael is Welsh, but he lives in an abbey in Shrewsbury, England. That’s not why he is unusual, though. Cadfael wasn’t born a monk. When he was younger, he took part in the First Crusade. He has seen a lot more of the world than most monks (or most other people in the twelfth century), he knows a lot of unusual things, and he has a knack for noticing little details. He also tends to ignore any rules that get in the way, and he has a very different take on religion and morality than most of his fellow monks.

In A Morbid Taste for Bones, a monk named Columbanus collapses and appears unable to recover his senses. Another monk, Brother Jerome, has a vision: Saint Winifred will cure Brother Columbanus if they take him to where Winifred was killed. This is awfully convenient, since the abbot has been thinking about getting a saint for the abbey. When Saint Winifred actually cures Columbanus, the abbot takes it as a sign from God that Saint Winifred’s remains should be moved from her grave in Wales to the abbey.

A group of monks, including Jerome, Columbanus, and our hero Cadfael, make their way to Wales to pick up Saint Winifred’s remains. This idea isn’t too popular with the local people, who are rather fond of their saint. There is a fierce debate, and before everyone can come to a conclusion, a very important person is murdered. This is about 900 years too early for forensic science, but Cadfael has a few tricks up his sleeve.

Where to Find It

You can get it from the public library.

Library	Location	Call Number	Status
Antioch	Mysteries	M PETERS, E.	In library
Clayton	Mysteries	M PETERS, E.	Checked out, due 3/8/12
Concord	Mysteries	M PETERS, E.	On Hold Shelf
Lafayette	Mysteries	M PETERS, E.	In library
Lafayette	Mysteries	M PETERS, E.	In library
Orinda	Mysteries	M PETERS, E.	Checked out, due 2/23/12
Pleasant Hill	.	M PETERS, E.	In library
Ygnacio Valley (Walnut Creek)	Paperbacks	M PETERS, E.	In library
Ygnacio Valley (Walnut Creek)	Paperbacks	M PETERS, E.	Checked out, due 2/21/12

This list was last updated February 3, 2012 at 4:01 am UTC. Click here to see newer information.

by Lisa Lutz

Isabel “izzy” Spellman works for her family’s business. This might seem okay, but her parents run a detective agency out of their house. Working for her parents isn’t that bad. The real problem is living with detectives. Her parents run credit checks on her older sister’s boyfriends, and they bug all their kid’s rooms. Her younger sister does “recreational surveillance,” which is a nice way of saying she spies on random people for fun. Her uncle Ray works for the business, but he has a nasty habit of taking extra-long weekends and forcing the rest of the family to track him down.

Izzy has lousy taste in boyfriends. She dated one guy primarily because he owned every episode of her favorite TV show on DVD. Then she meets a normal guy, Daniel. He’s a dentist, and he doesn’t have to worry about his family members picking the locks on his room and either planting hidden cameras or cutting his hair while he sleeps. Spending time with him makes her reconsider her lifestyle – she likes the detective business, but she realizes she doesn’t like being a detective. She eventually tells her parents she wants out, but they will only agree if she takes one last case…

As you might guess, this is a mix of comedy and mystery. It’s certainly funny, and it does contain a mystery, but the first part of the book is all background. The background is amusing, but the real mystery starts later. Also, her family is a bit over the top, so if you don’t like that kind of humor, you probably won’t enjoy a lot of the book.

If you want, you can read some of the book online at Google Books.

Where to Find It

You can get it from the school library.

School	Location	Call Number	Status
Diablo Valley College	Adult Basic Education	PS3612.U897 S67 2007	AVAILABLE
Diablo Valley College	Adult Basic Education	PS3612.U897 S67 2009	AVAILABLE

You can get it from the public library.

Library	Location	Call Number	Status
Antioch	.	FIC LUTZ, L.	Checked out, due 2/11/12
El Cerrito	.	FIC LUTZ, L.	In library
El Sobrante	.	FIC LUTZ, L.	In library
Kensington	.	FIC LUTZ, L.	In library
Lafayette	.	FIC LUTZ, L.	In library
Lafayette	.	FIC LUTZ, L.	In library
Lafayette	.	FIC LUTZ, L.	In library
Lafayette	.	FIC LUTZ, L.	In library
Lafayette	.	FIC LUTZ, L.	In library
Moraga	.	FIC LUTZ, L.	In library
Moraga	Paperbacks	FIC LUTZ, L.	In library
Moraga	.	FIC LUTZ, L.	In library
Pleasant Hill	.	FIC LUTZ, L.	On Hold Shelf
Pleasant Hill	.	FIC LUTZ, L.	In library
San Ramon	.	FIC LUTZ, L.	Checked out, due 2/11/12
Walnut Creek Park Place	.	FIC LUTZ, L.	In library
Ygnacio Valley (Walnut Creek)	.	FIC LUTZ, L.	In library

This list was last updated February 3, 2012 at 8:25 am UTC. Click here to see newer information.

by Zoë Ferraris

Sixteen-year-old Nouf ash-Shrawi, a member of a wealthy family in Saudia Arabia, goes missing three days before her wedding. Her brother, Othman, hires Nayir al-Sharqi to find her. Nayir usually works as a guide, leading the rich and famous through the desert, but he accepts this job. He never finds Nouf, but a week and a half later, someone else finds her body in the desert. According to the medical examiner, Nouf drowned in the desert. Nayir finds this a little suspicious, so he decides to continue his investigation. He ends up working with Othman’s fiancee, who is a lab technician in the medical examiner’s office. Nayir has a traditional view on how men and women should interact, and working with a female lab technician makes him very uncomfortable at first. As the story continues, though, Nayir’s views change, and the two work together as a team.

If you want, you can read some of this online through Google Books.

Where to Find It

You can get it from the school library.

School	Location	Call Number	Status
Contra Costa College	Stacks	PS3606.E738 F56 2008	AVAILABLE
Diablo Valley College	Adult Basic Education	PS3606.E738 F56 2010d	AVAILABLE
Diablo Valley College	Adult Basic Education	PS3606.E738 F56 2008	AVAILABLE

You can get it from the public library.

Library	Location	Call Number	Status
Clayton	Mysteries	M FERRARIS, Z.	Checked out, due 2/12/12
Hercules	Mysteries	M FERRARIS, Z.	Checked out, due 2/10/12
Kensington	Mysteries	M FERRARIS, Z.	Checked out, due 3/2/12
Lafayette	Mysteries	M FERRARIS, Z.	In library
Moraga	Mysteries	M FERRARIS, Z.	On Hold Shelf
Moraga	Mysteries	M FERRARIS, Z.	In library
Moraga	Mysteries	M FERRARIS, Z.	In library
Moraga	Mysteries	M FERRARIS, Z.	In library
Orinda	Mysteries	M FERRARIS, Z.	Checked out, due 3/1/12
Orinda	Mysteries	M FERRARIS, Z.	In library
Orinda	Mysteries	M FERRARIS, Z.	In library
Pinole	Mysteries	M FERRARIS, Z.	Checked out, due 2/16/12
Pleasant Hill	Mysteries	M FERRARIS, Z.	Checked out, due 2/16/12
San Ramon	Mysteries	M FERRARIS, Z.	In library

This list was last updated February 6, 2012 at 9:34 pm UTC.