Lazy Days

I am beat! I ran around town today shopping at little gourmet stores and food shops and the Saturday farmer's markets. It was fun. I thought I would come home with supper, but instead have more condiments to add to my collection! Yeah, they're fun. Condiments make the meal. I am all about the extras.

Anyway. I love lazy days. Days when you really don't have to worry about anything and you can just relax and be. I bathed our dog the other day - she desperately needed it. This involved looping her leash around a post on our porch and spraying her down with the hose. She hates it. As much as I understand that she would rather smell like dog funk, I prefer her oatmeal vanilla (i.e. expensive and supposed to be good for dogs with dry skin - hey, I can sympathize with her, my skin didn't fare any better moving over here) dog shampoo. It was nice outside and I was waiting for my other to get home from work so I hooked the dog to a tree and brought my book out to read.

I've been working my way through the ITW (see post) debut author's list and Nox Dormienda was next in my stack. Kelli Stanley was at LCC this spring and I already had some promo stuff that was available then. I also heard her premise and thought it sounded pretty interesting. Fortunately, she's a BB fan and I had a chance to review the book for the site (it'll be up next week). For now, I'll just tell you a little bit about this historical mystery "Roman Noir" debut:

Arcturus, official physician to Governor Agricola, and sometime problem solver, is approached by a gorgeous woman in trouble. Her fiancé is rumored to be carrying a letter to Londinium that could mean the end of the governor. She appeals to Arcturus’s loyal nature and urges him to alert Agricola of the matter. Arcturus takes it one step further and has the woman followed. His man Bilicho eventually tracks the woman to an inn and whorehouse where the fiancé is staying. Later, Bilicho hears noises and follows a cart to an underground temple. The priests of the temple call for Arcturus and the physician discovers that the body of the woman’s fiancé has been left mounted on an alter, his throat brutally slashed. It is also discovered that the man may indeed be an official messenger from Emperor Domitian. If Arcturus can’t find out who killed the man and why, before the Emperor receives news of the death, Britannia could be facing dire political consequences.

It was a fun new mystery, entertaining and wholly captivating. I read half of it lounging in the yard with our dog and finished it later that night. First in a new series and maybe even the first in a new subgenre, Roman Noir. The title, Nox Dormienda, roughly translated is a play on The Big Sleep! Stanley's in-depth research into the time period (1st century Roman England) is apparent in reading her debut. It's going to be one hell of series, I can tell you that much!

You can see the rest of the review under latest reviews at bookbitch.com next week. And now, I am going to take my orange mint tea and go read another ITW debut, The Last Vampire by Marc Paoletti and Patricia Rosemoor. I'll let you know how it is in a few days.